Meteorite in Siberia

Summary of Article: Last week, a meteor exploded in Siberia, injuring more than 1000 people and blowing out windows. The meteor was space rock about 50 feet wide and was a rare occurrence. The last time a meteor exploded over habited land was in 1908, when it also exploded over Siberia and flattened 825 square miles of forest. Click here for article.  


Video of meteor exploding

Discussion Outline with Kids: 

• What is a meteor? (A piece of rock flying through space. It is flying at such a fast speed that when it enters earth atmosphere it gets extremely hot, burns up and disintegrates and may explode).
• If a meteor was flying through space and happened to pass the earth, where would it explode? (Answer: anywhere on earth--in the ocean, in the desert, over a city)
• The last time a meteor exploded over a part of the earth where people live was over a hundred years ago in Siberia, a freezing land in Russia (show map). 
• Last week, another meteor came crashing into earth. Guess where on earth it exploded? In the same place, in Siberia! What are the chances of that? 
• The meteor was huge and people caught it exploding on their video cameras. Watch the video (see above). 
• If a meteor exploded in your land, what do you think would happen? In Siberia, over 1000 people got hurt, but not from being hit by the meteor. Instead, when the meteor exploded, the windows of homes and buildings exploded too. The flying glass hurt the people. 
• Now, people are trying to find pieces of the meteor to keep and to sell. You can buy a piece on ebay. 
• Bonus: If there was a chance of glass breaking in your house, like from an earthquake, what would you do? What room would you go to?