Leonid Meteor Shower & The Force of Gravity – This Month™
Timely, Standards-Aligned Learning for K-5th Grade

🌠 The Force That Holds Everything Together

Discover Gravity Through the Leonid Meteor Shower

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✨ This Month in Space: The Leonid Meteor Shower

Every November, Earth passes through a trail of cosmic dust left behind by Comet Tempel-Tuttle. When these tiny pieces enter our atmosphere, gravity pulls them down at incredible speeds—creating the spectacular Leonid Meteor Shower! But what exactly IS gravity, and why does it make everything fall?

🍎 What is Gravity?

Gravity is like an invisible hug that Earth gives everything! It’s the reason why:

  • 🏀 When you throw a ball up, it always comes back down
  • 🦘 When you jump, you land back on the ground
  • 🍂 Leaves fall from trees
  • 💧 Rain falls from clouds
  • ⚽ Your toys stay on the floor instead of floating away!
🌟 Cool Fact: Gravity pulls everything toward the center of Earth—that’s why we don’t fall off the planet even though it’s round like a ball!

☄️ Gravity and the Leonid Meteors

The Leonid Meteor Shower happens when tiny space rocks called meteoroids get pulled down by Earth’s gravity! As they fall through the sky, they get so hot they glow—that’s what we call a “shooting star”!

Even though they look like stars, they’re really just small pieces of dust and rock (some as tiny as a grain of sand!) being pulled down by gravity.

🌍 Gravity

The force that pulls things down to Earth

☄️ Meteor

A space rock that glows as it falls through the sky (shooting star!)

🪨 Meteoroid

A small rock floating in space

🌍 Understanding Gravity

Gravity is a pulling force that exists between all objects. The bigger an object is, the stronger its gravity!

  • Earth’s gravity is strong because Earth is very big—it pulls everything toward its center
  • The Moon’s gravity is weaker because the Moon is smaller than Earth
  • The Sun’s gravity is the strongest in our solar system—it’s what keeps all the planets orbiting around it!
  • Even YOU have gravity, but it’s so weak you can’t feel it
🌟 Amazing Fact: Gravity doesn’t just pull things down—it pulls things toward the center of whatever is biggest nearby. On the Moon, astronauts still fall “down,” but the Moon’s weaker gravity means they can jump six times higher than on Earth!

☄️ The Leonid Meteor Shower & Gravity

Every year around mid-November, Earth passes through a cloud of debris left behind by Comet Tempel-Tuttle. This comet orbits the Sun, leaving a trail of dust and small rocks behind it—like a dirt path behind a bicycle!

When Earth’s orbit crosses this debris trail, Earth’s gravity pulls the particles into our atmosphere at speeds up to 44 miles per second! That’s so fast that friction with air molecules heats them up until they glow—creating the streaks of light we call meteors or “shooting stars.”

🔬 Science Connection: Most Leonid meteoroids are no bigger than a pea, but they create bright streaks because they’re moving so incredibly fast! Gravity accelerates them as they fall, making them speed up more and more.
⚡ Gravity

A pulling force between objects—stronger with bigger objects

🔥 Atmosphere

The layer of air surrounding Earth

☄️ Meteoroid

A small rocky or metallic object in space

🌠 Meteor

A meteoroid that enters Earth’s atmosphere and burns up

☄️ Comet

A ball of ice and dust that orbits the Sun

🔄 Orbit

The curved path an object takes around another object in space

🌌 The Science of Gravity

Gravity is a fundamental force of nature that causes all objects with mass to attract each other. Sir Isaac Newton discovered that every object in the universe pulls on every other object—the amount of pull depends on two things:

  • Mass: The amount of matter in an object (more mass = stronger gravitational pull)
  • Distance: How far apart the objects are (closer = stronger pull)

This is why Earth’s gravity affects us so strongly—Earth has enormous mass (about 6,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kilograms!) and we’re standing right on its surface. The Sun has even more mass, which is why its gravitational field keeps Earth and all the other planets in orbit.

🔬 Scientific Principle: Gravity causes acceleration. Near Earth’s surface, gravity accelerates falling objects at approximately 9.8 meters per second squared (9.8 m/s²). This means an object’s downward speed increases by 9.8 m/s every second it falls!

