Mrs. Gavin's Science Class | Sachem North High School
kgavin@sachem.edu
Mid-Term

In what phases do we naturally find water on Earth?
a) Liquid only                                b) Solid and liquid
c) All Phases                                 d) gas and liquid

Chemosynthetic bacteria formed deep in Earth’s:
a) Mantle                                  b) Oceans
c) Crust                                   d) Atmosphere

What do chemosynthetic bacteria live off of?
a) Minerals                                b) Algae

c) Tube worms                             d) Sunlight

Earth has a rocky surface because:
a) It was hit by a planet                      b) It has enough gravity

c) Its close to the Sun                         d) Its in the Roche limit

The Solar Wind blew lighter elements farther out in the solar system.  What else is the solar wind responsible for?

a) Asteroid belt                                   b) Venus’ atmosphere

c) Hurricanes                                       d) Comet tails

If algae hadn’t evolved, Earth’s atmosphere would be more like which planet?

a) Neptune                                          b) Venus

c) Mercury                                           d) Jupiter

Approximately, how much of the heat we receive from the sun, is trapped by our atmosphere?

a) 100%                                               b) 50%

c) 25%                                                 d) 0%

Which planet has too strong a gravitational pull to allow Earth-like life to evolve there?

a) Mercury                                           b) Venus

c) Mars                                                d) Jupiter

What is the difference between the lunar highlands and the Maria?

a) Maria are light and highlands are dark       b) Highlands are basalt

c) Maria are dark and highlands are light       d) Maria are granite

What is the best description of the dark side of the moon?
a) Whichever part is not lit by the Sun           b) A Pink Floyd album

c) The side we never see                                 d) The terminator

What were the Apollo Missions?

a) A Greek Tragedy                            b) First probes sent to the moon

c) Early Mars missions                        d) Manned missions to the moon

Phases of the moon are caused by the moon’s:

a) Rotation                              b) Revolution around the Earth

c) Revolution around the Sun             d) Lunar Eclipses

What causes tides?

a) Storms at sea                           b) Changes in seasons
c) Pull of the Moon’s gravity              d) Pull of the Sun’s gravity

The inner planets are all:

a) Rocky                                              b) Large

c) Gaseous                                           d) Young

Noon temperatures on Mercury reach as high as:

a) 95°C                                                b) 800°C
c) 280°F                                              d) 800°F

Why doesn’t Mercury have an atmosphere?

a) It didn’t want one                           b) It never had volcanoes

c) It’s too close to the Sun                  d) It’s gravitational pull is too small

What causes resonance of Mercury’s orbit?

a) The Sun’s gravity                            b) It’s too small to rotate freely

c) Collision with a planet                    d) Its pulled on by its moons

Venus’ surface is obscured by cloud cover.  What did we use to map the surface we couldn’t see?

a) X-rays                                             b) Sonar

c) Radar                                              d) Seeing eye dog

By what process did volcanoes create Earth’s atmosphere?

a) Outgassing                                      b) Pyroclastic flow

c) Deflation                                         d) Exhaling

The settling of the chocolate chips in melted ice cream is an analogy for what planetary process?

a) Solidification                                  b) Floatation

c) Differentiation                                d) Freezing

What did we use to determine the Earth has a liquid outer core?

a) Drilling sites                                    b) Fluid dynamics

c) Radar                                              d) Seismic waves

What is the largest volcano in the solar system?

a) Pancake dome                                 b) Vesuvius

c) Mt. Everest                                     d) Olympus Mons

What gas makes up most of Mars’ atmosphere?

a) Oxygen                                           b) Methane

c) Nitrogen                                          d) Carbon dioxide

What is the name of one of rocks that Spirit found in a Martian crater?

a) Ares                                                 b) Larry

c) Bruce                                               d) Bob

Which of the outer planets have rings?

a) Jupiter and Saturn                           b) Saturn and Uranus
c) Neptune and Uranus                       d) All of them

Which of Jupiter’s moon’s has a magnetic field?

a) Callisto                                            b) Ganymede

c) Europa                                             d) Io

What are the four Jovian planets?

a)Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars

b)Pluto, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus

c)Jupiter, Pluto, Neptune and Triton

d)Jupiter, Saturn Uranus and Neptune

What causes the stripes on Jupiter?

a)Convection and the Coriolis Effect

b)The Great Red Spot

c)It’s proximity to Saturn

d)It’s mass

What is the Great Red Spot?

a)An impact crater

b)A volcano

c)A hurricane

d)Acne

Which of Jupiter’s satellites is highly volcanic due to tidal flexing?

a)Callisto

b)Europa

c)Ganymede

d)Io

What causes the cracked surface of Europa?

a)Mudcracking

b)Welling up of liquid water

c)Convection

d)Expansion of the crust

What does Ganymede have that the other moons of Jupiter do not?

a)Magnetic field

b)Volcanoes

c)Liquid water

d)Life

How did Saturn’s rings form?

a)They are part of the atmosphere

b)From the Kuiper Belt

c)Light refracting from a solar flare

d)A satellite falling inside the Roche limit

How wide is the span of Saturn’s rings?

a)10 km

b)1,000 km

c)100,000 km

d)1 km

Which of Saturn’s moons looks like the Death Star?

a)Titan

b)Tethys

c)Enceledus

d)Mimas

Why is Uranus Blue?

a)Red light is absorbed by Methane Molecules and blue is not

b)It has blue oceans

c)Its just dark from being so far away from the sun

d)Its in Jupiter’s shadow

What is Uranus’ most unusual feature?

a)Its Blue

b)Its tilted on its side

c)It’s a gas giant

d)It has rings

What is the name of Neptune’s largest moon?

a)Triton

b)Charon

c)Ganymede

d)Io

Where is the Asteroid belt?

a)Between Mars and Jupiter

b)Between Mercury and Venus

c)Between Uranus and Neptune

d)In orbit around Jupiter

What are the names of Jupiter four dominant moons?

a)Phobos, Deimos, Titan and Miranda

b)Titan, Miranda, Enceledus and Tethys

c)Io, Europa, Callisto and Ganymede

d)Callisto, Mimas, Triton and Charon

 

Short Answer:

Compare the outer planets to the inner planets in terms of Size, composition and density.

Europa is covered with surface cracks in its icey shell.  Explain how these are similar to Mid-Ocean-ridges on Earth.

How do Martian “blueberries” prove that liquid surface water once existed on Mars?

What are the four major moon’s of Jupiter and Describe each?

Explain how a moon becomes a system of rings, such as the ones around Saturn.

Explain how Tidal Flexing makes Jupiter’s moon, Io, is the most volcanic body in the solar system.