P16.

2
Teacher bump up your grade

Our Solar System

Specification reference:
 P8.1.2 The life cycle of a star

Aims
In this exercise, students will describe the Solar System and compare the objects
inside the Solar System. They will also describe how the Sun was formed and
how stars like our Sun, and much heavier ones, will go through their life cycle
from their birth to their ultimate death.

Learning outcomes
After completing this activity, students should be able to:
 state what our Solar System is
 compare the objects in our Solar System
 describe how the Sun was formed
 describe the life cycle of stars like our Sun and more massive stars.

Teaching notes
This activity can be deployed to diagnose students’ understanding of the key
material relating to the area of our Solar System. The questions are differentiated
by their level of demand, with question 1 focusing on grade 2 material, and
subsequent questions allowing access to content and concepts that students will
need to successfully address if they are to achieve grades 5 to 8. The demand of
the questions increases as students go through the exercise. This sheet may be
used for assessing and consolidating the main body of work covered in lessons,
as extension material, as part of a plenary or as part of homework and
independent study.

Answers to questions
1 Outwards from the left of the page: Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus, Neptune (9 marks)

2 Missing words from text in order: the Sun, 8, Jupiter, moons, the Moon, comet,
asteroid, Jupiter, gravity, the Sun (10 marks)

© Oxford University Press 2017 www.oxfordsecondary.co.uk/acknowledgements

This resource sheet may have been changed from the original. 1
 P16.2
Teacher bump up your grade
3 Award 1 mark for each correct yes / no response and 1 mark for each
statement that correctly qualifies whether the statement is true or false.

Is this true for low-mass Is this true for high mass

Statement
This star was formed
by the gravitational
attraction of dust and
gas to become a
protostar.
This star stays on the
main sequence for
large parts of its life.
This star will
eventually become a
neutron star or a
black hole.
This star will expand
once it leaves the
main sequence stage.
This star will become
a white dwarf before
cooling and dying.
This star undergoes
fusion with hydrogen
nuclei initially but will
eventually explode to
produce elements that
are more massive
than iron.
(20 marks)
stars?
Yes. Low mass stars are
formed when smaller
masses of dust and gas are
pulled together by
gravitational attraction.
Yes. Stars stay on the
main sequence for most
of their lives where they
burn hydrogen.
No. Not enough mass for
this to happen.
Yes. Will expand to
become a red giant.
Yes. After a red giant it
becomes a white dwarf.
No. Will undergo fusion,
but will not be massive
enough to explode and
produce these heavier
elements.
stars?
Yes. High mass stars are
formed when larger
amounts of matter are
pulled together by
gravitational attraction.
Yes. Stars stay on the
main sequence for most
of their lives where they
burn hydrogen.
Yes. Enough mass to
become either of these
after a supernova.
Yes. Will expand to
become a red supergiant.
No. Will become a
neutron star or black
hole.
Yes. The supernova
explosion at the end of its
life has enough energy to
fuse nuclei together so
that massive elements
can form in the Universe.

© Oxford University Press 2017 www.oxfordsecondary.co.uk/acknowledgements

This resource sheet may have been changed from the original. 2