9/30/2026

Morning Announcements

Morning Meeting Agenda

Mon · Social Studies Tue · Literacy Wed · Science Thu · Math Fri · ROAR + Houses
Science of the Day

What happened to the dinosaurs?

Dinosaurs ruled Earth for over 150 million years — then vanished. Scientists solved the mystery by finding a giant crater hidden underground. Today we meet a scientist who helped uncover it.

Portrait of Adriana Ocampo

Meet Adriana Ocampo! She was born in Colombia. As a little girl she looked up at the stars from her rooftop and dreamed about space. Now she is a NASA scientist who studies planets — and dinosaurs!

A long, long time ago, a giant space rock crashed into Earth. It made a crater — a huge bowl-shaped hole — and that’s why there are no more dinosaurs!

Let’s talk
  • What is your favorite dinosaur? Can you make its sound?
  • Adriana dreamed about space as a kid. What do YOU dream of doing when you grow up?
Try it

Make a crater! Hold your hands in a big bowl shape like a crater. Now stomp like a dinosaur and say “¡Dinosaurio!” — that’s dinosaur in Spanish!

Mystery scientist: Born in Colombia and raised in Argentina, she used to sketch spaceships on her rooftop as a child. She joined NASA while still a teenager, working after school. As a planetary geologist, she helped identify the enormous Chicxulub crater buried beneath Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula — evidence of the asteroid impact that ended the age of dinosaurs.

Who is she?Hide
Portrait of Adriana Ocampo
Adriana Ocampo — a Colombian-born planetary geologist and NASA science program manager. She noticed that a ring of natural sinkholes visible from space traced the rim of a buried crater more than 100 miles wide. She has since helped lead NASA missions exploring Jupiter and Pluto. Photo: NASA (public domain)
Let’s talk
  • The crater was invisible from the ground but its pattern showed up from space. Why does changing your viewpoint help solve problems?
  • She started working at NASA as a teenager. What could you start doing now toward something you want to do later?
Try it

Change your viewpoint! With a partner, look at one object in this room. Each describe it from a different angle — above, below, up close. What did one of you notice that the other missed? That’s how Ocampo found a crater.

Additional Notes/Activities

If additional activities are needed for the Morning Meeting, they will be added here.