Making Moon Craters STEM Activity
Making moon craters has become one of our favorite hands-on ways to explore space from home—but our curiosity about the Moon started years ago under the night sky. Stargazing has always been something our family enjoys, and early in our homeschooling journey, I started researching observatories in the southeastern U.S. To my surprise, I found several within an hour’s drive! I even organized group trips to the observatory in Snow Camp, NC, which became unforgettable learning experiences. If you’ve never visited one, I definitely recommend doing a quick search for your state—you might be surprised by how close the stars really are. And if you’re planning a vacation, consider adding an observatory stop to your itinerary!
In this post, we’ll dive into a fun making moon craters activity that helps kids understand how craters form on the Moon and Earth. You’ll find real crater photos, a breakdown of the parts of a crater, and a free printable lesson pack to make this space science activity both educational and unforgettable.
Craters
Scientists have some interesting ways of studying craters.
They have satellites that orbit around the Moon, landers that touch down on its surface, and even robotic explorers that can move around and gather information. There are several satellites orbiting the Moon now. These are The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), the two ARTEMIS probes, and NASA’s Capstone.
Credit: NASA
- To learn more about lunar craters, they also look at craters here on Earth and compare them with craters on the Moon.
- Scientists use special computers to create models of what happens during impacts, which helps them understand how craters are formed.
- One very interesting way scientists study craters is by using NASA’s Vertical Gun Range. This is a special place where they shoot projectiles at super high speeds—between 7,000 and 15,000 miles per hour! Scientists fire these projectiles down a long tube into a dish filled with materials that are similar to what the Moon is made of. This helps them see how craters form when something hits the Moon.
Copyright: NASA AMES
The Main Parts of a Crater
Before we start making moon craters with some simple materials, let’s learn about the parts of a crater, so your children can relate these parts to the ones they create.
Pictured here is the Gasa crater on the surface of our Moon. Notice there is a smaller crater on the floor of the larger crater!
Craters have four main parts that scientists study closely.
The rim is the raised edge or lip of the crater. It forms when the material around the impact site gets pushed up and out during the collision. The rim is usually the highest part of the crater and can be quite steep.
The floor of the crater is the flat bottom area inside the crater.
After the impact, the floor can be covered with debris and sometimes may have smooth areas where lava has flowed or settled. The floor is where scientists often find interesting features, like rocks or even signs of past volcanic activity.
The ejecta is the material that gets thrown out of the crater during the impact. When something hits the Moon, it blasts rocks and dust away from the crater, scattering them around the area. This can create rays or patterns around the crater.
The wall of the crater is the sloping surface that connects the rim to the floor.
If your crater study is part of a larger solar system study, check out our solar system printable and our constellations printable.
Get the free Moon printable pack for this activity
Request our free Moon lesson below. You will receive the entire unit, which includes this activity and the related activity pages. Use the pages you need. You may opt to use other activities included in the pack!
Instructions for Making Moon Craters
Let’s make some craters! To simulate these craters, you will drop objects of different weights and masses into pans of baking soda, flour, or cornstarch. You can use objects such as paper clips, marbles, small pretzels, a toy block and other small toys, small stones, sticks, and any other objects you have permission to use.
For this activity you will need::
- Flour, baking soda, or cornstarch
- Small metal or foil baking pan, either 8 x 8, 9x 9, or 9×13. A small round pan works well, too.
- Objects for dropping
- Ruler
- Pencil and the activity worksheets
- Kitchen scale (optional)
- Fill out the Making Moon Craters Predictions sheet before starting.
- If you have scales or balances available, weigh the various objects. Which object is the heaviest? Which is the lightest?
- Put the baking soda (flour or cornstarch) into the pan.
- Measure how high you will hold the object when it is dropped.
- Drop objects of different sizes and shapes into the baking soda. After each object is dropped, fill in the chart on the activity sheet.
- Use a ruler to measure the width and depth of the craters after each object is dropped.
- If you have time, remove all the objects and drop them at a higher or lower level. Record those results on another copy of the activity sheet. Compare the results. Did the size of the crater, depth of the crater, or amount of ejecta change when dropped at a different level.
- Complete the discussion questions on the wrap-up sheet.
All of the worksheets are in our Moon printable lesson. Request it below!
Get the Moon Printable Pack
Please note that you will receive our entire moon lesson, the crater section is included.
I hold a master’s degree in child development and early education and am working on a post-baccalaureate in biology. I spent 15 years working for a biotechnology company developing IT systems in DNA testing laboratories across the US. I taught K4 in a private school, homeschooled my children, and have taught on the mission field in southern Asia. For 4 years, I served on our state’s FIRST Lego League tournament Board and served as the Judging Director. I own thehomeschoolscientist and also write a regular science column for Homeschooling Today Magazine. You’ll also find my writings on the CTCMath blog. Through this site, I have authored over 50 math and science resources.