Topic 31 The solar system — what needs James (0)
Nothing is waiting on you. The question types and the lessons are below, collapsed, if you want to look again.
Question types (10)
One exemplar per question type in the test bank; approving a type approves every item written to it. The full type sheet.
Topic 31 · The solar system · Type 1 · bank item PP-1 · tests SPA3-010
EasyMCQType 1 — what Earth travels around
A poster in Vesper's classroom shows Earth's orbit. What does Earth travel around?
- a) the Sun ← key
- b) the Moon
- c) Mars
- d) Jupiter
Why it is this type: Earth travels around the Sun along its orbit. / The Sun sits in the middle of that orbit. / The Moon travels around Earth, and Mars and Jupiter travel around the Sun too.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
Topic 31 · The solar system · Type 3 · bank item PP-2 · tests SPA3-011
EasyMCQType 3 — what the Moon travels around
Leopold watches the Moon from his tent every night for a month. What does the Moon travel around?
- a) the Sun, on its own
- b) Earth ← key
- c) Mars
- d) nothing, it stays still
Why it is this type: The Moon travels around Earth, about one lap a month. / It goes along with Earth around the Sun. / It does not travel around the Sun on its own, and it never stays still.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
Topic 31 · The solar system · Type 4 · bank item PP-3 · tests SPA3-012
EasyMCQType 4 — which of four named things is a planet
A book about the night sky shows these four things. Which one is a planet?
- a) the Sun
- b) the Moon
- c) Saturn ← key
- d) a far-away star
Why it is this type: A planet is a large ball that travels around the Sun. / Saturn is one. / The Sun and the far-away star are stars, and the Moon travels around Earth.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
Topic 31 · The solar system · Type 6 · bank item PP-4 · tests SPA3-013
EasyorderingType 6 — eight EQUAL GREY discs in a row from the Sun, one ringed: which planet (counting is the only route)
drawing order_pp_ring2 (eight equal grey discs, the second ringed)
The eight planets are drawn in order from the Sun. Which planet is ringed?
- a) Mercury
- b) Venus ← key
- c) Earth
- d) Mars
Why it is this type: Count outward from the Sun: Mercury, Venus. / The ring is on the second disc. / So the ringed planet is Venus.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
Topic 31 · The solar system · Type 8 · bank item PP-5 · tests SPA3-014
EasyMCQType 8 — in a described model, which thing is carried around the one that stands for Earth
In Yola's model, a flashlight stands for the Sun, a tennis ball for Earth, a bead for the Moon, a marble for Mars and a beach ball for Jupiter. Which thing does she carry around the tennis ball?
- a) the flashlight
- b) the marble
- c) the bead ← key
- d) the beach ball
Why it is this type: The Moon travels around Earth. / The bead stands for the Moon and the tennis ball for Earth. / Mars and Jupiter travel around the Sun, not around Earth. / So Yola carries the bead around the tennis ball.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
Topic 31 · The solar system · Type 2 · bank item PP-6 · tests SPA3-010 SPA3-011
MediumMCQType 2 — a lettered orbit diagram (J K L M): which letter marks Earth
drawing orbits_pp_letters
Look at the drawing, seen from far above. Which letter marks Earth?
- a) J
- b) K ← key
- c) L
- d) M
Why it is this type: Earth travels around the Sun, so it sits on a path around the glowing ball J. / The Moon travels around Earth, so Earth has a small loop around it. / K is on a path around J and has the small loop with L on it. / So K marks Earth.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
Topic 31 · The solar system · Type 5 · bank item PP-7 · tests SPA3-012 ENE3-010 SPA3-001
MediumMCQType 5 — where the light you see from a planet comes from
At night, Jupiter looks like a bright point of light. Where does that light come from?
- a) Jupiter makes its own light, like a star.
- b) The Moon shines light onto Jupiter.
- c) Earth shines light onto Jupiter.
- d) Sunlight lands on Jupiter and lights it up. ← key
Why it is this type: A planet makes no light of its own. / Sunlight lands on Jupiter, and Jupiter is lit up, just like the Moon. / So the light you see from Jupiter is the Sun's light.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
Topic 31 · The solar system · Type 7 · bank item PP-8 · tests SPA3-013
MediumorderingType 7 — tap five planets in order, nearest the Sun first
reorder
Tap these five planets in order, starting with the one nearest the Sun.
Correct order: Venus · Earth · Jupiter · Uranus · Neptune (the engine shuffles them)
Why it is this type: Moving outward from the Sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. / Pick out the five: Venus, Earth, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
Topic 31 · The solar system · Type 9 · bank item PP-9 · tests SPA3-014 SPA3-011
HardtypedType 9 — a described model with two balls and a lamp: type the real thing the small ball stands for
text entry
In Quentin's model, a lamp stands for the Sun. He carries a small ball around a big ball while he walks the big ball around the lamp. Type the name of the real thing the small ball stands for.
