Impact Craters---Background Research

Today you will use the articles provided to take some notes about impact craters. This is in preparation for your next research assignment that will involve an impact cratering simulation lab that we will complete next week. This is INDEPENDENT WORK!

For this assignment, I have done the background research for you. You do not need to look anything up. BUT, I want you to know how I did this research.

1) I went to the school’s website and clicked on the Library’s Online Databases. 2) I chose the Gale Science In Context database, and because I am at home, I had to type in the password, “high”. (If you access this from a school computer, you won’t have to type in a password.) 3) Since the topic we are investigating is Impact Craters, I typed that into the search box. 4) The articles you will use are all found on the first page of resources that came up. It took me less than 10 minutes. 5) Here’s the best part: the complete, correct APA citation for each is found on the last page of each article.

So, as you read through these four articles, you should take some notes on your own sheet (or two) of paper. With each point you write down, include the parenthetical citation for the article that it came from. Here’s an example of what I mean:

Impact crater: circular features created when a fast-moving object strikes the surface of a planet, moon or other rocky body. (“Impact Cratering,” 2008)

Here are some specific questions you are going to want to find the answers to as you read, but you should also take notes on anything you find to be interesting. Use all FOUR sources in your note taking!

1) What is an impact crater? 2) How are they formed? 3) What happens after the impact? 4) How are craters used as tools for study? 5) How does size and speed of objects influence the size and depth of impact craters? 6) What is some recent research on earth impacts? What did scientists learn and how did they discover it? 7) How does the study of impact craters help us to determine the age of our moon? 8) What type of equipment does NASA use to study moon craters? What have they found?

When you are finished, please turn in your notes and return the articles. Be sure to write your name on them. I will return them to you before we begin the lab experimentation.