The Dark Side

Simulate and study the patterns of the sky! The Dark Side will help any young astronomer learn and observe patterns in nature happening both here on Earth and to our galaxy.

In this earth and space science curriculum kit, students will create their own constellation, sketch the sky, and observe unusual traits the Moon has. Students will use these hands-on science experiments to delve into the patterns of the stars, Earth, and Moon. The Dark Side comes with a full-color Student Workbook and Teacher Guide. This kit contains activities and information that focuses on the phenomenon of tidal locking.

As part of a special program from Home Science Tools, this Accelerate level kit will provide over 9 hours of knowledge, educating your student about tidal locking and other patterns in space.

In this kit, the student will partake in these fun activities:

1. Observe unusual traits the moon has.
2. Create a miniature Earth-Moon-Sun system.
3. Connect the patterns of the sky to Earth.
4. Sketch the sky to learn more about the stars.
5. Make your own constellation!

Use The Dark Side to answer questions such as:

• What is tidal locking?
• How does the Earth-Moon-Sun system impact the Earth’s patterns?
• Is there a dark side of the moon?
• How are orbits and rotations impacted by other celestial bodies?

The Dark Side kit is a part of the Science Unlocked Accelerate series and is recommended for elementary and middle school students in grades 3-7.

Interested in learning more? Check out our Student Workbook Sample and Teacher Guide Sample!

More Information

• On page 7 of the Student Workbook, the football field fact should be the Sun is the size of a football.
• On page 8 of the Student Workbook, it takes the moon four weeks, not four months, to orbit Earth.
• On page 9 of the Teacher Guide, the student answer for Question 3 should be First Quarter, not New Moon.

This kit contains:

• 4 AA Batteries
• 1 Battery Holder
• 1 Black Construction Paper
• 1 Blue Construction Paper
• 3 Brass Brads
• 1 Conductive Tape
• 4 Crayons
• 1 Drawing Paper
• 1 PVC pipe 
• 1 Chalk
• 1 Star and Planet Locator
• 1 Tape Measure
• 1 Yellow Construction Paper
• 1 White Construction Paper
• 5 White LEDs
• 1 Wooden Base

You will also need:

• Scissors

• Learning outcome: It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s the Moon! Observe and test patterns in the night sky and on Earth to learn about some of our closest celestial bodies, including the Earth.
• NGSS science standards alignment

• 5-ESS1-1 Support an argument that differences in the apparent brightness of the sun compared to other stars is due to their relative distances from Earth.
• 5-ESS1-2 Represent data in graphical displays to reveal patterns of daily changes in length and direction of shadows, day and night, and the seasonal appearance of some stars in the night sky.
• MS-ESS1-1 Develop and use a model of the Earth-sun-moon system to describe the cyclic patterns of lunar phases, eclipses of the sun and moon, and seasons.