A "shooting star" is not a shooting star! It's actually a broken fragment of a comet (Ice, dust, and rock,) that travels through space, orbiting the sun. When this piece of debris is in outer space it is called a meteoroid. Gravity will eventually pull the meteoroid into Earth's atmosphere, making it a meteor. As these fragments of rock fall into Earth's atmosphere, they will experience a buildup of frictional heat. The heat makes the particles of the meteor glow brightly as it continues to fall. Most meteors will burn up before they hit the Earth, but if they are large enough and make it to the ground, they are called a meteorite. When you are staring into the beautiful night sky and notice a streak of light pass by, you are looking at a "shooting star."
The largest meteorite was discovered in 1920 by a farmer in Namibia. It is nine feet long, nine feet wide, and three feet thick. "Hoba" weighs 66 tonnes, and is composed of 84% iron, 16% nickel. It currently resides in its original location of discovery.
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