[meteorite-list] How to Talk to Kids about Meteorites

[MexicoDoug at aol.com]

Hola Anita, Bernd, Educators, & Listees,

I really liked the candy analogy with grandpa around
Halloween, even more than the fizz (which I also liked), 
because the candy doesn't go anywhere, but the fizz escapes 
and leaves nothing to show for it.  Thus, when one finds a 
flat carbonated drink there is no way to know how long it has 
been flat or how many bubbles it started with.  So while it is 
a neat visual on something getting older, I think it is 
somewhat misleading, as Bernd pointed out, the intelligent one 
in the bunch will have problems with that, which is why he 
gave the candy example.

A good analogy, like the candy, would to find an item that 
sticks around somehow in another form.  I am sure there are 
better examples than I can come up with for kids but I can 
start the list with:

1. Light bulbs on a Christmas tree.  If we have a string of 
Christmas lights and 1 burns out every day, So a string of 10 
bulbs with only 7 that work, we know it has been on for three 
days, and we can count all the bulbs to know how many it 
started with.  (And you can adapt this to geometrical for 
advanced kids by starting with 100 and noting the progression 
is 100, 90, 81, 73 ..., not 90, 80, 70, the way it really 
works, because it is really 1 of every 10 that makes more 
sense).

2. Eggs in an egg box.  Chickens on a farm.  Mommy buys a 
dozen eggs in an egg box and uses two eggs every day.  If 
there are only 4 eggs left, we know she bought them 4 days 
ago: 12-2-2-2-2=4  

or to understand how we know how long ago a meteorite has 
floated in space since the impact that created it, think of it 
being inside "incubating" until the impact starts.  I.e., Like 
chickens, laid 24 eggs one day that were put in an incubator.  
If half of them hatch each day starting on the eighth day, and 
there are three eggs left and 21 chicks it works like this:
Day 1 24 eggs/no chicks
Day 2 24 eggs/no chicks
Day 3 24 eggs/no chicks
Day 4 24 eggs/no chicks
Day 5 24 eggs/no chicks
Day 6 24 eggs/no chicks
Day 7 24 eggs/no chicks
Day 8 12 eggs/12 chicks
Day 9 6 eggs/18 chicks
Day 10 3 eggs/21 chicks
So we find three eggs and 24 chicks we know hatching started 
three days ago. If there are 25 chicks running around (and 
corresponding old egg shells) and 15 eggs.  The chickens laid 
the eggs 10 days ago and hatching started 3 days ago!  This is 
more complicated but helps understand the difference between 
the age of the material and a second cosmic hatching event.

3. Cocas Colas in returnable bottles.  Same as eggs...drink 
one bottle a day...the empty bottles and full ones...

4. Counting votes during in an election.  If a hundred people 
vote every hour and the polls work as fast as they can 
counting, we can see how 500 people voted after....5 hours! 
And if the election is legal, we know how many voters there 
are and how long the polls will have to count...sometimes 
scientists disagree, so they use several methods to count.  
And then scientists sometimes fight about it just like big 
babies over candy.

5. Reading passages in the daily reader.  If everyone in Mrs. 
Smith class does one unit in the SRA readers each day...if you 
count the "read stories" (story #15 shows we started 15 school 
days ago) you know how many days kid have read (how old), and 
this works until you finish the unit!

6. Dirty diapers and the last time Mommy bought new diapers 
(or washed reusabe ones).  If baby soils two diapers a day, 
and we find 4 clean ones and 6 with poo-poo in the garbage can 
or laundry bin...we know Mommy hasn't done the laundry for a 
while, or Daddy hasn't taken out the garbage:-)
Saludos, Doug

Anita graciously replied:
Thanks Bernd and everyone else who has responded (or is going to). I like the bubble analogy. The candy analogy doesn't work for me because somehow the candy never stays on the table.

Anita D. Westlake