INTEC: Leader Prep.: Crater Modeling

1.5.3 Leader Preparation

`As discussion leader what am I supposed to do?` `How much additional time will it take?`	Estimated time to complete the preparation for this activity is 1-2 hours. Hands-On Inquiry is the focus of the LONG DISTANCE DETECTIVE activity in CRATERS!. Some materials need to be gathered in advance. You should make your own clay crater model before the participants do.
As Discussion Leader you are supposed to: Read and prepare the teacher's notes on pages 34-34 of Craters!. Read the student sections pages 28-33. Make copies of pages 22, 31, 32, and 33 for EACH participant. Make copies of the hand-out on modeling a crater for the face-to-face. The page is available at http://www.concord.org/intec/t1/a5/claycrater.html. View a step-by-step process on how to make a crater at http://www.concord.org/intec/t1/a5/crater1.html. Finally, make your own crater and show the web movie demonstration at the F-2-F. Collect materials for 'LONG DISTANCE DETECTIVE' - Craters! activity #4. Get some help in preparing the materials. Est. 1-2 hrs. prep. Secure a suitable area for the activity. A work table is needed, along with an overhead projector. A room with shades is helpful. Organize clean up help. Assign a participant to post notes to the Discussion Areas about what happened at your F-2-F.
`What are the teachers going to do at this face-to-face?` `Are they expected to each build a clay models of their own at the activity?`	YES!!!
Part One: After participants model their own craters the group should place all the craters together into a "moonscape" on the table illuminated by the overhead projector. Shadows made by the rims of the clay craters are measured and recorded. The angle made by the light from the overhead is measured and recorded. It is will be around 7 degrees with standard overhead projectors and tables. Using the angle and some right triangle trig teachers can predict the height of the crater walls from the shadow alone. A visual hint is provided at http://www.concord.org/intec/t1/a5/visualclue.html. Part Two: This same technique is applied to craters on the moon. Students can actually measure the height of the 'mountains' of the moon. Which crater is the deepest? What would the horizon look like if the city you live in were situated at the center of a similar crater on earth? NOTE: The image to the right has been reduced for web reproduction. Its original in a larger format exists on the CD.
`It says above, "...post notes to the Discussion Areas about what happened at your F-2-F." What is supposed to be posted?`	Part One: Ask each participant to write down their thoughts or experiences at the end of the activity. One of the participants should collect these and key them into one document Post the one keyed document to the Discussion Area to share the F-2-F experience with the rest of the cohort. Quotes should be put around teacher's comments. No names should be associated with the comments. Part Two: If you have a QuickCam or similar digital input device handy, can you take some images of people and their craters? Can you post an image of the 'moon table' with all the craters on it? Where's the inquiry in your practice? Where was the inquiry in this activity? ^** You may wish to look over your local school curriculum, study topics and practice in your own courses. View and comment with an eye on national standards with an eye toward alignment of practice with standards.

`I've never done this activity before. Any hints?`	There is always a first time. The teacher's notes in Craters! provide a basic overview. Designers at the Concord Consortium have provided additional materials suggestions and support for modeling the crater NOT contained in the NSTA publication. See the "Demonstrations" section at the foot of this page. We suggest modifying the Craters! directions to include building a 'moon table' from all models. Each teacher should make his/her own crater. The result is spectacular. You can see on the table conceptions that the makers of the craters have about real lunar craters. How deep are they? What do the rays really look like? Are they solid? Where is the ejecta blanket? What parts of the crater makes the shadows?
LIST OF MATERIALS TO OBTAIN Page 28 of Craters! gives a list of all the materials. It is repeated here for print out.
DEMONSTRATIONS ON MODELING A CRATER WITH CLAY Visual clues on setting up the projector for "crater table" can be found at http://www.concord.org/intec/t1/a5/visualclue.html. A worksheet of the step-by-step process on how to make a crater is available for discussion leaders to print off the web at http://www.concord.org/intec/t1/a5/claycrater.html. A web page of the step-by-step process on how to make a crater is available at http://www.concord.org/intec/t1/a5/crater1.html.


INTEC, A project of The Concord Consortium. Copyright © 1996-7, All rights reserved.	http://www.concord.org/intec/t1/a5/t1a5p3leader_prep.html Last Updated: 28-Mar-97