6th Grade Science Interim Assessment 2 Study Guide
Your 2nd Interim Assessments will be available from October 26-November 4 and MUST be
taken during this time. You only get one chance to take it. Students do NOT get multiple tries.
This is an ACTUAL grade. The grade you make on the Interim Assessment is the grade that goes
in the gradebook. Assessments are 35% of your grade.
This review sheet will help you prepare for the test. You should complete this review sheet to
the best of your ability and then attend class on Thursday, October 22 to check your answers.
You will take the Science Interim Assessment in class on Tuesday, October 27.
To prepare for the Interim Assessment 2, you should have completed the following:
 OLS Lessons: Unit 2: 1-5, 7-9; Unit 3: 4, 5; Unit 4: 2, 3
 Study Island Pathway: Composition of the Earth
 USA Test Prep Practice Assignments for Unit 2, Fossils, Plate Tectonics Part I
 Practice flashcards to learn vocabulary
Quizlet Flashcard/Games
Minerals & Mineral Identification Flashcards_Click Here!
Fossils Flashcards Click Here!
Rocks & Rock Cycle Flashcards Click Here
Layers of Earth Flashcards click here!
Minerals
1. Name and describe the 5 properties that all minerals MUST have to be considered a
mineral.
2. Complete the blank sections of the chart on mineral identification.
Identifying Minerals
Easy to see, but least useful; Many are similar in color or can
change colors due to impurities.
Luster
Color of mineral in powder form- It will always be the same, even
it its external color varies
Measure of resistance to scratching.
• Harder substance will scratch softer substance
• Mohs Hardness Scale ranks 10 minerals from softest to
hardest.
Specific gravity
The same mineral has same crystal structure. Geologists classify
minerals based on number and angle of crystal faces.
Cleavage or fracture
Special features
Rocks are composed of ________ or ___________ minerals and are classified by their origin or
how they are formed.
3. Complete the Chart.
Type of Rock
How is it
formed?
Physical Properties/formation
Rocks are classified by texture and
composition. How are each rock type
classified? Give details and examples.
Classified by crystal size- 2 types
Other
characteristics
Magma or
Dominated by
lava cools
silica minerals
1. __________
___ _____rock:
and
crystallizes. Cool slowly underground (inside the earth) so
they form large crystals and are coarse
grained. An example is granite.
2. ___________
__ rock:
Cool quickly at the surface (they exited the
earth) so they have either no crystals or small
crystals because they cooled so fast. They are
fine grained and an example is basalt (most
abundant rock on earth, found on the ocean
floors)
Examples of extrusive rocks:
If cooled instantaneous, crystals do not form
and it is ________. An example is _________.
Sedimentary
Rock
Another extrusive igneous rock that cools
quickly causing gas bubbles and creating
holes in the rock during formation is
________.
Classified by _____________________
___________: rocks form when bits of
weathered rocks are cemented together.
They differ from each other due to size of
rock fragments that make up the rock
___________ sedimentary rocks: form when
dissolved minerals crystallize
We can
sometimes see
clues to our
past in
sedimentary
rock. Fossils
are found in
this type of
rock.
___________ sedimentary rocks: forms when
the remains of plants and animals are
deposited in thick layer.
Metamorphic
Rock
Existing
rock
undergoes
intense
______
and
_________
Classified according to arrangement of the
grains that make up the rock.
Extreme pressure can cause mineral grains to
line up in flat, parallel layers, or bands, called
foliation.
_________ _______may split apart along
these bands. Looks like stripes!
Formed from
existing
_________,
___________,
or other
____________
rock
A rock that ____________ ________ mineral grains are
has
arranged randomly and do not split apart in
changed its layers
form!
__________ is the process that presses sediments together building up over many, many years
___________ is the process when dissolved minerals crystallize and glue the sediment together
_____________ is the process of converting sediments into solid rocks through compaction and
cementation
4. Draw and label the Rock Cycle Diagram. Choose a rock and explain how it might
travel through the rock cycle. (Use back of paper if needed)
Fossils
Fossils are traces of preexisting life on Earth, which may exist in the form of shells,
bones, or impressions of plant leaves and soft body parts.
1. What type of rocks are fossils found in and why?
2. Define:
a. Body fossil
b. Trace fossil
c. Mold fossil
d. Cast fossil
3. Fossils found in lower layers of sedimentary rock are____________ than
fossils found in upper layers of sedimentary rock.
List the fossils in order from oldest to youngest in the diagram.
4. List 4 things scientists can learn by studying fossils?
5. How are fossils used to date rocks?
6. A shark fossil was found in the middle of Kansas, explain how this happened?
7. Which type of body parts are most likely to become fossilized and why?
Composition of the Earth
1. Label the layers of the Earth in the diagram below.
2. Order layers of the Earth from hottest to coolest.
a. ________________________
b. ________________________
c. ________________________
d. ________________________
3. What happens to the density of the layers as you move from the crust to the inner core?
4. Complete the chart.
Layer
Solid or Liquid?
Main elements found
in this layer
Other facts
Crust
Mantle
Outer Core
Inner Core
1. Name and describe the two types of crust.
Continental Drift
____________ ___________ proposed the idea that the world’s landmasses were once
joined together as one giant supercontinent, which he named ______________ and over time
the continents drifted to where they are today. This is referred to as the Theory of Continental
Drift.
What evidence supports the Theory of Continental Drift?