Curricular Resources > 1996 Volume VI > Unit 3 (96.06.03) > Section 10

Selected Topics in Astronomy and Space Studies

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 96.06.03

Unit Guide

Asteroids, Comets, and Meteorites: Their Intimate Relation with Life on Earth

Stephen P. Broker

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CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES AND SAMPLE LESSON PLANS

Lesson Plan #1. SLIDES FOR THE CURRICULUM UNIT.

I have taken my own slides of Yale Peabody Museum collections and Mayan astronomical observatories in the Yucatan. I continue to gather color images of Solar System objects from NASA. Part A. Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. Rudolph Zallinger Great Hall mural, “The Age of Reptiles”. 1-3. Cretaceous volcanoes. 4. Tyrannosaurus . 5. Struthiomimus . 6. Edmontosaurus 7. Triceratops 8. detail of Triceratops . 9. Ankylosaurus . 10. Pteranodon . Peabody Museum Great Hall fossil specimens. 11. Edmontosaurus skull. 12. Edmontosaurus pelvic girdle. 13. Monoclonius skeleton 14. Monoclonius skull. Part B. YPM Meteorite collection. 1. Wethersfield II Meteorite. 2. Roof of Wethersfield house through which the Wethersfield II meteorite crashed. 3. path of Wethersfield II. Part C. Chichen Itza Mayan/Toltec ruins, Yucatan Peninsula. 1-4. The Castillo. 5. Chacmool figure at Temple of the Warriors. 6. Frederick Catherwood lithograph of the Castillo. 7-10. The Caracol (Observatory). 11. Temple of Jaguars. 12. Toltec Ball Court. 13. Temple of the Warriors. 14-16. Sacred Cenote. 17. Mayan scene on paper. Uxmal Mayan ruins. 17-18. Pyramid of the Magician.

Lesson Plan #2. YALE PEABODY MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, MUSEUM WORKSHEET.

The museum has an important collection of meteorites constituting one of the curated divisions of the museum. Two landings between 1st and 3rd floors have displays relating to the meteorite collection. Listed here are display headings with my suggestions for museum worksheet questions. A museum worksheet has been developed; it is not included here due to space limitations.

First Landing: Case #1. A. Distinction Between Meteors and Meteorites. Questions: What is an asteroid, and where do the asteroids originate in the Solar System? Why are fewer than 1% of all meteorites which fall to Earth each year ever recovered? How do comets differ from asteroids? Case #2. A. A Meteorite Lands in Connecticut. B. Stones and Irons C. Weston Meteorite. D. Wethersfield (1982) Meteorite. E. Maps of Craters F. Meteorite Craters. G. Moon and Mars. H. specimens of tektites, pieces of Canyon Diablo meteorite. I. What Meteorites tell Us: 1. time sequence in our galaxy. 2. cosmic abundance of the elements. 3. history of meteoric bodies. Questions: Name some places in Connecticut, the United States, and around the world where we know that meteorites have crashed into Earth. What evidence do we have from other planets and moons of our Solar System that meteorites collide with these larger bodies regularly? What information can be learned from the study of meteorites? Case #3. Detailed Classification of Stony Meteorites. Question: Briefly describe the different types of meteorites that have been recovered on Earth. Case #4 (Wall Display). Connecticut meteorites. Question: Connecticut is the fourth smallest state, and yet there are several meteorites known to have fallen in our state. Name the towns where they have been found. Floor Display. Canyon Diablo Meteorite. Question: Describe the appearance of the Canyon Diablo Meteorite. Second Landing. Case #1. How to recognize a Meteorite. Stone Meteorites/Iron Meteorites. Question: If you find a rock which you suspect is a meteorite, how can you demonstrate that it is not a natural or human-made rock from Earth? Case #2. How Meteorites Weather. Question: Briefly describe the ways in which meteorites weather on Earth over long periods of time.

Lesson Plan #3. CURRENT EVENTS IN ASTRONOMY.

During the preparation of this unit, a number of articles have appeared in newspapers and in popular and professional science journals which relate directly to the subjects of asteroids and comets, earth impacts, and mass extinction events. Review of the Teacher Bibliography and Student Reading List will indicate that Scientific American and Earth have published particularly timely articles about unit topics. In addition, Connecticut Public Television has recently reaired the 1994 NOVA program, “The Doomsday Asteroid.”

