6th Grade Science 1st Semester Exam Review
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Space
1. What is the difference between meteors, meteorites and meteoroids?
Meteors - the bright, transient streak of light produced by a piece of space debris burning up as it
enters the atmosphere at high speed
Meteorites - any piece of space debris that reaches the Earth's surface intact
Meteoroids - is a piece of stone-like or metal-like debris which travels in outer space.
2. Explain the motion of our Solar System. What revolves around what? How does
gravity affect this? Which object has the most gravity? Around which object does
everything else revolve?
Our Solar system is comprised of our Sun and the objects that orbit it. It lies in a barred
spiral galaxy named the Milky Way. The Milky Way does not sit still, but is constantly
rotating about a black hole. The spinning galaxy is moving through the universe toward
the Andromeda Galaxy. The movement of the planets and their moons are governed by
gravity. The object with the greatest mass is our Sun. And it is the object with the greatest
mass that has the most gravity. The Sun spins on its own axis. The Earth revolves in
orbit about the Sun. Our moon revolves in orbit about the Earth.
3. What are the physical features of a comet, asteroid and meteor/ meteorite/
meteoroid? How are a comet and an asteroid different from each other?
Asteroids are relatively small, inactive, rocky body orbiting the Sun. Comets are relatively
small, at times active, object whose ices can vaporize in sunlight forming an atmosphere (coma)
of dust and gas and, sometimes, a tail of dust and/or gas. A meteoroid is a small particle from a
comet or asteroid orbiting the Sun. Meteors are the light phenomena which results when a
meteoroid enters the Earth's atmosphere and vaporizes; a shooting star. A meteorite is a
meteoroid that survives its passage through the Earth's atmosphere and lands upon the Earth's
surface.
4. Where are asteroids found in our solar system?
Asteroids are primarily found in the asteroid belt, a region of the solar system that between the
orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
5. What are the four Galilean moons and what planet do they orbit?
The planet Jupiter's four largest moons are called the Galilean satellites. These large moons are
named Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.
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6. What happened on the Apollo missions? Which Apollo mission first reached the
moon?
Apollo was dedicated to the national goal of "landing a man on the Moon and returning him
safely to the Earth". Apollo 11 was the first mission to land man on the moon and July 20, 1969,
man first stepped on the moon.
7. What are some tools needed for space travel/exploration? What tool do we use to see
into space? Tools used for space travel include a)Solar Powered Radios b) a source of
oxygen; c) a source of water d) Dehydrated food e)First Aid Kit f)Maps g)Space Suit
8. How is gravity affected by mass? How is gravity affected by distance?
The amount of gravity that something possesses is proportional to its mass and distance
between it and another object. F = G(mass1*mass2)/D2
9. How can you tell how long a year is on a planet? A day? (Hint: which one has to do
with revolution and which one has to do with rotation?)
The length of a year is based on the time it takes to make one revolution around the Sun.
The length of the day is the time to revolve once one the axis of that planet.
10. What is a light year?
a unit of astronomical distance equivalent to the distance that light travels in one year
What is an axis? an imaginary line about which a body rotates.
What the Sun and everything that revolves around it? It takes the sun approximately
225-250 million years to complete one journey around the galaxy’s center.
6th Grade Science 1st Semester Exam Review
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Earth
11. How is a peach similar to the Earth? (Hint: think layers)
The crust is very thin in comparison to the rest of the earth, like the skin of a peach
the flesh is a thick layer like the mantle of the earth, and the core is in the middle, like the
pit of a peach (though the earth has an inner and outer core, while the pit is not divided
into an inner and outer section)
12. What is the definition of Lithosphere? Asthenosphere? How are they different?
Where are they located? Which one is rigid? Which one is solid but flowing? Know
the exact location of each!
Lithosphere: the rigid outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle.
Asthenosphere: the upper layer of the earth's mantle, below the lithosphere, in which
there is relatively low resistance to plastic flow and convection, is thought to occur.
13. What are the layers of the Earth? Which layer do we live on?
The Earth layers are: the crust, the mantle, the outer core, and the inner core. We live on
the crust.
14. What are divergent plate boundaries? Convergent? Transform? Draw a picture
using arrows of each.
A divergent boundary occurs when two tectonic plates move away from each other. When two
plates come together, it is known as a convergent boundary. Two plates sliding past each other
forms a transform plate boundary.
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15. What type of geological features occur at Transform boundaries?
Natural or human-made structures that cross a transform boundary are offset—split into pieces
and carried in opposite directions. Rocks that line the boundary are pulverized as the plates grind
along, creating a linear fault valley or undersea canyon. As the plates alternately jam and jump
against each other, earthquakes rattle through a wide boundary zone. In contrast to convergent
and divergent boundaries, no magma is formed. Thus, crust is cracked and broken at transform
margins, but is not created or destroyed.
16. What type of geological features occur at Convergent boundaries?
The impact of the two colliding plates buckles the edge of one or both plates up into a rugged
mountain range, and sometimes bends the other down into a deep seafloor trench. A chain of
volcanoes often forms parallel to the boundary, to the mountain range, and to the trench.
Powerful earthquakes shake a wide area on both sides of the boundary.
17. What type of geological features occur at Divergent boundaries?
Along these boundaries, lava spews from long fissures and geysers spurt superheated water.
