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6th grade Weathering, erosion and deposition: how land is worn down and built up worksheet

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

Grade 6 Science Worksheet - Building Confidence

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

  1. 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
    • Cementing
    • Erosion
  2. 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?

    • Plant roots
    • Ice
    • Wind
    • Liquid water alone, since ice is too soft
  3. 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?

    • Erosion by a glacier
    • Wind
    • Plant roots
    • Running water, since water does the breaking
  4. 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
    • The glacier's ice
    • Wind on the ice
    • Weathering in place
  5. 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?

    • Erosion
    • Mechanical weathering
    • Chemical weathering
    • Deposition
  6. 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?

    • Chemical weathering
    • Deposition of red dust
    • Erosion by wind
    • Mechanical weathering
  7. 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
    • Melting by the water
    • Chemical weathering
    • Mechanical weathering
  8. 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?

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

    • Weathering
    • Deposition by the melting glacier
    • Water alone, since ice cannot move rock
    • Erosion
  11. The Virgin River cut deep, narrow Zion Canyon by carrying away rock, bit by bit. Which process carved it, as Esme learns?

    • Erosion by the river
    • Deposition
    • Weathering alone
    • Wind alone
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6th grade Weathering, erosion and deposition: how land is worn down and built up worksheet – printable
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About this worksheet

Weathering, erosion and deposition: how land is worn down and built up. Every version has 10 questions, and the answer key prints on the second page.

What your child will learn

  • I can tell weathering (breaking rock where it sits), erosion (carrying pieces away) and deposition (dropping them where the mover slows) apart.
  • I can name the agent: water, wind, ice, gravity or living things. I can also tell mechanical weathering from chemical weathering.
  • I can predict where land wears away or builds up (river bends, deltas, dunes) and say whether a change is fast or slow.

Standard: MS-ESS2-2

Words to know

weathering: Breaking or changing rock where it sits

mechanical weathering: Breaking rock into smaller pieces of the same stuff

chemical weathering: Changing or dissolving the minerals in rock

erosion: Carrying rock pieces away by water, wind, ice or gravity

deposition: Dropping pieces where the moving water, wind or ice slows down

delta: A fan of new land built where a river slows at the sea

Common mistakes

Your child mixed up weathering and erosion. Weathering breaks rock where it sits; erosion carries the pieces away. Look for both on a walk after rain.

Your child mixed up deposition with erosion or weathering. Deposition is the drop: sediment settles where wind, water or ice slows down.

Your child thought fast water drops sediment. Fast water picks pieces up; slow water drops them, biggest first. Watch a puddle stream after rain together.

Questions parents ask

What is the most common mistake with weathering, erosion and deposition: how land is worn down and built up?

Your child mixed up weathering and erosion. Weathering breaks rock where it sits; erosion carries the pieces away. Look for both on a walk after rain.

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.

More grade 6 science

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