Accepted answers (typed): MOON_ACC — Moon · moon · the Moon · the moon · a moon · its moon · moon. (the grader folds case)
Why it is this type: Hard because: two steps — which thing travels around which, then the real thing that moves that way — and the name is produced.
The why line (what a student reads after answering): The big ball travels around the lamp, as Earth travels around the Sun, so the big ball stands for Earth. / The small ball travels around the big ball. / The Moon travels around Earth. / So the small ball stands for the Moon.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
Topic 31 · The solar system · Type 10 · bank item PP-10 · tests SPA3-013 SPA3-010
HardtypedType 10 — type the planet whose orbit is the fifth one out from the Sun
text entry
Every planet travels around the Sun along its own orbit. Type the name of the planet whose orbit is the fifth one out from the Sun.
Accepted answers (typed): JUPITER_ACC — generated by acc_phrase("Jupiter", "jupiter", "planet Jupiter"): each form bare, with "the", with "our", with and without a full stop
Why it is this type: Hard because: two steps — the fifth orbit is the fifth planet in the order, then its name is produced.
The why line (what a student reads after answering): Each planet's orbit sits in the order of the planets. / Moving outward from the Sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter. / The fifth is Jupiter. / So Jupiter's orbit is the fifth one out.
Recommendation: Approve as the exemplar
The lessons (5)
Each lesson in teaching order: its one-line summary, the article, the script and the quiz, then your ruling.
Topic 31 · Lesson 1
Lesson 1 Earth travels around the Sun
Alder stands still on the school field; but Earth, under his feet, is moving. Where is it going? The runner's path goes around the field and comes back: one lap. Earth's path goes around the Sun the same way, seen from far above — a curved path that comes back round, called an orbit; one lap, then round again; nobody can feel it. Every orbit drawing says NOT TO SCALE and the article says what it gets wrong (the real Sun far bigger, far away). Quiz: what Earth travels around, Dorian's "the Sun travels around Earth" (no), curved or straight, Rudi's straight-line drawing (no), the term typed last.
Topic 31 · Lesson 2
Lesson 2 The Moon travels around Earth
Blythe at her window; Earth is traveling around the Sun — is the Moon left behind? (The reviewer caught the first draft asking "why isn't it left behind?", a why the topic cannot answer without the Sun's pull; now it asks the question it can answer.) The Moon travels around Earth, about a month a lap; it keeps doing so the whole time, so wherever Earth goes, the Moon goes along; it does not travel around the Sun on its own. Quiz: Topic 13's recall (the Moon makes no light of its own), Ivor's "on its own" claim (no), Osric's "the Moon stays still" (no), half a lap later.
Topic 31 · Lesson 3
Lesson 3 Earth is a planet
Florian on the hill: one point of light is brighter than most of the others, and a little orange. Through a telescope it is a round ball (it looks small only because it is far, far away): Mars. "A large ball that travels around the Sun is called a planet" — Mars is one, Earth is one, eight in all. The Moon travels around Earth, so it is not a planet; the Sun is a star, so it is not a planet — four cards under the drawn question "Is it a planet?". A planet makes no light of its own: sunlight lands on Mars, like the Moon. The register's own intro idea, taught as the register asked. Quiz: Jupiter, Venus, the Moon in the one frame; Anselm's "the Sun is a planet" (no); Dulcie's "the Moon is a planet because it is a big round ball" (no); two terms typed last.
Topic 31 · Lesson 4
Lesson 4 The eight planets in order
Elspeth's poster: which is closest, which farthest? Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune; Earth third; the four near the Sun small, the four far out big. A poster cannot show sizes and gaps at once, so two honest drawings: the eight to size (Jupiter 11 Earths across; the Sun left out — it would not fit) and the gaps to size (equal dots; the near four crowd the Sun). Quiz: closest, farthest, right after Earth, two reorders, Basil's "Earth is the biggest" (no), which planet is ringed on a row of grey discs.
Topic 31 · Lesson 5
Lesson 5 A model of the Sun, Earth and the Moon
Briony's lamp, blue ball and marble. A small copy that shows how the real things move is called a model; the lamp stands for the Sun, the ball for Earth, the marble for the Moon. She walks the ball around the lamp and carries the marble around the ball: the marble travels around the ball while the ball travels around the lamp. Two wrong models under "Does it show the real paths?" (the marble around the lamp; the lamp around the ball). The model gets the paths right and the sizes and the gaps wrong. Quiz on Kiri's, Matteo's and Nuno's models; Wynter's lamp-around-the-ball claim (no); Pippin's flashlight, apple and bead.
Skill: write-like-james @ 8b55b65 · built 6 October 2026 by build_tools_needs_you.py