VA Science SOL Review (May2025)

Which description best defines the geocentric model?

• a model of the solar system in which the Sun, Moon, and other planets revolve around Earth

• a model of the solar system in which Earth, Moon, and other planets revolve around the Sun

Our solar system is part of what galaxy?

• Alpha Centauri galaxy

• Betelgeuse galaxy

• Milky Way galaxy

• Andromeda galaxy

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-2

Which of the following small bodies of the solar system form a belt between Mars and Jupiter?

• meteoroids

• comets

• asteroids

• black holes

What characteristic is shared between all of the outer planets?

• They have no moons that orbit them.

• They are made mostly of gaseous materials.

• They are all very warm, similar to Venus.

• They orbit the Sun opposite to Earth.

What is the only planet tilted on its side?

• Mercury

• Mars

• Neptune

• Uranus

What is Jupiter's Great Red Spot?

• a volcano

• a hurricane-like storm

• a cloud only seen every 11 years

• the effect of light bouncing off ice

Which of the following is a dwarf planet?

• Saturn

• Mercury

• Pluto

• Neptune

Within the solar system, planets orbit the Sun. What causes planets to orbit the Sun rather than the Sun to orbit the planets?

• The Sun has a greater mass, and therefore greater gravitational pull, than the planets.

• The Sun is the center of the solar system.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-2

NGSS.MS-PS2-4

NGSS.MS-PS2-5

What holds the planets in Earth's solar system together?

• an atomic force

• gravity

• a tidal force

• friction

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-1

NGSS.MS-ESS1-2

NGSS.MS-PS2-4

The planets in Earth's solar system follow

• elliptical orbits largely governed by the force of gravity.

• spiral orbits largely governed by the force of friction.

• irregular orbits controlled by nuclear force.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-1

NGSS.MS-ESS1-2

NGSS.MS-PS2-4