North Carolina Science Grade 6

Chapter 10: The Solar System

The Solar System

1.
How many known moons orbit Jupiter?
A)17
B)7
C)16
D)10
2.
What causes Mars to appear reddish?
A)its distance from the Sun
B)its position in the solar system
C)the iron oxide surface
D)the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
3.
How many planets are in our solar system?
A)eight
B)unknown
C)nine
D)ten
4.
Why is Venus hot?
A)because of its position in the solar system
B)because of the volcanoes
C)because of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
D)because of its closeness to the Sun
5.
The Great Red Spot on Jupiter is __________.
A)a mountain range
B)a volcano
C)an ocean of liquid hydrogen
D)a tremendous storm
6.
Which of Jupiter's four largest moons is the most volcanically active?
A)Europa
B)Callisto
C)Io
D)Ganymede
7.
What happened to the dust and gas that did not contribute to forming the Sun?
A)It created the planets.
B)It created other stars.
C)It was all burned up by the Sun.
D)It was lost forever.
8.
Scientists theorize that Jupiter's core is __________.
A)made of hydrogen and helium
B)made of ammonia and methane
C)rocky
D)made of water vapor
9.
Why isn't Neptune always the eighth planet from the Sun?
A)because all the planet's change positions occasionally
B)because it sometimes passes outside Pluto's orbit to become the ninth planet
C)because sometimes we are unable to see Neptune's orbit in space
D)because it sometimes passes inside Uranus's orbit, becoming the seventh planet from the Sun
10.
One astronomical unit is approximately equal to __________.
A)the distance from Earth to the Sun
B)the distance from Pluto to the sun
C)75 million km
D)250 million km
11.
Why do scientists think is the cause of Uranus's titled orbit?
A)It's a result of its distance from the Sun.
B)It collided with another object in space.
C)The temperatures out in space caused the planet to tilt.
D)It was created that way.
12.
When atoms combine to form heavier atoms, _________ occurs.
A)refraction
B)fission
C)friction
D)fusion
13.
Why is Venus often called Earth's twin?
A)because life also existed there at one time
B)because of similar temperatures
C)because of its similar size
D)because of its similar topography
14.
What evidence of water on Mars did the Mars Pathfinder find?
A)all answers are correct
B)water that is possibly frozen into the crust at Mars's poles
C)features like gullies
D)Samples of Martian crust indicated that iron had been leached out by groundwater.
15.
What caused the dense cloud scientists hypothesize created our solar system to increase in temperature as it condensed?
A)increasing speed
B)increasing friction
C)increasing density
D)increasing mass
16.
Which planet did the Viking probes explore?
A)Mercury
B)Mars
C)Jupiter
D)Venus
17.
Mars and Earth have similar tilts. What other similarity does this cause the two planets to have?
A)life-forms
B)temperatures
C)land forms
D)seasons
18.
Why do planets closer to the Sun orbit the Sun faster than planets farther away do?
A)because of their size
B)because of each planet's individual gravitational pull
C)because of the Sun's gravity
D)because of the way the planets are lined up with each other in space
19.
Which of Jupiter's four largest moon's oceans do scientists hope to explore in the near future?
A)Ganymede
B)Io
C)Europa
D)Callisto
20.
How many moons does Pluto have?
A)none
B)two
C)one
D)three
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