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Comet vs. Meteor (craft)
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Objects that Fly through Space
Want to make a cool (and at the same time educational) project about
space and stuff that flies in it? Here's what to do:
First, you'll need these:
- Two white paper plates
- Fastener
- Scissors (with the help of an adult!)
- Black Pen /Marker
- Crayons/ Colored Pencils
- Ruler
   
Then, Follow these Steps, with the help of an adult:
- On one of the paper plates, measure and mark the point in the very
middle of the plate. Mark it and draw a straight line all the way across
the plate through that point.
- With an adult's help, cut a ½ circle shape out of the flat
part of the plate, but be careful not to cut the rippled part!
- Write or color on that plate "Comet Vs. Meteor". On the
second plate, repeat step1, but don't cut it.
- On the top ½ of the circle (again, excluding the rippled part)
either draw a comet in space or cut out and past the one on this sheet,
or go to one of the websites below for pictures to paste o your plate.
Be creative!!! See below. Label it "Comet" somewhere on the
picture, but not on the rippled part.
- Flip the plate upside down and draw a meteor picture on that ½
of the plate. Label it "Meteor" on the flat picture, not the
rippled part. It should look like one picture is upside down and the
other is right side up no matter how you rotate the plate.
- (Optional Step!) If you want, on the back of the plate with
the pictures, you can add facts (from below or your own info) about
the comet on the ½ that its picture is on and turn the plate
upside down. Repeat this for the meteor part of the plate.
- Take the plate with the cut out window and place it ON TOP of the
colored plate. With an adults help, poke out a hole in both plates in
the center of the plates. Poke the fastener through them on centimeter
below where you cut the window and fasten it to the so that you can
rotate the colored plate behind the window and the picture changes from
comet to meteor, and back to comet, and so on. Glue a tab on the bottom
plate so you can hold it.
- That's it! Now you have a neat project and you can teach all of your
friends and family about what you learned about comets and meteors!
For more information on these or any other astronomy topics that interest
you, visit these awesome websites:
For cool pictures of astronomical objects, like planets, black holes,
space ships, and much more, visit these sites:
Did You know these Unbelievable facts below about these two cool objects
that fly in Space?
Comets
- They are made of ice and dust.
- They have "tails" when they fly by the sun. Solar energy
and wind heats the ice and vaporize it. That's why you see a tail that
can be many millions of miles long.
- They have a "nucleus", which is rocky center. Gasses form
a cloud around the nucleus called the coma.
- The Solar System has 2 comet "airports" where they are
found before they fly off: the Oort Cloud and the Kuiper Belt.
Meteors
- They are sometimes confused with "shooting stars."
- They are caused by small inter-planetary dust particles that burn
up when they slam into the Earth's atmosphere very fast.
- Meteor showers happen when Earth passes through the area where lots
of them comets fly through and leave behind space dust. That dust flies
so fast through our atmosphere on Earth that it burns up and we see
"falling stars", or streaks of their light.
- A rock that flies from space to Earth and burns up is a meteorite.
Comets and Meteors have this in Common:
- They both randomly fly through space.
- They are propelled by the gravity of larger objects like planets
and stars, like our own Sun or oour planet, Earth.
- Both are very fascinating objects that westill have a lot to learn
about. Maybe, one day YOU will unlock the mysteries of comets and meteors,
or other space stuff!
ALL FACTS COURTESY of http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/comets.php
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