Earth & Space Science (Grade 6) Midterm — Units 1–2

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Science Grade 6 20 multiple choice + 1 written

Free printable Earth & Space Science midterm (Grade 6): 20 multiple-choice questions plus 1 written response covering Earth's Structure & Plate Tectonics, Rocks & Minerals. Answer key included — customize it in the Midterm Maker.

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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

Part 1: Multiple Choice

Which layer of Earth is made of liquid metal?
1. A. Inner core
2. B. Outer core
3. C. Crust
4. D. Lower mantle
Heat-driven circulation of rock in the mantle that helps move plates is called what?
1. A. Condensation
2. B. Convection
3. C. Conduction
4. D. Erosion
What is the name of the supercontinent that existed about 250 million years ago?
1. A. Atlantis
2. B. Eurasia
3. C. Pangaea
4. D. Antarctica
How did the Himalaya Mountains form?
1. A. Two plates slid past each other
2. B. Two continental plates collided
3. C. Two plates pulled apart
4. D. A hot spot erupted lava
Which scientist proposed the idea of continental drift in the early 1900s?
1. A. Alfred Wegener
2. B. Isaac Newton
3. C. Charles Darwin
4. D. Galileo Galilei
When an ocean plate collides with a continental plate, the denser ocean plate sinks into the mantle. What is this called?
1. A. Weathering
2. B. Deposition
3. C. Subduction
4. D. Sea-floor spreading
Which layer of Earth is the thinnest?
1. A. Inner core
2. B. Crust
3. C. Outer core
4. D. Mantle
The San Andreas Fault is where two plates slide past each other sideways. What type of boundary is this?
1. A. Convergent boundary
2. B. Transform boundary
3. C. Hot spot boundary
4. D. Divergent boundary
The Hawaiian Islands formed as a plate moved over which feature?
1. A. A transform boundary
2. B. A mid-ocean ridge
3. C. A continental collision
4. D. A hot spot
What type of plate boundary forms where two plates move apart?
1. A. Divergent boundary
2. B. Transform boundary
3. C. Convergent boundary
4. D. Collision boundary
What does the Mohs scale measure?
1. A. Hardness
2. B. Color
3. C. Density
4. D. Luster
Which type of rock forms when melted rock cools and hardens?
1. A. Metamorphic
2. B. Sedimentary
3. C. Igneous
4. D. Mineral
The color of a mineral's powder when rubbed on a tile is called its what?
1. A. Fracture
2. B. Cleavage
3. C. Luster
4. D. Streak
Which property must a substance have to be called a mineral?
1. A. It is shiny like metal
2. B. It is a liquid at room temperature
3. C. It is made by living things
4. D. An orderly crystal structure
Which mineral is the hardest on the Mohs scale?
1. A. Quartz
2. B. Diamond
3. C. Talc
4. D. Calcite
Granite has large crystals because it formed in what way?
1. A. Shells were cemented together
2. B. Sediment was pressed together
3. C. Lava cooled quickly on the surface
4. D. Magma cooled slowly deep underground
Which type of rock is most likely to contain fossils?
1. A. Igneous
2. B. Metamorphic
3. C. Sedimentary
4. D. Volcanic glass
Which type of rock forms when heat and pressure change an existing rock?
1. A. Igneous
2. B. Sedimentary
3. C. Volcanic
4. D. Metamorphic
Marble is a metamorphic rock that forms from which rock?
1. A. Granite
2. B. Sandstone
3. C. Shale
4. D. Limestone
What is the name for the ongoing process in which rocks change from one type to another?
1. A. The carbon cycle
2. B. The life cycle
3. C. The water cycle
4. D. The rock cycle

Part 2: Written Response

Describe one path through the rock cycle, starting with an igneous rock and ending with a different type of rock. Name each process along the way.

Answer Key — Earth & Space Science (Grade 6) Midterm — Units 1–2

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.
C — Subduction Subduction is the sinking of a denser plate beneath another plate.
B — Crust The crust is only about 5–70 km thick, far thinner than the other layers.
B — Transform boundary At transform boundaries plates grind past each other horizontally, causing earthquakes.
D — A hot spot A stationary hot spot built volcanoes as the Pacific Plate moved over it.
A — Divergent boundary Divergent boundaries pull apart, letting magma rise and form new crust.
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.
D — Magma cooled slowly deep underground Slow cooling underground gives crystals time to grow large.
C — Sedimentary Fossils are preserved in layers of sediment that harden into rock.
D — Metamorphic Metamorphic means 'changed form'; heat and pressure transform existing rock.
D — Limestone Heat and pressure recrystallize limestone into marble.
D — The rock cycle The rock cycle shows how igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks transform over time.

Written Response — Look-Fors

Correct sequence (e.g., igneous → weathering/erosion → deposition → compaction/cementation → sedimentary, or heat/pressure → metamorphic); accurate process names.

Earth & Space Science (Grade 6) Midterm — Units 1–2

Part 1: Multiple Choice

Part 2: Written Response

Written Response — Look-Fors

More Earth & Space Science midterms