Crater Makers
Essy
Mission Briefing.
Mission Briefing
Look at the Moon through a telescope and you’ll see thousands of craters.
Some are tiny.
Some are wider than entire cities.
But here’s the mystery…
If all craters are made by objects crashing into the surface, why aren’t they all the same size?
Essy loves solving mysteries by studying evidence.
Scientists do the same thing when they investigate craters.
By observing, measuring and comparing impact marks, they can uncover clues about what happened long ago.
Your mission is to become a planetary scientist and discover what controls the size of a crater.
Can you predict what will make the biggest impact?
7-12 yrs
15
min
Easy
Stage 2, Stage 3
Designed by Darin Carr (BSc, DipEd)
NESA Accredited Teacher · Chemistry & Physics Specialist · 30+ years in-class teaching
Creator of the LAB™ Learning System
Last updated: June 2026 ·
[Cite this resource ↗]
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Crater Makers
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NESA Accredited Teacher
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High school chemistry & physics specialist 30+ years
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The Crazy Scientist in primary schools — 15 years
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International conference presenter on science education
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Creator of the LAB™ Learning System
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Curriculum aligned: NSW Science & Technology K–6 (2024)
A picture is worth a thousand words — check this out and see if you can spot the science hiding in plain sight.
Mission Equipment
• Tray or container
• Damp sand
• Small marble
• Large marble
• Ruler
• Timer (optional)
Let’s Investigate
1
Prepare Your Surface
Smooth the sand with your hand to create a flat, level surface. Scientists need a fair test, so start with the same conditions each time.
3
Release the Marble
Hold the marble directly above the sand and let go without pushing it. Watch carefully as it crashes into the surface.
5
Measure and Repeat
Smooth the sand again and repeat the investigation from a different height. Compare the craters produced by each drop.
2
Choose a Drop Height
Use the measuring tape to decide how high above the sand you’ll release your marble. Record the height before testing.
4
Observe the Crater
Look closely at the crater left behind. Is it deep or shallow? Wide or narrow? What clues can you see around the edge?
6
Does Size Matter?
Try different-sized marbles while keeping the drop height the same. Which marble creates the largest crater? Which creates the deepest?
Did it work? Share the science! Tag @the_crazy_scientist on Instagram — we love seeing your experiments!
The Crazy Scientist LAB Learning System™
Every experiment follows The Crazy Scientist Lab Learning System™ — a simple way to help kids think like real scientists.
We
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LINK to what they already know,
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ACTIVATE curiosity through hands-on discovery
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BUILD understanding that actually sticks.
Have you ever thrown a pebble into mud, sand or snow and noticed the mark it leaves behind?
Now imagine a rock the size of a house crashing into the Moon.
The Moon is covered with thousands of craters. Some are tiny. Others are hundreds of kilometres across.
Scientists can’t travel back in time to watch those impacts happen.
Instead, they study the clues left behind.
Before you begin…
What do you think makes one crater larger than another?
The size of the object?
The speed of the object?
The angle it hits?
Something else?
Record your prediction before testing.
As you test different heights, look carefully at the craters you create.
Think about these questions:
Which drop produced the largest crater?
Which produced the deepest crater?
Did a small increase in height make a big difference?
Were all the craters perfectly circular?
What clues can you see around the edge of each crater?
Now compare the small marble with the larger marble.
Which variable had the biggest effect: size or height?
Could a small object dropped from very high create a crater similar to a larger object dropped from lower down?
What evidence supports your idea?
Scientists ask questions like these when studying real impact craters on the Moon and Mars.
Planetary scientists are detectives.
They investigate events that happened millions — sometimes billions — of years ago.
The problem?
Nobody was there to watch.
Instead, scientists study the evidence left behind.
A crater contains clues about:
the size of the impactor
how fast it was moving
the angle it struck the surface
the material it hit
Your crater investigation works exactly the same way.
"Want the full teacher guide? The Crazy Scientist Lab includes classroom delivery tips, how to manage the WOW moment, differentiation for Stage 2 & 3, — ready to teach tomorrow."
Think Like a Scientist
Scientists don't just do ONE experiment; they change one part of the experiment (independent variable) and then see how it affects another part of the experiment
(dependent variable)
Change ONE variable and test again.
What happens if you drop the marble from a greater height?
What happens if you use a larger marble instead?
🧪 Try it! Change ONE thing and test again. What did you discover?
Dr Puddledrip’s Science Tip
Want to go deeper? Tap a section below to explore. ▼
The Science Behind It
Why did higher drops make larger craters?]
When you hold a marble higher above the sand, it has further to fall.
As it falls, gravity pulls it faster and faster.
By the time it hits the sand, it is moving with more speed than a marble dropped from a lower height.
That extra speed means the marble transfers more energy into the sand during the collision.
The result is usually a larger and deeper crater.
Why does marble size matter?
A larger marble contains more mass.
When it strikes the sand, it carries more energy than a smaller marble travelling at the same speed.
This means larger objects often produce larger craters.
Scientists studying impact craters must consider both:
How big was the object?
How fast was it moving?
Both factors affect the final crater.
Scientists Investigate Ancient Collisions
The Moon has almost no wind, rain or flowing water.
Because of this, impact craters can survive for billions of years.
Scientists study these craters to learn:
when impacts happened
how often impacts occur
how the Solar System formed
What conditions existed long ago
Every crater tells part of the story.
Curiosity Spark
The asteroid that helped wipe out the dinosaurs created a crater almost 180 kilometres wide beneath modern-day Mexico.
Scientists believe the impact released more energy than billions of nuclear bombs combined.
If the same asteroid hit the Moon today, what clues do you think future scientists would see millions of years from now?
Extension: G&T Years 5 & 6
Does Size Matter More Than Height?
Real asteroids come in many different sizes.
Use at least two different-sized marbles and keep the drop height the same each time.
Before testing, make a prediction:
Which do you think will create the larger crater — the larger marble or the smaller marble? Why?
Now investigate:
Drop each marble from the same height.
Measure the diameter or depth of the crater.
Repeat several times for reliability.
Compare your results.
Think Like a Scientist
Was crater size affected more by:
the mass of the marble?
the height of the drop?
both?
Can you find evidence to support your conclusion?
Vocabulary
Impact
When one object collides with another object.
Crater
A bowl-shaped hole formed when an object strikes a surface.
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READY TO TEACH THIS
TOMORROW?
Running the experiment is easy; however, teaching it well is another challenge.
Teachers often ask:
How do I adapt this for Stages 1,2 or 3?
What do I do with fast finishers?
What misconceptions will they have?
How do I structure this for a full class?
What syllabus outcomes does it cover?
What do I say when they ask WHY?
BUILD AROUND THE LAB LEARNING SYSTEM™
Every resource is designed using our teaching framework.
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