Howardites

A printable worksheet for the lesson The fiery fall through the air (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

The fiery fall through the air

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Key words

Meteoroid
A meteoroid is a small piece of rock or metal travelling through space.
Ablation
Ablation is the melting and vaporising of a meteoroid's surface as it speeds through the atmosphere.
Fusion crust
Fusion crust is the thin, dark skin that forms on a meteorite as its surface melts during its fall.
Meteorite
A meteorite is a piece of space rock that has survived its fall through the air and landed on Earth.
Fall
A fall is a meteorite that people saw coming down and then collected.
Dark flight
Dark flight is the last part of a meteorite's fall, after it has slowed down and stopped glowing.

Choose the right answer

Circle the letter of the right answer.

  1. Why do small meteorites usually land with a thud, not a giant explosion?
    • AThey fall so fast that they bounce off the ground
    • BGravity stops pulling on them near the ground
    • CAir resistance slows them to about the speed of a fast car
    • DThey melt away completely before they reach the ground
  2. At about what height has a small falling rock lost almost all its space speed?
    • ABetween about 500 and 300 km up
    • BBetween about 30 and 10 km up
    • CBetween about 120 and 70 km up
    • DLess than 100 metres up
  3. Imagine a meteoroid falling where there was no air at all. What would happen?
    • AIt would slow down much more quickly
    • BIt would glow even more brightly than usual
    • CIt would not heat up and glow as a meteor
    • DIt would melt right through to the middle
  4. The outside of a meteoroid melts and is blown away as it falls. What is this called?
    • AAir resistance
    • BDark flight
    • CAblation
    • DA fusion crust

True or false?

Is the answer given right? Tick True or False.

  1. Which order is right for the fall of a small meteorite?

    Answer given: Glowing, landing, dark flight, fusion crust forms TrueFalse

  2. During dark flight, which force pulls the rock down to the ground?

    Answer given: Gravity TrueFalse

Write your answer

Answer in a word or a short sentence.

  1. Why is a fresh fusion crust such a good clue that a rock is a meteorite?
  2. Even the slowest meteoroid is about how many times faster than a jet airliner?

Task

Feel air resistance safely. Drop two identical sheets of paper from the same height at the same time, one flat and one scrunched into a ball. Which lands first? The flat sheet meets more air, so air resistance slows it more. Talk about how air slows a meteorite in the same way.

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