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Miami Dade County Public Schools Educational Transformation Office and the Division of Academics: Department of Science

Unit 5 Assessment

Comprehensive Science III

Directions: Read through the questions carefully and select the best answer choice on your bubble sheet. 1. Space exploration has advanced our knowledge of the universe. Which space journey would take the longest?

A. A journey from Earth to the Sun. B. A journey from Earth to the Moon. C. A journey from Earth to the nearest galaxy to the Milky Way. D. A journey from Earth to the farthest planet in our solar system.

2. Why do scientists use the light-year instead of Astronomical Units to measure the distances between stars?

A. The speed of sound is too slow. B. Telescopes can measure only in light years. C. Distant stars can only be seen if there is light. D. The smaller numbers that result from measuring with larger units are easier to use.

3. Which distance is the greatest?

A. The distance across the Milky Way galaxy B. The distance to the nearest star C. The distance across the solar system D. The distance to the nearest galaxy

4. What is a galaxy?

A. A solar system containing more than one star larger than our sun. B. A collection of asteroids, dust, and gases orbiting each other in space. C. An unidentified object in space that can be seen using a powerful telescope. D. A collection of billions of stars and their satellites held together by gravity.

5. Which of the following would scientists say is true about most galaxies?

A. They are spread evenly throughout space. B. They consist only of stars. C. There are billions of stars in each galaxy. D. They do not change with time.

6. Nebulae are large clouds of dust and gas that may eventually form stars and planets. Astronomers originally thought that the Andromeda Galaxy was a nebula until the nature of a galaxy was confirmed. Which of the following shows the relationship between a galaxy and a nebula?

A. Many galaxies are found inside of a single nebula. B. Entire galaxies are created from the gas and dust of a single nebula. C. Many nebulae are found inside of a single galaxy. D. Nebulae and galaxies combine to form stars.


7. Which of the following diagrams BEST represents the relationship between galaxies, the universe, and solar systems?

8. In 1995, the Hubble space Telescope photographed a tiny spot in the sky for a period of ten days; 342 exposures were placed together to create an image known as the Hubble Deep Field. The image to the right shows a collection of billions of stars. The Hubble Deep Field shows at least 3,000 groups of these stars. Which term describes this group of stars?

A. Moon B. Solar System C. Galaxy D. Universe

9. Which of the following celestial bodies is the smallest?

A. The smallest star in the universe. B. Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. C. The Andromeda Galaxy. D. The Sun.


10. Modern telescopes make it possible for astronomers to detect planets around distant stars. Why couldn’t astronomers detect these planets before?

A. The planets are much closer than the stars they orbit. B. The planets are much larger than the stars they orbit. C. The planets are much farther than the stars they orbit. D. The planets are much smaller than the stars they orbit.

11. Justin drew the following diagram of the orbits of several objects in space. What keeps object A in orbit around object B?

A. The force of gravity between objects A and B B. The force of gravity between objects A and C C. The force of gravity between objects A and E D. The force of gravity between objects B and X

12. The objects shown in the following diagrams have different masses and are different distances apart. Which diagram shows the two objects that have the greatest force of gravity acting between them?


13. The diagram below represents a planet revolving in an elliptical orbit around a star. As the planet makes one complete revolution around the star, starting at the position shown, the gravitational attraction between the star and the planet will

A. Decrease, then increase B. Increase, then decrease C. Continually decrease D. Remain the same

14. A nebula contains large amounts of dust and clouds. What role does gravity play inside of nebulae?

A. The gravitational pull between the gas and dust matter leads to the formation of new galaxies. B. The gravity pulls the gas and dust apart, leading to the formation of a larger nebula. C. The gravitational pull between the gas and dust matter leads to the formation of new stars and planets. D. There is no gravity inside nebulae because each dust particle is so small.

15. Below is a table that shows examples of stars with certain surface temperatures.

Based on the table above, which star can you predict would most likely appear blue?

A. Sun B. Canopus C. 10 Lacertae D. Betelgeuse


16. Which statement describes the general relationship between the temperature and the absolute brightness of main sequence stars?

A. As temperature decreases, absolute brightness increases. B. As temperature decreases, absolute brightness remains the same. C. As temperature increases, absolute brightness increases D. As temperature increases, absolute brightness remains the same.

17. Emilio is at the observatory and is examining a newly discovered star through a powerful telescope. He wants to find out how bright the star actually is. What information does he need to calculate the absolute magnitude (brightness) of the star?

A. Color and distance from Earth to the star B. Color and temperature of the star C. Color and composition of the star D. Apparent magnitude and distance from Earth to the star

18. The three stars shown below are similar in color, temperature and composition. Star X Star Y Star Z From Earth, star Y appears to be the brightest while star X and star Z appear to be similar in brightness. Which lists orders the stars from closest to farthest from Earth?

A. Star X, Star Y, star Z B. Star X, Star Z, Star Y C. Star Y, Star X, Star Z D. Star Y, Star Z, Star X


19. The teacher gave Carly a list of four stars of different colors. Carly used the graph shown below to help compare the stars’ absolute magnitude. Based on the graph, a star of which color most likely has the lowest absolute magnitude?

A. Red B. Blue C. Yellow D. White

20. Base your answers to the next two questions on the accompanying graph, which represents the brightness and temperature of stars visible from Earth. Which location on the graph represents a star that would most likely have a reddish color?

A. A B. B C. C D. D


21. Eduardo looks at stars through his telescope. He says that the star Sirius is brighter than the star Rigel. In reality, Rigel has a greater absolute brightness than Sirius. What can explain Eduardo’s observation?

A. Sirius is much closer to Earth than Rigel. C. Sirius is a hotter star than Rigel. B. Rigel is much closer to Earth than Sirius. D. Rigel is a hotter star than Sirius

22. The figure below shows the rotation of the sun.

How is the rotation of the Sun different from the rotation of Earth?

A. The parts of the Sun rotate at different speeds and the parts of Earth rotate at the same speed. B. The sun’s equator rotates faster than its poles and Earth’s equator rotates slower than its poles. C. The Sun’s poles rotate faster than its equator and Earth’s poles rotate slower than its equator. D. The parts of the sun rotate in different directions and the parts of Earth all rotate in the same direction.

23. In convection, hot gases rise through cooler gases as they travel to the top of the sun’s convection zone. Once they reach the top of the convective zone, they cool. What happens to these gases next?

A. They create sunspots. B. They sink back down. C. They give off energy in solar flares. D. They begin the process of nuclear fusion.

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