Moon: Impact Craters

Do some hands-on exploring to learn about the ways in which craters are formed.

Prep Work:
Fill a tub or box (a dishpan or shoebox work well) with an inch or so of flour.  If desired, you can sprinkle a layer of cinnamon, paprika or cocoa on top of the flour.  Doing so may increase the visibility of the craters.  Ideally, plan for one tub/box for every 2 students.  If you find yourself needing to put more than 4 at one tub, I'd recommend splitting the class so half do the activity while the others work on something else and then swapping. 

You may wish to cover the table you'll be working on with newspapers.  It might be wise to keep a damp cloth nearby as well, for wiping up any small flour spills.

Gather several different sizes of marbles. 

Procedure:
Drop a marble straight down into the flour.  Drop a different sized marble from the same height and observe the craters they made.  Pay attention to the rims and any of crater radiating away from the center.  Note any differences between the two craters. 

Then, let the true experimentation begin... there are so many different variables that can be explored.  Write down what you try and note how the resulting crater is both the same and different from the other craters you've seen thus far. 

Drop the marbles from different heights.

Drop the marbles (same size) from the same height, but give one of the marbles an extra push. 

"Throw" the marble into the flour at an angle. 

Use a non-spherical object to make a crater. 

When finished, draw some conclusions about crater shapes and sizes and the objects that formed them.  Summarize your conclusions in a paragraph. 


Note:
You can find lots of people's versions of this activity by searching "impact crater activity" or something along those lines.  If you desire, you can readily locate ready-to-use worksheets and formal lab sheets. 

Phases of the Moon: Oreo Cookies

Use Oreo cookies (Double Stuff work best for this exercise)  to model the phases of the moon. 

Split the cookies open and scrape off the appropriate amount of cream filling, so you're left with the desired "picture" of the moon.

You could use a whole bunch of these and create the whole cycle.  Use some frosting to "glue" the cookies to a plate in the appropriate order.

Or, you could use it as a quick, fun assessment - give each student one cookie and have them pick one of the moon phases out of a hat.  They then need to use the cookie to illustrate the phase they selected.

Moon: Phases of the Moon Demonstration

First, you'll need to create your prop:
Start with a large ball (playground ball, basketball, etc.) Use masking tape to mark the 'equator' around the ball. Paint one half of the ball white and the other half black.

For the demonstration:
Show the students the moon - explain that the sun shines on the moon, as it does the Earth, so that one half the moon is receiving light (the white side of the moon model) and the other half of the moon is in the dark (the black side of the moon model).

Then lay out the scenario:
The students, at their desks, are residing on the Earth.
The chalkboard/whiteboard at the front of the room is the sun (you could even draw a picture of the sun, if you wished).
The moon travels around the Earth, so you will carry the ball around the classroom, in a large circle that encompasses all of the students.

Remember.... the white side of the moon model always needs to face the sun!

Begin at the front of the classroom. Hold the moon so the white side is facing the sun. When the students, on Earth, look at the moon, they should only see the black side - this is the arrangement of the Earth, sun, and moon when there is a new moon.


Move to the back of the classroom. Hold the mood so the white side is facing the sun. When the students, on Earth, look at the moon, they should only see the white side - this is the arrangement of the Earth, sun, and moon when there is a full moon.


You can then move to the sides of the classroom, stopping at various points so students can see varying amounts of white and black, illustrating waxing and waning, crescents and gibbous moons, first quarter moon and third quarter moon.



You may wish to have students draw sketches of what they see as the moon circles the Earth.