Making a Lunar Landscape
Ages 3 and up
Why does the Moon have craters? Today we are going to do an experiment to learn about the lunar surface by making a model. In science, the term model means creating a representation of something in order to understand universal scientific principles. By making this model we can understand what the surface of the moon might look like, even though it Is difficult for us to visit it.
Materials
- 3-4 cups Flour
- ½ cup Oil
- Pie Pan or other round pan (not glass)
- Rock
Directions
- Look at the moon at night. Is it pure white? Does it have shadows?
- Add flour to your pan. Make sure it isn’t overflowing. Add less flour if necessary
- Add oil to your flour
- Mix with your hands-this part is a little messy!
- Smooth the top
- Drop rocks onto the smooth surface-what happens? Each rock leaves an imprint! The moon doesn’t have an atmosphere like Earth does, so space debris crash into it and they leave marks. When we look at the moon from Earth we can see the shadows from all the craters.
It’s Black History Month!
Each of our STEAM Learning Labs this month will highlight an important figure in Black History. Katherine Johnson is a famous mathematician who worked for NASA. Read about her here.
