Download Chapter 20 Questions

7th Grade Science Chapter 20 Questions
1. What does the term AU stand for?
2. What measurements are used to indicate the distance between stars?
3. What are the names of the 2 groupings of planets?
4. What are 3 differences between the inner and outer planets?
5. What are the inner planets called or classified as?
6. What is the order of the inner planets?
7. What do we know about the composition of the inner planets?
8. What are the outer planets mostly made of?
9. What is the key term for the amount of time that it takes an object to spin once on its axis?
10. What is the definition of a year?
11. What do we call the motion of a body as it orbits another body in space?
12. What do we call the time it takes for an object to revolve around the sun once?
13. What are the differences between prograde rotation and retrograde rotation? Which applies to the Earth?
14. Which planet is considered to be Earths twin?
15. What are some of the similarities and differences between Earth and Venus?
16. What creates the high temperatures on Venus?
17. Why was Earth able to create and sustain life, where other planets have been unable to?
18. Which planet is known as the Red Planet?
19. How many planets are in our Solar System?
20. Why is the surface of Mars unable to sustain water?
21. What do scientists call the outer planets?
22. What are some key facts about the outer planets?
23. What is the order of the outer planets, including Pluto?
24. What do we call the large planets that don’t have any know solid surface. There atmospheres blend
smoothly into the dense layer of their interiors, very deep beneath the outer layers?
25. What is Jupiter’s Great Red Spot?
26. True or False Like most planets Jupiter and Saturn receive the same amount of energy from the sun as it
radiates into space?
27. Which planet is the 2nd largest and has the largest set of rings?
28. Do all of the Gas Giant planets have rings?
29. What is one of the unique qualities of Uranus?
30. One of the unique aspects of the planet Neptune are the winds on its surface, what causes these winds?
31. How do scientists now classify Pluto? Hint: This info will come from your teacher in class.
32. Why is Pluto different from the Gas Giants?
33. What is a satellite?
34. What do we call natural satellites?
35. Do all of the planets have natural satellites?
36. What do we call Earth’s moon?
37. Why do scientists see the Earth’s moon, a good specimen to study?
38. How old do scientists believe our moon is? How does this info help guess the age of our solar system?
39. What is the current theory on how the Earth’s moon was formed?
40. What is the Earth’s moon made out of & why do scientists believe it is slightly different from the Earth?
41. What is the definition of the word phases?
42. Why do we see phases of the moon?
43. What do the terms waxing and waning mean when talking about the moon?
44. What is an eclipse? What are the two kinds and explain what happens?
45. What is an annular eclipse?
46. Why is it that we do not see lunar and solar eclipses every month?
47. When do solar eclipses occur, during a New Moon or Full Moon?
48. Why do we always see the same side of the moon?
49. Do all of the outer planets have moons?
50. What is the name of the natural satellite that is the most volcanically active in our solar system?
51. Why do scientists study Titan, one of Saturn’s moons?
52. True or False: Neptune’s moon Triton has a retrograde orbit?
53. What is a comet?
54. What are the parts of a comet?
55. What kind of orbit does a comet follow?
56. What is an oort cloud?
57. What is the Kuiper belt?
58. What is an asteroid?
59. What is the asteroid belt?
60. Are all asteroids in the asteroid belt made of the exact same material?
61. What is a meteoroid?
62. What is a meteor?
63. What is a meteorite?
64. What is a meteor shower and when does it occur?
65. Are all meteorites composed of the exact same material?
66. Why do scientists study comets, asteroids and meteoroids?
67. Why do scientists study impacts and how often do large and the “disastrous impact” occur?