How gravity holds the solar system together

Grade 6 Science Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Orbit diagram from above, not to scale: the Sun in the center and Earth on its path, with arrows not drawn.

2. 1.

   What keeps Earth moving around the Sun instead of flying off into space, by Ari's reading?

   • Wind in space pushing Earth along
   • The Sun's gravity pulling on Earth
   • Nothing; space has no gravity
   • Earth's spin acting like an engine
3. 2.

   What keeps the Moon in orbit around Earth, as Bo learns?

   • Earth's gravity pulling on the Moon
   • The Sun's light pushing the Moon
   • The Moon's own gravity alone
   • Nothing; the Moon floats freely
4. 3.

   Which force holds the planets of the solar system together, in Kira's notes?

   • Nothing; planets drift freely
   • Wind
   • Gravity
   • Magnetism
5. 4.

   Jun's diagram shows a planet on its orbit with four possible paths. If the Sun's gravity suddenly stopped, which path would the planet take?

   • D, straight out away from the Sun
   • A, straight into the Sun
   • C, the same circle as before
   • B, straight ahead in the direction it was moving
6. 5.

   a ball on a string moving in a circle around a hand, with the string shown slipping free. Outdoors, Luz's teacher swings a soft ball on a string in a circle. The string slips loose. Which way does the ball go?

   • Straight back toward the teacher's hand
   • It keeps circling around the hand
   • Straight out, away from the circle's center
   • Straight ahead, the way it was moving
7. 6.

   “Orbit diagram from above, not to scale:” If Earth's gravity vanished, what would the Moon do, by Milo's reasoning?

   • Keep orbiting Earth as before
   • Move off in a straight line
   • Stop moving at once
   • Fall onto Earth
8. 7.

   If Earth orbits the Sun, why does the Sun seem to cross Pia's sky each day?

   • The Sun's gravity drags it across
   • Earth orbits the Sun once a day
   • Earth spins once a day
   • The Sun orbits Earth once a day
9. 8.

   What sits at the center of the planets' orbits, as Ren draws them?

   • Earth
   • Jupiter, the biggest planet
   • The Sun
   • The Moon
10. 9.

    Orbit diagram from above, not to scale. Why do the planets orbit the Sun rather than Jupiter, as Zee explains?

    • The Sun has far more mass, so its pull wins
    • The planets pick the brightest object
    • The Sun pushes them around
    • Jupiter has no gravity

11. Use this

    Pull-arrow diagram, not to scale: a person on Earth with one arrow toward Earth's center and one toward the distant Sun, arrows not sized.

12. 10.

    Which pulls harder on Esme at school: the Sun, far away, or Earth, right underfoot?

    • They pull equally
    • The Sun, because it has more mass
    • Earth, because it is so close
    • Neither pulls on people