Earth & Space Science (Grade 6) Midterm — Semester 1, Form A
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Free printable Earth & Space Science midterm (Grade 6): 15 multiple-choice questions plus 1 written response covering Earth's Structure & Plate Tectonics, Rocks & Minerals, Weathering, Erosion & Deposition. Answer key included — customize it in the Midterm Maker.
Earth & Space Science (Grade 6) Midterm — Semester 1, Form A
Name: Date: Period:
Directions: Read each question carefully and choose the best answer. Answer the written response in complete sentences.
Covers: Earth's Structure & Plate Tectonics · Rocks & Minerals · Weathering, Erosion & Deposition
Part 1: Multiple Choice
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Which layer of Earth is made of liquid metal?
- A. Inner core
- B. Outer core
- C. Crust
- D. Lower mantle
-
Heat-driven circulation of rock in the mantle that helps move plates is called what?
- A. Condensation
- B. Convection
- C. Conduction
- D. Erosion
-
What is the name of the supercontinent that existed about 250 million years ago?
- A. Atlantis
- B. Eurasia
- C. Pangaea
- D. Antarctica
-
How did the Himalaya Mountains form?
- A. Two plates slid past each other
- B. Two continental plates collided
- C. Two plates pulled apart
- D. A hot spot erupted lava
-
Which scientist proposed the idea of continental drift in the early 1900s?
- A. Alfred Wegener
- B. Isaac Newton
- C. Charles Darwin
- D. Galileo Galilei
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What does the Mohs scale measure?
- A. Hardness
- B. Color
- C. Density
- D. Luster
-
Which type of rock forms when melted rock cools and hardens?
- A. Metamorphic
- B. Sedimentary
- C. Igneous
- D. Mineral
-
The color of a mineral's powder when rubbed on a tile is called its what?
- A. Fracture
- B. Cleavage
- C. Luster
- D. Streak
-
Which property must a substance have to be called a mineral?
- A. It is shiny like metal
- B. It is a liquid at room temperature
- C. It is made by living things
- D. An orderly crystal structure
-
Which mineral is the hardest on the Mohs scale?
- A. Quartz
- B. Diamond
- C. Talc
- D. Calcite
-
What is the movement of rock and soil from one place to another called?
- A. Deposition
- B. Weathering
- C. Erosion
- D. Compaction
-
What is a fan-shaped deposit of sediment formed where a river enters a lake or ocean?
- A. Canyon
- B. Delta
- C. Sand dune
- D. Moraine
-
Which agent of erosion carved most of the Grand Canyon?
- A. Ocean waves
- B. Wind
- C. A glacier
- D. A river
-
Breaking rock into smaller pieces without changing what it is made of is called what?
- A. Chemical weathering
- B. Cementation
- C. Mechanical weathering
- D. Deposition
-
Which rock is most quickly weathered by acid rain?
- A. Granite
- B. Quartzite
- C. Basalt
- D. Limestone
Part 2: Written Response
- Explain how the theory of plate tectonics accounts for earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountains. Use at least two types of plate boundaries in your answer.
Answer Key — Earth & Space Science (Grade 6) Midterm — Semester 1, Form A
- B — Outer core The outer core is liquid iron and nickel; the inner core is solid due to pressure.
- B — Convection Hot mantle material rises and cooler material sinks, forming convection currents.
- C — Pangaea Pangaea joined nearly all landmasses before breaking apart into today's continents.
- B — Two continental plates collided India's plate crashed into Asia's plate, pushing crust upward into mountains.
- A — Alfred Wegener Wegener used fossils, rocks, and coastline shapes to argue continents had moved.
- A — Hardness The Mohs scale ranks minerals from 1 (talc) to 10 (diamond) by scratch resistance.
- C — Igneous Igneous rock forms from cooled magma or lava.
- D — Streak Streak is the powder color, often more reliable than a mineral's surface color.
- D — An orderly crystal structure Minerals are natural, inorganic solids with a definite composition and crystal structure.
- B — Diamond Diamond ranks 10, the highest on the Mohs scale.
- C — Erosion Erosion carries weathered material away by water, wind, ice, or gravity.
- B — Delta A river slows at its mouth and drops sediment, building a delta.
- D — A river The Colorado River cut the canyon over millions of years.
- C — Mechanical weathering Mechanical (physical) weathering breaks rock apart without changing its minerals.
- D — Limestone Limestone is made of calcite, which reacts and dissolves in acid.
Written Response — Look-Fors
- Names divergent, convergent, and/or transform boundaries; links each to a feature (rift/ridge, volcano/trench/mountains, earthquakes); mentions mantle convection or plate movement.