Phases of the moon

Kindergarten - Grade 3

Learning objectives 

• Cultural understanding: Students will develop an awareness and understanding of the cultural significance of Lunar New Year, exploring traditions, customs, and celebrations. This fosters appreciation for diversity and cultural heritage.
• Calendar awareness: Learn about the lunar calendar and how Lunar New Year is determined by the moon phases. Understand the concept of a lunar year as opposed to the solar calendar.
• Moon phases: Identifying Moon Phases: Students will recognize and differentiate between the various phases of the moon. This includes understanding concepts like new moon, crescent, gibbous, and full moon. Students will also learn about connections to Turtle Island and moon phases from an Indigenous perspective.
• Discussion and expression: Lead class discussions to allow students to express their understanding of lunar phases, fostering communication skills and critical thinking.

Curriculum fit 

Learning about the significance of Lunar New Year in different cultures and how our connection to land, sea, and sky connects the personal and social throughout different communities in British Columbia. 

Core Competencies

Personal and Social, Thinking

• Understanding relationships and cultural contexts.
• Building relationships. 
• Valuing Diversity
• Creating and Innovating

Social Studies

Big ideas

• Stories and traditions about ourselves and our families reflect who we are and where we are from.
• Healthy communities recognize and respect the diversity of individuals and care for the local environment.
• Canada is made up of many diverse regions and communities.
• Learning about Indigenous peoples nurtures multicultural awareness and respect for diversity.
• People from diverse cultures and societies share some common experiences and aspects of life.

Curricular competencies

• Use Social Studies inquiry processes and skills to ask questions; gather, interpret, and analyze ideas; and communicate findings and decisions
  • Contribute to a class collection of information on a common topic.
  • Collect information from personal experiences, oral sources, and visual representations.
• Explain the significance of personal or local events, objects, people, or places
  • Research the history of a significant event or person in the history of your community.
• Explore different perspectives on people, places, issues, or events in their lives (perspective)
• Explain why people’s beliefs, values, worldviews, experiences, and roles give them different perspectives on people, places, issues, or events

Science

Big ideas

• Plants and animals have observable features
• Observable patterns and cycles occur in the local sky and landscape.
• Wind, water, and ice change the shape of the land.

Curricular competencies

• Demonstrate curiosity and a sense of wonder about the world
• Recognize First Peoples stories (including oral and written narratives), songs, and art, as ways to share knowledge
• Identify simple patterns and connections
• Make predictions based on prior knowledge
• Identify First Peoples perspectives and knowledge as sources of information

Assessments

• Assess students’ cultural understanding of Lunar New Year and the connections between Indigenous and Chinese Communities in B.C.
• Assess students’ understanding of the phases of the moon based on correct identification for some phases. 
• Assess students’ understanding of the significance of Lunar New Year through discussions and questions.

What is Lunar New Year?

Lunar New Year, also known as the Chinese New Year or the Spring Festival, is a traditional festival celebrated by various East Asian cultures. Its origins date back thousands of years and are steeped in legends. One such legend involves the mythical beast Nian (traditional Chinese: 年獸; simplified Chinese: 年兽, pinyin: nián shòu), which would attack villages at the start of the new year. To ward off Nian, people began using loud noises like firecrackers, bright lights, and the color red – traditions that continue in modern celebrations. 

You can click on this link for video story of Nian (Source: The Little Genius Workshop).

The festival is based on the lunar calendar, with the date varying each year. It marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring, symbolizing renewal and the start of a new agricultural cycle. Traditional customs include family reunions, feasts, dragon and lion dances, fireworks, and the giving of red envelopes (hongbao) containing money for good luck.

Refer to this video to learn more about Lunar New Year (Source: Scholastic).

How do different ethnic cultures celebrate Lunar New Year?

