Moon Craters

What you need:

• Deep pan

• Flour

• Cocoa powder

• Different sized sports balls—baseball, softball, tennis ball, golf ball etc.

• Newspaper

What you do:

1. Lay the newspaper down and place the pan on top.

2. Fill the pan with 2 to 3 inches of flour.

3. Sprinkle a layer of cocoa powder over top of the flour.

4. Take one of your sports balls and drop it into the flour.

5. Take the ball out of the flour and look at the crater the ball made.

6. Repeat making craters with your different sport balls.

Questions to ask:

1. What do you observe when you remove the ball from the crater?

2. How do the craters made by different sports balls differ from each other?

   1. Why do you think they have those differences?

3. What do you think would happen if you dropped one of the balls from a lower height or higher height?

   
   

What's the science:

Moon craters are created when asteroids and meteorites crash into the Moon's surface. Earth has an atmosphere that helps to protect us from falling space rocks; however, the Moon doesn't have that type of protection. Also, because there is little weathering or erosion on the Moon, due to its lack of wind and precipitation, the craters remain virtually unchanged for millions of years.