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Sun Earth Moon Test
Kuegel's 8th grader Earth Science
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What is the Terminator? | The imaginary line dividing day(light) from night(dark) on the Earth's surface. |
| What is the rotational axis? | The imaginary line that the Earth spins around when rotating. |
| What direction does the Earth spin?` | Counter-clockwise or to the left. |
| What is rotation? | The rotation of an object in space. One full spin of an object on its axis. |
| What causes night and day on Earth? | The rotation of Earth on its axis. |
| How long does it take for the Earth to complete one rotation? | One rotation of Earth on its rotational axis takes 23 hours and 56 minutes. |
| Who is said to be the first to believe the Earth is round because of the shadow it casts on the surface of the moon during a lunar eclipse? | The theory that the Earth is round and not flat was proposed by Aristotle in 350 B.C.. |
| Is the Earth a perfect sphere? If not what shape is it? | The Earth bulges slightly at the equator and is somewhat flattened at the poles. |
| What causes the Earth's magnetic field? | It is caused by the movement of the Earth's core material and the spin from its rotation. |
| What protects the Earth from most of the harmful solar radiation? | The Earth's magnetic field. |
| What measure is the magnetic field located from the rotational axis? | It is 11.5 degrees. |
| What measure is the rotational axis located from the actual physical North pole? (tilt of the Earth) | It is 23.5 degrees. |
| What is a Season? | One of the 4 periods of the Earth year that begin either at an equinox or solstice. |
| What is an equinox? | The 2 times when the Sun passes directly over the plane of the equator when the amount of day and night are equal. |
| What is a solstice? | The 2 times when the Sun is the greatest distance from the Equator creating the longest day or the longest night. |
| When is the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere? | It is on June 21. |
| When is the winter solstice in the Northern hemisphere? | It is on December 21. |
| When is the vernal(spring) equinox in the Northern Hemisphere? | It is on March 21. |
| When is the autumnal(fall) equinox in the Northern Hemisphere? | It is on September 21. |
| If it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere what season is it in the Southern Hemisphere? | It is winter. |
| If it is fall in the Northern Hemisphere what season is it in the Southern Hemisphere? | It is spring. |
| What causes the Seasons on Earth? | It is caused by the tilt of the Earth of 23.5 degrees and its revolution around the Sun, resulting in either direct or indirect Sun striking the surface of Earth. |
| What season is characterized by the position of the Sun in the sky being almost directly overhead? | It is summer. |
| What season is characterized by the position of the Sun in the sky is lower in the horizon? | It is winter. |
| What direction does the Earth rotate and revolve? | It is counterclockwise (spins to the left). |
| The vast majority of the objects in our solar system rotate in which direction? | It is counterclockwise (spins to the left). |
| Which side does the moon light from when waxing and disappear from when waning? | It is the right side. |
| The full lunar cycle (time it takes to revolve around the Earth and rotate once on it's axis) takes how long to complete? | It is 27.3 days. |
| What causes the Earth to always see the same side of the Moon? | The fact that the revolution of the moon around Earth and the rotation on its axis both take the same number of days. |
| What type of eclipse occurs when the New Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun casting a shadow onto a small portion of the Earth? | It is a Solar Eclipse. |
| What type of eclipse occurs when the Earth passes directly between the Full Moon and the Sun casting a shadow onto the Moon? | It is a Lunar Eclipse. |
| What color does the Moon appear during a total Lunar Eclipse? | It looks reddish in color. |
| What was the goal of Project Mercury? | The goal was to orbit a piloted space craft around the Earth and bring it back safely. |
| Who was the first American in space in 1961? | It was Alan B. Shepard |
| Who was the first American to orbit the Earth? | It was John Glenn. |
| What was the goal of Project Gemini? | The goal was for teams of 2 astronauts in the same spacecraft to meet up and connect with another spacecraft. |
| What was the goal of Project Apollo? | The goal was to successfully land a person on the moon. |
| Which Apollo mission was destroyed by an electrical fire during launch killing all 3 astronauts? | It was Apollo I. |
