The Planet Quiz Show  

General Questions

  1. Name any planet that can be easily seen in the evening sky before you go to bed. Hint: Check the Morning Call newspaper for the StarWatch column which can be found on the back of the B Section to the left of the weather map. You can also go to the on-line copies of StarWatch and read the recent articles or check out the printable star maps which are included each month with the StarWatch articles..
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  2. The brightest object in the sky is the sun; next comes the moon. The third brightest object is a planet. Name that planet.
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  3. How do planets shine?
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  4. Complete this sentence. Planets go around the                  and                  go around planets.
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  5. Name the eight planets which go around the sun in their correct order.
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  6. Name the planet with the shortest year and the planet with the longest year.
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  7. Which planet has the shortest period of revolution, and which planet has the longest period of revolution?
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  8. In the solar system, which planet would be the hottest one to live on, and which planet would be the coldest one to live on?
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  9. Name the four planets that astronomers are positive have rings around them.
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  10. Which planet rotates the fastest?
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  11. Which planet has the shortest day?
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  12. Which planet would float in your bathtub, if your bathtub were large enough for the planet to fit into it?
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  13. Name the planet that was called the "God of War" because of its red color.
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  14. Name the only planet in the Solar System to have one moon.
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  15. Name the largest planet in the solar system and the smallest planet in the solar system.
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  16. Which planet in the solar system has the most gravity, and which planet in the solar system has the least gravity?
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  17. Name the only planet in the solar system that astronomers are positive has life on it. It was also the first planet to be explored by humans.
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  18. Which planets in our solar system have volcanoes on their surfaces?
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  19. Which of the following planets featured in the list below can be easily seen with just the eye? HINT: There are four correct answers to this question.
    a. Jupiter
    b. Saturn
    c. Sun
    d. Earth
    e. Moon
    f. Venus
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  20. Today, astronomers believe that the solar system is five billion years old, about halfway through its life. How did the sun and planets form in the first place?
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  21. How will the solar system die in approximately five billion years from now?
    a. The sun will lose its gravity, and the planets will get lost in space.
    b. The sun will suddenly go out, leaving the Earth in the dark to become cold and icy.
    c. The sun will slowly become bigger, perhaps even swallowing the Earth, then shrink away to almost nothing.
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Inner Planet Questions
  1. Why is it that the closer a planet is to the sun, the faster it orbits or goes around the sun?
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  2. Name the four hard and rocky planets in the solar system. Astronauts, if they landed on them, would be able to walk on their hard surfaces.
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  3. Name the two planets that have no moons.
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  4. Mercury, the first planet from the sun, looks very much like                 . HINT: Find a picture of Mercury taken by the Mariner 10 spacecraft or more recently by the MESSENGER spacecraft.
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  5. The temperature on Venus is so high because the                  hold(s) in the                 .
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  6. Is this statement correct? Earth, the third planet from the sun, rotates on its axis in about 24 hours and revolves around the sun once a year.
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  7. What does the name of our planet "Earth" mean?
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  8. The average distance from the Earth to the sun is                  miles.
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  9. A UFO landed and out popped a creature carrying a large book that had information about all of the eight planets in our solar system. Each planet had a few words written after it, explaining the most important fact about that planet. What would be the most important single fact a person could write about the Earth?
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  10. Please name the most famous telescope in orbit around the Earth. It has now been repaired and serviced on four separate occasions by Space Shuttle crews.
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  11. Will the Moon be in the sky tonight before you go to bed? HINT: Have someone on your team be responsible for checking the sky each night when it is clear. Students can also go online to view the Moon Calendar at StarWatch to stay in touch with the current phase of the moon.
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  12. Is this statement true or false? The moon, Earth's nearest neighbor in space, is a cratered ball of rock without air or water.
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  13. The name of the first person to walk on the moon, July 20, 1969 was                 . Is he still alive? Here’s the buzz! There could be a bonus question to see if you know who the second person was to have walked on the moon.
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  14. Name two facts about Mars that make it like the Earth.
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Outer Planet Questions
  1. Why would it be impossible to land a spaceship on Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, or Neptune and then blast off again?
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  2. Give the name of the spacecraft that is currently headed towards Pluto.
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  3. Jupiter contains the Great Red Spot, an area in the clouds of this huge planet big enough to fit at least two Earths across it. Exactly, what is the Great Red Spot?
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  4. Name three planets in the solar system that have or have had hurricanes in their atmospheres.
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  5. From what material are the rings of Saturn made?
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  6. Which planet in the solar system has the greatest number of moons? Bonus questions: Name the planet with the second greatest number of moons. How many moons does each of these planets have?
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  7. Which planet was the first one to be discovered with a telescope?
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  8. Why is Pluto no longer a planet?
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  9. Please give the name of the American who discovered Pluto.
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  10. The most active volcano in the world is located in the United Sates on the island of Hawaii. Name one planet in our solar system that has a moon that has volcanoes or geysers erupting on its surface. A bonus question might be to state the names of the moons that have erupting volcanoes or geysers on them.
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  11. Name two dwarf planets in our solar system.
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  12. Our solar system has eight planets orbiting the sun. Nearly 300 additional planets have been discovered to be orbiting other stars in our galaxy. A planet orbiting another stars is called an __________ __________ (two words) or an __________. Students only need to provide one correct answer.
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Miscellaneous Questions
  1. Name the direction where the sun comes up in the morning and the direction where the sun goes down in the evening.
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  2. What makes the sun look like it is moving across the sky?
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  3. On what part of the Earth is the sun shining when it is nighttime in Allentown, PA?
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  4. What makes a comet look like a comet?
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  5. Rocks that fall from space and hit the Earth are called                 .
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  6. Most of the                  go around the sun between the paths of Mars and Jupiter.
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  7. Name the only planet in the solar system to have ever experienced a major comet crash that was seen from the Earth.
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  8. Please state the name of the most famous comet found within our solar system and the name of the comet that was the brightest comet seen for the longest period of time in the history of written records.
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  9. How can you tell the difference between a star and a planet in the sky?
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  10. State the name of the person who invented the telescope
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