NASA's LCROSS mission is dropping a probe into a lunar crater. Groups design a system to travel down a zip line and drop a marble onto a target in the classroom. The groups then modify their designs based upon testing. 

Concepts

gravity, newton's first law of motion, gravitational potential energy, projectile motion, moon exploration, technology resources

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Instructional Ideas

• Watch a video of an object being dropped from a moving platform
• Increase the length of the zip line and the height of the drop

Classroom Considerations

• Depending upon the drop height, the marbles will bounce
• Module five of a six-part series

Pros

• The second page of the handout connects the activity to the LCROSS mission
• The leader pages provide instructions on what to prepare before beginning the activity

Cons

• The plan does not go into detail on how to make the curriculum connections apparent to the class

Common Core

HSN-VM.A.3