Oh, no! An asteroid is on a collision course with Earth!. Class members must rise to the challenge of designing a shelter that will protect people from the impact and permit them to live in this shelter for one year. In this first lesson in an eight-part unit, teams study maps to determine an underground location for their shelter. 

Concepts

asteroids, disasters, shelters, engineering design, design, technology resources

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Additional Tags

asteriod, Engineering

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Instructional Ideas

• Drop marbles into a pan of flour lightly covered with tempera paint to show how material is kicked up by an impact
• Show videos of high-speed impacts onto solid surfaces

Classroom Considerations

• Consider using the Asteroid Impact Student Workbook with all the unit's handouts in one packet

Pros

• The lesson contains an activity to get the class thinking about the challenge
• The map of Alabraska comes as a poster size map

Cons

• Provides little information to teachers about how to deliver the content of the lesson