Howardites

A printable worksheet for the lesson Ordinary chondrites: H, L and LL (Start here: Enthusiast). It prints on A4 without the website around it. The answers are on a separate sheet for the teacher.

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Start here: Enthusiast · Teens and adultsHowardites worksheet

Ordinary chondrites: H, L and LL

Name:Class:Date:

Key words

Chondrite
A chondrite is a stony meteorite full of tiny round grains called chondrules, and almost unchanged since the Solar System formed.
Classification
Classification is the process of identifying exactly what kind of meteorite a specimen is and giving it an official type and group.
Olivine
A green mineral that is very common in meteorites and makes the gem called peridot.
Pyroxene
A family of common rock-forming minerals made of silicon and oxygen chains, important in almost all stony meteorites.
Silicate
A silicate is a mineral built around silicon and oxygen, the main ingredient of rocky planets and stony meteorites.
Oxygen isotopes
Oxygen isotopes are the three stable forms of oxygen, whose ratios in a meteorite act like a fingerprint for its parent body.

Choose the right answer

Circle the letter of the right answer.

  1. A meteorite label reads 'LL'. What do those two letters tell you?
    • AIron lost to weathering on Earth
    • BLow total iron and low metal
    • CA large specimen with low density
    • DA low-quality, low-value stone
  2. The Swedish fossil meteorites have been replaced by other minerals. How can their group still be identified?
    • AFrom surviving grains of chromite
    • BFrom their preserved fusion crust
    • CFrom their unchanged metal grains
    • DFrom their rounded overall shape
  3. What does an Fs value describe in a chondrite classification?
    • AHow much free metal the rock holds
    • BHow iron-rich the olivine is
    • CHow much feldspar the rock holds
    • DHow iron-rich the pyroxene is
  4. Which statement about the H chondrite parent body is accurate?
    • AIt is less securely known than LL's
    • BIt was sampled directly by Hayabusa
    • CIt was broken up 470 million years ago
    • DIt is the source of the Chelyabinsk fall
  5. Which pair of minerals makes up most of an ordinary chondrite?
    • AKamacite and nickel-rich taenite
    • BClay minerals and carbonates
    • CQuartz and potassium feldspar
    • DOlivine and low-calcium pyroxene

True or false?

Is the answer given right? Tick True or False.

  1. How does an electron microprobe find the composition of a mineral grain?

    Answer given: It aims electrons at a polished sample and reads X-rays TrueFalse

  2. An equilibrated ordinary chondrite has olivine of Fa24. Which group does this point to?

    Answer given: L TrueFalse

Write your answer

Answer in a word or a short sentence.

  1. Roughly how much iron-nickel metal does a typical H chondrite contain by weight?
  2. Many L chondrites show heavy shock and were reheated at one shared time. What does this point to?
  3. What do the fossil meteorites in Swedish limestone tell us about Earth's past?

Task

Compare photographs of cut H, L and LL chondrites in a museum catalogue or book. Can you see differences in the amount of shiny metal? Rank them by metal content before reading the labels.

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