Lunar Exploration: Teacher’s Guide 1
Kendall Planetarium
Lunar Exploration
Planetarium Reserved lab – Teacher’s Guide
PROGRAM OUTLINE
Description: The Moon is our closest neighbor and companion, but it is more than just a friendly beacon in the sky. Students will discover the secrets of this fascinating world—why it goes through phases, how it interacts with the Earth and the processes that shaped its surface. Activities include experiments in crater formation, lunar mapping and tidal forces.
Activities: Understanding moon phases, observing the Moon from different distances, making craters.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Describe the appearance of the moon and explain why the Moon appears to change shape over a cycle. Explain the role of meteoroids in crater formation. Name and describe some of the moons found in the Solar System. Differentiate between a “planet” and a “moon” or “satellite.” Know some of the robotic missions investigating our Solar System. Understand that the closer we observe, the more we know.
Process Skills Focus: Observation, classification, inference, prediction, and inquiry.
Topics: Process of discovery, NASA probe missions, historical astronomers, topography.
Lunar Exploration: Teacher’s Guide 2
ABOUT THE PLANETARIUM LABS
OMSI’s Kendall Planetarium launched a new programming initiative in autumn 2011 of five Planetarium Reserved Labs, researched, written and programmed by OMSI Planetarium staff. These 50 minute interactive experiences are available by reservation for school and community groups of all ages. The unique immersive environment of the planetarium is fully utilized during a Lab to engage students in participatory astronomy and space science education, encouraging discovery through hands-on learning.
OMSI’s Kendall Planetarium is the most technologically advanced planetarium in the Pacific Northwest and hosts over 100,000 OMSI visitors annually. We strive to create an inspiring and unique visitor experience through the novel and immersive environment of the planetarium theater. Fully integrated within OMSI’s mission, the Planetarium offers a cutting-edge variety of educational and entertaining multimedia presentations on astronomy and space science, as well as a diverse catalog of laser light programs.
For more information about the Moons of the Solar System Lab, the Moons of the Solar System Teacher’s Guide and/or other Planetarium Reserved Labs, please contact Marguerite Moore, Senior Space Science Educator, at [email protected] or by phone at 503.797.4503.
To book a Planetarium Reserved Lab for your class or group, please contact OMSI Program Sales at [email protected] or by phone at 503.797.4661.
SOURCES
The information and activities presented in the Lunar Exploration Teacher’s Guide have been adapted for use and distribution by OMSI from the following:
Moons of the Solar System, from the Planetarium Activities for Student Success (PASS) series, developed by the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California, Berkeley. ©2008 by the Regents of the University of California.
NASA’s Field Trip to the Moon Educator Guide (Design a Lunar Station Activity)
NASA’s Exploring the Moon Educator Guide (Lava Layering Activity)
Lunar Exploration: Teacher’s Guide 3
OREGON STANDARDS
Scientific Inquiry Standards:
K.3S.1 Explore questions about living and non-living things and events in the natural world. K.3S.2 Make observations about the natural world. 1.3S.1 Identify and use tools to make careful observations and answer questions about the natural world. 1.3S.2 Record observations with pictures, numbers, or written statements. 1.3S.3 Describe why recording accurate observations is important in science. 2.3S.2 Make predictions about living and non-living things and events in the environment based on observed patterns. 2.3S.3 Make, describe, and compare observations, and organize recorded data. 4.3S.3 Explain that scientific claims about the natural world use evidence that can be confirmed and support a logical argument. 8.3S.3 Explain how scientific explanations and theories evolve as new information becomes available. H.3S.4 Identify examples from the history of science that illustrate modification of scientific knowledge in light of challenges to prevailing explanations. H.3S.5 Explain how technological problems and advances create a demand for new scientific knowledge and how new knowledge enables the creation of new technologies.
Engineering Design Standards:
2.4D.3 Describe an engineering design that is used to solve a problem or address a need. 3.4D.2 Describe how recent inventions have significantly changed the way people live. 5.4D.3 Explain that inventions may lead to other inventions and once an invention exists, people may think of novel ways of using it. 6.4D.3 Describe examples of how engineers have created inventions that address human needs and aspirations. 7.4D.3 Explain how new scientific knowledge can be used to develop new technologies and how new technologies can be used to generate new scientific knowledge. Lunar Exploration: Teacher’s Guide 4
H.4D.5 Describe how new technologies enable new lines of scientific inquiry and are largely responsible for changes in how people live and work. H.4D.6 Evaluate ways that ethics, public opinion, and government policy influence the work of engineers and scientists, and how the results of their work impact human society and the environment.
