I begin the demonstration with the Earth on the side of the hoop closest to the students. The student
holding the hoop stands to one side, usually to my right as I face the class. I orient the Moon’s orbit hoop
such that the Moon is in a new moon phase but below the plane of the Earth’s orbit (Figure 2). While
maintaining the orientation and inclination of the Moon’s orbit hoop, I rotate the Moon’s hoop until the
Moon is in a full moon phase; the Moon now is above the plane of the Earth’s orbit (Figure 3). As I
perform this part of the demonstration, I explain that for both phases, eclipses will not be possible because
the Moon is either above or below the Earth. Therefore, the Moon’s shadow will not fall on the Earth, in
the case of a solar eclipse, nor will the Moon pass into the Earth’s shadow, in the case of a lunar eclipse.