For the next three days of class, students will be designing, performing, and writing their own Craters Lab. The goal of their lab is to simulate the creation of impact craters on the lunar surface, and then to see whether those craters match what has been found on the surface of the moon.

Some groups are choosing to compare small asteroids to large asteroids, while some are simulating asteroids flying in at different speeds and/or angles. Everyone’s lab is different. But the basic framework is the same: prepare a basin of moon dust (flour), create a layer of darker soil (cocoa powder) on top, drop an asteroid, and observe the results. Final drafts of the their lab reports will be due at the beginning of class on Tuesday.

January 21-25 – Design Your Own Craters Lab (pg414)

Thank you for those of you who are continuing to check the website everyday! As a reward, I am offering a prize to the first three students who can find me during homeroom tomorrow, and can tell me how this weekend’s snowstorm could be impacted by the phase of the moon.