What misconceptions do pupils have about meteorites?
Common ones are that shooting stars are stars, that meteorites are hot or radioactive, that most are huge, and that every heavy dark rock is from space.
Knowing common misconceptions helps you plan questions that bring them into the open and challenge them.
'Shooting stars are stars.' Pupils may think stars fall. Explain that meteors are tiny grains burning in our atmosphere about 100 kilometres up, while stars are distant suns.
'Meteorites land red-hot and start fires.' Most meteorites are warm or cool when they land, because only a thin outer layer heats briefly and the final fall happens slowly through cold air. Reports of fires are generally not supported.
'Meteorites are radioactive or dangerous.' Their natural radioactivity is extremely low, similar to ordinary rocks. Normal hygiene, such as washing hands, is enough.
'Meteorites are always huge and make craters.' Most are small, from grams to a few kilograms, and land at terminal velocity without making craters. Only large, fast impactors make big craters, and these are rare.
'Meteorites come from stars or from comets.' Almost all come from asteroids, with a few from the Moon and Mars. Comet dust makes most meteor showers, but it does not survive as meteorites.
'Any heavy, dark or holey rock is a meteorite.' Most suspected meteorites are slag, iron ore, basalt or concretions.
'Meteorites are made of unknown alien materials.' They are made of the same elements as Earth, mostly in familiar minerals.
A quick true-or-false quiz at the start of a topic reveals these ideas, and repeating it at the end shows progress.