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Lunar Mountain Height

How can we determine the height of a moon mountain? A closer look on our companion.

Niveau: C

Bei dieser Aktivität handelt es sich um eine neu entwickelte Aktivität. Für Verbesserungsvorschläge und Hinweise für Korrekturen sind wir dankbar. Sie erreichen uns unter contact@stellarium-gornergrat.ch.

The moon is the brightest and most prominent phenomenon in our night sky. Until 500 years ago, it was thought to be a perfect sphere - until the first telescopes were invented. Suddenly, shades of mountains and craters were clearly visible and the height of the mountains could be calculated with simple mathematics. In this activity, the students can determine the mountain height either by Pythagoras' theorem or by trigonometry.

Requirements

trigonometry

basic geometry

Pedagogical objectives

The students...
  • can employ simple geometry on mountain shades .
  • can use Pythagoras' theorem on the terminator to estimate the mountain height and realize that the moon is not a perfect sphere.
  • can employ trigonometry to determine the summit height on the illuminated moon half (optional).

Steps

1: Introduction

Brief description

test

Difficulty

2

Duration

20 minutes

Social arrangement

Pairs Class

2: The Method of Galileo

Brief description

Die Lernenden bestimmen die Gipfelhöhe nach der Methode nach Galileo mithilfe des Satz des Pythagoras. Dieser Lernschritt kann auch statt Lernschritt 3 durchgeführt werden.

Difficulty

2

Duration

30 minutes

Social arrangement

Pairs Class

3: The trigonometric method

Brief description

Die Lernenden bestimmen die Gipfelhöhe mithilfe der trigonometrischen Methode. Dieser Schritt kann auch statt Lernschritt 2 durchgeführt werden.

Difficulty

3

Duration

30 minutes

Social arrangement

Pairs Class

4: Creation of a map and conclusion

Brief description

Die Lernenden erstellen eine Karte mit den bestimmten Gipfelhöhen.

Difficulty

2

Duration

30 minutes

Social arrangement

Group Pairs Class

Worksheets

There are no teaching materials available for the English version of this activity.