Most shooting stars are caused by tiny specks of space dust no bigger than a grain of sand. Based on readings from defense satellites and seismic networks, scientists estimate that this space rock was about 7 meters across and weighed 200 to 250 metric tons. Fragments of the asteroid were recovered on a frozen Canadian lake by scientists and a local resident. They took extreme care to gather the samples without touching them with their fingers. Many of the fragments are still embedded in ice and have never been thawed.
Carbonaceous chondrites are the rarest of all meteorites.
They are are known to contain amino acids and other organic compounds. Because the Yukon fragments were collected so carefully, researchers are calling this the most important meteorite find in at least 30 years. Younger students should read the appropriate Kid's Story, below, which summarizes the grown-up headlines. Content area reading is when students are not learning to read but are reading to learn information. The last and first paragraphs summarize and rephrase the main concepts of the article.