Meteorite Hunting
Recommended for: Ages 10 and up
Badges: Maryland Skies
Meteoroids are “space rocks.” When a meteoroid enters a planet’s atmosphere at high speed and burns up, they are called shooting stars. If a meteoroid survives its trip through the atmosphere and lands on the ground, we call it a meteorite. In this activity, you will learn about meteoroids and become a meteorite hunter!
You Will Need
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Magnet
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Magnifying glass
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Dirt
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Post-it Notes
Wonder
What are meteoroids?
Where do they come from?
What is a shooting star?
When can we see shooting stars?
Watch
Learn about meteor showers from National Geographic:
What’s the difference between a comet, asteroid, and meteor?
Read
Check out this article from NASA about Meteors and when to see them.
Try
Become a Meteorite Hunter! Check out this great activity by the Children’s Museum Indianapolis to learn how to from micrometeorites from the dust around your house.
Wonderlog
Want to complete this task towards collecting a Wondernauts badge? Share with the Wondernauts community about your experience! Did you find any dust and rock from a meteorite? Write about what it feels like to find something that was once traveling in space!