Earth and Space Science Content Standards:
K.1E.1 Gather evidence that the sun warms land, air, and water. K.2E.1 Identify changes in things seen in the sky. 2.2E.1 Observe and record the patterns of apparent movement of the sun and moon. 5.1E.1 Describe the Sun-Earth-Moon system. 6.1E.2 Describe the properties of objects in the solar system. 7.2E.4 Explain how landforms change over time at various rates in terms of constructive and destructive forces. 8.2E.1 Explain how gravity is the force that keeps objects in the solar system in regular and predictable motion and describe the resulting phenomena. H.1E.1 Classify the bodies in our solar system based on properties and composition. H.2E.3 Describe how the universe, galaxies, stars, and planets evolve over time.
Physical Science Content Standards:
1.1P.1 Compare and contrast physical properties and composition of objects. 4.2P.1 Describe physical changes in matter and explain how they occur.
Lunar Exploration: Teacher’s Guide 5
GLOSSARY
Atmosphere: A layer of gases surrounding a planet or moon, retained by the body’s gravity. The Earth’s atmosphere is composed primarily of nitrogen and oxygen.
Crater: A depression in the surface of a body. Common causes of craters on Solar System bodies include collisions between a projectile and a larger body, such as a meteor and a planet.
Eclipse: The complete or partial blocking of light from one celestial body by another. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon obscures the Sun from the Earth; a lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth blocks sunlight from the Moon.
Laser altimetry: A technique of shining laser beams on a surface and measuring the time that it takes the laser beams to bounce back. This method enables a determination of the height of surface features.
Lunar Mare: A large dark basaltic plain on the lunar surface caused by ancient volcanic activity. (Plural: maria)
Moon: A body in orbit around a planet; a natural satellite of a planet.
Moon phase: The particular appearance of the illuminated side of the Moon from Earth at a give point during the Moon’s orbit. The changing of the phases is known as the lunar cycle.
Regolith: A layer of loose material such as dust, soil, sand or broken rock.
Revolution: The movement of one object around another.
Rotation: The movement of an object around its axis.
Topography: The study of surface shapes and features of observable astronomical bodies, like the Earth, planets, moons and asteroids.
Lunar Exploration: Teacher’s Guide 6
POST-VISIT QUIZ
Check your comprehension of the planetarium show!
1) Moons orbit around ______and planets orbit around ______.
2) Name three moon phases.
3) The dark patches on the Moon are called maria. How do scientists think the maria formed?
4) When the Moon blocks the light from the Sun, casting a shadow on the Earth, it is called a ______.
5) What three objects are likely to cause impact craters? ______
Lunar Exploration: Teacher’s Guide 7
RESOURCES
NASA Education http://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/about/index.html
YouTube: Space Lab http://www.youtube.com/spacelab
Zooniverse – Real Science Online https://www.zooniverse.org/
NASA – Our Solar System http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/index.html
The Planetary Society - Moons of the Solar System http://planetary.org/explore/topics/compare_the_planets/moon_numbers.html
Astronomy for Kids – Moons of the Solar System http://www.kidsastronomy.com/other_worlds.htm
Hubble Space Telescope http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/main/index.html
Lunar Exploration Activity: Modeling the Moon 8
ACTIVITY GUIDE Modeling the Moon
WORKSHEET Description: Students will investigate the properties of our natural satellite and explore the reason why we see the Moon in different phases. Students will further explore the appearance of the Moon through a hands-on crater-formation activity, which will demonstrate some of the processes that shape the lunar surface.
Objectives: Understand that moon phases occur because of the geometry of the Sun/Earth/Moon system. Explore how craters are formed on planets and how the shapes and positions of craters provide astronomers with clues about the craters’ origins.
Grade Level: Recommended for 5th-8th grade; scalable for younger or older grades.
TIME REQUIRED
Advanced Preparation Activity Clean Up
15 minutes 40-45 minutes 10-15 minutes
SUPPLIES TIME REQUIRED Per group of students: Pie tin Flour & cinnamon (can substitute gray sand and fine white chalk) Round pebbles or small ball bearings (at least one for each student) Worksheets (one for each student)
ADVANCED
PREPARATION
To make crater beds: fill each pie tin with a layer (about ½-1 inch thick) of flour, and sprinkle cinnamon liberally on top. Lunar Exploration Activity: Modeling the Moon 9
ACTIVITY
Show an image of the near side of the full moon. Ask the students to make observations about the surface, guiding them to make the distinction between the lighter and darker areas.
