teaching

In this activity you will track a meteor’s path using a technique known as triangulation which can be used to measure the direction to an object from two known locations. From this you can predict where the meteorites might be found.

There are 2 parts to this activity which should both be carried out prior to the Deep Impact mission. The aim of this activity is to learn about the specific features of craters.

In this activity students will work out how long it takes light to travel from comet Tempel 1 to Earth and how long after the collision in the Deep Impact mission we will see this event.

Objectives

Students will:

The aim of this activity is to use vectors and Pythagoras’ theorem to work out the speed at which an impactor hits a comet.

The aim of this activity is to calculate the kinetic energy of an impact and to learn how the kinetic energy changes when the weight of an impactor is altered.

OverviewThis lesson aims to introduce pupils to the different effects of a meteorite impact and develop their understanding of various mitigation techniques for these events.

Investigate the factors that influence the viscosity(runniness) of treacle. How does this relate to the different shapes of volcanoes that can be found on the Earth and on Mars?

This lesson allows pupils to create impact craters in layered dry materials. Pupils can perform controlled experiments by varying the velocity or mass of crater-forming objects and observing and measuring their effects.

Aims

Students will determine the effects of wind, sandblasting and water on regolith formation and deposition on Earth. After discussing whether or not they think that lunar regolith is formed in the same way, the students will simulate regolith formation on the Moon by meteoritic bombardment.

Students will track a meteor's path using triangulation and predict where its meteorites might be found. The exercise can be extended to calculate the velocity of a meteor and understand how scientists can determine a meteor's original orbit in space.