Why do people say the moon is made from cheese?
Have you ever learned about myths?
A myth is like a story that gets passed along over time. Most myths are stories that are meant to teach a lesson or explain a phenomenon. Many myths began from things that people couldn't explain through technology or science!
The idea that the moon is made from cheese is a good example of a myth! Most people agree that this was a pretty silly myth that most people didn't believe, even when it first began, but without being able to know what the moon was truly made of, lots of people just said it was made from cheese,
instead! The reason people said the moon was made from cheese mostly has to do with how the moon looks. The shadows of the moon's craters look like the texture or holes in certain kinds of cheese. Cheese also usually comes in big round cheese-wheels, and the moon is the very same shape! Plus, the creamy white color of the moon is a lot like the color of many cheeses! No one knows for sure exactly when this myth began, but some researchers have evidence of it dating back at least 500 years! In reality, the samples of moon-soil that have been collected by space programs have shown that it's actually made up of a combination of things such as oxygen, silicon, iron, calcium, magnesium, and more!
by Mya Kagan (Whyzz writer)
Exploration
Myths and stories!
What are some other myths you've learned about, and what was it that they tried to explain? For example, have you learned about any other myths that were meant to explain things about the sun or the stars or the moon? What about myths that tried to explain the weather?Try making up your own myth about something wondrous that you'd want to explain if you weren't able to know the facts or the science behind it!
Sources
Moon composition and resources. NASA/UNCF . Northeastern Illinois UniversityNemiroff, Robert and Jerry Bonnell. Astronomy Picture of the Day. 01 April 2002. National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationDon't miss...
