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Grade 9 · Science · Earth and Space Science

9th grade How the solar system formed worksheet

6 printable versionsBuilding Confidence10 questions · answer keyFree · no account

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How the solar system formed

Grade 9 Science Worksheet - Building Confidence

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

  1. a cloud, a spinning disk, young planets, today's solar system. How did the solar system begin, by Ari's reading (NASA)?

    • A planet broke apart into pieces
    • It formed during the first few minutes after the Big Bang began
    • The Sun spun off the planets later
    • A cloud of gas and dust collapsed under its own gravity
  2. Timeline ruler in billions of years. About when did the solar system form, by Bo's reading (NASA)?

    • About 4,600 years ago
    • About 4.6 million years ago
    • About 4.6 billion years ago
    • About 13.8 billion years ago, with the universe
  3. What formed first at the center of the collapsing cloud, by Kira's reading (NASA)?

    • The asteroid belt
    • Earth, the first planet
    • Jupiter, the biggest planet
    • The Sun, from most of the material
  4. Why do all eight planets orbit in nearly the same flat plane, by Luz's reading?

    • They were captured one at a time from space
    • They formed from one flat, spinning disk
    • The cloud did not spin
    • They broke off a larger planet
  5. Orbit diagram with the disk's spin direction marked. In which direction do the planets orbit the Sun, by Milo's reading?

    • Inner one way, outer the other
    • They do not orbit; the Sun circles them
    • All the same way, the way the disk spun
    • Each in a random direction
  6. Which planets are rocky terrestrial planets, by Noah's reading (NASA)?

    • Earth and Jupiter
    • Saturn and Uranus
    • Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune
    • Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars
  7. Disk with a hot inner zone and a cold outer zone. Why did rocky planets form near the Sun, by Pia's reading (NASA)?

    • Only rock could withstand the heat near the young Sun
    • The Sun threw rocks out to them
    • Ice was most common near the Sun
    • Gas was heavier and sank to the middle
  8. What are asteroids, by Tala's reading (NASA)?

    • Pieces formed in just the last few thousand years or so
    • Rocks thrown out by Earth's volcanoes
    • Pieces of a planet that blew apart
    • Rocky leftovers from the solar system's formation
  9. Sun, inner planets, Jupiter and an asteroid belt. Where are most asteroids found, by Zee's reading (NASA)?

    • Where a lost planet broke up
    • Between Earth and the Moon
    • Between Mars and Jupiter
    • Inside Mercury's orbit
  10. Orbit diagram with the Kuiper Belt beyond Neptune. What does NASA say the icy worlds of the Kuiper Belt, beyond Neptune, are, by Esme's reading?

    • New worlds forming today
    • Rocky planets like Earth
    • Pieces broken off Neptune
    • Icy leftovers from the solar system's formation
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9th grade How the solar system formed worksheet – printable
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About this worksheet

How the solar system formed. Every version has 10 questions, and the answer key prints on the second page.

What your child will learn

  • I can tell the formation story in order: cloud collapse, spinning disk, Sun at the center, planets, cleared gas.
  • I can explain why rocky planets formed close to the Sun and giants farther out, and why planets orbit in one plane and direction.
  • I can explain asteroids and Kuiper Belt objects as leftovers and work with the 4.6-billion-year time scale.

Standard: supports HS-ESS1-6

Words to know

solar nebula: The cloud of gas and dust the solar system formed from

terrestrial planet: A small planet with a solid, rocky surface

gas giant: A huge planet of gases above a core: Jupiter, Saturn

ice giant: A giant planet rich in ices: Uranus, Neptune

leftover body: An asteroid, comet or Kuiper Belt object that never joined a planet

Common mistakes

Your child mixed up the solar system's age with another age. NASA: the solar system formed about 4.6 billion years ago, long after the universe began about 13.8 billion years ago.

Your child reversed where rocky and giant planets formed. NASA: near the hot young Sun only rocky material survived; ices and gases gathered farther out, where the giants formed.

Your child left out the spin. NASA: the collapsing cloud spun faster and flattened into a disk, which is why the planets orbit in nearly one plane and one direction.

Questions parents ask

What is the most common mistake with how the solar system formed?

Your child mixed up the solar system's age with another age. NASA: the solar system formed about 4.6 billion years ago, long after the universe began about 13.8 billion years ago.

Are these 9th grade science worksheets free to print?

Yes. All 6 printable versions at each level are free to print, with the answer key, and no account is needed.

More earth and space science

See all Earth and Space Science

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