The Universe Ride the Comet Video Worksheet

Objective - Describe the characteristics of comets, asteroids, and meteors. The Universe – Ride the Comet Video Worksheet 1. Who are the cosmic time travelers of the skies? a. Comets c. Meteors b. Asteroids 2. Comets appear out of nowhere. a. True b. False 3. Comets are basically dirty snowballs or… a. rocky snowballs. c. icy dirt balls. b. dirty iceballs. d. snowy muck balls. 4. What is the heart of a comet? a. Coma c. Tail b. Nucleus 5. Where were many of the comets whisked after the formed by the gas planets? a. Into the Asteroid Belt. c. Into the Oort Cloud. b. Into the Kuiper Belt. d. Into the Asteroid Band. 6. How many comets may be in the Kuiper Belt? a. Over 600,000. c. Over 6 billion. b. Over 6 million. d. Over 6 trillion. 7. What happens to a comet as it approaches the Sun? a. The comet slows down. b. All frozen materials melt. c. All the frozen materials convert from ice to gaseous materials. d. Nothing. The comet doesn’t change. 8. What is the hazy atmosphere of a comet called?

1 | P a g e Objective - Describe the characteristics of comets, asteroids, and meteors. a. Coma c. Tail b. Nucleus 9. What is formed by solar radiation forcing the coma behind the comet? a. Coma c. Tail b. Nucleus 10. Flying through the tail of a comet would be like flying through… a. a blizzard. c. a cloud. b. a rock storm. d. empty space. 11. When was Comet Halley was first recorded? a. 2 B.C. c. 240 B.C. b. 24 B.C. d. 2400 B.C. Match the space probe with its mission _____12. Sent an impactor to collide with Comet Tempel 1. A. Deep Impact

_____13. Took pictures of the Comet Tempel 1, photo- B. Epoxi graphing the crater. _____ 14. Studied Comet Hartley 2. C. Stardust-NExT 15. What will we find at the outermost edge of the Solar System? a. The Asteroid Belt. c. The Oort Cloud. b. The Kuiper Belt. d. The Asteroid Band. 16. How small are some meteors? a. The size of a pebble. c. The size of a boulder. b. The size of a rock. d. No bigger than a grain of sand. 17. This space probe’s mission was to collect comet dust in outer space and return it to Earth. a. Deep Impact c. Stardust b. Epoxi d. Stardust-NExT

2 | P a g e Objective - Describe the characteristics of comets, asteroids, and meteors.

18. Comets have never hit the Earth. a. True b. False 19. Which planet was struck by fragments of Shoemaker Levy 9? a. Uranus c. Saturn b. Neptune d. Jupiter 20. What poses a greater threat to humans – asteroids or comets? a. Asteroids b. Comets

The Universe – Ride the Comet Video Worksheet -Key

1. Who are the cosmic time travelers of the skies? a. Comets (3 choices) 2. Comets appear out of nowhere. a. True (2 choices) 3. Comets are basically dirty snowballs or… c. icy dirt balls. 4. What is the heart of a comet? b. Nucleus (3 choices) 5. Where were many of the comets whisked after the formed by the gas planets? b. Into the Kuiper Belt. 6. How many comets may be in the Kuiper Belt? c. Over 6 billion. 7. What happens to a comet as it approaches the Sun? c. All the frozen materials convert from ice to gaseous materials.

8. What is the hazy atmosphere of a comet called? a. Coma (3 choices)

9. What is formed by solar radiation forcing the coma behind the comet? c. Tail (3 choices) 10. Flying through the tail of a comet would be like flying through…

4 | P a g e Objective - Describe the characteristics of comets, asteroids, and meteors. a. a blizzard. 11. When was Comet Halley was first recorded? c. 240 B.C. A 12. Sent an impactor to collide with Comet Tempel 1. C 13. Took pictures of the Comet Tempel 1, photo graphing the crater. B 14. Studied Comet Hartley 2.

15. What will we find at the outermost edge of the Solar System? c. The Oort Cloud. 16. How small are some meteors? d. No bigger than a grain of sand. 17. This space probe’s mission was to collect comet dust in outer space and return it to Earth. c. Stardust 18. Comets have never hit the Earth. b. False (2 choices) 19. Which planet was struck by fragments of Shoemaker Levy 9? d. Jupiter 20. What poses a greater threat to humans – asteroids or comets? b. Comets (2 choices)

The Universe – Ride the Comet Video Worksheet -Key 1. a (3 choices) Scoring Guide 2. a (2 choices) 3. c 18-20 – 3 4. b (3 choices) 5. b 14-17 – 2.5 6. c 10-13 – 2 7. c 6-9 – 1.5 8. a (3 choices) 9. c (3 choices) 4-5 – 1 10. a 1-3 – .5 11. c 12. A 0 – 0 13. C 14. B 15. c 16. d 17. c 18. b (2 choices) 19. d 6 | P a g e Objective - Describe the characteristics of comets, asteroids, and meteors. 20. b (2 choices)

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