Science is characterized by a progressive extension of our understanding of the world and its processes. I have long felt that science must be taught as an active, organic process of observation, measurement, hypothesizing, experimentation, discovery and theory-building, not as a static discipline. I always allow for the introduction of new material in my teaching. In fact, I plan for this occurrence of “stochastic events” in science news and scientific publications to shape and guide my course curricula. There is no clearer example of the value of current events to a unit of study or a course than the very recent announcement of evidence of ancient life on Mars. The evening news picked up this story of “life on Mars,” and it was developed further that night on ABC News Nightline with Ted Koppel. On August 7, NASA held a major press conference announcing details of the discovery and put the martian meteorite in front of the cameras. The News Hour with Jim Lehrer devoted a lengthy segment to interviews with NASA and Stanford University scientists who conducted the study of the meteorite. Newspapers around the country ran front page coverage of the story. By week’s end, the meteorite went on public display at the Smithsonian Institution.

I include the above material in this unit as an illustration of how the teacher can pick up on current events and give an immediacy to the subject matter. I would further suggest that any science course be taught in such a way that a sizeable percentage of instructional time (let’s say 20%, to make up a value) be devoted to new discoveries and newly developing theories in the discipline. This sort of an approach to science education is totally in keeping with the present national science education reform movement, which places greater emphasis on the process of science and less emphasis (and less time) on the specific blocks of subject matter which have been the mainstay of previous decades of science education. It requires that the teacher seek out information on the latest advances in science, medicine or technology. This may appear to be an insurmountable task for the busy, generalist science teacher—the ongoing and simultaneous study of biology, chemistry, astronomy—all the physical and life sciences—but it’s a doable task and one which makes the profession of teaching all the more enjoyable and new. My primary sources of information on the latest scientific advances are the professional journals Science and Nature , the popular science publications Scientific American and American Scientist , and the daily newspaper ( New York Times , Christian Science Monitor , and for local flavor the New Haven Register ). There are other science journals which I review regularly, but the above form the basis for a regular flow of information into the science curriculum. In this fashion, the science curriculum never has a chance to stagnate. To put it in trite terms, a live tree frog or Northern Black Racer snake in the hand is worth a thousand stuffed animals in the science cabinet. I enjoy the search for new and timely information, and my students seem to appreciate it.

Lesson Plan #4. ASTRONOMY ON THE INTERNET.

The World Wide Web is a web in the truest sense, websites interconnecting with websites in the most complicated of branching patterns. The subject matter of astronomy is well-represented on the Internet. Here is a sampling of addresses the teacher can use in meaningful and interesting instruction. Topics cover the Earth, the Solar System, space program, asteroids, comets and meteorites. This computer instruction requires 3-4 class sessions. Pick your wave, and ride it in your chosen fashion for so long as you wish. Then hop onto another wave. Potential frustration for the student lies in the limitless possibilities. But, with proper guidance provided by the teacher, this is a very powerful form of instruction. Surf’s up!

Websites providing a good starting point for the on-line study of astronomy include the following:

(1) http://mosaic.larc.nasa.gov/nasaonline/nasaonline.html
(NASA’s home page);
(2) http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/hqpao/newsroom.html
(NASA press releases and fact sheets);
(3) http://www.jpl.nasa.gov
(NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Home pages on Shoemaker-Levy 9);
(4) http://www.arc.nasa.gov
(NASA Ames Research Center home page);
(5) http://www.stsci.edu/top.html
(Hubble Space telescope Center);
(6) http://fourmilab.ch/solar/solar.html
(text and photographs on the Solar System);
(7) http://www.c3.lanl.gov/”cjhamil/SolarSystem/homepage.html
(Solar System objects, photos and text;
(8) http://www.mtwilson.edu/Services/starmap.html
(star maps and planetary positions).

These addresses get you into the professional science journals:

(1) http://www.aaas.org/
(American Association for the Advancement of Science, Science );
(2) http://www.america.nature.com ( Nature );
(3) http://www.sdsc.edu/SDSC/Research/Comp_Bio/ESA/ESA.html
(Ecological Society of America, Ecology ).

