Earth, Moon, and Sun Relationships Test
TEKS 8.7A:
1. Which of these changes would likely occur if the rate of Earth’s rotation on its axis increased?
a. The length of the seasons would be shorter.
b. The length of the seasons would be longer.
c. The length of a day would be shorter.
d. The length of a day would be longer.
2. The model shows Earth in several positions relative to the Sun.
3
2
4
1
In which position is it winter in North America?
a. Position 1, because North America receives the most direct sun.
b. Position 2, because North America is tilted toward the sun.
c. Position 3, because North America is parallel to the sun.
d. Position 4, because North America is tilted away from the sun.
3. A student wants to use a spinning basketball to model the day and night
cycles on Earth.
What should the student do in order to best model the cause of the day
and night cycle?
a. Spin the ball in different directions.
b. Tilt the ball while it is spinning.
c. Paint one half of the ball black and the other half white.
d. Shine a bright light on one side of the ball.
4. In the summer many people enjoy going to the beach. If you were to visit Argentina, which is located
in the Southern Hemisphere, which diagram would show the position of Earth when it is summer?
5. The diagram below shows four positions in Earth’s orbit around the Sun.
The Northern Hemisphere experiences the beginning of spring when Earth is in…
a. Position 1
b. Position 2
c. Position 3
d. Position 4
6. Earth would not have seasons if it…
a. No longer tilted on its axis.
b. Stopped rotation on its axis.
c. Took an additional month to orbit the Sun.
d. Revolved around the Sun in the opposite direction.
TEKS 8.7B:
7. A student must complete the column of the table that lists
the dates of the full moons.
What are the most likely dates of the full moons?
a. February 5th, March 7th, April 5th. And May 4th.
b. February 15th, March 17th, April 15th, and May 14th.
c. February 25th, March 27th, April 25th, and May 24th.
d. February 29th, March 31st, April 29th, and May 28th.
8. A student uses paper and fasteners to create a model of
Earth, the Sun, and the Moon. The Sun and Earth are
attached to the paper background, while the Moon is free to
revolve around Earth.
Which diagram shows the objects arranged so that a third
quarter moon would be visible from Earth?
9. On July 4th, 1776, the American colonies declared their
independence. The table shows the lunar phases for
June 1776.
What lunar phase occurred on July 4th, 1776?
a. Waning gibbous
b. Waxing gibbous
c. Waning crescent
d. Waxing crescent
10. A phase of the is shown.
Which pair of diagrams shows the moon’s phase immediately before and
immediately after this phase?
11. The diagram shows four phases of
the moon as it revolves around Earth.
A student builds a model based on
this diagram. The student uses foam
balls to represent the moon and Earth
and a flashlight to represent the Sun.
The student should shine the
flashlight on the model of Earth from
Position…
a. 1
b. 2
c. 3
d. 4
12. The moon reflects different amounts of sunlight
onto Earth at different times. This reflected
sunlight is commonly called moonlight. The graph
below shows the intensity of moonlight at
different times in a lunar cycle.
Which moon phase most likely occurs at the time
in the cycle represented by an X on the graph?
TEKS 8.7C:
13. Different relative positions of the Sun, the Moon, and Earth have different effects on Earth’s oceans.
Which model shows the positions of the Sun, the Moon, and Earth that have the greatest effect on
ocean tides?
14. Which two positions bring higher than normal
tides?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Positions 1 and 2
Positions 1 and 3
Positions 2 and 3
Positions 2 and 4
15. Which two positions bring Neap tides?
a. Positions 1 and 2
b. Positions 1 and 3
c. Positions 2 and 3
d. Positions 2 and 4
16. Jennifer is studying how Earth's tilt results in seasonal differences in sunlight and day length. She drew
a diagram of Earth to show how it is tilted on its axis. Jennifer wants to include the label of Earth's tilt
on her diagram. What angle should Jennifer add?
a. 15.5 degrees
b. 23.5 degrees
c. 30 degrees
d. 45 degrees
17. Which question should you ask to find out the length of a planet's year?
a. How large is the planet?
b. How long does it take the planet to orbit the Sun?
c. How much does the planet tilt on its axis of rotation?
d. How long does it take the planet to rotate on its axis?
18. Earth would not have seasons if it…
a. Stopped rotating on its axis.
b. took an additional month to orbit the Sun.
c. no longer tilted on its axis.
d. revolved around the Sun in the opposite direction.
19. A student draws the model. Which
of these best compares the
conditions at Location X and
Location Y?
a. It is day at location X and
night at location Y.
b. It is winter a location X and
summer at location Y.
c. The moon is brighter
when viewed from
location X than when
viewed from location Y.
d. There are more hours of
daylight at location X
than at location Y.
Use the following diagram for
questions 20-28
20. Which position would appear as a waning gibbous moon when viewed from Earth?
a. 2
b. 4
c. 6
d. 8
21. About how long does it take the Moon to travel from Position 1 to Position 3?
a. One week
c. Three weeks
b. Two weeks
d. Four weeks
22. Which of the Moons in the figure are in a crescent phase?
a. 2 and 4
b. 2 and 8
c. 4 and 6
d. 6 and 8
23. Which of the Moons in the figure are in a gibbous phase?
a. 2 and 4
b. 2 and 8
c. 4 and 6
d. 6 and 8
24. Which of the Moons in the figure is a third quarter?
a. 1
b. 3
c. 5
d. 7
25. Which of the Moons in the figure comes after the Waning Crescent?
a. 8
b. 1
c. 3
d. 5
26. Which of the Moons in the figure comes before the Waxing Gibbous?
a. 5
b. 3
c. 7
d. 6
27. Between which two positions in the Moon's orbit would this phase be seen from Earth?
a. Between 1 and 3
b. Between 5 and 7
c. Between 7 and 1
d. Between 4 and 6
28. Between which two positions in the Moon's orbit would this phase be seen from Earth?
a. Between 5 and 7
b. Between 6 and 8
c. Between 8 and 2
d. Between 2 and 4
29. Which of these locations on Earth experiences the lease change in
the number of daylight hours throughout the year?
a. North Pole
b. Tropic of Cancer
c. Tropic of Capricorn
d. Equator
30. Patrick observed the appearance of the Moon every week for a month. He sketches his observations.
Which of these diagrams best shows how the Moon's appearance could have changed during the
month Patrick performed his investigation?
31. An object will continue moving in a straight line unless it is acted on by an unbalanced force. Which of
the following best explains Earth's motion?
a. There is no unbalanced force acting on Earth because space is empty and nothing touches
Earth.
b. The gravitational force pulling Earth toward the Sun is equal and opposite to the force pulling
the Sun toward Earth, so there is no unbalanced force acting on Earth.
c. The Sun moves in an elliptical orbit around Earth, and the Sun's gravity pulls Earth along.
d. Earth moves in an elliptical orbit around the Sun because the gravitational force of the Sun
attracts Earth.
32. At which part of the
orbit is it summer in
the Southern
Hemisphere?
a. Position 1
b. Position 2
c. Position 3
d. Position 4
33. The phases of the Moon are the regular changes in how the Moon looks from Earth. In which phases is
the Moon not visible from Earth?
a. Full Moon
b. Waxing Gibbous
c. New Moon
d. Waxing Crescent