9. Reaping Rocks

Purpose

To make predictions about the origin of lunar rocks by first collecting, describing, and classifying neighborhood rocks.

Procedure

1. Display your rocks on a tray or egg carton, and label each one with the location of where you found it.

2. Look carefully at each rock with and without a magnifying lens or stereo microscope. What details can you see under magnification?

3. Describe what you see by filling out "My Own Rock Chart." Use as many adjectives or descriptive phrases as you can.

4. Classify your rocks as igneous, sedimentary or metamorphic. Try to interpret how your rocks were formed; that is, try to determine the origins. Add this information to your chart.

5. Now, based on your chart and the "Moon ABCs Fact Sheet," predict what the Moon rocks will look like.

6. How do you think the different Moon rocks might have formed?

My Own Rock Chart

Observations	Sample ___________	Sample ___________	Sample ___________
Sketch of Sample
Shape
Size
Color
Texture
Apollo Mission/Collection Site
Interpretations	Sample ___________	Sample ___________	Sample ___________
Classification
Origin

 

Moon ABCs Fact Sheet

>

Property	Earth	Moon	Brain Busters
Equatorial diameter	12,756 km	3,476 km	How long would it take to drive around the Moon’s equator at 80 km per hour?
Surface area	510 million square km	37.8 million square km	The Moon’s surface area is similar to that of one of Earth’s continents. Which one?
Mass	5.98 x 10E24 kg	7.35 x 10E22 kg	What percentage of Earth’s mass is the Moon’s mass?
Volume	??	??	Can you calculate the volumes of Earth and the Moon?
Density	5.52 grams per cubic cm	3.34 grams per cubic cm	Check this by calculating the density from the mass and volume.
Surface gravity	9.8 m/sec/sec	1.63 m/sec/sec	What fraction of Earth’s gravity is the Moon’s gravity?
Crust	Silicate rocks. Continents dominated by granites. Ocean crust dominated by basalt.	Silicate rocks. Highlands dominated by feldspar-rich rocks and maria by basalt.	What portion of each body is crust?
Mantle	Silicate rocks dominated by minerals containing iron and magnesium.	Similar to Earth.	Collect some silicate rocks and determine the density. Is the density greater or lesser than the Earth/Moon’s density? Why?
Core	Iron, nickel metal	Same, but core is much smaller.	What portion of each body is core?
Sediment or Regolith	Silicon and oxygen bound in minerals that contain water, plus organic materials.	Silicon and oxygen bound in minerals, glass produced by meteorite impacts, small amounts of gases (e.g., hydrogen) implanted by the solar wind. No water or organic materials.	Do you think life ever existed on the Moon? Why or why not?
Atmospheric (main constituents)	78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen	Basically none. Some carbon gases, but very little of them. Pressure is about one-trillionth of Earth’s atmospheric pressure.	Could you breathe the lunar atmosphere?
Length of day (sidereal rotation period)	23.93 hours	27.3 Earth days	How long does daylight last on the Moon?
Temperature	Air temperature ranges from -88C (winter in polar regions) to 58C (summer in tropical regions).	Surface temperature ranges from -193C (night in polar regions) to 111C (day in equatorial regions).	Why are the temperatures of Earth and the Moon so different?
Surface features	25 percent land (seven continents) with varied terrain of mountains, plains, river valleys. Ocean floor characterized by mountains, plains, and trenches.	84 percent heavily-cratered highlands. 16 percent basalt-covered maria. Numerous impact craters - some with bright rays, crater chains, and rilles.	Compare maps of Earth and the Moon. Is there any evidence that plate tectonics operated on the Moon?

 

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