How stars make the elements
Grade 9 Science Worksheet
Circle the best answer.
Origin chain card with four blank boxes. Trace an oxygen atom in a glass of water back to its origin, by Bo's reading.
- Made in Earth's oceans
- Made in a star's core, spread into space, then gathered into Earth
- Made in the Big Bang, then stored on Earth ever since it formed
- Made by splitting iron
Read this first
Where elements were mainly made (NASA)
Element Atomic number Main origin hydrogen 1 Big Bang helium 2 Big Bang carbon 6 star cores oxygen 8 star cores iron 26 massive stars and their supernovas gold 79 neutron-star collisions Where did the iron in an iron nail come from, by Esme's reading?
- Fusion in massive stars, spread by supernovas
- The Big Bang
- Earth's core, which makes iron
- The Sun's core today
Platinum, like gold, is among the heaviest elements. Where did it probably form, by Jun's reading (NASA)?
- In Earth's mantle
- In neutron-star collisions
- In the core of Sun-like stars
- In the Big Bang
Fusion ladder with a stop sign at iron and two arrows leading off it. Where, then, do most elements heavier than iron form, by Luz's reading?
- By fusing iron in quiet cores
- In supernovas and neutron-star collisions
- In the Big Bang
- In the cores of Sun-like stars as they age
Fusion ladder with the Sun's last rung blank. About which element will the Sun's core fuse up to by the end of its life, by Milo's reading (NASA)?
- Uranium, formed in the Sun's core
- Gold
- Carbon, made from helium
- Iron
Carbon has 6 protons and helium has 2. How many helium nuclei fuse to make one carbon nucleus, by Noah's math?
- 4
- 3
- 12
- 2
Carbon (6) fuses with helium (2). Which element forms, by Pia's reading?
- Carbon, 6
- Neon, 10
- Oxygen, 8
- Nitrogen, 7
Oxygen (8) fuses with helium (2). Which element forms, by Ren's reading?
- Fluorine, 9
- Magnesium, 12
- Oxygen, 8
- Neon, 10
Drawing of two small, dense stars merging, with glowing debris. In 2017, NASA telescopes caught light from two merging neutron stars about 130 million light-years away. What did that light reveal, by Tala's reading?
- Elements made on Earth
- Heavy elements forged in the debris
- Hydrogen splitting into lighter atoms
- Elements left from the Big Bang
The oldest stars hold far less iron than the Sun. Why, by Zee's reading?
- They fused their iron away
- Iron came from the Big Bang and has been used up
- They formed before stars had made and spread much iron
- Iron forms on planets, not in stars