6th grade Science practice sheet
Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards · from Gradelings · Name: ______________________
Question 1
Put these in order, starting with the one closest to the Sun.
- Venus
- Saturn
- Jupiter
- Mars
- Uranus
Venus → Mars → Jupiter → Saturn → Uranus
Hint: Try: My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune). The asteroid belt lies between Mars and Jupiter.
Question 2
Put the steps that make sedimentary rock in order.
- 🟫The sediment settles in layers
- 🌊Erosion carries the pieces away
- 🪨Layers are pressed and cemented into rock
- 🌧️Weathering breaks rock into small pieces
Weathering breaks rock into small pieces → Erosion carries the pieces away → The sediment settles in layers → Layers are pressed and cemented into rock
Hint: First rock breaks down (weathering), then the pieces are moved (erosion), dropped in layers (deposition), and finally pressed and cemented together.
Question 3
Which is the best way to prepare for an earthquake at home?
- Run outside during shaking
- Stand in a doorway
- Wait for an alert before acting
- Practice drop, cover and hold on, and secure heavy furniture
Practice drop, cover and hold on, and secure heavy furniture
Hint: Drop, cover and hold on protects you from falling objects while shaking lasts.
Question 4
Rock changed by heat and pressure is…
- sedimentary
- volcanic glass
- metamorphic
- igneous
metamorphic
Hint: Changed form.
Question 5
Most of Earth's history took place in the…
- Cenozoic
- Mesozoic
- Jurassic
- Precambrian
Precambrian
Hint: Billions of years.
Question 6
Ice cores from glaciers help scientists learn about…
- past climates
- the moon's surface
- future earthquakes
- today's weather only
past climates
Hint: Trapped air bubbles hold clues.
Question 7
Which hazard can scientists forecast days ahead?
- A hurricane's path
- A lightning strike's exact spot
- The exact minute of an earthquake
- A meteor hitting a house
A hurricane's path
Hint: Weather can be tracked.
Question 8
Where is the asteroid belt?
🪨- between Earth and Mars
- between Mars and Jupiter
- between Venus and Earth
- between Saturn and Uranus
between Mars and Jupiter
Hint: The asteroid belt separates the four rocky inner planets from the four giant outer planets.
Question 9
Limestone is heated and squeezed deep underground. What does it become?
- granite
- sandstone
- marble
- pumice
marble
Hint: Marble is the metamorphic form of limestone. Both are made mostly of the same mineral, calcite.
Question 10
Minnesota rarely has strong earthquakes because it is…
- far from the edges of a plate
- under the ocean
- on a volcano
- on a plate boundary
far from the edges of a plate
Hint: Middle of the North American Plate.
Answer key
- 1. Venus → Mars → Jupiter → Saturn → Uranus (Our Solar System)
- 2. Weathering breaks rock into small pieces → Erosion carries the pieces away → The sediment settles in layers → Layers are pressed and cemented into rock (The Rock Cycle)
- 3. Practice drop, cover and hold on, and secure heavy furniture (Plate Tectonics)
- 4. metamorphic (Earth's Moving Surface)
- 5. Precambrian (Earth's History & Fossils)
- 6. past climates (Climate & Climate Change)
- 7. A hurricane's path (Resources & Hazards)
- 8. between Mars and Jupiter (Our Solar System)
- 9. marble (The Rock Cycle)
- 10. far from the edges of a plate (Plate Tectonics)
Want more than 10 questions?
In Gradelings the questions change every time and adjust to your child, with hints and kind feedback. See all science units.