Cultural Perspectives on the Moon:
In the Native American culture, the Moon plays a central role and is held in the highest regard.
In one legend, The Twelve Great Paths of the Moon, it is thought that “Father Sky” and “Mother Earth” fell in love and created the Moon. As the Moon grew bigger and bigger, the “Sun Dogs” took turns biting it until it formed a crescent shape. “Spirit Walker” was concerned about the Moon and asked the two and four legged creatures to dance around the Moon. She began to grow until she had a full and happy face. The “Sun Dogs” came back and chewed on her until she became a crescent shape again. This cycle explains the phases of the Moon. Each of the twelve Moons is given a name which has its own legend and signifies the months of the year.
In other Native American legends, it is believed that the “Great Spirit” sent “Grandmother Moon” to watch over the children of the Earth. Her spirit is seen as the leader of the females. Grandmother Moon is thought to have connections to the intuitive parts of life. Her messages are believed to be the strongest when there is a Full Moon. Ceremonies and rituals are conducted during each month at the Full Moon to ask Grandmother Moon for guidance.
The Chinese culture is steeped in tradition. At the core of that tradition lies the Moon. The Chinese calendar is centered around the Moon. The beginning of the month is aligned with the New Moon and the Full Moon is in the center of the month. The Moon is associated with the feminine and is called Yin symbolizing beauty and elegance. The Chinese Moon Festival – the Autumn Festival – is one of the most important traditions for China. This festival focuses on friendship, family reunions, and romance. Many legends are associated with this festival. One of the traditions of the festival is to eat mooncakes which are a Chinese pastry.
http://www.familyculture.com/holidays/augustmoonfest.htm; http://chineseculture.about.com/library/weekly/aa093097.htm; http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/articles/china/chinese-moon-symbols/1610
Historical Events Integration:
There are many opportunities to integrate the “Science” of observing the Moon with Social Studies. Engaging students in research opportunities related to the Apollo mission is a prime place to start. There were 17 Apollo missions any of which could be investigated. In particular, the Apollo 11 mission when Americans were the first to step foot on the Moon would be an obvious topic worthy of covering. The class could be divided into groups and each given a particular mission/missions to study creating a presentation for the class. By the end of the presentations, the entire class could know about all of the missions. I believe it would be important to additionally address the view that the world had about Neil Armstrong’s historic landing. Many believed that it was all a big hoax and still do today. Students could also research the Lunar Module that carried astronauts from the space craft to the Moon itself as well as the Saturn V rocket.
With Huntsville so close by, I also see potential for conducting a possible field trip. Our proximity to a place that was directly involved during this monumental time in space exploration is exciting, and we should take full advantage of that. There may be opportunities to get a guest speaker involved with NASA during that time to come and talk to the students. Students could also interview their parents and grandparents about what they remember about the Apollo missions and their thoughts about landing on the Moon.
