Howardites

A printable worksheet for the lesson Craters: when big rocks hit (KS2). It prints on A4 without the website around it. The answers are on a separate sheet for the teacher.

Answer sheet for teachersBack to the lessonAll worksheets

KS2 · Ages 7 to 11 (Years 3 to 6)Howardites worksheet

Craters: when big rocks hit

Name:Class:Date:

Key words

Impact crater
A hole blasted in the surface of a planet, moon or asteroid when a fast-moving object from space crashes into it.
Iron meteorite
An iron meteorite is made mostly of iron and nickel metal.

Choose the right answer

Circle the letter of the right answer.

  1. What does the ground do for a moment when a big space rock hits it?
    • AIt stays perfectly still and firm
    • BIt turns into shiny metal
    • CIt freezes solid in a flash
    • DIt behaves almost like a liquid
  2. To test whether drop height changes crater size fairly, what should you change?
    • AThe height and the size of the marble
    • BThe marble and the depth of flour
    • CEverything, to get more results
    • DOnly the drop height
  3. Four craters measure 10 cm, 12 cm, 11 cm and 15 cm. What is the mean width?
    • A15 cm
    • B12 cm
    • C11 cm
    • D48 cm
  4. When a crater forms, what is left behind last?
    • AA fast-moving rock high in the sky
    • BGround that flows like a liquid
    • CA round hollow with a rim
    • DRock being thrown outwards

True or false?

Is the answer given right? Tick True or False.

  1. Why might a marble dropped from higher up make a bigger crater?

    Answer given: It gets heavier as it falls TrueFalse

  2. How does the size of the rock that made Meteor Crater compare with the crater?

    Answer given: The rock was far smaller than the crater TrueFalse

Write your answer

Answer in a word or a short sentence.

  1. Which falling space rock is most likely to blast out a large crater?
  2. What are the Canyon Diablo meteorites?

Task

Make craters. Fill a deep tray with about 5 cm of flour, smooth it and sprinkle a thin layer of cocoa powder on top. Drop a marble from 50 cm, 1 m and 1.5 m, three times each, and measure each crater's width with a ruler. Record your results in a table and find the mean for each height. Does a higher drop make a bigger crater? Look for the rim and the rays of white flour thrown over the cocoa, just like real craters. Wear old clothes, and have an adult help with the dropping height.

Howardites · free to copy for use in your classroom · answers are on the separate teacher's answer sheet