Transcript Craters and their formation—An Inquiry based project

Craters and their
formation—An Inquiry
based project
Bill Lammela
What do you know about the
moon?
What do you see?
Earth
Mars
Are all craters the same?
What is different? Why?
What might cause differences
between the craters on the moon?
Let’s try it!
•
Fill pan 2-3 cm with play
sand
•
Sprinkle with paprika
•
Drop an object from
directly above and a
distance of 10 cm.
•
Observe and measure
as you can
How can we study one “variable”
involved in crater formation?
•
Develop an hypothesis
•
Plan Experiment
•
Plan how to record and organize data
•
Go do it!
How to organize data?
How to visualize data?
Conclusions and Reflections
What did the data tell you?
What questions still remain?
Extensions?
How to incorporate into your classes?
References
•
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/EPO/explore/crater
s.pdf (A great resource with pictures of craters, a
modified version of this activity, list of pertinent
videos and resources).
•
webs.wichita.edu/lapo/o30.html. (A similar activity to
this one with household materials. Some student
questions with teacher’s answers included).
•
http://education.gsfc.nasa.gov/experimental/all98invP
roject.Site/Pages/bolivia-webpage/crater.html.
(Another NASA site with a variety of activities related
to craters and meteors).