Howardites

A printable worksheet for the lesson Meteorites and magnets (KS2). It prints on A4 without the website around it. The answers are on a separate sheet for the teacher.

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

Meteorites and magnets

Name:Class:Date:

Key words

Meteorite
A meteorite is a piece of space rock that has survived its fall through the air and landed on Earth.
Chondrite
A chondrite is a stony meteorite full of tiny round grains called chondrules, and almost unchanged since the Solar System formed.
Iron-nickel metal
The shiny metal found in most meteorites, made of iron mixed with a little nickel.
Vesta
The second-largest object in the asteroid belt and the likely home of the howardite, eucrite and diogenite meteorites.
Magnetite
A black, strongly magnetic iron oxide found in some meteorites and in many Earth rocks that are mistaken for meteorites.
Slag
Slag is the glassy, often bubbly waste left behind when metal is made from ore, and it is the most common rock mistaken for a meteorite.

Choose the right answer

Circle the letter of the right answer.

  1. A spoon is pulled towards a magnet. What is it most likely to be made of?
    • AWood
    • BSteel
    • CCopper
    • DAluminium
  2. What sort of magnet do you need to test a stony meteorite?
    • ANone, because stony meteorites have no metal
    • BA warm one, because heat helps it pull
    • CA strong one, because its metal grains are small
    • DAny weak one, because stone is very magnetic
  3. Which group contains only things a magnet will attract?
    • AFoil, glass marble, iron nail
    • BGold ring, iron filings, copper wire
    • CPaper clip, iron nail, iron filings
    • DPaper clip, plastic ruler, iron nail
  4. Why does a magnet hardly pull on most meteorites from Mars?
    • ATheir crust blocks the magnet
    • BMars has no gravity
    • CThey are too cold from space
    • DThey have almost no metal in them

True or false?

Is the answer given right? Tick True or False.

  1. What is slag?

    Answer given: Dust from a comet's tail TrueFalse

  2. Which of these meteorites would a magnet hardly pull on?

    Answer given: A meteorite from the Moon TrueFalse

Write your answer

Answer in a word or a short sentence.

  1. In your magnet test, why should you write down a prediction before testing each object?
  2. 12 rocks were attracted to a magnet and 3 of them were meteorites. What fraction were meteorites?

Task

Collect ten safe objects from the classroom, such as a paper clip, a coin, a pencil, a spoon, a plastic ruler and a piece of foil. Predict which ones a magnet will attract, then test them and record the results in a table with columns for the object, your prediction and the result. Which predictions were wrong?

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