• A family on a camping trip watches a
bright light streak across the sky and disappear.
• An explorer comes upon a circular crater with rocks scattered around
its rim.
• Two boys watch a rock fall from the sky and land near them.
• A farmer picks up an unusually heavy rock while plowing his field.
• A scientist discovers the rare element iridium in a soil layer that
marks the end of the age of dinosaurs.
All of these people have discovered possible evidence of rocks from space that passed through the atmosphere and landed on Earth. Sometimes there is little or no evidence of the rock itself; it burned up in the atmosphere or broke up on impact. Other times the rock is all there is, with little evidence of its fiery entry or crash landing. These events all involve the mysteries of meteorites; what they are, where they come from, how they got here, how they affect people, and what they tell us about the solar system. These are some of the questions that students investigate when they visit the Oscar E. Monnig Meteorite Gallery at Texas Christian University.
Meteorites — rocks from space that survive their fall to Earth — have much to tell us. They hold the answers to the complexities of star formation and can explain the earliest events in the birth of the solar system. By touring the gallery and engaging in hands-on, minds-on activities, students have the opportunity to trace the formation and breakup of planets, asteroids, and comets from which meteorites originated, explore their long journey through space and their fall to Earth, learn about their recovery, and discover the wealth of information they hold for scientists.
Educational Meteorite Program for School Groups
This educational program consists of a guided tour of the gallery and hands-on inquiry science activities.
The gallery tour covers the following topics:
• Sources of Meteorites
• Meteorite Facts & Terms
• History of Meteoritics
• Recognition of Meteorites
• Hunting for Meteorites
• Classification of Meteorites
• Impact Craters
• Texas Meteorites
The hands-on inquiry science activities support TEKS and National Science Education Standards. These activities emphasize science process skills, analytical thinking, problem solving, and cooperative learning. All of the activities have interdisciplinary connections including math, physics, chemistry, geology, biology, astronomy, history, and writing.
The educational meteorite program is available for Grades 3 – 12. The length and content of the program varies depending upon the size of the group and the objectives and needs of the teacher and students. A typical program for 100 students consists of a 50-minute tour of the gallery and three 50-minute hands-on inquiry science activities. This would include a 30-minute break for lunch. Students need to bring their own drinks and lunches.