What are meteorites?

Meteorites are pieces of rock that fall from space to Earth.

Imagine you're playing with your favorite toy spaceship, and it crashes into a pile of blocks, those blocks flying out are like meteorites! Just like the blocks come from the spaceship, meteorites come from asteroids, which are big rocks floating in space. Sometimes these asteroids get knocked loose and zoom toward Earth.

When an asteroid comes close to Earth, it becomes a meteor, kind of like when you throw your toy airplane through the air. If it keeps going all the way down and lands on the ground, we call that piece of rock a meteorite, just like how your airplane might land in your toy box.

Sometimes, these space rocks are really hot because they rub against the air, kind of like when you slide across the floor and feel warm. But once they cool off, they're just regular rocks that kids can pick up and play with!