Name: ___________________________________

Singular, Plural, and Possessive Nouns
In Outer Space…

Reading Level 3

Part One | Noun Types 

Directions: Read each of the following sentences and determine the noun type of the italicized word. Be careful, some of them are not nouns.

1. 	What type of noun is the word Moon as it is used in the following sentence?

Scientists believe that the Moon formed from an ancient planet called Theia that collided with the Earth billions of years ago.	

a)	Singular noun	b)	Plural noun	
c)	Possessive noun	d)	Not a noun	

2. 	What type of noun is the word Neil as it is used in the following sentence?

Neil Armstrong is remembered for being the first person to walk on the Moon and for he memorable words that he spoke: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."	

a)	Singular noun	b)	Plural noun	
c)	Possessive noun	d)	Not a noun	

3. 	What type of noun is the word Halley's as it is used in the following sentence?

Every 76 years or so, Earthlings have a chance to view Halley's Comet with the naked eye, and (assuming that you are an Earthling) your next chance will be in middle of the year 2061.	

a)	Singular noun	b)	Plural noun	
c)	Possessive noun	d)	Not a noun	

4. 	What type of noun is the word Pluto's as it is used in the following sentence?

Pluto's status as a planet was called into question after numerous icy objects similar to Pluto were found orbiting the Sun.	

a)	Singular noun	b)	Plural noun	
c)	Possessive noun	d)	Not a noun	

5. 	What type of noun is the word galaxies as it is used in the following sentence?

The Milky Way is the galaxy in which we live, but there are billions of galaxies in the known Universe.	

a)	Singular noun	b)	Plural noun	
c)	Possessive noun	d)	Not a noun	
6. 	What type of noun is the word crashes as it is used in the following sentence?

A meteoroid becomes a meteorite when it crashes into the Earth.	

a)	Singular noun	b)	Plural noun	
c)	Possessive noun	d)	Not a noun	

7. 	What type of noun is the word Saturn's as it is used in the following sentence?

Saturn's rings are made almost entirely of ice, though they have traces of rocky material.	

a)	Singular noun	b)	Plural noun	
c)	Possessive noun	d)	Not a noun	

8. 	What type of noun is the word expanding as it is used in the following sentence?

Edwin Hubble is best remembered for proving that the Universe is expanding.	

a)	Singular noun	b)	Plural noun	
c)	Possessive noun	d)	Not a noun	

9. 	What type of noun is the word night as it is used in the following sentence?

The North Star is closely aligned with Earth's axis of rotation, so its position in the sky changes very little throughout the night.	

a)	Singular noun	b)	Plural noun	
c)	Possessive noun	d)	Not a noun	

10. 	What type of noun is the word effects as it is used in the following sentence?

No one has ever seen a black hole with their own eyes, but scientists believe that they have witnessed their effects.	

a)	Singular noun	b)	Plural noun	
c)	Possessive noun	d)	Not a noun	

11. 	What type of noun is the word visible as it is used in the following sentence?

Comets are difficult to find from the Earth because their tails only become visible when they approach the Sun.	

a)	telescopes	b)	telescope's	
c)	Possessive noun	d)	telescopes	

Part Two | Fill in the Blank

Directions: Choose the answer that best completes the sentences. Circle your response.

12. 	Many people mistakenly believe that Galileo invented the ________, which he didn't, but he did improve it.	

a)	telescopes	b)	telescope's	
c)	telescope	d)	telescopes'	
13. 	The Sun, the star in the center of the Solar System, is so large that over one-million planet ________ could fit in it.	

a)	Earth	b)	Earths	
c)	Earth's	d)	Earths'	

14. 	The ________ atmosphere is made up of mostly nitrogen and oxygen and held in place by the force of gravity.	

a)	Earth	b)	Earths	
c)	Earth's	d)	Earths'	

15. 	Jupiter, the fifth planet from the Sun, is more than two and a half times larger than the combined size of all of the other planets in the Solar ________.	

a)	System	b)	Systems	
c)	System's	d)	Systems'	

16. 	The rings of ________ were not discovered until 1977 because they are dark, distant, and difficult to observe.	

a)	Uranus	b)	Uranuss	
c)	Uranus's	d)	Uranus'	

17. 	________ surface, which ranges from -280 F at night to 800 F during the day, experiences the greatest temperature variation of all the planets in the Solar System.	

a)	Mercury	b)	Mercurys	
c)	Mercury's	d)	Mercurys's	

18. 	The planet Venus is named after the Roman ________ of enticement.	

a)	goddesses	b)	goddess's	
c)	goddess'	d)	goddess	

19. 	The surface of ________ is covered in iron oxide, or rust, which gives the planet its reddish appearance.	

a)	Mars'	b)	Mars	
c)	Mars's	d)	Marss	

20. 	Ever since 2006, when ________ status was downgraded to dwarf planet, Neptune has been the farthest planet from the Sun in the Solar System.	

a)	Pluto	b)	Plutos	
c)	Pluto's	d)	Plutos's	

21. 	NASA is a government agency in the United ________ that handles space travel and research.	

a)	State	b)	States	
c)	State's	d)	States's	
22. 	No one really knows what causes an ________ colorful lights, but scientists think it is has to do with solar winds and magnetism.	

a)	aurora	b)	auroras	
c)	aurora's	d)	auroras'	

23. 	The Asteroid Belt, which is located between Mars and Jupiter, contains ________ large enough to be considered minor planets.	

a)	asteroid	b)	asteroid's	
c)	asteroids'	d)	asteroids	

24. 	The closest star to Earth, besides the Sun, is in the Alpha Centauri star system, which is only 4.37 ________ away!	

a)	light-year	b)	light-years	
c)	light-years's	d)	light-years'	

25. 	The surface of ________ is covered in liquid water, which is essential to all known life forms.	

a)	Earth	b)	Earths	
c)	Earth's	d)	Earths'	

26. 	It would take humans about 21,585 Earth ________ to travel a distance of one light-year using current technology.	

a)	year	b)	years	
c)	year's	d)	years's	

27. 	The ________ break-room was where the astronauts took their breaks.	

a)	astronautss	b)	astronauts	
c)	astronauts's	d)	astronauts'	

28. 	The ________ boundaries are unknown and space may in fact be infinite.	

a)	Universe	b)	Universes	
c)	Universe's	d)	Universes'	

29. 	________ best theory about the origin of the Universe is that it began with a major event known as the Big Bang.	

a)	Scientists's	b)	Scientists	
c)	Scientist's	d)	Scientists'	

30. 	________ New Horizons space probe, which launched from Earth in 2006, finally reached Pluto in 2015.	

a)	NASA	b)	NASAs	
c)	NASA's	d)	NASAs'