Who is Earth's Moon?

Earth's Moon is like Earth’s best friend who always stays close and helps make things interesting.

The Moon is a big rock that orbits around Earth, just like how your toy car goes around you when you push it in a circle. It doesn’t have lights inside, but it reflects the light from the Sun, which is why we can see it at night. Sometimes it looks full and bright, sometimes it’s only a sliver, like a tiny piece of cheese.

The Moon is about as big as the Pacific Ocean, or more than 200 times bigger than the biggest lake you’ve ever seen! It's not as huge as Earth, but it's still pretty impressive. You could fit the Moon inside Earth like a tiny marble inside a big globe.

The Moon helps control the tides of the ocean, kind of like how your friend helps you balance on a seesaw. Without the Moon, the oceans would be calmer, but with it, we get fun waves and high tides that help fish swim and ships sail.