Introduction

You are a primary school teacher. Some of your (naughty) primary school students saw the age restricted "Asteroid - The terror movie" on TV last night at 19h00. They are afraid that asteroids are going to destroy earth today.

You have one hour (while they are on their visit at the local zoo) to prepare a quick lesson to assure them there is nothing to be afraid of.

The Task

Prepare a short presentation for primary school students to assure them that the Earth is in no immediate danger of being destroyed by an asteroid.

The Process and Resources

Do research about the actual, real danger of asteroids

G: Near-Earth Objects Potentially Hazardous Asteroids

DETECTION, OBSERVATION AND INVESTIGATION OF ASTEROIDS AND COMETS APPROACHING THE EARTH

Research the early warning systems in place

Research what could be done to divert a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid from earth

Prepare a quick lesson for your primary school students about what you have learnt.

Consider not wearing a hard hat while you present your lesson!

End the lesson with your students drawing pictures of how the army destroys asteroids with big bombs - far away from Earth.

Be ready with answers to some faq they might have.

• NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory Near-Earth Objects Frequently Asked Questions
• Ten Frequently Asked Questions about NEO Impacts
• Near-Earth Objects (NEOs)
• Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs)

Standards Addressed

Project 2061 Benchmarks for Science Literacy

The Physical Setting - The Universe - Grades 6 through 8

• Large numbers of chunks of rock orbit the sun. (like asteroids).

Conclusion

During this WebQuest you learned:

• Why asteroids hold no immediate danger to life on Earth.
• How to explain to primary school students that asteroids hold no immediate danger to life on Earth.

This WebQuest can be assessed using scientific presentation rubrics.

Here is a list of assessment rubrics

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