Activity

Finding the Crater

Curated and Reviewed by Lesson Planet

A mass extinction event caused by an impact usually leaves a crater. Scholars use data from 10 different sites around the world trying to determine where to look for the crater. They use data, listing the amount of various minerals to create a map and narrow down the search. 

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CCSS: Designed
Additional Tags
Instructional Ideas
  • Update the estimated age of the mass extinction event to 66 million years ago, instead of the 65 million years ago mentioned in the lesson
  • Pre-teach the common minerals found in asteroids that rarely exist on Earth
Classroom Considerations
  • Relies on prior knowledge of the law of superposition, longitude, latitude, geological timescale, and the Paleogene Period
Pros
  • Offers ideas for using the lesson as a whole class discussion, splitting into small groups and doing stations, or assigning it to individuals
  • Includes differentiation in teaching methods for middle school and high school level courses
Cons
  • None