Weathering, erosion and deposition: how land is worn down and built up

Grade 6 Science Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. 1.

   “the two halves have not moved” On a hillside walk, Ari sees a boulder split by a crack, with both halves still sitting in place. Which process broke it?

   • Weathering
   • Deposition
   • Erosion
   • Melting
2. 2.

   After a storm, muddy water carries soil out of Bo's school garden and down the street. Which process is the water doing?

   • Weathering
   • Deposition
   • Erosion
   • Cementing
3. 3.

   Water seeps into a crack in a rock, freezes and expands, and the crack grows wider. What is breaking the rock, in Jun's notes?

   • Liquid water alone, since ice is too soft
   • Plant roots
   • Wind
   • Ice
4. 4.

   A tree's roots grow into a crack in a big rock and slowly push it apart. Which agent of weathering is Luz looking at?

   • Running water, since water does the breaking
   • Wind
   • Erosion by a glacier
   • Plant roots
5. 5.

   A slow glacier scrapes a mountain valley and carries boulders far away. What is moving the rock, by Milo's reading?

   • Rivers under the ice
   • Wind on the ice
   • The glacier's ice
   • Weathering in place
6. 6.

   Sharp details long ago, and smooth, worn details today. Rainwater slowly dissolves the fine details on the old limestone statue in Noah's town square. Which kind of weathering is it?

   • Mechanical weathering
   • Erosion
   • Chemical weathering
   • Deposition
7. 7.

   Drawing of a gray rock with reddish-brown, rusty patches spreading over its surface. Rocks with iron in them turn reddish brown as oxygen reacts with the iron. Which kind of weathering is Pia reading about?

   • Deposition of red dust
   • Erosion by wind
   • Chemical weathering
   • Mechanical weathering
8. 8.

   Rocks in a fast mountain stream bump and grind against each other until they are smooth and round. Which kind of weathering is it, says Ren?

   • Deposition
   • Chemical weathering
   • Melting by the water
   • Mechanical weathering

9. Read this first

   Use this

   Drawing of a valley with a shrinking glacier at the top and a curved ridge of mixed rocks and soil where its front used to be.

10. 9.

    When a glacier melts back, it leaves a long ridge of jumbled rocks and soil. Which process left the ridge, in Zee's notes?

    • Water alone, since ice cannot move rock
    • Deposition by the melting glacier
    • Erosion
    • Weathering
11. 10.

    The Virgin River cut deep, narrow Zion Canyon by carrying away rock, bit by bit. Which process carved it, as Esme learns?

    • Weathering alone
    • Erosion by the river
    • Deposition
    • Wind alone