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6th grade Phases of the Moon worksheet

6 printable versionsBuilding Confidence10 questions · answer keyFree · no account

Level: Building Confidence · On Level · Challenge Me

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Phases of the Moon

Grade 6 Science Worksheet - Building Confidence

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Circle the best answer.

  1. Ari sketches the Moon from the backyard after school. The right half is lit and the left half is dark. Which phase is it?

    • Full moon
    • Waxing gibbous
    • Third quarter
    • First quarter

  2. At a backyard star party, the Moon is so bright the stars look shy. Kira sees its whole round face lit. Which phase is it?

    • New moon
    • Waxing gibbous
    • Full moon
    • First quarter

  3. Jun wonders why the full moon shines at night when the Sun is down. Where does moonlight come from?

    • Earth's shadow lit up by the stars
    • Glowing hot rock on the Moon's surface
    • Sunlight that bounces off the Moon
    • Light the Moon makes during the night

  4. Luz looks at a first quarter Moon. How much of the whole Moon is lit by the Sun right now?

    • No sunlight, since the Moon glows by itself
    • A quarter of it, since Earth's shadow covers the rest
    • Half of it, the half facing the Sun
    • The half facing Earth, since the far side stays dark

  5. Read this first

    Use this

    Orbit diagram, top view from above the North Pole, not to scale.

  6. Noah studies an orbit diagram for a science quiz. Which phase does someone on Earth see when the Moon is at position E?

    • New moon: no lit face showing
    • Full moon: whole face lit
    • First quarter: right half lit
    • Third quarter: left half lit

  7. Pia points to position G on the orbit diagram. Which phase does someone on Earth see when the Moon is there?

    • New moon: no lit face showing
    • First quarter: right half lit
    • Full moon: whole face lit
    • Third quarter: left half lit

  8. Ren wants to mark the new moon on the orbit diagram. At which position is the Moon at new moon?

    • Position G, three-quarters of the way around
    • Position A, between Earth and the Sun
    • Position E, on the far side of Earth
    • Position C, a quarter of the way around

  9. Tala marks a new moon on the class calendar. Which main phase comes next, about a week later?

    • Full moon
    • New moon again
    • First quarter
    • Third quarter

  10. Phase strip of the four main phases in order

    New moon, first quarter, full moon, third quarter, then new moon again, about 7 days apart. The full moon is circled.

  11. On a camping trip, the full moon is bright enough to read a comic by. Which main phase will Zee see about a week later?

    • Full moon again
    • Waning gibbous
    • First quarter
    • Third quarter

  12. Esme sees a third quarter Moon on a Monday morning. Which main phase comes next, about a week later?

    • Third quarter again
    • New moon
    • Waning crescent
    • Full moon
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6th grade Phases of the Moon worksheet – printable
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About this worksheet

Phases of the Moon. Every version has 10 questions, and the answer key prints on the second page.

What your child will learn

  • I can explain that the Sun always lights half the Moon, and a phase is how much of that half we see from Earth.
  • I can name all eight phases, in order, from a drawing or from the Moon's place in its orbit.
  • I can predict the phase days later, and when the Moon is up, using a cycle of about 29.5 days.

Standard: MS-ESS1-1

Words to know

phase: The shape of the lit part of the Moon that we see from Earth

orbit: The path the Moon takes around Earth

new moon: The phase when the lit half faces away from us, so we see no lit part

full moon: The phase when we see the whole lit half, a round bright face

first / third quarter: A quarter or three-quarters of the way around the orbit; half the face looks lit

crescent: Less than half the face lit, a thin curved sliver

gibbous: More than half the face lit, but not all of it

waxing / waning: Growing (lit on the right, from the US) / shrinking (lit on the left)

Common mistakes

Your child thought Earth's shadow makes the Moon's phases. Try shining a flashlight on a ball in a dim room and walking around it together: the half facing the light stays lit.

Your child thought the Moon makes its own light. Ask where moonlight starts, and point out that the Moon is lit only on the side facing the Sun.

Your child thought the far side of the Moon is always dark. Explain that the far side is the side we never see, and that it gets sunlight at new moon.

Questions parents ask

What is the most common mistake with phases of the moon?

Your child thought Earth's shadow makes the Moon's phases. Try shining a flashlight on a ball in a dim room and walking around it together: the half facing the light stays lit.

Are these 6th grade science worksheets free to print?

Yes. All 6 printable versions at each level are free to print, with the answer key, and no account is needed.

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