Australian astronomers noticed a surprise blip on an image taken from Siding Spring Observatory, and announced that an asteroid, designated 2009 DD45 would pass about 40,000 miles from Earth on March 2.   It did, and it was reported on most news services.  And it provides an interesting teaching opportunity to examine asteroids, and also examine what happens when these objects from outer parts of the Solar System do collide with the Earth.

Thirty-two years ago I co-authored a book entitled The Whole Cosmos Catalogue of Science Activities (read part of the book here on Google Books) which contains all kinds of activities for teachers to use with students grades 4 – 12, and was published using an artistic and creative approach to the design.  One of activities in the book was a science fiction story about a meteor swarm that endangers the Earth.

Meteor swarm endangering the Earth from Pete Shepherds story published in the Whole Cosmos of Catalog of Science Activities

The story, “The World Ends in 12 Hours,” was written in the form of a play, and the author, Chamblee High School student Mr. Pete Shephard, left the ending open-ended to leave the reader with the opportunity to finish the story.  Pete Shep, the superhero in the story, advises the President of the United States on how to protect the Planet Earth from the meteor swarm.

Sixty-five million years ago a very large object smashed into the Earth, and the aftermath of this meteor inflicted winter was the extinction of not only the Dinosaurs, but most of the life that existed on Earth at the time.  Geologists Luis and Walter Alvarez of the University of California, Berkeley were studying rocks in Italy at what is known as the K-T boundary (K=Cretaceous period of geological time; T=Tertiary period of geological time).  Their study revealed a very unusual layer of clay, and in that layer of clay was a very abnormal level of the element iridium.  They later theorized that the very high level of iridium might have been the result of a collision large meteor with the Earth.   Walter Alvarez described this theory in his amazing book, T-Rex and the Crater of Doom (you can read part of the book here on Google Books).

NASA artist's depiction of the meteor that collided with Earth 65 million years ago.

If you looking for ideas on how to bring astrogeology into your science classroom you might want to visit USGS Impact Crater Module developed at the Flagstaff Field Center Education and Outreach.  There are details at the website for five very interesting lessons from “Impact crater morphology,” to “What really happened to the dinosaurs.”

And one other comment, what would have happened on the Earth if the meteor that did hit the Earth 65 millions years ago missed!