The MOON for Kids 🌙 🚀 Moon Phases, Tides, and Fun Facts About the Moon

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:02]Smile and learn.

[00:00:09]Oh no, help.

[00:00:13]The moon has disappeared.

[00:00:17]Take a deep breath, Smiley. The moon hasn't gone anywhere.

[00:00:22]It's still orbiting the Earth, but since it's a new moon, we can't see it.

[00:00:30]Thank goodness.

[00:00:32]But wait, new moon? What's that?

[00:00:38]It's one of the phases the moon goes through.

[00:00:42]Come with me and I'll explain them to you.

[00:00:45]First, we must understand that the moon is a natural satellite of the earth.

[00:00:51]This means the moon is a celestial body that constantly accompanies the earth revolving around it. This movement is known as revolution.

[00:01:05]But that's not the only movement the moon makes. It also spins on its own axis which we call rotation.

[00:01:23]The moon is very special.

[00:01:26]It takes practically the same amount of time to orbit the earth as it does to rotate on its own axis. This amazing synchronization between rotation and revolution means that [music] when we look at the moon from earth, it always shows us the same side.

[00:01:44]So there is a side of the moon that remains hidden from us.

[00:01:55]The phases of the moon.

[00:02:03]Did you know that although it seems to shine very brightly, the moon actually only reflects the light of the sun?

[00:02:13]Because of this sunlight and the movement of revolution and rotation, we see different parts of the moon illuminated at different times.

[00:02:24]These are the lunar phases. There are four, the new moon, waxing moon, full moon, and waning moon. Let's take a look at them.

[00:02:38]New moon When no part of the moon is visible like now, we call it a new moon.

[00:02:52]This happens when the sun, moon, and earth are almost aligned and the illuminated side of the moon faces the sun, not us.

[00:03:02]That's why we can't see it.

[00:03:09]waxing moon.

[00:03:16]A few days later, we begin to see an illuminated part.

[00:03:24]We call this phase the waxing moon.

[00:03:29]Look, it looks like a letter D, but only because we are in the northern hemisphere of the planet.

[00:03:38]If we are in the southern hemisphere, it looks like a letter C.

[00:03:47]>> Full moon.

[00:03:53]The moon continues to move around the Earth until it reaches the full moon phase, which is when we see it as completely round and very bright.

[00:04:08]In this phase, the earth is between the sun and the moon. [music] And as you can see, the sun illuminates its entire visible face.

[00:04:22]Waning moon.

[00:04:31]Finally, the waning moon arrives when the moon is finishing its journey around the Earth.

[00:04:39]In this phase, we see less light each night [music] because the sun illuminates only part of it.

[00:04:50]Look, since we are in the northern hemisphere, it now looks like a sea in the sky.

[00:05:00]People living in the southern hemisphere would see it as a D. It's [music] the opposite of the waxing moon.

[00:05:10]This cycle repeats itself over and over again every 29 1/2 days.

[00:05:19]Now you know it's not that the moon changes shape or that we don't see it in the sky. What changes is the amount of sunlight the moon reflects back to us.

[00:05:29]How about you try to identify what phase the moon is in when you look at the sky tonight. See you next time.

[00:05:44]Hey, be careful with that flashlight. If you point it at the telescope, I can't see anything.

[00:05:51]>> I didn't shine a flashlight at you, Smiley. It was the moon which is full tonight.

[00:06:05]But the moon does much more than light up our nights.

[00:06:09]Will you join me in exploring all the ways the moon influences our planet Earth?

[00:06:15]Let's get started.

[00:06:19]The moon's influence on Earth.

[00:06:32]The moon revolves around the Earth because of an invisible force called gravity.

[00:06:40]It's the same force that makes objects fall to the ground.

[00:06:46]And stops us from flying off into space.

[00:06:51]Gravity is like an invisible bond that connects bodies.

