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Grade 7 Science — The Earth, the Moon and the Sun

Tell rotation from revolution, explain day, night and the seasons from the Earth's turning and its tilt, and say what lines up during each kind of eclipse.

Name: ________________________

Before you start

The Sun, the Moon and the Earth, lined up for a solar eclipse.

123
  1. 1. The Sun
  2. 2. The Moon
  3. 3. The Earth

The Moon sits between the Sun and the Earth and throws a small shadow onto the Earth's surface. Stand inside that shadow and the Sun is hidden — a total solar eclipse. Stand where the Moon covers part of the Sun and you see a partial one.

  1. 1.Match each kind of eclipse to what is happening.

    • Solar eclipse
    • Lunar eclipse
    • A Moon completely inside the Earth's shadow
    • the Moon comes between the Sun and the Earth
    • a total lunar eclipse, with the Moon turned dark red
    • the Earth comes between the Sun and the Moon

  2. 2.The day-night cycle goes round and round with no true beginning, so start from the step where your place turns into the sunlight, and the Sun rises, and put the rest in order.

    • Your place is on the half turned away from the Sun — night
    • Your place turns out of the sunlight, and the Sun sets
    • Your place is on the half facing the Sun — daytime
    • Your place turns into the sunlight, and the Sun rises

  3. 3.About how many days does the Earth take to complete one revolution around the Sun? Answer with a number.

  4. 4.How does watching a lunar eclipse differ from watching a solar one?

    • a) A lunar eclipse can be watched safely through binoculars but not directly
    • b) A lunar eclipse lasts a few seconds, so there is no time to look
    • c) An eclipsed full Moon can be watched safely with the naked eye
    • d) A lunar eclipse also needs eye protection, of a different kind

  5. 5.Why does the Northern Hemisphere have summer in June?

    • a) It is passing through the part of the orbit nearest the Sun
    • b) The Earth rotates more slowly in June, giving longer days
    • c) It is tilted towards the Sun, so the sunlight is more intense and lasts more than 12 hours a day
    • d) The Sun gives out more heat during those months

  6. 6.What causes the seasons on the Earth?

    • a) The Earth rotating faster in some months than in others
    • b) The tilt of the Earth's axis, together with the Earth's spherical shape
    • c) The Earth being at different distances from the Sun over the year
    • d) The hemisphere tilted towards the Sun being closer to it

  7. 7.The Sun appears to travel across the sky from East to West each day. What is really going on?

    • a) The Sun stays still and the sky itself turns around it
    • b) The Sun is circling the Earth once a day
    • c) The Earth is revolving round the Sun, which takes a day
    • d) The Earth is rotating on its axis, and we are watching from it

  8. 8.Here are the Sun, the Earth and the Moon during a lunar eclipse. Tap the body whose shadow is falling on the Moon.

    Write the number of the part.

    123

Answer key — Grade 7 Science — The Earth, the Moon and the Sun

  1. 1. Solar eclipse → the Moon comes between the Sun and the Earth; Lunar eclipse → the Earth comes between the Sun and the Moon; A Moon completely inside the Earth's shadow → a total lunar eclipse, with the Moon turned dark red
  2. 2. 1. Your place turns into the sunlight, and the Sun rises 2. Your place is on the half facing the Sun — daytime 3. Your place turns out of the sunlight, and the Sun sets 4. Your place is on the half turned away from the Sun — night
  3. 3. 365
  4. 4. c) An eclipsed full Moon can be watched safely with the naked eye
  5. 5. c) It is tilted towards the Sun, so the sunlight is more intense and lasts more than 12 hours a day
  6. 6. b) The tilt of the Earth's axis, together with the Earth's spherical shape
  7. 7. d) The Earth is rotating on its axis, and we are watching from it
  8. 8. 2 — The Earth