Sample Internet surfing session: When giving instruction on the Internet, develop a worksheet which shows the sequence of addresses visited and guides the student through the labyrinth of information. A list of WWW addresses is needed to avoid confusion on the part of the student. Each address below leads directly to the WWW address which follows. Students type:

(1) http://www.arc.nasa.gov/ NASA Ames Research Center home page. Scroll down to NASA K-12 Internet Initiative. “Welcome to Quest, Home of NASA’s K-12 Internet Initiative.” The Quest mission is “to provide support and services for schools, teachers and students to fully utilize the Internet, and its underlying information technologies as a basic tool for learning.”
(2) http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/video1.html This describes the NASA K-12 Internet Initiative Videos. The first video, released in 1993, is “Global Quest: The Internet in the Classroom,” “designed to be a general introduction to the enormous positive changes that Internet access can bring to all areas of K-12 education.” The second video is “Connecting to the Future,” which “provides guidance for schools considering Internet connectivity”, and it is co-produced by NASA and the U.S. Department of Education. The third video is “Global Quest II: Teaching with the Internet,” which considers “specific uses of the Internet . . . and enhancing [teachers’] favorite curriculum unit[s].” Click on “Reform” to get a list of ways teachers can modify their teaching styles and expand their resources using the Internet. By clicking on “Curriculum” to get “Sci Ed: Science and Mathematics Education Resources.” Included here are Astronomy and Space Science, Images and Animations, Views of the Solar System by Calvin Hamilton, The Nine Planets by Bill Arnett, Welcome to Planets (JPL), Atlas of Mars.
(3) http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/ The Learning Resource Server, College of Education, University of Illinois. “LRS is a suite of servers, including Web, Gopher, and FTP servers, that distribute and mediate electronic learning resources created for and by precollege teachers and students, pre-service teachers, education faculty members, and educational researchers.”
(4) http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/images/sl9/ This gives “high-resolution infrared images of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 impact with Jupiter. These images come from the University of Hawaii’s 2.2 meter telescope and were obtained with a new infrared camera.”
(5) ftp://explorer.arc.nasa.gov/pub/SPACE/GIF/ This long list of ftp addresses includes images of Mars (ftp . . . GIF/mars.gif), See also mercury.gif, saturn.gif, and Earth.gif.
(6) http://www.noao.edu/asteroid/asteroid.html/ National Optical Astronomy Observatories. This site gives information on Near-Earth Asteroid 1995CR, which “holds the record for closest approach to the Sun. This asteroid was discovered during the dedicated detection program for Near Earth asteroids at the Steward Observatory 0.9 meter telescope on Kitt Peak Mountain. CR1995 crosses the orbits of four inner planets—Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars—and is on a highly chaotic and unstable path. Astronomers believe the asteroid will eventually collide with one of these planets or with the Sun, or may be ejected from the Solar System by a “sling-shot” effect. The asteroid, only 200 yards in diameter, will get as close to Earth as 4.5 million miles on Wednesday, February 22, 1995.”
(7) http://www.noao.edu/education/igcomet/igcomet.html This presents facts on comets, including structure and chemical makeup, historical information and the phenomenon of outgassing of short period comets. The largest known comet, Chiron, has a diameter of 90 kilometers. A comet recipe is presented under the heading, “Making a Comet in the Classroom.” under the address http://www.noao.edu/education/crecipe.html/
(8) http://www.excite.com/Subject/Science/Astronomy and Space/index.html/ This presents the choice of the topic “Solar System” and the subsequent selection of comets, Earth & Moon, planets, Sun, and Overview. Choose “planets”.
(9) http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/
nineplanets.html/ and the screen “The Nine Planets: A Multimedia Tour of the Solar System by Bill Arnett.” What follows is a wealth of information under a variety of headings and including the tidbits noted here: Asteroid Facts—we know of the whereabouts of 99% of the largest asteroids but of fewer than 1% of the smaller ones; Classification Schemes—Main Belt asteroids, Atens asteroids, Apollo asteroids, Amor asteroids; Trojan asteroids. More About Asteroids—sections include The largest known Near-Earth objects, Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous Mission, On-Line asteroid data, and asteroid nomenclature table. Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud also have sections with interesting information.
(10) http://wwwflag.wr.usgs.gov/wall/ This is the home page for the U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff Field Center. It leads you to “Browse the Solar System” and its chart of the Sun, planets, their satellites, and the comets and asteroids. You are advised to “click on a planetary image in the chart below to obtain more information on the selected object.”
(11) http://medicine.wustl.edu/~kronkg/kuiper_belt.html/ for additional historical information on the Kuiper Belt of short period comets. Here it is stated that there are an estimated 60,000 comets in our Solar System equal to or greater in size than Halley’s Comet. Chiron is the largest of the Centaur objects in orbit between Jupiter and Neptune. Pluto may be a Kuiper Belt object which has a planet-like orbit but which in its origins and its structure is planetoidal rather than planetary.
(12) http://www.astro.uva.nl/michielb/maya/astro.html/ The Maya Astronomy Page. It includes sections on the Maya calendar, Maya Astronomy, Maya Mathematics, and a Geographical Orientation.

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