Do you really know the moon?

Ravi’s father observed the shape of the moon at three different times on one night at about 8 PM, 10 PM and 1 AM. Which of these could be the correct set of figures?

Option	Percent Chosen
	43.3%
	13.2%
	8.4%
	33.5%
Invalid	0.2%
Blank	1.3%

Number Of Students Attempted: 3302
Have you “Observed” the moon during a particular night? How does it appear? “Moon” is the earth’s only natural satellite. When we see the “Moon”, anywhere from the earth, we “Observe” its shape and its colour and also the lighter and darker coloured areas which create different patterns. Craters and mountain chains are also prominent features of the moon. The first leap in the “Lunar Observation” was caused by the invention of the telescope. Especially, Galileo Gaillei made good use of this new instrument and observed mountains and craters on the moons surface.For more details refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon#Observation_of_the_Moon

In the above question a child is asked to identify the shape of the moon at different times during a given night. A scientific fact is that the shape of the moon depends on its phase and remains the same through the night, everywhere in the world.

A child might not know this scientific fact or might not know the reason behind it. This question simply tests the level of a child’s observation. Observation is an act of noting and recording something, not only the general aspects of the object or a person but also important details about them, such as a phenomenon. Observation is a critical skill which can be very useful in our daily lives. However, it is not a hard skill and can be emphasized in textbooks and can be taught in class. But it becomes quite difficult to test this skill in an exam and for these reasons this skill is often neglected.

However, the skill of observation is an important one, both for a scientist as well as for a common man. Careful observation forms the basis of almost all scientific work and experimentation, and for this reason questions in ASSET, from time to time, check the general observation skills of children. There are different ways to develop and improve observational skills. Activities such as nature walks, developing astronomy as a hobby, some simple physical activities, analyzing paintings etc. require a child to pay attention to minute details and would facilitate observation. In fact Richard Feynman, the famous Nobel Prize winner has given a lot of importance to the skill of observation. For more details refer to http://www.feynmanonline.com/

As seen in the question, only 43% of the students seem to know that the shape of the moon does not change through the night.