Back to Asteroids – Unit 2: Planetary Geology
Asteroids – Unit 2 Lesson 2: Crater Formation
In this lesson: Students will examine and compare features of Earth and at least one other body in the solar system. Then, they will design and carry out experiments to try and recreate the features they see. They will use the observations from these experiments and other sources of information to make a claim about how the features on other solar system bodies formed.
Lesson level question: What forces form craters and how do craters change over time?
Engage
Students will examine photos of several craters on Earth and speculate on what the area looked like immediately before and after the impact.
Explore
Students will design and carry out investigations on the variables that affect the size and shape of impact craters and how those craters change over time.
Explain
Students will use their new learning to revisit and revise their work from “Engage.”
Elaborate
Students will apply what they have learned about the variables that affect craters to attempt to recreate the “snowman” feature on the asteroid.
Evaluate
Students will make a claim from evidence about the formation of the “snowman” feature on the asteroid.
Extend (optional)
Students will take a virtual tour of well known impact craters.