☄️ The Leonid Meteor Shower: A Case Study in Gravity

The Source

The Leonid meteor shower originates from Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, which orbits the Sun every 33 years. As the comet travels, solar radiation causes ice to vaporize, releasing trapped dust and rocky particles—creating a debris stream along its orbital path.

Earth’s Intersection

Each November, Earth’s orbit intersects this debris field. When meteoroids encounter Earth’s gravitational field, they’re pulled toward our planet. As they enter the upper atmosphere (about 100 km altitude), several forces act upon them:

  • Gravitational acceleration: Increases their velocity toward Earth
  • Atmospheric friction: Creates intense heat through compression and collision with air molecules
  • Ionization: Temperatures reach 1,650°C, causing the meteoroid and surrounding air to glow

Velocity and Energy

Leonid meteoroids enter Earth’s atmosphere at approximately 71 kilometers per second (about 160,000 mph)—making them among the fastest meteors we observe! This extreme velocity is due to:

  • The meteoroid’s original orbital velocity around the Sun
  • Earth’s orbital velocity (30 km/s)
  • Gravitational acceleration as they fall toward Earth
  • The head-on collision angle between Earth’s orbit and the debris stream
⚡ Peak Activity: The Leonid meteor shower peaks around November 17-18 each year. During regular years, observers can see 10-15 meteors per hour. However, every 33 years when Comet Tempel-Tuttle returns, the Leonids can produce spectacular meteor storms with thousands of meteors per hour—the last occurred in 1999-2002!
⚡ Gravitational Force

Universal attractive force between all objects with mass; strength depends on mass and distance

📊 Acceleration

The rate at which velocity changes; gravity causes downward acceleration

☄️ Meteoroid

Small rocky or metallic debris in space, often remnants from comets or asteroids

🌠 Meteor

The visible streak of light when a meteoroid burns up in Earth’s atmosphere

🔥 Ionization

Process where extreme heat strips electrons from atoms, creating glowing plasma

🌍 Orbital Mechanics

The physics of how objects move in space under gravitational influence

🎮 Interactive Gravity Simulator

Click anywhere in space to create meteoroids, then watch gravity pull them toward the Sun!

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🔄 Reset
➕ Add Meteoroid

💡 Tip: The closer a meteoroid gets to the Sun, the faster gravity pulls it!

🎯 Try This at Home!

Gravity Drop Experiment

Test how gravity pulls different objects at the same rate!

What you need:

  • Two objects of different weights (like a rock and a feather, or a book and a pencil)
  • A safe place to drop them (like over grass or carpet)
  • A friend or family member to help observe

What to do:

  • Step 1: Hold both objects at the same height
  • Step 2: Predict: Which one will hit the ground first?
  • Step 3: Drop them at exactly the same time
  • Step 4: Observe what happens!
🤔 What you’ll discover: In a vacuum (with no air), all objects fall at the same rate regardless of their mass! However, on Earth, air resistance affects lighter objects more. This is why a feather falls slower than a rock—but a rock and a bowling ball fall at nearly the same speed!

🌙 See It In Action: Apollo 15 Moon Experiment

In 1971, Apollo 15 Commander Dave Scott demonstrated that all objects fall at the same rate in a vacuum—by dropping a hammer and a feather on the Moon!

Video Credit:

Apollo 15 Commander Dave Scott demonstrates that the mass of an object does not affect the time it takes to fall, using a hammer and a feather on the Moon.

Date: August 1971

Source: NASA/NSSDC

This file is in the public domain because it was created by NASA. NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted.

🔭 How to Watch the Leonid Meteor Shower

When: Peak viewing is usually November 17-18, but the Leonids are visible from November 6-30

Best Time: After midnight until dawn (when your part of Earth is facing into the meteor stream)

Where to Look: The meteors appear to radiate from the constellation Leo (the Lion), but you can see them anywhere in the sky!

🌙 Viewing Tips:
  • Find a dark location away from city lights
  • Let your eyes adjust to the darkness for 20-30 minutes
  • Lie on your back and look up—you don’t need a telescope!
  • Dress warmly and bring blankets
  • Be patient—you might see 10-15 meteors per hour during peak activity

Learning Objectives Achieved:

✓ Understand gravity as a fundamental force

✓ Explain how gravity affects objects in space and on Earth

✓ Connect real-world phenomena (meteor showers) to scientific concepts

✓ Observe and describe patterns in the natural world

THIS MONTH™ – Connecting Learning to the Calendar

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