Scheme of work: meteorites from Key Stage 1 to A-level
How the site's lessons, courses, tools and sections fit each key stage. Use it to plan a unit or a single enrichment lesson, or to find homework and extension material that matches what your class is studying.
Key Stage 1
Years 1 and 2, ages 5 to 7
Space is not a statutory topic at Key Stage 1, so meteorites work best as a hook for materials, sorting and simple testing.
Curriculum topics
- Everyday materials (Year 1)
- Uses of everyday materials (Year 2)
- Seasonal changes and observing the sky (Year 1)
- Working scientifically: observing, simple tests, sorting and classifying
Free lesson plans
Course
Tools and games
Sections to explore
Projects
Lower Key Stage 2
Years 3 and 4, ages 7 to 9
Rocks and magnets fit meteorites closely: testing a rock like a meteorite hunter covers both.
Curriculum topics
- Rocks (Year 3)
- Forces and magnets (Year 3)
- Light (Year 3)
- States of matter (Year 4)
- Working scientifically: comparative and fair tests, measuring, tables and bar charts
Free lesson plans
Course
Tools and games
Sections to explore
Projects
Upper Key Stage 2
Years 5 and 6, ages 9 to 11
Year 5 Earth and space is the natural home for meteors, comets and craters; Year 6 fossils link to the impact that ended the age of the dinosaurs.
Curriculum topics
- Earth and space (Year 5)
- Properties and changes of materials (Year 5)
- Forces: gravity and air resistance (Year 5)
- Evolution and inheritance: fossils (Year 6)
- History: the Stone Age to the Iron Age; Ancient Egypt
Free lesson plans
Course
Tools and games
Sections to explore
Projects
Key Stage 3
Years 7 to 9, ages 11 to 14
Density, the rock cycle and space physics give the richest practical work, and fireball sightings bring in speed, light and sound.
Curriculum topics
- Particles, density and changes of state
- Earth and atmosphere: structure of the Earth and the rock cycle
- Elements, compounds and mixtures
- Forces: gravity, weight and drag
- Space physics: the Solar System and gravity
- Energy, light and sound
Free lesson plans
- Slow cooling, big crystals: from basalt to iron meteorites (Years 7 to 9)
Course
Tools and games
Sections to explore
Projects
Key Stage 4
GCSE, Years 10 and 11, ages 14 to 16
Meteorites give real data for calculations: the energy of Chelyabinsk, the momentum of DART and the age of the Solar System from half-lives.
Curriculum topics
- Energy: Ep = mgh and Ek = ½mv²
- Forces and momentum
- Atomic structure: isotopes, radioactive decay and half-life
- Space physics (separate physics)
- Chemistry of the atmosphere and the early Earth
- Earth's resources and metals
Free lesson plans
- Energy and crater size: does doubling the energy double the crater? (GCSE (Years 10 and 11))
Course
Tools and games
Sections to explore
Projects
Post-16
A-level and beyond, ages 16 to 18
For independent research, the extended projects for ages 14 to 18 use the site's catalogue data.
Curriculum topics
- Gravitational fields and orbits
- Exponential decay and radiometric dating
- Spectroscopy and mass spectrometry
- Thermodynamics and phase changes in metals
Course
Tools and games
Sections to explore
Projects
Planning a unit
A typical sequence opens with a hook, such as a meteorite to hold, a fireball video or a fall that made the news, then a practical lesson from the starter pack, a course lesson for background or homework, and a project or tool for extension. The course lessons each end with a short quiz, which works well as a retrieval starter next lesson.
These eight lessons are a free starter pack, written specially for this site. The full set of 25 lesson plans, with worksheets, end-of-unit tests and mark schemes, is in the Corvanelle book Teaching Meteorites. The lessons in the book are different lessons, so the starter pack and the book work together rather than repeating each other.