Name: __________________________________
Study Technique: _________________________
6th Grade Science
Plate Tectonics Test
6. This ________ system includes all life on earth in the
air, land and water and is called ____________.
A. closed; hydrosphere
B. open; biosphere
C. open; geosphere
D. closed; biosphere
Use the diagram below to answer questions #1-4.
For questions #7-12, name the correct system using
the following answer choices:
A. atmosphere
B. hydrosphere
C. biosphere
D. geosphere
1. What does letter A in the diagram represent?
A. Inner core
B. Subduction
C. Crust
D. Mantle
7. Africa
8. Dead Sea
9. Nitrogen
10. Frog
11. Seafloor
2. What does letter B in the diagram represent?
A. Mantle
B. Crust
C. Inner core
D. Outer Core
12. Sudden movements of rock along fault lines cause
__________.
A. tectonic plate boundaries
B. seismic gaps
C. earthquakes
D. stress
3. What does letter C in the diagram represent?
A. Mantle
B. Convection
C. Outer Core
D. Inner Core
13. Most earthquakes occur __________.
A. along plate tectonic plate boundaries
B. near the center of tectonic plates
C. in Earth’s mantle
D. in Earth’s core
4. What does letter D in the diagram represent?
A. Inner core
B. Outer Core
C. Mantle
D. Subduction
14. The instrument that scientists use to record seismic
waves is called ___________.
A. seismograph
B. seismogram
C. seismic station
D. epicenter graph
5. Which part of Earth’s system is 78% nitrogen and 21%
oxygen and surrounds and protects the Earth?
A. Atmosphere
B. Hydrosphere
C. Biosphere
D. Weathersphere
For questions 15-20, choose from the following answer
choices:
A. Primary Waves
B. Secondary Waves
C. Surface Waves
15. This wave travels the fastest of the three types.
16. This type of wave causes the most destruction.
17. These waves cause buildings to push and pull as
they pass.
18. This wave makes the ground roll up and down.
19. This wave travels the slowest of the three types.
20. This type of wave causes material to shake up and
down as it travels.
21. The plate boundary where plates move apart is a
_________ boundary.
A. folded mountain
B. convergent
C. divergent
D. transform
22. One plate is forced under another in a
____________.
A. mid-ocean ridge
B. convergent boundary
C. subduction zone
D. continental drift
YOU ARE HALF WAY DONE! TAKE A BREATH,
STRETCH AND THEN ROCK THE REST OF THE TEST!
26. Which scientist is credited with proposing the idea
of continental drift?
A. Charles Darwin
B. Albert Einstein
C. Isaac Newton
D. Alfred Wegener
27. Which answer supports the hypothesis of
continental drift?
A. Similar fossils and rocks were found on different
continents thousands of miles apart.
B. Maps and ancient books told stories about land
moving.
C. Similar climate patterns on different continents.
D. The equator has shifted over time.
28. Seafloor spreading occurs because:
A. new material is being added as rocks shift with ocean
currents
B. earthquakes break apart the ocean floor
C. sediments accumulate and force the floor apart
D. molten material beneath Earth’s crust rises and
hardens
23. A ___________ is an underwater mountain chain.
A. mid-ocean ridge
B. convergent boundary
C. subduction zone
D. continental drift
29. In order to complete a convection current, the
rising material must eventually _____ Earth.
A. stop inside
B. sink back into
C. keep moving up
D. escape
24. The main points of evidence for ___________ are
fossils, rocks and climate.
A. mid-ocean ridge
B. convergent boundary
C. subduction zone
D. continental drift
30. Active volcanoes are most likely to form at
_________.
A. transform boundaries
B. divergent boundaries
C. the center of continents
D. convergent oceanic-continental boundaries
25. Which of the following causes movement of Earth’s
tectonic plates?
A. convection currents below Earth’s crust
B. energy from volcanic activity
C. gravitational pull from the sun
D. mountain ranges creating more land and less ocean
31. What is formed when two continental plates
collide?
A. Volcanoes
B. Mountain ranges
C. Rift valleys
D. Earthquakes
32. A _________ can form when two oceanic plates
collide.
A. chain of volcanoes
B. transform boundary
C. rift valley
D. thunderstorm
37. Crust is neither destroyed nor formed along which
of the following boundaries?
A. convergent
B. divergent
C. transform
D. magnetic
Use the following map to answer questions 33 and 34.
38. A vast, underwater mountain chain is called
_____________ and is due to ___________.
A. an ocean ridge; divergent boundaries
B. an ocean ridge; convergent boundaries
C. a deep-sea trench; divergent boundaries
D. a deep-sea trench; convergent boundaries
33. What type of plate boundary occurs between the
North American Plate and the Eurasian Plate, shown in
the diagram above?
A. transform boundary
B. divergent boundary
C. convergent oceanic-continental plate boundary
D. convergent oceanic-oceanic plate boundary
34. What type of plate boundary occurs between the
Nazca Plate and the South American Plate?
A. convergent oceanic-continental plate boundary
B. convergent oceanic-oceanic plate boundary
C. convergent continental-continental plate boundary
D. transform boundary
35. Features found at divergent plate boundaries
include:
A. mid-ocean ridges
B. deep-sea trenches
C. folded mountains
D. island arc volcanoes
36. Continental-continental plate collisions produce:
A. island volcanoes
B. rift valleys
C. deep-sea trenches
D. mountain ranges
39. ____________ occurs when tectonic plates of
different densities collide.
A. Convection
B. Primary waves
C. Subduction
D. Rift valleys
40. As you descend (go down) from the Earth’s crust to
the inner core, what happens to the temperature?
A. the temperature increases
B. the pressure decreases
C. the temperature decreases
D. the material becomes liquid
Using the following answer choices for questions 41 46, name the plate boundary that is responsible for
the geographic effects.
A. convergent
B. divergent
C. transform
41. Creates mountain ranges, ex. Himalaya Mountains
42. Severe earthquakes, ex. San Andreas Fault
43. Subduction zones, ex. Volcano chains
44. Ocean trenches
45. Sea floor spreading, ex. Mid-Atlantic Ridge
46. Rift Valley, ex. Great African Rift Valley
47. What happens when two oceanic plates meet?
A. Both plates sink into the asthenosphere (mantle).
B. The colder, denser plate sinks.
C. Both plates fold the rock between them.
D. One plate slides past the other.
48. Where is crust neither formed nor destroyed?
A. mid-ocean ridge
B. continental rift valley
C. transform boundary
D. subduction zone
49. What is the best explanation of why earthquakes
occur so often in California, along the San Andreas
Fault?
A. The divergent plates move away from one another
and cause large objects to fall in the hole, creating a
large earthquake.
B. The convergent plates smash into one another with
such force that the ground is jolted, resulting in an earth
quake.
C. The subduction between plates lifts up the
continental crust, causing it to shake.
D. The transform boundaries build up tension until they
suddenly move and scrape along one another, sending
out energy waves that result in an earth quake.
50. What material is the mantle of the Earth most like,
in terms of density?
A. Glass
B. Toothpaste
C. Milk
D. Soil