• Chinese Lunar New Year: Celebrated with family reunions, feasts, dragon and lion dances, fireworks, and red envelope (hongbao) exchanges for good luck.
• Korean Seollal: Emphasizes ancestral rituals, with families paying respects to ancestors through ceremonies, traditional foods, and games.
• Vietnamese Tết: Celebrated over three days, featuring family gatherings, special foods, and the custom of giving and receiving li xi (red envelopes) for good luck.
• Malaysian and Singaporean celebrations: Festive activities include family feasts, cultural performances, dragon dances, and flower markets.
• Japanese celebration: Japanese communities with Chinese cultural influence may observe Lunar New Year with customs like lion dances and festive meals.
• Thai New Year (Songkran): Celebrated in mid-April, Songkran involves water fights, cleaning rituals, and paying respects to elders, symbolizing purification and renewal.
• Filipino-Chinese celebration: Blends Filipino and Chinese traditions, including dragon dances, family feasts, and red decorations. 

When does Lunar New Year take place?

Lunar New Year, commonly known as Chinese New Year, falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice. The exact date varies each year, typically occurring between January 21 and February 20 on the Gregorian calendar. In 2023, for example, Lunar New Year was celebrated on January 22. In 2024, Lunar New Year is celebrated on February 10th and marks the beginning of the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese Zodiac. You can click on this link to learn about the story of the Zodiac animals (Source: Panda Express TV).

What do families do for Lunar New Year celebrations?

• Cleaning and decorating
• Family reunion dinner or feast
• Wearing red: (red is a prominent color symbolizing luck and prosperity)
• Offering to ancestors
• Firecrackers and lion dances

Who is Elder Larry Grant?

Elder Larry Grant is a Musqueam and Chinese-Canadian elder known for his significant contributions to the promotion of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ language and its cultural value. Born and raised in Musqueam traditional territory, he has served as an educator, adjunct professor, mechanic, and longshoreman. After retiring, Grant dedicated his life to preserving and sharing the knowledge of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ language, making a substantial impact on cultural awareness and heritage preservation.

As the Elder-in-Residence at the UBC First Nations House of Learning and an adjunct professor with the UBC First Nations Endangered Language Program, Larry Grant continues to play a crucial role in fostering cultural understanding and linguistic revitalization.

His mixed Chinese and Musqueam ancestry, along with his upbringing in Musqueam traditional territory, reflects his unique background and positions him as a notable figure in the preservation and celebration of Indigenous language and culture in British Columbia.

“All Our Father's Relations" is a documentary that beautifully unfolds the unique story of the Grant siblings, connecting Musqueam Indigenous heritage with their Chinese roots. This engaging tale explores personal history and highlights the broader connections between Chinese and Indigenous communities in British Columbia. It also shares how Indigenous and Chinese communities shared history of discrimination and racism in Canada.

What is the connection between Indigenous and Chinese communities in British Columbia? 

• The relationship between First Nations people and Chinese immigrants in British Columbia has a long history, dating back to before B.C. joined Confederation.
• Chinese and Indigenous populations played significant roles in British Columbia, as depicted in the short film "1788", exploring their historical relations in the region.
• Shared history tours aim to educate Canadians about the intertwined history of Indigenous and Chinese communities in British Columbia, highlighting the province's development.
• Chinese workers arrived in Nuu-chah-nulth territory in 1788 as part of Captain John Meares' expedition, and were forced to help build the non-Indigenous settlement of the region.
• Early Chinese immigrants and First Nations people developed relationships in British Columbia from 1858 to 1947, forming connections that are often overlooked in history.

How do lunar phases relate to Indigenous communities? 

The moon phases hold cultural and spiritual significance for different Indigenous groups, such as the Ininew (Cree), Saanich, and Gitxsan, and have unique perspectives and teachings related to the Moon. According to Wilfred Buck, Researcher and Knowledge Keeper from the Opaskwayak Cree Nation mentions that the Moon symbolizes the passage of time. Climate, animals, plants, and temperatures follow the pattern and cycle of the moon. (Reference: Canadian Space Agency)

• Ininew (Cree) Perspective: Indigenous stories about the Moon from an Ininew perspective contribute to a unique cultural understanding of the Moon within their community.
• Saanich Perspective: The Saanich people follow a calendar based on the 13 moons, connecting their year to the cycles of the moon and the natural environment. Click on the link for more information on Saanich Year and lunar cycles.
• Gitxsan Perspective: The Gitxsan people incorporate predictable cycles of day and night, tides, moon phases, seasons, and species growth into their cultural practices and understanding of resilience.  They recognize 13 moons or months and are divided into the four seasons. Lear more about Gitxsan Moons from Canadian Climate Institute.