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Bright Because It Is Close is a free printable Grade 5 science worksheet on arguing that the sun's brightness is due to its distance from Earth, aligned to Common Core standard 5-ESS1-1. It prints 8 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two pupils in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 7 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Bright Because It Is Close

5-ESS1-1

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

1.Two torches of equal brightness are set at 2 m and 20 m. What do you see?
  • A.They look the same
  • B.The far one looks brighter
  • C.The nearer one looks much brighter
2.Which measurement would settle whether a dim star is small or distant?
  • A.Its distance from Earth
  • B.Its colour only
  • C.How long you look at it
3.Why is the sun's apparent brightness poor evidence that it is a large star?
  • A.Brightness never relates to size
  • B.Its closeness explains the brightness without any claim about size
  • C.The sun is not a star
4.The sun looks far brighter than any other star. What is the best explanation?
  • A.It is the biggest star there is
  • B.It is the only real star
  • C.It is very much closer to Earth than the other stars
5.What is 'apparent brightness'?
  • A.How bright a star looks from Earth
  • B.Its temperature
  • C.How much light it really gives out
6.A star is moved twice as far away in a model. What happens to how bright it looks?
  • A.It looks brighter
  • B.Nothing changes
  • C.It looks dimmer
7.What does that torch model show about stars?
  • A.Torches are stars
  • B.Distance changes how bright a light looks
  • C.Stars are torches
8.A star looks dim. What are the two possible reasons?
  • A.It is always small
  • B.It is going out
  • C.It is far away, or it gives out less light, or both

LessonPrint · 5-ESS1-1 · Set 7 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Bright Because It Is Close

Set 7. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.The nearer one looks much brighter
  2. 2.Its distance from Earth
  3. 3.Its closeness explains the brightness without any claim about size
  4. 4.It is very much closer to Earth than the other stars
  5. 5.How bright a star looks from Earth
  6. 6.It looks dimmer
  7. 7.Distance changes how bright a light looks
  8. 8.It is far away, or it gives out less light, or both

More practice for 5-ESS1-1

Argue that stars look dimmer than the sun because they are much further away.

Teaching this next? Bright Because It Is Close is the 60-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 5 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to 5-ESS1-1 of the Next Generation Science Standards.