[00:06:57]The moon is much smaller than Earth, but it also has its own gravity, which can influence some of the things that happen on Earth, like the tides, its tilt, and the climate. Let's see how the tides The moon's gravity is so powerful that it stretches our planet, but it stretches the water in the oceans the most, like chewing gum.

[00:07:34]The planet and its water bulge or stretch toward the moon. At the same time, the moon's gravity pulls more strongly on the solid part of the Earth than on the water on the opposite side.

[00:07:47]This causes the water on that side to be left behind, forming the second bulge of water opposite the moon.

[00:08:00]Since the Earth constantly rotates on its own axis, different parts of the planet pass through these bulges at different times of the day.

[00:08:13]We call this constant rise and fall in sea level the tide.

[00:08:22]The tides change all the time and at different times of the day. This depends on the position of the moon, earth and the sun at that moment.

[00:08:35]Sometimes the sea level is higher and sometimes it is lower.

[00:08:40]You can see the difference in a matter of hours.

[00:08:48]I'm sure you've built a huge sand castle on the beach and when you come back later, it's gone.

[00:08:55]Or worse, there's a sad little pile of seaweed left.

[00:09:04]Don't think that someone destroyed it.

[00:09:06]It was the moon.

[00:09:08]Its gravity caused the tide to rise and washed away your hard work without warning.

[00:09:19]The tides also help to move and mix the ocean waters which distributes heat around the planet and keeps the coasts and marine ecosystems alive.

[00:09:33]The tides also influence the behavior of many animals, such as some crabs that come out to the beach to reproduce following the rhythm of the tides or corals that spawn on specific nights during different phases of the moon.

[00:09:52]tilt and climate.

[00:10:02]But the moon's influence doesn't end there. You probably know that our planet rotates at an angle of about 23.5°.

[00:10:15]The moon's gravity acts like an invisible hand that keeps that tilt stable.

[00:10:22]Without it, the Earth would move chaotically.

[00:10:30]Thanks to the moon, the tilt hardly changes [music] and the climate remains more stable and predictable since, [music] as you know, the Earth's tilt is what causes the seasons.

[00:10:48]Now you know that the moon does much more than light up our nights.

[00:10:52]Without it, the Earth would be a very different place.

[00:10:57]See you next time.

[00:11:00]The solar [music] system.

[00:11:04]Today we're on a trip to the moon.

[00:11:13]You are looking at the solar system. We are going to take a look at the moon. Do you want to come? It is the satellite that orbits around the Earth and we can see it in sky depending on its phases.

[00:11:25]Grab on. We're headed that way.

[00:11:31]>> We are now on the moon, the only natural satellite that belongs to the planet Earth. We always see the same side of the moon because it takes the same amount of time to rotate around itself as it does to orbit the Earth. On the moon, there are lots of craters made from meteor showers that crash against the surface. Be careful.

[00:11:55]Hello, Earthling. I welcome you to the moon. Life has never been found here, but we know that the force of its gravity allows for life on Earth.

[00:12:05]It is responsible for the tides that are on earth and without it the sea level would rise along the coasts.

[00:12:13]On the moon we can find a lot of minerals for example illmanite from which we can get oxygen.

[00:12:20]The moon is the only place outside of earth that man has visited. The first man on the moon was Neil Armstrong on the Apollo 11 mission in 1969.

[00:12:34]THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE MOON and the earth is 384,400 km. It's not that close, is it? Did you know that we can fit all the planets between them?

[00:12:47]Every year, the moon gets a little bit further away from the Earth. There is less gravity on the moon than on the Earth. Because of this difference, you have to jump to what? Like this.

[00:13:01]Did you like this quick trip around the moon? Now you can go back to Earth to share all the information that you've learned. Have a good trip.

[00:13:12]>> We've learned so much in just one video.

[00:13:16]Did you know there are many more videos?

[00:13:18]Imagine how much you could learn.

[00:13:21]Subscribe to the Smile and Learn educational channel to learn and have fun at the same time.