NZASE UNIT STANDARD ITEM BANK QUESTIONS

Each of the following questions is stand-alone and can be used to assess the element below:

The intention of this item bank is for assessors to develop assessment tasks by choosing complete
questions.

Note: If combining parts of questions, you must make sure all Performance Criteria for an element
are included in the assessment task.

Unit Standard Number 18989 version 2

Unit Standard Title Demonstrate knowledge of Earth and Space.

Element 2 Use given information to describe objects in space..

Range Two objects which may include but are not limited to – moon,
stars, blue star, white dwarf, red giant, planets, solar system,
galaxy.

PC 2.1 The information is used to identify the objects.

PC 2.2 The information is used to produce a description of the object.
Range: the description includes either the relationships between
the object and other objects or significant features of the object
(such as star colour).
QUESTION A:

1 Planet Statistics
In the table below there is a lot of information about our Solar System. The first
five columns of figures are compared with Earth. For example Neptune is over 30
times further from the Sun than Earth is, and the gravitational pull on Saturn is 1.2
times as great as gravity on Earth.

Distance from Diameter Gravity Year Mass Surface

the Sun temp.Deg.C
Sun 0 110 0.12 0 329390 6000
Mercury 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.25 0.04 450
Venus 0.72 0.97 0.86 0.6 0.82 500
Earth 1 1 1 1 1 20
Mars 1.53 0.53 0.37 1.9 0.11 -40
Jupiter 5.22 11 2.6 12 318 -150
Saturn 9.57 9 1.2 29.5 95 -160
Uranus 19.26 4 0.9 84 15 -220
Neptune 30.2 3.9 1.4 165 17 -230
Pluto 39.6 0.46 ? 365 ? -230
Moon 1 0.27 0.16 1 0.012 -20

Use the information table and your knowledge of objects in space to answer the
questions.

a) If you used some bathroom scales to weigh yourself, on which planet would you

weigh the most? _______________________________.

b) Which planet is closest to Earth? _________________________.

c) Is Neptune colder or warmer than Uranus? ________________________.

d) Which planet is largest? ___________________________.

e) How many times greater is the Sun's mass compared to the Earth's mass?

_____________________________.

2.1 Y
f) Mercury is the planet closest to the Sun, but WHY is Venus, the 2nd closest

planet to the Sun, warmer than Mercury? _______________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

g) Which FOUR planets are known as the Gas Giants?

1______________________________2_________________________________

3______________________________4_________________________________

h) Give TWO reasons why the sun is recognized as the most significant object in the

Solar System.

1. _______________________________________________________________

2. _______________________________________________________________

2.2 Y

Assessment Schedule for Question A

Q PC Evidence Judgement
1 2.1 a=Jupiter Two correct
b=Venus
c=colder
d=Jupiter
e=329390
1 2.2 f=Venus has thick cloud/atmosphere Two correct
which traps heat
g=Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
h=largest/hottest object in SS or is at the
center of the SS or everything else
revolves around it or releases
light/energy