Materials:

About this Activity:

Procedure:

1. Have students observe the image on craters. This image is of the far side of the moon, near the equator.

   

   Once students have observed the image have them brainstorm on what they think caused the formation of the craters. List their ideas on the chalkboard. Discuss their responses to the brainstorming question. In addition you can have students formulate their own questions on craters after observing the image on craters.

2. Divide students into laboratory groups.

3. Pass out an aluminum pie pan, flour or cornstarch and plastic beads (optional) to each laboratory group.

4. Explain to each group that they will be making craters. Instead of telling students what to do, you can give students the problem and have them develop their own model on how they think craters are made.

5. Have students fill the pie pan about half full of flour or cornstarch so it is level. Using the beads to represent meteorites, have students experiment with the size of the meteorites and the distance the beads are dropped into the surface of flour which represents the surface of a particular body. If students do not have beads of various sizes to work with, have them use flour or cornstarch rolled into a ball using some water to hold it together.

6. To check students' understanding of the investigation have students answer the following questions:
   • What makes the difference in the shape or size of the crater?

   • Do all of the craters you made look alike? Explain.

   • After doing this investigation how do you think craters form? How did you arrive at your answer?

7. Use the hand-out on the possible origins of craters to explain to your students how it is thought that craters formed. Use the background information for any additional information you might need.
   
   
   
   

   ---

   Return to the lesson

   ---

   No Frames Table of Contents

   ---

   Contact Karen Krupinsky (kgurley@gsfc.nasa.gov) or Tammy Seergae (tseergae@umd.edu) for further information.