Name: Hannah Faith P.

Padinit Date: October 11,

2018
Section: Grade 8 Maze Activity: Science
Assignment

ACTIVITY 3

Do superstitions about comets, asteroids, and meteors have scientific

basis?

Objectives:

After performing this a ctivity, you should be able to:

1. Provide sound, scientific evidence to support one’s stand about superstitions

on comets, asteroids, and meteors;

2. Formulate doable actions to address superstitions on comets, asteroids, and

meteors.

Materials needed:

 Pen

 Paper (for taking down notes)

Procedure:

1. Research about superstitions related to comet and asteroid in the library,

internet, and by interviewing your parents or elderly neighbors.

2. Choose at least three superstitions (one from the Philippines, and the rest from
other countries).

3. Discuss each superstition with the group to answer the question: Do superstitions
about comets and asteroids have scientific basis? Why or why not?
 4. List down as many scientific evidences to support the group’s answer to the

question. The group may go back to the library to research for more evidence in
books or online sources.

5. Propose doable actions that the group can do to promote a more scientific
attitude towards comets, asteroids, and meteors to their follow students or to

family members.

SUPERSTITONS ABOUT COMETS, ASTEROIDS, AND METEORS

The appearance of comets is thought of as a bad omen in many cultures around

the world. The appearance of a comet is often seen as a sign of destructive and tragic
events, which will come to pass soon. In an ancient Chinese book, written in 300 B.C., it is
explained how the arrival of comets has caused various disasters, such as wars, the
dethronement of powerful leaders, mysterious whale deaths and a lack of vital
ingredients, such as salt, fish and rice. One of the evilest omens is the arrival of Halley's
Comet. It is believed that because of it, England was taken over by William the Conqueror.
In the year of the arrival of Halley's Comet, Genghis Khan attacked the western world. In
many religions, the idea that the end of the world and the Last Judgment would be
predicted by a comet's appearance is spreading. These were just an example of real things
that happened in the past.

A. The approach of comets and asteroids comes with bad luck, such as the arrival of the
Halley's Comet. In the Western society (Australia, Canada, Iceland, Israel, Japan, New
Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Korea, Switzerland, and United States) the meteors or
the stars falling are having good omen. When we see falling stars, we wish upon them
and hope to have better lives.

B. In Australia, Canada, Iceland, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Korea,
Switzerland, and United States, Catholics see the Perseids, an annual meteor shower,
as “the tears of Saint Lawrence”. St. Lawrence was the early Christian version of Robin
Hood, executed on the 10th of August in the year 258. Since the Perseids reach peak
activity between the 9th and 14th of August you can see “the tears of St. Lawrence”
fall from the sky every August 10th. With good weather, that is.

C. Many other cultures believe a shooting star brings luck, like the Swabians in Germany
who thought it signaled a year of good fortune. Unless you saw three meteors in one
night, in which case death was upon you. The Yolngu Aborigines used to believe that
when they died they were taken by a mystical canoe. After arriving safely in spirit land,
 the dead would send the canoe back to earth as a shooting star for their loved ones
to see.

D. In the old day’s meteorites were often used for building sacred Greek and Roman
temples. Meteorites have been found in Indian graves, and many other cultures have
been known to worship these “heavenly gifts”. Some indigenous tribes still do. A well-
known example of the presumed mystical powers of meteorites is the “Kris”; a dagger
used in Indonesia. It is thought that when a Kris is made from nickel from the 1749
meteorite near Prambanan, one only needs to point the dagger to another person to
kill.

E. In Philippines the superstitious that are related to meteor is that falling star or wishing
rock! Superstitions about comets and asteroids, such as the fear that bad luck will
arrive with Halley`s Comet, are based in science only so far as that these phenomena
do occur. The bad luck that comes along with them.

ACTIVITY SHEET

Do superstitions about comets and asteroids have scientific basis? Why or why
not?

Answers:

Based on the given facts, superstitions about comets and asteroids don’t have
scientific basis. First, the word superstition means excessively credulous belief in and
reverence for supernatural beings, which is not yet proven. They are mostly created with
other beliefs spread from one generation to another even to other cultures and non-
religion people. No proof or pieces of evidence but only stories shared. Most of the
superstitions are something leading us to bad fortune. Well, ancient people may have
created stories for kids back then for them to be fully aware of some danger, since they
didn't have any proof, they may have created stories, which are not facts but created by
their minds. When we were kids, stories which are different from the usual give us the
interest to listen. And whatever was said, we could always remember them. These beliefs
are like those stories, because before science wasn't well known. They didn't have the
basis, so they could only believe things that may sound magical or mythical. Remember,
that when things have proofs and shreds of evidence then we might consider searching
for studies, theories and experiment done or tried.
Scientific facts/evidence to support the group’s answer:

Apparently, there are no scientific facts or evidence that could back up the relation
of comets and asteroids to known superstitions. Comets and asteroids are commonly tied
to bad omens that could befall the people who witness the particular astrological
phenomena. An example is, ON MAY 6, 1910, Halley’s comet approached Earth and killed
England’s King Edward VII, according to some superstitious folk. No one could definitively
say how it did, but it certainly did. They don’t even know what happen but they just
believed and say that that happened. It certainly lacks facts and information. And that
wasn’t its only offense. The Brits also figured it was an omen of a coming invasion by the
Germans, while the French reckoned it was responsible for flooding the Seine. Yet there
was even more apocalyptic hype surrounding the 1910 return of Halley’s comet, which is
named for astronomer Edmond Halley, who calculated that the celestial body would
appear on average every 76 years. Writing to the Royal Observatory, one worrywart
warned the comet would “cause the Pacific to change basins with the Atlantic, and the
primeval forests of North and South America to be swept by the briny avalanche over the
sandy plains of the great Sahara, tumbling over and over with houses, ships, sharks, whales
and all sorts of living things in one heterogeneous mass of chaotic confusion. “Throughout
history, there’s always been a bit of panic when comets approached the sun, burning off
into long, ominous tails. But in the months preceding Halley’s flyby of Earth on May 19,
1910, folks got real creative with their anxiety. It didn’t help that a few months earlier, The
New York Times had announced that one astronomer theorized that the comet would
unceremoniously end life as we know it. But there are things that are contradicting. It
didn’t end life, and the funny thing is we panic just for a petty thing.

Proposed actions t o promote a more scientific understanding of comets, asteroids,

and meteors:

 Conduct more studies about it,

 trying to understand their orbits/patterns,
 chemical compositions and look for signs of life.
 We could also ask institutions like NASA and Planetariums to visit schools and try
to spread knowledge about them.
 Research about the comets, asteroid and meteors gather those ideas that you
learned from other people, teacher parents, friends, classmate and etc after
gathering them all share those ideas to other people.