Phases, eclipses and tides

Tests: 5 of 12 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: ★★ · Understood: 11 of 16 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 7 of the space course of Mova's primary school, as Mova's small model took its tests: it had read this lesson and the ones before it and learned from their exercises. Each test shows the options in the order the student saw them, its choice, the right answer, the score of every option and why it chose. The lesson itself, sentence by sentence with trees and pragmatics: the lesson in the corpora.

Every question of this lesson and each of its options parsed by Mova, with trees and pragmatics: the lesson's questions in the corpora.

Test 1 · ★★ · wrong ✗

teacher drew the phases as the Earth's shadow creeping over the Moon. is that right??

1. Yes, but only for the full Moon — ← Mova's choice · score 4
2. No, phases come from seeing more or less of the Moon's sunlit half — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. No, phases are caused by clouds — score 1
4. Yes, that is exactly how phases work — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 4, against 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 7, line 11: «A lunar eclipse happens at full Moon when the Earth's shadow falls on the Moon, often turning it a coppery red.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same place «full moon» (+2); the same property (+2). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · ★★ · right ✓

Your friend says there's a solar eclipse at full Moon tonight. What is wrong?

1. Solar eclipses happen only at midnight — score 7
2. Eclipses happen only in winter — score 7
3. Nothing, solar eclipses happen at full Moon — score 4
4. A solar eclipse can happen only at new Moon — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 10

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 10, against 7 for the next best. Its support: lesson 7, line 2: «The phases are not the Earth's shadow; the Earth's shadow touches the Moon only in a lunar eclipse, which happens at full Moon and can turn it coppery red.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «lunar eclipse» (+4); the same action «happen» (+3); the same place «full moon» (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · ★★ · right ✓

The Moon looked like a thin smile lit on the right last night in Manchester. What will it do over the next week?

1. Shrink, because it is waning — score 5
2. Disappear and never come back — no support
3. Stay the same for a month — no support
4. Grow, because it is waxing — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 14

Why: It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 4 with score 14, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 7, line 8: «A growing Moon is waxing and a shrinking one is waning, and from Britain a waxing Moon is lit on its right side.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+6); the same action «wax» (+4); the same doer «growing moon» (+4). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · ★★ · wrong ✗

Harry plans to watch the eclipse with his mum's dark sunglasses. What should you tell him?

1. Sunglasses are fine for a partial eclipse — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Fine, if he looks only for a minute — no support
3. Not to: only proper eclipse glasses or a pinhole projector are safe — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. That is fine if he blinks a lot — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · ★★ · wrong ✗

If the Moon's orbit were not tilted at all, what would happen?

1. There would be no phases — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. There would be no tides — no support
3. There would be no eclipses at all, not ever again, anywhere on Earth — no support
4. There would be a solar and a lunar eclipse every month — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · ★★ · wrong ✗

Why can a Moon in a lunar eclipse look red instead of disappearing?

1. The Moon heats up and glows red — ← Mova's choice · score 6
2. Sunlight bent through the Earth's air reaches it, like sunsets — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. The Moon's volcanoes erupt during eclipses — no support
4. Mars shines its red light on it — score 2

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 1 with score 6, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 6, line 17: «The Moon makes no light of its own; it shines by reflecting sunlight.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «shine» (+3); the same doer «moon» (+3). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · ★★ · right ✓

Gran: "It's March, so we'll get spring tides at the beach." What is the truth?

1. Spring tides are another word for floods — no support
2. She is right, spring tides come only in spring — no support
3. Spring tides come at every new and full Moon, all year round — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
4. Spring tides come only in March — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 7, line 16: «Spring tides, with the biggest range, happen at new and full Moon, and neap tides, with the smallest range, at the quarter Moons.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «spring tides» (+4); the same place «new moon» (+3). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · ★★ · right ✓

You go rockpooling at the Bristol Channel at a full Moon. What tide range should you expect?

