TerraPrinterLaunched in March 2025
Make your own
Back to the kit

The answer key prints on its own page, so you can keep it back. Prints in black and white on A4 or Letter.

TerraPrinter Classroom · Worksheet · Ages 8–14

The Moon: craters and Apollo sites

Name Class Date

The Moon is covered in craters. A crater forms when a rock from space hits the ground very fast. Use the models of Tycho crater and the Apollo 11 and Apollo 15 landing areas.

You need these models

Open a link in a web browser to see the model in 3D, or use the printed model from your teacher.

  1. Draw the Tycho crater from the side. Label: rim, wall, floor, central peak.

  2. Tycho is about 85 km wide. The model is 150 mm across for 111 km. About how many mm wide should Tycho be on the print? Measure it.

  3. How do you think the mountain in the middle of Tycho formed?

  4. The Moon has no wind, rain or rivers. Why do its craters stay sharp for so long?

  5. Compare the Apollo 11 and Apollo 15 models. Which landing area is flatter? Why did the first landing pick flatter ground?

  6. Find Hadley Rille on the Apollo 15 model. Trace it with your finger. What landform on Earth does it look like?

  7. Why would driving a rover near Hadley Rille be hard?

terraprinter.com/classroom/worksheet/moon/

TerraPrinter Classroom, CC BY 4.0: free to copy and adapt with credit.

TerraPrinter Classroom · For the teacher

Answer key: The Moon: craters and Apollo sites

Learning goals

Answers

  1. Draw the Tycho crater from the side. Label: rim, wall, floor, central peak.A raised rim, steep inner walls with steps (terraces), a flat floor, and a mountain in the middle.
  2. Tycho is about 85 km wide. The model is 150 mm across for 111 km. About how many mm wide should Tycho be on the print? Measure it.85 ÷ 111 × 150 ≈ 115 mm.
  3. How do you think the mountain in the middle of Tycho formed?The hit was so fast and hard that the ground bounced back up in the middle, a bit like the splash when a drop falls into water, and then stayed there.
  4. The Moon has no wind, rain or rivers. Why do its craters stay sharp for so long?Nothing wears them away except new hits from space. On Earth, wind, water, ice and plants wear craters down and fill them in.
  5. Compare the Apollo 11 and Apollo 15 models. Which landing area is flatter? Why did the first landing pick flatter ground?Apollo 11 (the Sea of Tranquility) is flatter. A smooth, flat area was safer for the first landing, with fewer hills, slopes and boulders.
  6. Find Hadley Rille on the Apollo 15 model. Trace it with your finger. What landform on Earth does it look like?A winding river valley or channel. Scientists think it was made by flowing lava, not water.
  7. Why would driving a rover near Hadley Rille be hard?Steep walls down into the rille, tall mountains nearby, slopes, loose dust and rocks.

Before the lesson

Print the models at 150 mm wide, 0.2 mm layers, 10–15% infill, no supports. Real NASA LRO elevation, drawn taller than true scale so the relief shows. Grey filament suits the Moon. Measurements on the sheet assume the 150 mm size. Students' measured answers will vary a little with how they measure. Discussion questions and a hands-on activity for this topic: terraprinter.com/classroom/#moon