| Which Apollo Mission was the first to successfully land on the moon? | It was Apollo XI. |
| Who were the first 2 people to walk on the Moon? | It was Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin. |
| Which Apollo mission had an explosion in one of the 2 oxygen tanks 2 days into the mission requiring it to return to Earth without landing on the Moon? | It was Apollo XIII. |
| Which Apollo mission included the first geologist and was the last mission to the Moon? | It was Apollo XVII. |
| What is the model of the Solar system by the ancient Greeks where the Earth was considered the center. | The Geocentric model. |
| Who updated the geocentric model to say that the planets orbit in circles around the Earth and also move in circular pattern while orbiting? | It was Ptolemy. |
| Who came up with the Heliocentric model of the Solar system? | It was Nicholas Copernicus. |
| Which model of the Solar system states that the Sun is the center with the Earth and all the other planets in circular orbits around it? | The Heliocentric model. |
| Who charted the motions of celestial bodies before telescopes? | It was Tycho Brahe. |
| What mathematician used data to form the Laws of Planetary motion? | It was Johannes Kepler. |
| What is the first law of Planetary Motion? | The path of the planets around the Sun is an Ellipse. |
| What is the second law of Planetary Motion? | A planet travels faster and covers a greater distance when it is closer to the Sun. |
| What is the third law of Planetary Motion? | The more distant a planet is from the Sun the longer it takes to complete a single revolution. |
| What is the Nebula Theory? | More than 4.6 billion years ago the solar system was a cloud of gas, ice and dust that gradually became a tightly packed spinning disk whose center became so packed, dense and hot that nuclear fusion occurred forming the Sun. |
| According to the Nebula Theory how did the planets form? | Material left over after the Sun formed cooled into clumps of scatterd solids that collided and merged forming planets, moons, asteroids and other bodies. |
| What is the name of the plane that the planets orbit in? | It is the elliptic. |
| Who theorized that objects will fall to Earth at the same rate no matter their size if you remove air resistance? | It was Galileo. |
| What role does air resistance play in the velocity an object reaches when falling? | Air resistance will slow down larger falling object more than smaller ones. |
| Who came up with the Law of Universal Gravitation? | It was Sir Isaac Newton. |
| What does the Law of Universal Gravitation say about Gravity? | It is a force generated between 2 objects. |
| What determines the amount of gravity 2 objects will have? | It depends upon the mass of each object and the distance between them. |
| Who developed the theory of General Relativity? | It was Albert Einstein. |
| What are the 3 parts of the theory of General Relativity? | 1. Matter tells space how to curve. 2. Curved space tells matter how to move. 3. Everything moves in the straightest possible line in curved space-time. |
| What is an Astronomical Unit (AU)? | It is the distance between the Earth and the Sun. |
| How far is an Astronomical Unit (AU)? | It is 93 million mile or 150 million kilometers. |
| What is another name for the Inner planets? | It is the terrestrial planets. |
| What characteristic do the inner planets have in common? | They are all solid. |
| Where did Mercury get its name? | It is named for the Roman messenger god. |
| The surface of the moon is covered with craters and cliffs similar to what? | It is similar to the surface of our moon. |
| Does Mercury have a true atmosphere? | No, it has just very small amounts of sodium and potassium. |
| What is the temperature range on Mercury? | It is 425 degrees Celsius in the day and -170 degrees Celsius at night. |
| Where did Venus get its name? | It is named for the Roman goddess of love. |
| What is the temperature like on Venus? | It is the hottest planet with the temperature staying over 400 degrees Celsius night and day. |
| Why is Venus the hottest planet? | It has a thick atmosphere made up of CO2 (carbon dioxide) which produces a greenhouse effect trapping all the Sun's heat next to the surface. |
| What is Venus's air pressure compared to Earth? | It is 90 times greater. |
| Venus is the only planet in the Solar System that does this. | It rotates clockwise on its axis which is backwards compared to the other planets. |
| Which planet's day is longer than its year? | It is Venus. |
| Which planet is also known as Gaia or Terra? | It is Earth. |
| What covers 70% of the Earth's surface? | It is water. |
| Which planet is the only one where life is known to exist? | It is Earth. |
| What is the name of Earth's only natural satellite? | It is Moon or Luna. |
