Teacher Resources & Lesson Ideas

Information on Impact Cratering in General

General information about impact cratering, craters, and virtual tours of impact sites
http://www.psi.edu/explorecraters/front.htm

Background information on the impact cratering process
Information about identifying shock metamorphosed rocks in the field
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/books/CB-954/CB-954.intro.html

A list of confirmed impact craters on Earth
http://www.unb.ca/passc/ImpactDatabase/

Information about Meteor Crater, Arizona
http://www.barringercrater.com/

Teacher Resources for Impact Craters

A set of slides showing several examples of impact craters on Earth and elsewhere in the solar system
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/publications/slidesets/craters/

Educational Activities About Impact Cratering:

http://teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/tlnasa/units/PlanetaryGeology/9.pdf
http://teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/tlnasa/units/planetarygeology/7.pdf
http://www.spacegrant.hawaii.edu/class_acts/CratersTe.html
http://ares.jsc.nasa.gov/Education/Activities/ExpMoon/ImpactCraters.pdf
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/explore/shaping_the_planets/activity_glance2.shtml

Images of Terrestrial Impact Craters:

Meteor Crater, Arizona – 1.2 km diameter simple crater in the Arizona desert
http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/images/meteorcrater.html

Chicxulub Crater, Mexico – the one that led to mass extinction 65 million years ago
http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/images/yucatan.html

Aorounga Crater, Chad
http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/images/chad.html

Manicouagan Crater, Canada
http://www.sai.msu.su/apod/ap001213.html

Craters on Other Worlds:

An interactive map that shows landforms on Mars, including impact craters
http://www.google.com/mars/

An interactive map showing landforms on the moon, including impact craters
http://www.google.com/moon/

Lunar impact craters (some in 3D)
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/expmoon/science/craterstructure.html

Images (and some data) of all of the objects in the solar system (many of which are cratered)
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/

Earth Impact Effects program - this brings in the math and science connection. Site allows you to input variables and calculates the impact size and ‘collateral damage’.
http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/impacteffects/

Impact Crater calculator
http://www.convertalot.com/asteroid_impact_calculator.html

Cosmic Collision – site has eight steps explaining impact craters each followed by questions. Impact calculator – Step 8 - with questions to be addressed…
http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/investigations/es2506/es2506page08.cfm

Rock Structure created by meteorite
http://ohiofarmer.com/story.aspx?s=1159&c=9

Lesson plan – impact crater activities
http://www.spacegrant.hawaii.edu/class_acts/CrateringDoc.html

Lesson Plan – Meteors and Earth’s changing Force – ODE IMS lesson
https://dnet01.ode.state.oh.us/ims.itemdetails/lessondetail.aspx?id=0907f84c805312da