"Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com"

Craters are caused by the impacts of asteroids, meteors or other moving things in space hitting the surface of the moon. They are all different sizes and travel at different speeds.


There are lots of craters in the picture, all different

sizes. How do you think they were created?

You’ve got one minute to discuss with your partner and then share it with the

class.

Click here to start the 1minute timer.

1 minute

Click here to check.

Click here to see a video of crater making

in sand


When landing on the moon craters are a problem. Will one leg of your landing pod go down a crater? Do all these craters mean the pod will sink in the

soft ground and make its own crater?Scientists needed to know more about craters and

how they were formed so they could make predictions about how the pod would land.

When landing on the moon craters are a problem. Will one leg of your landing pod go down a crater? Do all these craters mean the pod will sink in the

soft ground and make its own crater?Scientists needed to know more about craters and

how they were formed so they could make predictions about how the pod would land.

Could we draw any real conclusions doing it this way?Give reasons for

your answer.Have a class vote.

Could we draw any real conclusions doing it this way?Give reasons for

your answer.Have a class vote.

Yes

No


Brilliant

You’re correct it’s not a fair test.

There are lots of different variables - rocks of any size have been

thrown in the sand- sometimes they are thrown and

sometimes droppedThere is no record of what has been found so how can you come to any

conclusions.


Oops

It’s not a fair test.

There are lots of different variables- rocks of any size have been

thrown in the sand- sometimes they are thrown and

sometimes droppedThere is no record of what has been found so how can you come to any

conclusions.


How can we make a fair test in the classroom?

Firstly – What would you need?

Secondly – What could you do?

Work in a small group and come up with a method.

You have 2 minutes.Share with the class.

Click here to start the2 minute timer.

2 minutes

Click here to check.


I’m sure you had lots of great ideas but you definitely need something like sand to create a crater in and something like a marble to make a crater. Dropping the marble (or other object) into the sand (or other material) is one way to make a

crater.

I’m sure you had lots of great ideas but you definitely need something like sand to create a crater in and something like a marble to make a crater. Dropping the marble (or other object) into the sand (or other material) is one way to make a

crater.

Click here to see a video of some

children carrying out the test.

Click here to see a video of some

children carrying out the test.


You’ve seen the investigation and now you’ve got 2 minutes to list all the variables – things

that can change.

Click here to start the2 minute timer.

2 minutes

Do they match my list?

Click here.


My list of variables – (things that can change)

The container the material is in

The weight of the object you

drop

The shape of the object you

drop

The height you drop the object

from

The depth of the material you make

the crater in

The object you drop

The material you make the

crater in

The size of the crater

Now you can plan a fair test.


Drag and drop the variables into the correct place on the

planning table.

I am going to change (independent variable)

I am going to measure (dependent variable)

To make it a fair test I am going to keep these the same:

Click on the variable (do not hold the button down) and drag it to the position you want and click again.

The height you drop the object

from

The material you make the

crater in

The weight of the object you

drop

The size of the crater

The container the material is in

The shape of the object you

drop

The depth of the material you make

the crater in

The object you drop


Good luck.

You’re now almost ready for blast off but you have some decisions to make first.

What range of heights will you drop the object from?Do you make the changes regular e.g every 10cm?Do you make more than one measurement at each stage and why?How are you going to accurately measure the crater?How are you going to record the measurements?How are you going to display them afterwards?What are your success criteria for having successfully completed the investigation?

Back to

Start

"Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com"

Documents

Transcript of "Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com"