The darker patches on the Moon’s surface are maria, Latin for “seas.” Early astronomers mistook them for bodies of water, but in fact each mare is a basaltic plain, a remnant of lava flows from volcanic activity early in the Moon’s history.
Draw the students’ attention to the craters if they have not already picked them out. Have students come up with hypotheses about how the craters formed.
Impact craters are geologic structures formed when a large meteoroid, asteroid or comet collides with a planetary body at high velocity. These colliding bodies are typically meteoroids, comets, or asteroids, though there are now some human-made craters on the lunar surface as well.
Give a pie tin with flour and cinnamon to each group of students. Explain to the students that this is representative of the surface of the Moon: the flour is the crustal material and the cinnamon is the fine layer of regolith on the surface. Have students drop the pebbles into the pie tin. After each drop, examine the patterns.
Drops from different heights should produce differently shaped craters. The higher the drop height, the more likely a complex crater with a central peak will form. Optimum height is about 1 meter, but students should be encouraged to experiment with different heights.
Have the students drop or gently toss their pebbles from different angles – how does the shape of the craters change? Some of the craters will now look non- circular. Instruct the students to record several observations of craters on Part 1 of their worksheets.
Discuss with students the appearance of the flour-and-cinnamon surface before and after the activity – encourage them to note that as more time has elapsed, more craters have formed in the pie tin. Ask them how this might tell something about the surface.
Crater counting is often used by planetary scientists to date the surface of a planet or moon. A very young surface such as a recent lava flow has very few craters, while an old surface shows evidence of many impacts. Lunar Exploration Activity: Modeling the Moon 10
Ask students to note in particular areas where two impacts happened very close together, preferably on top of one another. (It may be helpful to find a particular group which has an especially good overlapping impact site.) Have the students hypothesize about which crater is older. When they reach a conclusion, have them do Part 2 on their worksheets.
Older craters tend to have less well-defined rims and edges, as a result of events like seismic activity or weathering (in this case, approximated by the shaking introduced by later impacts). A newer crater that forms on top of an older one will also deform the first crater, erasing part of the rim or central peak where the new impact occurs.
Have students discuss reasons why scientists would want to research the size, shape, number, and relative ages of craters. What can these indicators tell them?
Crater evidence can be used to extrapolate quite a bit about the history of the solar system. For example, the majority of the really large craters are very old, which tells scientists that as time has passed, the larger pieces of debris were likely cleared out from the planetary orbits, leaving much smaller pieces to impact the Moon and other bodies. See Background Information for more discussion. Lunar Exploration Activity: Modeling the Moon 11
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
This additional information is for the instructor. Modify and communicate to students as necessary.
Craters: Impact craters are roughly circular holes made by impact events. The circular shape of excavation is a result of the explosion upon impact, which causes material to fly in all directions, and not a result of the shape of the impactor; almost no impactors are spherical. The size and shape of a crater are directly related to the velocity, mass, and angle of impact. High‐mass and high‐velocity impacts will create larger craters than low‐mass or low‐velocity impacts. If an impactor hits at a shallow angle, usually 10 degrees or less, it may create an oblong crater.
Craters can also form via volcanic processes. Typically, a volcanic crater will form as the result of the collapse of the top portion of a volcanic structure; this occurs when a volcanic eruption empties the magma chamber, initiating a collapse of the surface above it. These are usually referred to as volcanic craters or calderas. This type of crater is far rarer on the Moon than the impact craters, but they are plentiful on Earth.
Crater counting and crater age dating: The number of craters on a surface increases with the length of time that surface has been exposed to space; an older surface has undergone more impact events than a younger surface. Thus, craters can be used to estimate the relative ages of two surfaces by examining the crater density. If one surface has twice as many craters per unit area as another, it is likely that that surface is twice as old.
Simple crater counting is useful for finding the relative age, not the absolute age, of a surface. Geologic or seismic events in the history of a planetary body can disturb impact evidence – for example, lava flows can completely obliterate impact basins. This is called “resurfacing.”
Absolute age can be estimated based on the size‐density distribution of craters. The largest impact events appear to have happened early in the solar system’s history, when there was still an abundance of large pieces of debris. Such impacts seem to have become much rarer as the planets and other orbiting bodies “cleared out” the solar system. Thus, a surface with several large impact sites is likely to be older than an area with the same number of small impact sites.
Absolute age can most reliably be found by examining and radiometrically dating a sample from the surface of interest. Crater counting can then be used to extrapolate the absolute age of other surfaces on the same body.
