The Magic Blue Moon in Sciences Education : resources

credits: Elephant Journal

Blue moon,
You saw me standing alone,
Without a dream in my heart,
Without a love of my own.

Elvis Presley

Wow! Blue Moon!  A nice way to start my post listening Blue Moon.

Do you know Elvis Presley? No? He ushered in a whole new era of American music and popular culture.

And why listening Blue Moon? Ya, on Friday, July 31 2015, much of the world will have the opportunity to observe a Blue Moon: A somewhat rare occurrence that doesn't have anything to do with the moon's color.

"The expression "once in a blue moon" has a long history of being used to describe rare events; but it was also used in the Maine Farmers' Almanac to describe the third full moon in a season that has four (normally, a three-month season will only have three full moons)."

The full moon on July 31 occurs at exactly 6:43 a.m. EDT (10:43 GMT), 11.43AM (GMT) in Portugal.

So, when you look at the Blue Moon this Friday morning, don't expect to see a different color scheme (although it is possible for the moon to appear to have a bluish hue). 

Just be aware that the so-called Blue Moon is a by product of the contrast between the calendar month and the lunar month.

credits : Dreamtimes

• Let's learn about Blue Moon:

The full moon on July 31 is referred to as a Blue Moon, because it was preceded by the full moon on July 2. By this definition, a Blue Moon occurs roughly once every 2.7 years.

During most years, the Earth experiences 12 full moons, one in each month. But some years, such as 2015, have 13 full moons, and one of those "extra" lunar displays gets the label of Blue Moon.

When was the last Blue Moon, according to the monthly definition? It happened on August 31, 2012. The next will be January 2018.

• The list of full-moon dates in 2015: 

Jan. 5, Feb. 3, March 5, April 4, May 4, June 2, July 2, July 31, Aug. 29, Sept. 28, Oct. 27, Nov. 25 and Dec. 25. 

In 2016, the first full moon falls on Jan. 23, and each calendar month has only one full moon.

Infographic Blue Moon August 2012

via ISpace.com

The moon can sometimes appear reddish, especially during eclipses. But what we call a Blue Moon has nothing to do with its color. 

Thought to be called "blue" after an old English term meaning "betrayer," a Blue Moon is an extra full moon that occurs in that span, due to a quirk of the calendar. 

Occasionally two full moons will fall within the same month. The second full moon is also often called a Blue Moon, but this is not the term's original meaning.

The moon can actually appear blue under certain circumstances, such as when ash is present in the atmosphere from fires or volcanic eruptions. This type of Blue Moon cannot be predicted in advance, however.

Magic Blue Moon

credits: Elephant Journal

• Blue Moon and spiritual way:

Full moons are always energetically powerful, deeply creative and also intensely magical times.

All full moons bring us in touch with our emotions, our sensitivities and our inner-selves. We all feel different on a full moon night.

"When we are in tune with the natural energetic currents of nature, we can combine our own energy forces so that we have an extra surge, which helps to push us in the right direction.

This blue moon is a powerful one and it is signaling that it is time for us to take control and take the power back from areas of our lives that have been roaming free and taking us down a road that lead to nowhere."

Alex Miles, spiritual coach

We will meet with certain issues that have been haunting us face-to-face and rather than being fearful, we should see this as an excellent chance for growth and transformation.

We will be seeing ourselves in a new light and this will mean we will question everything around us. That's good.

"If we take a deep breath and head off on this once in a blue moon journey, we will soon find that the people and situations that do not offer mutual love, support and acceptance will gently drop by the wayside and this will leave an abundance of space for new, interesting and exciting people or opportunities to take their place."

Alex Miles

This blue moon is our time where we can all take the opportunity to be illuminated as brightly as the moon so that we can be energised, radiate and glow.

All we need to do is to listen to our intuition, pay very close attention, hear every word that it is saying to us and with every ounce of strength we can gather we must put everything we have into making these dreams a reality.

Oh! So good the spiritually from the Blue Moon in our life. Well, let's be open mind to appreciate all the good things that it can be brought to us.

https://en.es-static.us/

Education :

And then there suddenly appeared before me
The only one my arms will hold
I heard somebody whisper "please adore me"
And when I looked, the moon had turned to 

Rod Stewart

And Rod Stewart do you know him? The rock star of the 70's/80's? I love him. He always on the road.

The Blue Moon is really magic. Ya! Students love this kind of mysterious stories, legendary traditions. 

Summer break continues. Schools are closed in the most part of European countries, as well in North America, Australia, and most countries all over the world. 

However, teachers are in touch with students via social networks such as Facebook Twitter, Instagram. Even via personal blogs for students or school website.

So teachers, invite your students to join astronomers on NASA Television or skywatchers at national observatories of Astronomy, observing the blue moon this morning.

credits: Patrick Casaert

https://earthsky.org/

However, for much of North America skywatchers the moon will turn precisely full before sunrise on July 31. In Portugal at 11:43AM (GMT).

Oh, my ! It should offer some pretty photo opportunities for skywatchers. Ask students to take some photos if they are lucky or do small videos (some seconds) with their smartphones and tablets to explore in Science classroom next school year, very near to some of us.

After Summer break, teachers and students can present their material and debate their experiences. It will be good.

And remember: no matter what has come in or out of our lives in the past few years, once in a while we are given the chance to have everything we’ve always wanted. We just have to make the choice now to not let it go. Because certain chances only come around once in a blue moon.

Hope you will enjoy to be a skywatcher tomorrow, July 31, August 2 admiring the beauty of this awesome scientific event. And of course with an open mind to the magic of the moment not only in the sky, also into aour life.

Blue moon!
Now I'm no longer alone
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own.


Lyrics Hart, Lorenz / Rodgers, Richard


I can't stop listening Blue Moon. Hope you will enjoy to admire the beauty of this scientific event. 

G-Souto

31.07.2015

Copyright © 2015G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®

The Magic Blue Moon in Sciences Education by G-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Sources : 

video: Natural History Museum

Space.com

Earth Sky

The Elephant journal (mindful life)