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 by splitting iron
- Made in a star's core, spread into space, then gathered into Earth
- Made in Earth's oceans
- Made in the Big Bang, then stored on Earth ever since it formed
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?
- Earth's core, which makes iron
- Fusion in massive stars, spread by supernovas
- The Big Bang
- The Sun's core today
Platinum, like gold, is among the heaviest elements. Where did it probably form, by Jun's reading (NASA)?
- In the core of Sun-like stars
- In neutron-star collisions
- In Earth's mantle
- In the Big Bang
Fusion ladder from hydrogen to iron, with a stop sign at iron. Why can fusion in a star's core not build elements past iron, by Kira's reading (NASA)?
- Iron splits into gold
- Iron fusion releases so much energy that the core blows apart
- Fusing iron takes in energy instead of releasing it
- Stars contain no iron
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 the Big Bang
- In supernovas and neutron-star collisions
- 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)?
- Iron
- Uranium, formed in the Sun's core
- Carbon, made from helium
- Gold
Carbon has 6 protons and helium has 2. How many helium nuclei fuse to make one carbon nucleus, by Noah's math?
- 12
- 3
- 4
- 2
Carbon (6) fuses with helium (2). Which element forms, by Pia's reading?
- Nitrogen, 7
- Oxygen, 8
- Carbon, 6
- Neon, 10
Oxygen (8) fuses with helium (2). Which element forms, by Ren's reading?
- Neon, 10
- Magnesium, 12
- Oxygen, 8
- Fluorine, 9
A supernova remnant shows oxygen, silicon and iron in its spectrum. What does this show, by Ari's reading?
- These elements came from Earth
- These elements were made by splitting
- These elements are left over from the Big Bang long ago
- Elements made in the star are spreading into space