SCIENCE ASSESSMENTS
Sixth Grade
E.SE.06.11 Explain how physical and chemical weathering lead to erosion and the formation of soils and sediments.
1. All of the following are examples of erosion EXCEPT:
A. The wind in the desert blows sand against a rock.
B. A glacier picks up boulders as it moves.
C. A flood washes over a riverbank, and the water carries small soil particles downstream.
D. An icy winter causes the pavement in a road to crack.
Answer: B
2. Which process is mostly responsible for the breaking down of the rock cliff into sand-sized sediment?
A. weathering
B. folding
C. faulting
D. precipitation
Answer: A
3. Which of the following processes most directly helps create soil from rocks?
A. melting
B. pressure
C. plate tectonics
D. weathering
Answer: D
4. Which of the following is an example of erosion?
A. Cold temperatures freeze the surface of a pond.
B. The wind blowing the topsoil from a freshly plowed piece of land.
C. During a drought, a pond dries up and all the fish die.
D. In fall, leaves change colors from green to orange.
Answer: B
E.SE.06.12 Explain how waves, wind, water, and glacier movement, shape and reshape the land surface of the Earth by eroding rock in some areas and depositing sediments in other areas.
1. What is one thing that causes a river to deposit the sediment that it is transporting?
A. The gradient of the river increases.
B. The temperature of the water changes.
C. The number of organisms in the water decreases.
D. The flow of the river slows down.
Answer: D
2. Using the picture, what most likely caused this piece of rock to break free?
A. wind
B. earthquake
C. dynamite
D. gravity
Answer: D
3. Rain and running water can wash away soil. From which area is soil most likely to be washed away?
A. A sloping area with bushes
B. A flat area with grasses
C. A flat area that is barren
D. A sloping area that is barren
Answer: D
4. Lily found four rocks of the same material in a riverbed. They had different shapes and sizes. Which rock has most likely been carried the farthest down the river?
Answer: B
5. Four identical sand castles are shown below. Which sand castle will most likely be eroded fastest by the wind?
A. B.
C. D.
Answer: C
E.SE.06.13 Describe how soil is a mixture made up of weather eroded rock and decomposed organic material.
1. A road cut reveals layers in the soil. Why does soil have layers?
A. It has been sorted by particle size and density.
B. It is made from rock and other particles.
C. It was placed in layers by humans.
D. The layers have always been there.
Answer: A
2. Sand on a beach is covered by other layers of sand over time. The extra layers compress the first layer, packing it tighter and tighter. Over time, the bottom layers of sand have formed into sandstone, with colored bands showing the different layers. What kind of rock can sandstone be classified as?
A. metamorphic rock
B. igneous rock
C. sedimentary rock
D. volcanic rock
Answer: C
3. When it rains, a soil holds water well and becomes moist and sticky. The soil probably contains a large amount of ______.
A. silt
B. pebbles
C. sand
D. clay
Answer: D
4. Which of the following is composed of weathered rocks and decomposed organic material from dead plants and animals?
A. soil
B. volcanoes
C. igneous rocks
D. mantle
Answer: A
5. Which best explains how soil is built up in flood plains?
A. Farmers add fertilizer, which makes new soil.
B. Plants break down into compost, which makes soil.
C. Sediment is deposited by rivers during floods.
D. Soil gets used up and the land becomes a desert.
Answer: C
E.SE.06.14 Compare different soil samples based on particle size and texture.
1. Where would the smallest particles of rock be found in a streambed?
A. In the strongest current
B. In the weakest current
C. Near the middle
D. At the beginning
Answer: A
2. A lake study reveals larger particles near the mouth of an incoming stream and smaller ones in the center of the lake. What inference can be made from these observations?
A. The particles are being sorted by size.
B. The particles are made of different materials.
C. The particles are different densities.
D. The particles are traveling at different speeds.
Answer: A
3. Sand with particles of the same size was gently shaken in a jar to see if layers would form. What variable was being tested?
A. particle size
B. particle density
C. particle color
D. particle type
Answer: B
4. A streambed contains round rocks, all about the same size. Why are there no smaller particles of sand and clay? Sand and clay
A. are denser.
B. have washed away
C. were never there
D. are too small to see
Answer: B
5. The illustration shows a braided network of river tributaries. What is the cause of this pattern?
A. Local vegetation interrupts the river flow.
B. Eroded material is deposited and changes the river flow.
C. Change in bedrock causes the river flow to change.
D. Wind blows the river off course.
Answer: B
E.SE.06.41 Compare and contrast the formation of rock types (igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary) and demonstrate the similarities and differences using the rock cycle model.
1. Number 4 in the rock-cycle diagram shown indicates a process of
A. weathering, erosion, transportation, and deposition
B. crystal formation due to heat and pressure
C. melting under extremely high temperatures
D. cooling and solidifying
Answer: C
2. Rock layers may be forced deep underground and exposed to high temperatures and pressures. These rocks change and become
A. rare metal
B. igneous rock
C. sedimentary rock
D. metamorphic rock
Answer: D
3. Rock that is made of material that has settled to the bottom of lakes and oceans and has been compressed and hardened is
A. conglomerate rock
B. volcanic rock
C. sedimentary rock
D. metamorphic rock
Answer: C
4. Igneous rock and sedimentary rock can be transformed into metamorphic rock by similar processes. Explain these processes.
