Making Our Own Moon Craters

Today we looked closely at photos of craters on the moon and the Earth.  We recorded our observations.  Next we did an experiment called 'Making Our Own Moon Craters'.  We filled a pan with bout 5 cm of flour. Next we added a tablespoon of cocoa and mixed this to look like the surface of the moon..  We smoothed out the flour with our hand to create a flat surface.  Next we held a marble about 5 cm above the flour and released it .  

We observed what happened and recorded this on a chart.  We n explored different impactor sizes, weights, distances dropped, or angles of impact. Each group then conducted an experiment by changing one variable to see how it affects impact crater size.  

Group 1 used different impactor sizes

Group 2 used different weights

Group 3 used different distances 

Group 4 used different angles

We  recorded our results and reported our findings to the class.  These findings were recorded on a chart and written up on a class chart.

Look at the crater formed from the impactor.

Crater on Earth (Arizona, USA)

Crater on Moon