NJSLA Test Questions

Unit 1 - Questions 14 - 15 

These are fair moon questions.  You need to know where a full moon and new moon would occur on the NJSLA diagram.

Unit 1 - Question 16 

Uugh!  The kindest thing that can be said about this question, is well . . . I can't think of any thing.  The 22-day question has two correct answers, but you have to guess which one is "more" correct even though there is no such thing when 22 days falls perfectly between Positions 7 & 8.   

Tides & Eclipses 

General earth sciences stuff.   Not long, so refresh your memory.   Solar eclipses are rare and occur only at a new moon phase.  Lunar eclipses can happen only during a full moon.  

Earth's Year & Earth's Day 

Earth orbits the sun.  Duh!  But you need to remember the two r-words.  Orbit = revolution.  Think of revolving doors as going around something.  One revolution =  1 year = 365.25 days.     

One rotation = 1 spin = 1 day = 24 hours

Unit 1 - Question 17 

What does temperature really measure?  The average kinetic energy of particles within an object.   Kinetic refers to motion or movement.    Higher temps = higher kinetic energy.  Lower temps = lower kinetic energy.

Unit 1 - Question 18 - 19

Thermal energy moves from warmer-to-cooler objects. The metal leg of your desk feels cool because you are transferring thermal energy from your warmer hand to the cooler desk leg.  

That transfer (heat) will continue until the metal leg and hand are the same temp.

Earth's Seasons 

Earth's goes through seasons because the planet is tilted.  It rotates on its axis tilted at 23.5 degrees.  It does not spin standing straight up.  This means there are months where NJ receives more direct sunlight (summer) and less direct sunlight (winter).

Read the next sentence carefully.  Earth is closest to the sun on January 4 and farthest from the sun on July 4.  Many students know that earth's orbit (revolution) is not a perfect circle.  It's an ellipse.  So, the planet is closer to the sun in certain months and farther away in others.  Read that sentence again.  Our distance to the sun has NOTHING to do with our seasons.