Time travel via the night sky

Every day for the past month, each fourth grader has observed the Moon in the sky, sketched how it appeared and jotted down notes about what they noticed.
 

After four weeks of solo observations, all forty-eight fourth graders came together tonight to observe the night sky together.
 

Their teacher set the context:

30,000 years ago, humans built their earliest calendars based on the lunar phases.
 

4,000 years ago, the Maya developed complex calendars based on careful lunar observations.

2,500 years ago, Greek astronomers like Pythagoras and Anaxagoras developed a working theory of the Moon’s changing appearance.
 

1,000 years ago, Persian scholar Al-Biruni used the study of the Moon as a springboard to demonstrate advanced math.

500 years ago, Galileo used detailed notes on the Moon as evidence that the sun is center of the solar system, an idea that caused him to be placed under house arrest for the rest of his life.
 

A month ago, Gordon’s fourth grade began observing the moon, and four weeks later, they are on the verge of reconstructing those 30,000 years of science.
 

In science class in the weeks ahead, these students will generate a more complete theory of light, shadow, orbits, rotations, dark sides and light sides.
 

But for tonight, they were simply enjoying the night sky, and participating in a tradition that stretches back to the dawn of humanity.
 

more photos and video from tonight

flashback to the 2024 night under the moon at https://ow.ly/xT0f50U89VJ
photos and video from 2023’s night at https://ow.ly/U36g50U84ye
another look at the lesson, from 2022, at https://ow.ly/yrQc50U84AW