Sample Assessment Items
This is not meant to be printed off and given as a test…this document is to give you ideas of how this standard might be assessed. Please use these as an example when you are developing your own formative assessments. Remember formative assessment is to be given throughout the teaching of a standard to help you guide your instruction based on students needs. A good formative assessment should have a mix of multiple choice as well as open ended.
S4E1. Students will compare and contrast the physical attributes of stars, star patterns, and planets.
a. Recognize the physical attributes of stars in the night sky such as number, size, color and patterns.
Multiple Choice:
Yvonne looks at the stars in the night sky through a telescope. She sees four stars that have different colors. One star is blue, one is white, one looks yellow, and the fourth looks red. Which star is the coolest?
a. the red star
b. the blue star
c. the white star
d. the yellow star
Answer: b
How are all stars alike?
a. They are the same age.
b. They are the same size.
c. They are the same color.
d. They are all balls of hot gases.
Answer: d
Stars appear as small points of light in the sky because ______.
a. they are so much dimmer than the sun
b. they are so much smaller than the sun
c. their light is lessened by our atmosphere
d. they are so much further away than the sun
Answer: d
What are patterns of stars in the sky called?
a. attributes
b. constellations
c. revolutions
d. rotations
Answer: b
A star's surface temperature is indicated by its ______.
a. brightness
b. color
c. distance
d. size
Answer: b
A star named Sirius appears as the brightest star in the nighttime sky, even though a star named Pollux actually gives off more light. Which of the following best explains why Sirius appears brighter than Pollux in our nighttime sky?
a. Sirius is larger than Pollux is.
b. Sirius is closer to Earth than Pollux is.
c. Sirius has different gases than Pollux has.
d. Sirius has a different color than Pollux has.
Answer: b
Open ended:
What is a star?
**How are stars alike and different from each other?
How are planets and stars alike and different in relation to appearance, position, and number in the night sky?