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?

   • Erosion
   • Melting
   • Deposition
   • Weathering
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?

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

   At the beach, the wind slows down behind a fence, and sand piles up there into a small dune. Which process built the dune, as Kira sees it?

   • Deposition
   • Melting
   • Weathering
   • Erosion
4. 4.

   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?

   • Ice
   • Plant roots
   • Liquid water alone, since ice is too soft
   • Wind
5. 5.

   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?

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

   • Deposition
   • Erosion
   • Chemical weathering
   • Mechanical weathering
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?

   • Erosion by wind
   • Chemical weathering
   • Mechanical weathering
   • Deposition of red dust
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
   • Mechanical weathering
   • Melting by the water
   • Chemical weathering
9. 9.

   Where the Mississippi River slows down at the Gulf of Mexico, it has built a huge fan of new land. Which process built it, as Tala reads?

   • Erosion
   • Deposition
   • Weathering
   • A volcano
10. 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
    • Wind alone
    • Erosion by the river
    • Deposition