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6th grade Moving plates, and the clues that they move worksheet

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Moving plates, and the clues that they move

Grade 6 Science Worksheet - Challenge Me

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

  1. 2.5 cm each year = about 25 km each million years; 10 million years. At about 2.5 cm a year, how much wider could the Atlantic be in 10 million years? Esme uses the USGS figure of 25 km per million years.

    • About 250 km
    • About 25 km
    • No wider; continents are fixed
    • About 2,500 km

  2. Along the San Andreas Fault, two plates slide past each other. Over millions of years, what does Kira predict for towns on opposite sides?

    • They crash together into mountains
    • They stay exactly where they are
    • They slowly shift far apart, sideways
    • They swap sides of the fault within one lifetime

  3. Luz's friend says Mesosaurus swam across the ocean between Africa and South America. Which response is best?

    • Disagree: it lived in fresh water; the lands were joined then
    • Disagree: it walked over a land bridge
    • Agree: the continents have stayed right where they are today, so it swam
    • Agree: reptiles can swim great distances

  4. A video says continents race around at kilometers per year. Milo checks USGS. Which response is best?

    • Agree: plates surf fast on liquid lava
    • Agree: you can watch coastlines move from one year to the next
    • Disagree: plates move a few centimeters a year
    • Disagree: plates do not move

  5. Map of South America and Africa fitted together along their coasts. Which set of clues best supports the idea that South America and Africa were once joined, by Pia's judgment?

    • Matching coastlines, fossils and rock layers
    • Both continents have deserts today
    • Animals today can still travel easily between the two of them
    • Both continents have tall mountains

  6. “Cross-section, not to scale:” Ren looks for evidence that the seafloor spreads. Which observation is the best evidence?

    • Rock gets older moving away from the ridge on both sides
    • Ridges have no earthquakes
    • The ridge sits mid-ocean, so its rock must be the oldest there
    • The ocean is deepest near the coasts

  7. Map of a coast with the sea floor offshore unlabeled. Which clue tells Tala that a convergent boundary lies just off a coast?

    • A ridge with brand-new seafloor
    • A straight fault with sideways offsets
    • A deep trench with a chain of volcanoes beside it
    • Flat, quiet seafloor with no earthquakes or volcanoes nearby

  8. Zee cuts out paper continents and slides them together to show Pangaea. What else should the model show?

    • Matching fossils and rocks lining up across the joins
    • The continents fixed in today's places
    • The continents moving apart in a few days
    • The continents floating on water in a big tub, like rafts

  9. “(teacher only)” The teacher gently warms one side of a pan of thick, gooey liquid with cracker pieces on top, and the pieces drift. What do the pieces stand for, says Ari?

    • Continents floating along on top of a liquid lava ocean
    • Plates riding on slowly moving mantle rock
    • Earthquakes shaking the crust
    • Plates that stay fixed

  10. Bo pushes two stacks of paper together on a table, and they buckle upward where they meet. Which feature does this model?

    • A trench from plates pulling apart
    • Mountains at a convergent boundary
    • A ridge at a divergent boundary
    • A transform fault
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6th grade Moving plates, and the clues that they move worksheet – printable
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About this worksheet

Moving plates, and the clues that they move. Every version has 10 questions, and the answer key prints on the second page.

What your child will learn

  • I can name divergent, convergent and transform boundaries and what forms at each.
  • I can use fitted coasts, matching fossils and rocks, and seafloor ages as evidence that plates move.
  • I can work out how far plates move over time at a few centimeters a year.

Standard: MS-ESS2-3

Words to know

plate: A huge, rigid slab of the crust and upper mantle

divergent boundary: Where plates pull apart; ridges and rift valleys form

convergent boundary: Where plates push together; mountains, trenches and volcanoes form

transform boundary: Where plates slide past each other; faults and earthquakes

seafloor spreading: New ocean floor forming at a ridge and moving outward

Pangaea: The supercontinent that began to break up about 200 million years ago

Common mistakes

Your child mixed up the kinds of plate boundaries. Pull apart: ridges and rifts. Push together: mountains and trenches. Slide past: faults and earthquakes.

Your child thought the continents do not move. They move a few centimeters a year, which adds up over millions of years.

Your child pictured plates moving fast. They move only a few centimeters a year; big changes take millions of years.

Questions parents ask

What is the most common mistake with moving plates, and the clues that they move?

Your child mixed up the kinds of plate boundaries. Pull apart: ridges and rifts. Push together: mountains and trenches. Slide past: faults and earthquakes.

Are these 6th grade science worksheets free to print?

Yes. All 6 printable versions at each level are free to print, with the answer key, and no account is needed.

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