Lunar Exploration Activity: Modeling the Moon 12
RESOURCES & MATERIALS
This activity was adapted by Kendall Planetarium staff from the Lawrence Hall of Science PASS (Planetarium Activities for Student Success) program. Information about PASS can be found at http://www.planetarium-activities.org/
Recommended images of astronomical objects These images are public domain and are therefore free of copyright restrictions
High-resolution Moon image from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/521685main_022111a.jpg
Recommended resources for further reading Helpful web-based resources which cover topics from this activity in depth
Moon Connection: Understanding the Moon Phases http://www.moonconnection.com/moon_phases.phtml Lunar and Planetary Institute: Shaping the Planets http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/explore/shaping_the_planets/background/ Lunar Exploration Activity: Lava Layering 13
ACTIVITY GUIDE
Lava Layering
Description: In this activity students will learn about the stratigraphy of lava layers produced by multiple volcanic eruptions, and how the layers tell the timeline of volcanic structures like lunar maria.
GETTING STARTED
Dark, flat maria (layers of basaltic lava flows) cover about 16 percent of the Moon’s total surface. They are easily seen on a full Moon with the naked eye on clear nights from most backyards. The lava that formed the maria generally flowed long distances, ultimately flooding low-lying areas such as impact basins.
The study of rock layering is called stratigraphy. On the Moon, older flows are covered with younger flows, or are more marked with impact craters. The focus of this activity is on the patterns of lava flows produced by multiple eruptions.
TIME REQUIRED
Advance Preparation Activity Clean Up
15-30 minutes 30-45 minutes 15 minutes
SUPPLIES
4-oz. paper cups (5 per group) Plastic tray or cookie sheet (1 per group) Tape Baking soda (4Tbsp per group) Vinegar (8 Tbsp per group) Food coloring (4 colors) Playdough or clay in same 4 colors as food coloring (recipe follows) Clear plastic straw for “drill cores” Worksheets (1 per student) Lunar Exploration Activity: Lava Layering 14
ADVANCE PREPARATION
Prepare playdough in four colors.
Cut one paper cup per student group down to 1 inch height. This short cup will be the eruption source. Place 1 Tbsp baking soda in each 1 inch cup.
Place 2 Tbsp vinegar each in 4 regular cups per group. Use 3 drops food coloring so that each group has 4 colors of vinegar. (Older students may do this themselves.)
Recommended: cover students’ work surface with newspaper and drop cloth to minimize spills; a top layer of white paper will help show flow patterns.
ACTIVITY
Instruct each group to secure their 1 inch cup to their tray with tape. The tray will be the land surface and the cup is the eruption source.
For the first eruption: choose one color of vinegar and have students pour the vinegar into their eruption source (short cup). Have them observe the eruption. Once the eruption is over, instruct students to cover the area where the “lava” flowed with the matching color of playdough.
Volcanoes like those on Earth are not present on the Moon. Instead, the maria are broad, smooth, flat basalt surfaces, the result of eruptions of basaltic lava which is low viscosity and forms structures like shield volcanoes on Earth.
Refill the eruption source with baking soda, spoon out any leftover vinegar, and repeat with each color of vinegar and playdough until four lava flows have been modeled. EXTENSION: After every lava flow, students can make shallow indents in the playdough layers with their fingers to model craters.
OIder lava flows can be covered by younger lava flows on the Moon; if the older surfaces remain exposed they are likely to exhibit a higher number of craters than the newer flows.
Have the students observe the patterns of lava flows, and answer the worksheet questions. On question 7 they will need to use a clear plastic straws to take “drill core” samples by pushing the straw straight down through the layers, and observing the layers that come up in the straw.
Lunar Exploration Activity: Lava Layering 15
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
This additional information is for the instructor. Modify and communicate to students as necessary.
The maria cover 16% of the lunar surface and are composed of lava flows that filled relatively low places, mostly inside immense impact basins. So, although the Moon does not have many volcanic craters, it did experience volcanic activity.
Close examination of the relationships between the highlands and the maria shows that this activity took place after the highlands formed and after most of the cratering took place. Thus, the maria are younger than the highlands.
How do we know that the dark plains are covered with lava flows? Why not some other kind of rock? Even before the Apollo missions brought back samples from the maria, there were strong suspicions that the plains were volcanic. They contain some features that look very much like lava flows. Other features resemble lava channels, which form in some types of lava flows on Earth. Still other features resemble collapses along underground volcanic features called lava tubes. These and other features convinced most lunar scientists before the Apollo missions that the maria were lava plains. This insight was confirmed by samples collected from the maria: they are a type of volcanic rock called basalt.
