Grade 8 science reviewer 3rd Q monthly exam

1. A small rocky body that travels through space. C. both rock and metals
A. meteor B. comet C. meteoroid D. meteorite D. ice and dust
18. What causes comets to vaporize?
2. A “dirty snowball” that orbits the sun. A. high pressure B. friction C. heat from the Sun D. fusion
A. meteor B. comet C. asteroid D. satellite
19. Some scientists believe that these could be
3. A shooting star is another name for a: responsible for some of the water found on Earth:
A. meteor B. comet C. meteoroid D. meteorite A. meteor B. comet C. asteroid D. satellite
4. Most of these rocky or metallic objects orbit the sun 20. Is the number of known asteroids over 0.5 miles
between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. (about 1 km) in diameter closest to:
A. meteoroids B. comets C. meteorites D. asteroids A. 40; B. 400; C. 4,000; D. 40,000 E. 400,000

5. This part of a comet is the largest (in meters). 21. The nucleus of a comet is:
A. the coma B. nucleus C, ion tail D. hydrogen envelope A. solid B. liquid C. gas D. plasma
6. Planetoids or minor planets are another name for: 22. These rocky objects have orbits that take them within
A. meteoroids B. comets C. meteorites D. asteroids 1.3 AU of the Sun.
A. NEA’s B. sungrazers C. KBO’s D. TNO’s E. K-T boundaries
7. Most of the mass in a comet is in the:
A. the coma B. nucleus C, ion tail D. hydrogen envelope 23. Most asteroids are found in the:
A. Oort Cloud B. between Pluto and Neptune C.
8. Katie and Robbie look up into the night sky and see a Asteroid belt D. Kuiper belt
fiery streak falling towards the Earth. They just saw a:
A. meteor B. comet C. meteoroid D. meteorite 24. We see comets only when they are near the Sun
because they are burning.
9. A small, usually pebble or smaller sized rock that A. true B. false
enters the Earth’s atmosphere from space, and
survives the Earth’s atmosphere and falls to the 25. These are made of frozen ice, gases, and dust:
ground is a: A. meteoroids B. comets C. asteroids D. the inner planets
A. meteor B. comet C. meteoroid D. meteorite
26. How do we know that the "new" comets are
10. These objects usually have highly elliptical orbits: members of the solar system and not just
A. meteoroids B. comets C. meteorites D. asteroids interstellar objects passing near the sun?
a. they are too hot to be interstellar objects
11. This part of a comet always faces away from the Sun.
A. the coma B. nucleus C, ion tail D. hydrogen envelope
b. they follow elliptical orbits
c. there are no interstellar objects as large as comets
12. A comet that crashes into the Sun is called a: d. they are moving too fast to have come from
A. fireball B. shooting star C. sungrazer D. short period interstellar space
comet 27. What is the Oort cloud?
a. a cluster of asteroids
13. Short period comets originate in the: b. a swarm of comets far from the sun
A. asteroid belt B. Oort Cloud C. the Milky Way D. the c. the cloud that a meteoroid produces in the
Kuiper Belt atmosphere
14. Long period comets originate in the:
d. the same as the coma of a comet
A. asteroid belt B. Oort Cloud C. the Milky Way D. the 28. When does a comet have the longest tail and
Kuiper Belt largest coma?
a. when it is nearest the sun
15. The largest asteroid is called: b. when it is moving most slowly
A. Halley’s B. Kirkwood’s C. Phobos D. Deimos E. Ceres c. when it crosses the ecliptic
d. when it is 1 AU from the sun
16. This comet hit Jupiter in 1994. 29. Which of the following best describes the material
A. Halley’s B. Kirkwood’s C. Shoemaker-Levy-9 D. Hale-Bopp which makes up the nucleus of a comet?
17. Meteoroids are made of:
a. rocky
A. rock b. gaseous
B. metals c. dirty ice
 d. metallic crystals c. a meteorite.
30. Which part of a comet is the only one that exists d. a minor planet.
when the comet is far from the sun? 38. A meteor shower is produced when
a. the nucleus a. a large number of sporadic meteors are
b. the dust tail observed.
c. the ion tail b. the Earth passes through the asteroid belt.
d. the coma c. massive particles are carried outward from
31. Most of the asteroids are located between the the sun by the solar wind and enter Earth's
orbits of atmosphere.
a. Venus and Earth d. the Earth passes through the orbital path of
b. Earth and Mars a comet.
c. Mars and Jupiter 39. The short-period comets do not have randomly
d. Jupiter and Saturn oriented orbits because
32. Why would global temperature drop if the Earth a. they are affected by the sun's gravity.
were struck by an asteroid several km in diameter b. they are affected by the solar wind.
or larger? c. their orbits are altered by encounters with
a. the impact would move the Earth farther the planets.
from the sun d. their orbits are altered by the drag of their
b. the resulting dust cloud would block out tails in the solar wind.
sunlight 40. Sungrazers are
c. the ices in the asteroid would increase the a. asteroids located inside the orbit of
Earth's albedo Mercury.
d. the low temperature of the asteroid would b. meteorites that have a composition very
chill the oceans similar to that of the sun.
33. Approximately how large must a meteoroid be in c. asteroids removed from Kirkwood's gap by
order to survive passage through the atmosphere the influences of the sun and Jupiter.
and reach the ground as a meteorite? d. comets that get very close to the sun.
a. as big as a fist
b. as big as a penny
c. as big as a automobile
d. as big as a house

34. The particles which produce meteor showers come

from
a. impacts of meteoroids with the moon
b. dead comets
c. collisions of asteroids with each other
d. interstellar space
35. Why does a comet have a tail?
a. Because of its high speeds the gases behind
it are disturbed
b. The ice and dust that make up a comet
evaporate from the heat of the Sun
c. Because of collision with space dust
d. Gravity causes its shape to morph
36. Which of the following describes the build up and
release of stress during an earthquake?
a. the Modified Mercalli Scale
b. the elastic rebound theory
c. the principle of superposition
d. the travel time difference
37. A bit of matter that enters Earth's atmosphere and
survives to reach the ground is called _______
a. a meteor.
b. a meteoroid.