Answer: Credited responses include: Factors, Heat, Pressure, Chemical reactions,
Explanation: When igneous and sedimentary rocks are buried in the earth, great pressure, intense heat, and chemical reactions cause them to change into different rocks, (rocks with different structures). The heat may be due to high temperatures that occur when rocks are deep in the earth or when they are near a mass of magma.
E.ST.06.31 Explain how rocks and fossils are used to understand the age and geological history of the earth (timelines and relative dating, rock layers).
1. The cross section below shows sedimentary rock layers containing fossils. Assuming that these rock layers have not been overturned, which fossil is in the layer that was formed most recently?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Answer: B
2. A newspaper article reported that a fossil was found that was 200,000 years old according to generally accepted radioactive dating procedures. A letter to the editor of the newspaper disputed the accuracy of the age determination because the fossil was found closer to the Earth’s surface than were previously discovered fossils of the same age. Which of the following would be an appropriate argument against the letter writer’s claim?
A. Older rock layers commonly lay deeper underground than younger ones.
B. Older rock layers may be pushed closer to the surface by geologic processes.
C. The age of a rock layer can often help in determining the age of the fossils it contains.
D. Fossils form only under certain conditions.
Answer: B
3. In an area where a river has cut deep into Earth, there are several layers of very different rock exposed. The oldest rock layer is most likely to be the layer that is
A. below the other layers
B. the thickest layer
C. the most rich in fossils
D. igneous intrusive rock
Answer: A
4. The diagram shows a side view of a surface mine. How might the rocks in the diagram be useful in studying the evolution of life in the surrounding area?
A. They may contain fossils which can be compared to the age of the rocks.
B. There may be bones of modern-day animals mixed in with the rock piles.
C. Building the mine may have caused local animals to move to a new environment.
D. When the mine is abandoned, new animals may move in to the area and can be studied.
Answer: A
E.ST.06.41 Explain how Earth processes (erosion, mountain building, and glacier movement) are used for the measurement of geologic time through observing rock layers
1. When studying a stack of rock layers, the ______layers are usually toward the bottom, and the ______layers are usually toward the top.
A. darker, lighter
B. older, younger
C. younger, older
D. lighter, darker
Answer: B
2. A geologist is studying rock layers in a river delta. The layers are buried at a shallow depth beneath sediment that the river is depositing today. Just like the sediment on top, the sediment in the rock layers was deposited by the river. How might the geologist estimate how long it took to deposit the sediment seen in the rock layers?
A. The only way to estimate the time needed would be to sit for a few hours and watch new layers form.
B. Use the layers’ thickness and the current rate of deposition to calculate the time.
C. Time how long it takes to dig a trench as deep as the rock layers.
D. Construct a box as tall as the rock layers, and time how long it takes to fill it with a shovel.
Answer: B
3. A geologist is studying an ancient stack of rock layers. Most of the layers contain fossils of shallow marine creatures (clams, corals, etc.), suggesting the layers formed in a shallow ocean environment. But at the top of the stack, there is layer that could only have been deposited by a river. What does this drastic change in rock layers tell the geologist about Earth’s history in the area where these layers formed? (Assume the layers have not changed position since they formed.)
A. The environment changed suddenly from a river system to a shallow ocean setting.
B. A mass extinction caused a river system to form where there used to be a shallow ocean setting.
C. A volcanic eruption must have occurred nearby, which scared the sea creatures away.
D. The environment changed suddenly from a shallow ocean setting to a river system.
Answer: D
4. The diagram below shows a stack of rock layers. These layers have not changed position since they formed. Examine the diagram, and answer the question that follows. If the age of Layer 4 is 400 million years and the age of Layer 1 is 500 million years, then the age of Layer 3 is
A. younger than 400 million years.
B. 500 million years.
C. between 400 million and 500 million years.
D. older than 500 million years.
Answer: C
E.ST.06.42 Describe how fossils provide important evidence of how life and environmental conditions have changed.
1. The fossils that are found in the oldest layers of sedimentary rock were formed from which types of organisms?
A. only organisms that lived in the sea
B. only organisms that lived on land
C. only organisms that lived in the air
D. organisms that lived on the land, in the sea and in the air
Answer: A
2. The picture shows a limestone building block. Which of these best shows that the limestone was formed from ocean sediments?
A. The position of the fossils
B. The number of fossils
C. The type of fossils
D. The size of the fossils
Answer: C
3. An unusual type of fossil clam is found in rock layers high in the Swiss Alps. The same type of fossil clam is also found in the Rocky Mountains of North America. From this, scientists conclude that
A. glaciers carried the fossils up the mountains
B. the Rocky Mountains and the Swiss Alps are both volcanic in origin
C. clams once lived in mountains, but have since evolved into sea-dwelling creatures
D. the layers of rocks in which the fossils were found are from the same geologic age
Answer: D
4. Archaeopteryx (ar-kay-op-ter-icks) is the name given to a creature that lived about 145 million years ago. This creature had feathered wings that enabled it to fly, but its skeleton resembled that of a small carnivorous dinosaur. It is believed to have been cold-blooded. This creature was first discovered in Germany in a layer of ground associated with the Jurassic period. Which of the following conclusions is MOST accurate based on the fossilized remains of Archaeopteryx?
A. Archaeopteryx is possibly the ancestor of modern birds.
B. Birds are not related to dinosaurs.
C. All dinosaurs were capable of flight.
D. Archaeopteryx existed only in Germany.
Answer: A
E.SE.06.51 Explain plate tectonic movement and how the lithospheric plates move centimeters each year.