Do not pass out the data sheets yet. You may want to have a few volunteers draw what they saw on the chalkboard. As students describe the various features, write some terms on the board. Students may notice the central peaks in some craters. At such speeds the meteor does not stop moving at the moment of impact.
Friction rapidly heats the meteor and a tremendous explosion occurs.
If the meteor is large and fast enough, the ground liquefies, forming a crater with a rim around it. In large impacts the rim collapses, and the liquefied material rushing back into the center of the crater forms a mountain in the middle. Debris thrown out by the explosion forms rays that may extend for hundreds of miles. On Earth, small pieces of a meteor are sometimes found at the impact crater, confirming that the crater was caused by a meteor impact. Meteor Experiments 1.