Science Test Study Guide
Test on Tuesday Feb. 15th
Vocabulary
Solar System: A star and all the planets and other objects that revolve around it
Planet: A large body that revolves around a star
Comet: A ball of rock, ice and frozen gases that revolves around the sun
Star: A huge ball of superheated gases
Sun: the star at the center of our solar system
Constellation: A pattern of stars that form an imaginary picture or design in the sky
Galaxy: A huge system of gases, dust, and many stars
Universe: Everything that exists in space
Possible Test Questions
1. How many planets and dwarf planets are in our Solar System? 8 planets and one dwarf planet
2. Which planet or dwarf planet is nearest the Sun?
Mercury
3. Which planet or dwarf planet is farthest from the Sun?
Pluto
4. Which planet is the biggest?
Jupiter
5. Which planet has the biggest, most easily-seen rings orbiting it? Saturn
6. What group of objects orbits the Sun between Mars and Jupiter? The asteroid belt
7. What is at the center of our Solar System? The Sun
8. Are the inner planets made of rock or gas?
They are made of rock
9. What are the icy objects with huge tails that orbit the Sun?
Comets
10. Which planet is called the "red planet"?
Mars
11. List the planets in order, beginning with the one nearest the sun:
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto
12. Why do stars seem to twinkle?
Because the light is traveling to our eyes from very far away
13. What is the difference between a red star and a blue star?
A red star is a cool star, a yellow star is a medium hot star, and a blue star is very hot
14. What is meant by the phrase “the life cycle of a star”?
A star does not last forever, it has a beginning when it is formed, it shines for
billions of years, then it begins to cool and finally “dies”.
15. How is our sun described in terms of heat and size?
Our sun is a medium sized, medium hot, yellow star
16. Why are constellations useful? They act as landmarks in the night sky, and have been used
for hundreds of years to help people find their way. They also helped people in ancient
times keep track of the seasons, because different constellations could only be seen
at certain times of the year.
17. Why do the star patterns we see in the night sky seem to move? As the earth orbits the
sun we see different parts of the galaxy and our position in space changes. It looks like
the stars are moving, but actually it is the earth that is moving.
18. Which planets are visible with the unaided eye (without a telescope)? Mercury, Venus,
Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.
19. Who was one of the first people to use a telescope to study the sky? Galileo Galilei
20. Which star is most often used to help us find a direction and why? The North Star,
or
Polaris, is a star that always points north. Even though the earth moves, this star is
always pointing North.