Observing Moon Rocks

Investigation 8, Part 1

Is there day and night on the Moon and how long is it? Why is it that length?Yes. Day and night takes about one month on

the moon. The Moon takes about one month to completely

rotate on its axis.

Review: What are maria and highlands?

Warm up:

President Kennedy:“I believe this nation should commit itself, before

this decade is out, to landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.”

The US was determined to beat Russia to the Moon.

July 20, 1969, astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first human to stand on the Moon.

The first of series of seven attempts to land on the Moon. Later missions observed, sampled and mapped rocks and formations they found on the Moon.

May 1961

You will observe rocks from one of the six Apollo landing sites or one of the sites sampled by the four Soviet Luna robotic probes.

The rocks have been collected from both the maria and highlands.

You will survey the landscape, study rock formations at your landing site and report your findings.

I have one set of highland and one maria. Your lab group will split into two teams of two and each will observe one type of rock.

Visit the Moon

An astronauts first job when landing on the Moon is to do a quick survey of the landing site.

Record the location of the landing site.Observe the distribution and variety of rocks

at the site.Lab sheet 55. Please read the directions.One person from each group is to get one bag

and select ONE of the canisters to observe at a time.

Your Mission

Part one on lab sheet. Use data from the label on the canister and the

Lunar Landing Site Chart.Record the number on the zip bag containing the

two canisters. You will also need a hand lens and sheet of white

paper. Follow directions on part two of lab sheet. Once you have observed one set of rocks, return it

to the canister an then you may observe the other canister.

You only have 10 minutes.

Your Landing Site

On your next EVA, you will collect a small number of rocks to bring back to Earth for analysis.

What rocks should you collect to provide the most information about the Moon?

Work with your lab partner to come up with 3 questions that can be answered by analyzing a collection of carefully collected rocks.

Write your questions on your lab sheet.

Further Questions