Frequent earthquakes strike along the rift. Beneath the rift, magma—molten rock—rises from the
mantle. It oozes up into the gap and hardens into solid rock, forming new crust on the torn edges
of the plates. Magma from the mantle solidifies into basalt, a dark, dense rock that underlies the
ocean floor. Thus at divergent boundaries, oceanic crust, made of basalt, is created.
18. Explain subduction, which boundary this happens at, and what geological features it
forms. Subduction is the process that takes place at convergent boundaries by which
one tectonic plate moves under another tectonic plate and sinks into the mantle as the
plates converge.
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19. Know exactly where the 6 major tectonic plates are located. (Eurasian, North
American, South American, African, Indo-Australian, and Pacific)
20. How is new crust formed? Go through the whole process.
New crust is formed along boundaries between tectonic plates which are moving apart. Most
crust creation takes place on the ocean floor at the mid-ocean ridges. As the plates move apart,
solidifying magma rises, filling fractures and openings created by the divergence. Some lava also
spills out into the seawater, creating pillow basalts on the seafloor.
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Rocks and Minerals
21. What is the rock cycle?
The rock cycle is a continuous process by which rocks are created, changed from one
form to another, destroyed, and then formed again.
22. Draw a diagram of the rock cycle?
23. How are Sedimentary rocks formed? Which two words describe it?
Sedimentary rocks are formed when sediment is deposited out of air, ice, wind, gravity,
or water flows carrying the particles in suspension. This sediment is often formed when
weathering and erosion break down a rock into loose material in a source area.
limestone, sandstone
24. How are Metamorphic rocks formed? Which two words describe it?
Metamorphic rocks were once sedimentary, igneous, or another metamorphic rock. These
rocks are physically deformed and chemically changed due to different temperatures and
pressures. The elements in the minerals can actually "move" to form new minerals.
anthracite, quartzite, marble, slate
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25. How are Igneous rocks formed? Which two words describe it?
Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava. Igneous
rock may form with or without crystallization, either below the surface as intrusive
(plutonic) rocks or on the surface as extrusive (volcanic) rocks. basalt, granite, pumice
26. Weathering and erosion by wind, water or ice is the first step to create which type of
rock? Sedimentary rocks are formed when sediment is deposited out of air, ice, wind, or
water flows.
27. Fossils are which type of rock? How are fossils formed? Fossils are generally found in
sedimentary rocks formed by soft silts and muds. The soft sediment cover and
preserves the fine details in the bones, teeth, and leaves of plants.
28. Magma and lava melting and cooling are involved in the formation of which type of
rock? Igneous rocks form as molten rock cools and solidifies.
29. What are the four main ways of classifying minerals?
The most common physical properties are crystal form, color, hardness, cleavage, and
specific gravity.
30. What tool can I use to test the streak of a mineral?
The streak of a mineral is the color of the powder produced when the mineral is rubbed
against an unglazed porcelain plate
31. If I have a penny, a streak plate, a hammer and a microscope, what would I be
testing for if I used the penny? What about the streak plate?
You would be testing for hardness. The streak plate would identity the type of mineral
you are tying to identify.
32. What is Mohs scale of Hardness? Does the hardness of a mineral decrease or
increase as the number gets higher? How do you use the scale? The Mohs scale of
mineral hardness is a qualitative ordinal scale which characterizes the scratch resistance
of various minerals through the ability of a harder material to scratch a softer material.
The hardness of mineral increases as the number gets higher.
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33. What type of rocks are foliated and non-foliated (Metamorphic, sedimentary or
igneous)?
There are two basic types of metamorphic rocks: 1) foliated metamorphic rocks such as
gneiss, phyllite, schist and slate which have a layered or banded appearance that is
produced by exposure to heat and directed pressure; and, 2) non-foliated metamorphic
rocks such as marble and quartzite which do not have a layered or banded appearance.
34. What does foliated and non-foliated mean?
Foliated refers to the parallel alignment of grains in the metamorphic rock. Non-foliated
means that the metamorphic rock does not have any parallel structure visible.
35. What is the difference between intrusive and extrusive igneous rocks?
The difference between an Extrusive and Intrusive igneous rock is the way in which they
cool. An Extrusive igneous rock cools very fast on the surface and is created by lava.
Since the cooling process is very fast extrusive igneous rocks have very small crystals
(fine grained). On the other hand an Intrusive igneous rock cools very slowly beneath the
surface and is created by magma. Since the cooling process is very slow intrusive igneous
rocks have very large crystals (coarse grained).
36. What is the definition of minerals and rocks?
Mineral: A naturally occurring chemical compound or limited mixture of chemical
compounds. Minerals generally form crystals and have specific physical and chemical
properties which can be used to identify them
Rock: Rocks are made of different kinds of minerals, or broken pieces of crystals, or
broken pieces of rocks. Rocks are divided into three basic types, igneous, sedimentary
and metamorphic, depending upon how they were formed
37. What is the difference between cleavage and fracture?
Cleavage: The tendency of a mineral to break along weak planes.
Fracture: Any break in rock along which no significant movement has occurred.
38. What determines the size of crystals in igneous rocks?
When magma cools, crystals form because the solution is super-saturated with respect to
some minerals. If the magma cools quickly, the crystals do not have much time to form,
so they are very small. If the magma cools slowly, then the crystals have enough time to
grow and become large
6th Grade Science 1st Semester Exam Review
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