Lesson 2.2  ~  January 2006

Students learned about impact craters on Earth and Mars.  Using our JASON Project book as a reference, students learned about impactors, ejecta, and crater rims.  Students made a hypothesis about what the crater would look like when dropped from different heights.  We used flour in a tray and covered it with dry coffee grounds.  Students dripped the impactor (12 inch clay ball) from a height of 12 inches.  This was repeated four times.  Then groups raised the drop height to 24 inches and finally to 36 inches.  Students measured the diameter of the crater in millimeters each time.  Students noticed the ejecta patterns were interesting and noticed the crater rims that were formed when impact was made with the earth.  They also observed that the diameter of the crater increased as the drop height increased.  The ejecta blanket  was huge on some of the experimental drops.  It was a great lesson enjoyed by all student who are studying JASON at our school.