Some mysteries persist about the maria. For one, why are volcanoes missing except for the cinder cones associated with dark mantle deposits? Second, if no obvious volcanoes exist, where did the lavas erupt from? In some cases, we can see that lava emerged from the margins of enormous impact basins, perhaps along cracks concentric to the basin. But in most cases, we cannot see the places where the lava erupted. Another curious feature is that almost all the maria occur on the Earth‐facing side of the Moon. Most scientists guess that this asymmetry is caused by the highlands crust being thicker on the lunar farside, making it difficult for basalts to make it all the way through to the surface.
Stratigraphy is a branch of geology which studies rock layers, or strata (singular: stratum) and layering, or stratification. It is often used in the study of layered volcanic rocks, like those seen in the lunar maria. An important principle in stratigraphy is the law of superposition—the principle that in any undisturbed deposit the oldest layers are normally found at the bottom, and younger layers are found on top.
Lunar Exploration Activity: Lava Layering 16
RESOURCES & MATERIALS
This activity was adapted by Kendall Planetarium staff from NASA’s Exploring the Moon: A Teacher’s Guide with activities for Earth and Space Sciences. The packet in its entirety can be found at http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/58199main_Exploring.The.Moon.pdf
Recommended images of astronomical objects These images are public domain and are therefore free of copyright restrictions
High-resolution Moon image from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/521685main_022111a.jpg
Recommended resources for further reading Helpful web-based resources which cover topics from this activity in depth
Lunar and Planetary Institute: Shaping the Planets http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/explore/shaping_the_planets/background/
Lunar Exploration Worksheet: Modeling the Moon 1 of 1
ACTIVITY GUIDE
Design a Lunar Station
Description: As a class or in groups, students brainstorm ideas for the design of a lunar base.
TIME REQUIRED
Advance Preparation Activity Clean Up
15minutes 30-45 minutes 15 minutes
SUPPLIES
2 large sheet of papers (poster board, butcher paper, etc). One sheet should be at least 20” x 24”. Marker
If students are working in small groups:
Notebook Pencils Large sheet of paper (at least 20” x 24”)
ACTIVITY
What basic human needs must be provided for in a lunar station?
1. Discuss the basic human needs for a lunar station. Consider:
What kind of spaces will you need for day-to-day living?
What kinds of work will you be doing on the Moon?
What types of recreation would you like to have?
What would you need to stay healthy? Lunar Exploration Worksheet: Modeling the Moon 1 of 1
What facilities are needed for recycling and waste management? 2. Categorize these requirements and list them on a large sheet of paper (or in notebooks, if working in small groups).
Categories can include living spaces, health, recreation, and work.
Share your list of space requirements for living and working on the Moon.
What kind of lunar station would fulfill your list of requirements?
1. Design a lunar station that will fulfill your list of human requirements for living.
2. On a large sheet of paper, draw a rectangle that is 20” x 24”. This represents the area of your lunar habitat. Consider:
How much space is needed for each of your requirements?
Can any of the spaces serve two purposes?
Share your designed lunar station, its uses, and reasons you designed it the way you did.
RESOURCES & MATERIALS
This activity was adapted by Kendall Planetarium staff from NASA’s Field Trip to the Moon Educator guide. The Educator guide and its accompanying materials can be found here:
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listbytype/Field_Trip_to_th e_Moon_Educator_Guide.html
Recommended resources for further reading Helpful web-based resources which cover topics from this activity in depth
Lunar and Planetary Institute: Shaping the Planets http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/explore/shaping_the_planets/background/
Lunar Exploration Worksheet: Modeling the Moon 1 of 1
WORKSHEET Modeling the Moon
Choose several craters that you and your classmates created, and draw them:
The image below shows real craters on the Moon. Which crater is older, the one outlined in the solid black line or the one outlined in the dashed black line? How do you know?
______. Lunar Exploration Worksheet: Lava Layering 1 of 2
WORKSHEET Lava Layering
Answer the following questions about your lava flows:
1. After four eruptions, can you still see the original land surface? Where?
2. Describe and draw what you see, including observations of flows covering or overlapping other flows:
3. On your drawing, indicate: a. The oldest flow b. The youngest flow
4. Describe the paths of the lava flows. Did they always follow exactly the same path?
5. What factors do you think might influence the direction, or path, of a lava flow?
Lunar Exploration Worksheet: Lava Layering 2 of 2
6. If you had not watched the eruptions, how would you know that there are many different layers of lava? Give at least 2 reasons:
7. Make a vertical cut through an area where the playdough layers overlap. Draw and color what you see in the vertical section. Label the oldest and newest flows:
8. Think of two ways you could distinguish between older and newer layers on the Moon: