Welcome Students!
Impact Craters! moon
What is a Crater? Left: Craters on the moon Right: Smiley Face Crater on Mars
Crater: is bowl-shaped hole that is formed when an object hits the surface of a planet Crater on Earth
Some craters on Earth are created by volcanoes Volcanic crater in Hawaii
What Causes Impact Craters?
Meteorites! Meteorite: is an object from space that hits the surface of a planet usually rock or metal Different types of meteorites found on Earth
Have you ever seen a shooting star? While still in the air, shooting stars are called meteors
Why are craters different sizes? Craters on the moon
The size of the crater depends on: the size of the meteor the speed of the meteor Which ones will make larger craters? Smaller craters? Larger craters Meteorites found on Earth Smaller craters
What makes some go faster? Gravity! Simplified: gravity makes larger meteorites go faster, so they hit harder More: The equation for the force of gravity is F=m*a Where F=force of gravity on an object M=mass of object a= acceleration due to gravity Therefore, an object with a larger mass will have a greater force applied too it by gravity causing its velocity to increase more rapidly. This increases its kinetic energy (KE= .5*m*v^2), so that when it hits it releases more energy than a smaller object would upon impact.
What are the parts of a crater? Wall Diameter Floor Raised Rim
Impact Craters on Earth Upper Left: Spider Crater in Australia, diameter: 13 km, age: more than 570 Million years Upper Right: Barringer Crater in Arizona, diameter: 1.2 km, Age: 49,000 Years Lower Left: Lonar Crater in India, Diameter: 1.8 km, Age: 52,000 years Lower Right: Tswaing Crater in South Africa, Diameter: 1.1 km, Age: 200,000 years
Why does the Earth look so different from the moon? The Earth has an atmosphere Meteorites burn up before they hit Erosion from wind and rain
No atmosphere means craters don’t go away
The Activity Measure height of the ball above the flour pan Height
Gently drop, don’t throw, the ball into the pan Flour Pan
Carefully take the ball out of the pan Measure the diameter of the crater left by the ball Diameter
Diameter of Crater in Centimeters 8.5 8 7.5 7 6.5 6 5.5 5 4.5 4 Diameter in Centimeters Drop 1 Drop 2 Drop 3 Drop 4 Drop 5 Record your results Drop again from a different height Graph your results
A hypothesis is a guess of what will happen in an experiment Write a Hypothesis A hypothesis is a guess of what will happen in an experiment
Drop
How do we know what the Moon is made of? Probes/Astronauts Spectroscopy Core Samples
First draw a picture of your sample and record observations Core Sample Activity First draw a picture of your sample and record observations
Next take your core sample by gently pressing your straw through your sample
Now squeeze out your core sample, draw a picture of it, and write down what you observe
Cut open your sample to observe the layers
Compare your sample to the knowns and determine what type of sample it is
Did you Know? Astronauts took core samples of the moon! This is a picture of Buzz Aldrin taking a core sample of the Moon during the Apollo 11 Mission