Transcript poster for the Is Earth Doomed to a Catastrophic

Is Earth Doomed To A
Catastrophic Collision?
Nancy Krajcar (Olympic High School) and Tom Collett (Newark Memorial High School)
Essential Question/Problem
Is Earth doomed
to a catastrophic
collision ?
Learning Objectives (Science Standards)
High School: Earth Science 1.f. & 1.b.
1. Astronomy and planetary exploration reveal
the solar system’s structure, scale, and
change over time. As a basis for understanding
this concept:
•Students will model cratering to explain how
the Moon’s surface represents a sequence of
craters from impact events.
•Students will model the effects of surface
weathering of crater structures on Earth and
infer the frequency of impacts on Earth.
•Students will diagram 4 major impact sources
and link impact cratering to normal accretion
processes at the formation of the solar system.
•Students will compare data from various
Earth craters to distinguish the impact crater
that caused mass extinctions at the end of the
Cretaceous.
•Students will formulate and describe impact
risks.
•Students will formulate and communicate
their own evidence based opinion of NEO
monitoring or mitigation funding to
government representatives.
PROCESS SKILLS(I & E Standards)
Students will:
d. Formulate explanations by using logic and
evidence.
g. Recognize the usefulness and limitations of
models and theories as scientific
representations of reality.
i. Analyze the locations, sequences, or time
intervals that are characteristic of natural
phenomena (e.g., relative ages of rocks,
locations of planets over time, and succession
of species in an ecosystem).
m. Investigate a science-based societal issue
by researching the literature, analyzing data,
and communicating the findings.
Instructional Case Organization
Specific questions that will help to answer the
generative question:
What processes have shaped the surface of
our Moon and the Earth?
•Throughout history, the
Earth and Moon have been
impacted repeatedly.
•Weathering, erosion, and
tectonic activity have
erased most impact
evidence from Earth’s
surface.
•Impacts have been and
continue to be a natural
planetary process.
English Language Support
•Direct Vocabulary Instruction
•Use of groups/pair shares and rehearsal time
before responding
•Faux random questioning
•Use of visuals
•Use of manipulatives
•Graphic organizers
•Sentence starters
•Format frame including outline to write
expository solution that include a main idea and
detailing evidence.
The Moon
Barringer Crater
What are impactor sources in our Solar
System, and has Earth been hit often in the
past?
•There are four sources of
potential impactors: Near
Earth Objects (NEO), the
asteroid belt, Kuiper belt, and
Oort cloud.
•KT impact event is believed
to be the cause of an
extinction that eliminated 75%
of the species from Earth.
Is Earth in danger from impacts now?
•There are over 1,000
potentially hazardous
asteroids.
•Interplanetary objects are
potential impactors in the long
term due to orbital
perturbations.
•Earth gets hit all the time!
-Pea size=10/hour
-30m=1/100 yrs (destroy city)
-2km=1/500,000 yrs (Earth
catastrophe)
Should society be taking action to mitigate
impact risks and is it worth the cost?
•The probability of a devastating impact in
normal human time scale is low.
•the potential destruction of such an impact
would be catastrophic to human civilization.
Key Lessons and Activities
Engagement
We will use NASA imagery of the Moon and Earth
to encourage students to explain how craters
may have formed and weathered. They will
answer the question: What is the dominant
feature of the Moon’s surface? We will
incorporate clickers or whiteboards to pose
thought provoking questions.
Exploration
Students will determine that Moon’s surface was
repeatedly struck in the past by a variety of
celestial objects.
Students will evaluate craters on the Earth and
determine which crater likely caused the KT
mass extinction.
Explanation
We will teach about impact craters and the
objects that form them.
Sources of past and future impact
Frequency and effects of impacts
Current detection and mitigation programs
Extension
Students will use NASA images to determine the
relative ages of impact craters. Students will
model and analyze potential impact events on
Earth using Near Earth Object (NEO) data with
online impact calculators.
Evaluation
Students will do quick
writes, answer questions
using clickers, complete
lab reports, and write
letters to government
representatives (see
capstone project).
Comet Hale-Bopp
21st Century Skills
•Grasping and using printed information
•Technology literacy
•Time management
•Critical thinking and problem solving
•Speaking to be understood
•Logically grasping and thinking through issues
•Getting ideas across in writing
Capstone Project
Students will formulate and communicate their
own evidence based opinion of NEO monitoring
or mitigation funding to government
representatives.
Implementation Plan and Next Steps
Will need to modify the impact lab, create a
write-up for the impact calculator activity, create
two PowerPoint lessons, and establish rubrics.
Will meet two times to finalize project.
Preliminary implementation will be during
October 2010.
Resources
•NASA mission websites and imagery for past, current
and future
•Exploring Meteorite Mysteries An Educators Guide with
Activities for Physical and Earth and Space Sciences
http://ares.jsc.nasa.gov/education/activities/expmetmy
s/expmetmys.htm
•Exploring The Moon An Educators Guide with Activities
for Physical and Earth and Space Sciences
http://ares.jsc.nasa.gov/Education/Activities/ExpMoon/
ExpMoon.htm
•Impact calculator created by Edward Gomez & Yon
Yardley http://simulator.down2earth.eu/
•Impact calculator created by Dr. Douglas P. Hamilton
and students at U. Maryland.
http://janus.astro.umd.edu/astro/impact/
“Asteroid” NOVA video clip on near miss
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/asteroid.html