The Classroom Kit · GRAIL MoonKAM

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What the teachers got

MoonKAM did not just hand students a camera. It gave their teachers a whole kit of Moon lessons, written by named educators and space scientists. The gallery went offline with everything else. The lessons survived in the Internet Archive, and they still work in a classroom today.

Every link opens the original PDF, preserved by the Internet Archive

In brief4 min read

The archived MoonKAM classroom kit: the Moon lessons the program gave teachers, from crater experiments and edible rocks to Moon-phase models.
Every activity is credited to the real educators who wrote it, including Leesa Hubbard, Dr. Cass Runyon, Dr. Karen Flammer, Julie Miller and Dr. Wil Robertson.
The original activity guide PDFs are preserved and linked through the Internet Archive, so each lesson still opens and still works in a classroom today.

START HERE

Six anyone can try

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Impact Craters

Drop things into a tray of flour and cocoa to learn what makes a crater's size, rays and ejecta.

Open PDF ▸ 🍫

Edible Rocks

Describe a candy bar the way a scientist describes a meteorite. A charming first lesson in observation.

Open PDF ▸ 🌋

Lava Layering

Pour and stack model lava flows to see how eruptions built the Moon's dark "seas."

Open PDF ▸ 🪙

Penny Moon & Quarter Earth

Two coins explain why the Moon always shows us the same face.

Open PDF ▸ 🌗

Moon Phases

A simple "Moon pop" model for the one Moon idea everyone is taught.

Open PDF ▸ 🔭

Passport to the Moon

A no-equipment stargazing handout for families. Find real features tonight.

Open PDF ▸

THE FULL KIT

By module

It's Just a Phase

Leesa Hubbard

See the 4 activities

Lunar Cycle FlipbookA make-it-yourself flipbook mapping each phase to its place in orbit.PDF ▸ Moon Observation JournalA month-long daily log of the Moon's changing shape.PDF ▸ Moon PhasesShade, label and explain each phase with a simple model.PDF ▸ Penny Moon and the Quarter EarthWhy the Moon keeps one face turned toward us.PDF ▸

Is the Moon Really Made of Green Cheese?

Dr. Cass Runyon

See the 5 activities

Changes Inside PlanetsGelatin and eggs model how a planet's core, mantle and crust form.PDF ▸ Edible RocksDescribe candy "rocks" to build real meteorite-observation skills.PDF ▸ Impact CratersInvestigate what controls crater size, ejecta and rays.PDF ▸ Lava LayeringHow stacked eruptions built the layered basaltic maria.PDF ▸ Seeing the MoonLight and color experiments that map lunar minerals.PDF ▸

Geology of the Moon

Dr. Cass Runyon · readings from PSRD, University of Hawai'i

See the 5 readings

Composition of the Moon's CrustMapping thorium, potassium and iron across the Moon. By Linda M. V. Martel.PDF ▸ Compositional BalancingWhy Earth and Moon share the same oxygen isotopes. By G. Jeffrey Taylor.PDF ▸ The Oldest Moon RocksAnorthosites and the Moon's early magma ocean. By Marc Norman.PDF ▸ The Surprising Lunar MariaWhat the maria's titanium range revealed. By G. Jeffrey Taylor.PDF ▸ The Moon: Gateway to the Solar SystemApollo rocks as time travelers. Teacher's guide by G. Jeffrey Taylor, PhD.PDF ▸

Exploring Lunar Images

Dr. Karen Flammer & Julie Miller

Lunar Earthside ChartA labeled reference map of the Moon's near side for image analysis.PDF ▸

Lunar & Meteorite Certification

Dr. Wil Robertson · NASA educator guides

Exploring the MoonThe NASA guide behind certifying to borrow real lunar samples.PDF ▸ How High Is ItScale-model activities for the distances to aircraft, spacecraft and the Moon.PDF ▸

These lessons were assembled by the credited educators for GRAIL MoonKAM and Sally Ride Science, drawing on NASA and Lunar and Planetary Institute materials. They are reached here through the Internet Archive's copies of the retired moonkam.ucsd.edu site. Credits belong to their original authors.

The images they took ▸ The people who flew it ▸

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