1. No tide at all — score 6
2. A very big one, because it is a spring tide — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
3. The same as on any other day — no support
4. A very small one, because it is a neap tide — score 8

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 with score 8, tied with another option at 8 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 7, line 16: «Spring tides, with the biggest range, happen at new and full Moon, and neap tides, with the smallest range, at the quarter Moons.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+6); the same thing acted on «neap tides» (+4). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · ★★ · wrong ✗

A cartoon shows the sea going in only once a month. What is right?

1. Once a month is right — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Only when it is windy — no support
3. Most coasts have two high tides roughly every day — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Once a year only, in the summer, when the sea is at its warmest — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · ★★ · right ✓

In a lunar eclipse, where is the Earth?

1. Between the Sun and the Moon — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 14
2. Behind the Moon — score 4
3. On the far side of the Sun, hidden — score 3
4. Between the Moon and Mars — score 4

Why: It took the question to ask where. It chose option 1 with score 14, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 5, line 9: «The Earth spins once in about 24 hours, giving day and night, and goes round the Sun in about 365.25 days.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+6); the same doer «earth» (+4); the same place «sun» (+4). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · ★★ · wrong ✗

The Moon is 400 times smaller than the Sun but about 400 times closer. What does this neat coincidence allow?

1. The Moon can just cover the Sun in a total solar eclipse — ✓ the right answer · score 5
2. The Moon is the same size as the Sun — ← Mova's choice · score 9
3. The Moon can block the Earth's shadow from ever reaching the Sun — score 4
4. The Moon makes its own light — score 6

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 with score 9, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 7, line 10: «A solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth and blocks the Sun's light, which can happen only at new Moon.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «moon» (+5); the same circumstance (+4). The right option, 1, scored 5. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 12 · ★★ · wrong ✗

mum: "tide's out, the Moon's not even up, so how's it the Moon's doing??" Best answer?

1. It is the Sun's heat drawing water away — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Then it must be the wind doing it — no support
3. Tides stop when the Moon has set — no support
4. The Moon's pull works all the time, whether or not you can see it — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗

Identify the cause of the phases of the Moon.

1. The varying proportion of the sunlit hemisphere visible from the Earth — ✓ the right answer · no support
2. The progressive encroachment of the Earth's shadow — ← Mova's choice · score 4
3. The periodic obscuration of the Moon by clouds — no support
4. The variation in the light emitted by the Moon — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 7, line 9: «The phases are not caused by the Earth's shadow; this is a common mistake.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «shadow» (+2); the same doer «earth» (+2). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · right ✓

Ascertain the phase of the Moon at which a solar eclipse may occur.

1. Last quarter — no support
2. First quarter — no support
3. New Moon — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
4. Full Moon — score 4

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 6, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 7, line 3: «In a solar eclipse the Moon slides between us and the Sun at new Moon and covers it; because the Moon's path is tilted, this does not happen every month.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «moon» (+4); the same property (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 3 · formal language · wrong ✗

State the principal reason for which eclipses do not occur in every lunar month.

1. The Sun moves out of alignment each week — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The Moon is of insufficient size in most months — no support
3. The orbit of the Moon is inclined by some five degrees to that of the Earth — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. The Earth rotates too rapidly for alignment — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises spring tides?

1. Tides caused principally by the action of the wind — score 7
2. Tides occurring solely in the season of spring — ← Mova's choice · score 12
3. Tides of least range, occurring at the quarter Moons in every month of the year — score 5
4. Tides of greatest range, occurring at new and full Moon throughout the year — ✓ the right answer · score 5

Why: It took the question to ask who or what does it. It chose option 2 with score 12, against 7 for the next best. Its support: lesson 7, line 16: «Spring tides, with the biggest range, happen at new and full Moon, and neap tides, with the smallest range, at the quarter Moons.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+5); the same action «happen» (+4); the same doer «spring tides» (+3). The right option, 4, scored 5. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/space/7-phases-eclipses-and-tides/