High school students, as scientists, use data about DART and Dimorphos, along with the concept of conservation of momentum, to answer the following driving question: How can we use our model to explain the change in Dimorphos’s velocity post collision with DART? Having previously figured out the concept of conservation of momentum, students make a plan for calculating the total momentum of the system before the collision, assuming that the total momentum after the collision will be the same. They use this, along with DART and Dimorphos data, to predict what the expected change in Dimorphos’s momentum (and speed) would have been as a result of the collision. They compare this prediction to the DART team’s prediction. They find the predictions are aligned with each other but not with the actual results! Students analyze potential causes for this difference, and connect these potential causes to the idea of conservation of momentum in a system. 

This is Lesson 7 of the Asteroid Orbits Unit. 

Click the Download PDF button above for the complete Lesson Plan.

Student Materials

Per Student

• ExGen HS Unit L7 Student Guide 
• ExGen HS Unit L6 DART Supplemental Fact Sheet (they should already have a copy of this)
• ExGen HS Unit L7 Transcript: DART successful in changing orbit of Dimorphos and Didymos 

Teacher Materials

• ExGen HS Unit L7 slides

Optional Teacher Resources

• Asteroid Orbits Additional Resources