| Where did Mars get its name? | It is named for the Roman god of war. |
| What causes Mars' reddish color? | It is caused by iron oxide in the soil. |
| What makes up the polar ice caps on Mars? | It is made of frozen CO2 and water. |
| Compared to Earth, what size is Mars? | It is about half the size of Earth. |
| Where is the largest volcano in the solar system and what is it called? | It is on Mars and is called Olympus Mons. |
| How many moons does Mars have and what are their names? | It has 2 moons called Phobos and Deimos which came from the asteroid belt. |
| What is the atmosphere and surface temperature like on Mars? | It has an atmosphere of Nitrogen and CO2 (carbon dioxide) and the temperature ranges from -125 C at night to 20 C during the day. |
| What are the 4 outer planets called? | They are called the Jovian planets. |
| What characteristics do all the Jovian planets have in common? | They are all gas giants made of Hydrogen and Helium. They also all have rings. |
| Where did Jupiter get its name? | It is named for the Roman King of the Gods. |
| Which planet is the largest in our Solar System? | It is Jupiter. |
| List the planets in order from the Sun out. | Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. |
| What is the the Great Red Spot on Jupiter Made of? | It is a large rotating hurricane. |
| How large is Jupiter? | Its mass is 2.5 times greater than the mass of all the other planets combined. |
| Which planet has the largest moon in the solar system and what is its name? | It is Jupiter and the moon is called Ganymede. |
| Which body is the mostly heavily cratered in the solar system? | It is Callisto one of Jupiter's moons. |
| Which moon has a deep ocean located beneath a shell of ice on its surface? | It is Europa one of Jupiter's moons. |
| Which moon erupts sulfur and is the most volcanically active body in the solar system? | It is Io one of Jupiter's moons. |
| Which planet has an elaborate system of more than 14 rings made of rock and ice debris? | It is Saturn. |
| Which moon has a surface that is "squishy" and has lakes made of hyrocarbons? | It is Titan one of Saturn's moons. |
| Where did Saturn get its name? | It is named after the Roman god of agriculture. |
| Where did Uranus get its name? | It is named after the Greek god of the sky. |
| Which planet is unique because it rotates on its side? | It is Uranus. |
| Where did Neptune get its name? | It is named for the Roman god of the sea. |
| Which planet has near supersonic and dynamic storms occurring? | It is Neptune. |
| Which moon is the coldest body in the universe? | It is Triton one of Neptune's moons. |
| Which dwarf planet is the largest object in the asteroid belt? | It is Ceres. |
| Where did Pluto the dwarf planet get its name? | It is named after the Roman god of the underworld. |
| What is Pluto's largest moon and that doesn't actually rotate around Pluto. | It is Charon. |
| What is the largest known dwarf planet in the solar system? | It is Eris which has a diameter of 2400 km. |
| List some other possible dwarf planets? | Haumea, Makemake, Orcus, Sedna, Charon. |
| What is the name for the darkest part of an eclipse shadow found in the center of the region affected? | It is the umbra. |
| What is the name for the region that is not completely dark around the edges of an eclipse shadow? | It is the penumbra. |
| What is the name given to large chunks of frozen gases, rocks and dust orbiting the Sun? | It is a comet. |
| Where do comets originate? | It is the Oort Cloud. |
| What is the name for the main part of a comet? | It is the nucleus. |
| What is the name for the thawed gases and dust that form a bright cloud surrounding the nucleus of a comet? | It is the coma. |
| What is the name of the most famous comet that appears every 76 years? | It is Halley's comet. |
| What is the name of the comet discovered by amateur astronomers last seen in the Spring of 1997? | It is Hale-Bopp. |
| Which comet broke into pieces and was destroyed when it struck Jupiter in 1994? | It is Shoemaker-Levy 9. |
| What is the name for large chunks of rock material left over from the formation of the solar system? | It is Asteroids. |
| Where are most Asteroids found? | They are found in the Asteroid belt located between Mars and Jupiter. |
| What are pieces of rock and dust left behind by orbiting comets called? | They are called Meteoroids. |
| What are meteoroids called that burn up in Earth's atmosphere? | They are called Meteors or "shooting stars" but they are NOT STARS. |
| What are meteors that are so large that they do not burn up in Earth's atmosphere and hit the surface of the earth called? | They are called Meteorites. |
Created by:
mickeycurran
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