Objective – Describe the characteristics of comets, asteroids, and meteors.
Name ______
Asteroids, Comets, and Meteors Worksheet
Use your Solar System Data Sheet to complete this worksheet.
Use the picture to answer the next three questions.
1. A is the…
a. coma.c. Nucleus.
b. dust tail.
2. B is the…
a. coma.c. Nucleus.
b. dust tail.
3. C is the…
a. coma.c. Nucleus.
b. dust tail.
4. Comets coming from this area are coming from outside the orbit of Neptune to six billion miles from Sun.
a. Oort Cloudb. Kuiper Belt
5. Comets coming from this area are coming from one light-year (six trillion miles) from Sun.
a. Oort Cloudb. Kuiper Belt
6. Comets can only be seen using a telescope. They are never visible to the naked eye.
a. Trueb. False
7. Asteroids are found in the…
a. Asteroid Beltc. Oort Cloud
b. Kuiper Belt
8. Asteroids are composed of…
a. rocks and ice.c. rocky material.
b. rocky materials and iron.
9. Asteroids are irregular objects.
a. Trueb. False
10. The largest asteroid is about _____ miles in diameter. (The answer is a number.)
Match the term with its definition.
_____11. Meteor_____12. Meteorite
_____13. Meteoroid / A. A rocky body that is found in outer space, moving around the Solar System.
B. The rocky body when it enters the Earth’s atmosphere. It looks like a streak in the sky; it lasts about a second or two.
C. The rocky body if it is large enough to hit the surface of a planet.
Picture A Picture C
Picture C
_____14. Picture A_____15. Picture B
_____16. Picture C / A. Asteroid
B. Comet
C. Meteorite
Asteroids Comets and Meteors Data Sheet Worksheet – Key
1. A is the…
a. Nucleus
2. B is the…
b. Dust tail
3. C is the…
a. Coma
4. Comets coming from this area are coming from outside the orbit of Neptune to six billion miles from Sun.
b. Kuiper Belt
5. Comets coming from this area are coming from one light-year (six trillion miles) from Sun.
a. Oort Cloud
6. Comets can only be seen using a telescope. They are never visible to the naked eye.
b. False
7. Asteroids are found in the…
a. Asteroid Belt
8. Asteroids are composed of…
c. rocky materials and iron.
9. Asteroids are irregular objects.
a. True (2 choices)
10. The largest asteroid is about _____ miles in diameter. (The answer is a number.)
350
B 11. Meteor
C 12. Meteorite
A 13. Meteoroid
B 14. Picture A
C 15. Picture B
A 16. Picture C
Asteroids Comets and Meteors Data Sheet Worksheet – Scoring Guide
1. c (3 choices)2. b (3 choices)
3. a (3 choices)
4. b (2 choices)
5. a (2 choices)
6. a (2 choices)
7. a (3 choices)
8. c (2 choices)
9. a (2 choices)
10. 350
11. B (3 choices)
12. C (3 choices)
13. A (3 choices)
14. B (3 choices)
15. C (3 choices)
16. A (3 choices) / Scoring Guide
10-16 – 3
7-9 – 2
1-6 – 1
0 – 0