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

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

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

   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?

   • C, the same circle as before
   • B, straight ahead in the direction it was moving
   • D, straight out away from the Sun
   • A, straight into the Sun
5. 4.

   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 out, away from the circle's center
   • It keeps circling around the hand
   • Straight ahead, the way it was moving
   • Straight back toward the teacher's hand
6. 5.

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

   • Stop moving at once
   • Move off in a straight line
   • Keep orbiting Earth as before
   • Fall onto Earth
7. 6.

   Three circles labeled Sun, Earth and Moon, with no orbit lines drawn. Which statement about orbits is true, by Noah's reading?

   • Earth orbits the Moon
   • The Sun orbits Earth
   • The Moon orbits the Sun, not Earth
   • Earth orbits the Sun, and the Moon orbits Earth
8. 7.

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

   • Earth
   • Jupiter, the biggest planet
   • The Moon
   • The Sun
9. 8.

   The Sun holds about 99.8% of all the mass in the solar system (NASA). What does that mean for its pull, by Tala's reasoning?

   • Mass has nothing to do with gravity
   • The planets pull harder on the Sun than it pulls on them
   • Its gravity is by far the strongest in the solar system
   • Its gravity is weak, since it is so far away
10. 9.

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

    • The Sun pushes them around
    • The planets pick the brightest object
    • The Sun has far more mass, so its pull wins
    • 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