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Grade 6 Science · Plate Tectonics

Grade 6 Plate Tectonics Practice Test

Build Grade 6 Science skills with five 10-question practice tests on tectonic plates, boundary types, subduction, seafloor spreading, faults, earthquakes, volcanoes, mountains, and evidence.

Plate Tectonics Practice Tests

These Grade 6 Science practice tests help students explain how tectonic plates move and how their interactions shape Earth. Students practice divergent, convergent, and transform boundaries, subduction, seafloor spreading, faults, earthquakes, volcanoes, mountains, continental drift, and evidence from rocks, fossils, magnetic patterns, GPS, and seismic activity.

Skills covered

  • Identifying the three major plate-boundary types
  • Connecting plate motion with trenches, ridges, mountains, volcanoes, and earthquakes
  • Explaining subduction and seafloor spreading
  • Using fossils, rocks, magnetic stripes, GPS, and seismic data as evidence
  • Modeling faults, earthquakes, and volcanic processes
  • Evaluating how plate tectonics affects Earth surface and community hazards

How to use these practice tests

Start by identifying whether the plates move apart, together, or past one another. Then match that motion with the likely landforms and hazards. For evidence questions, look for repeated measurements, matching patterns, and observations that support a model of moving plates.

For more Grade 6 Science practice, return to the Grade 6 Science category.

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5 Tests
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1. Test

Grade 6 Plate Tectonics Practice Tests

A 10-question Grade 6 Science practice test on tectonic plates, divergent, convergent, and transform boundaries, subduction, seafloor spreading, faults, earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountains.

Identify the direction of plate movement, connect boundaries with landforms and hazards, and use evidence to explain plate-tectonic models.

10 Questions
0/10 Questions0 %
Correct 0
Incorrect 0
Unanswered 10
1. QuestionMultiple choice

What is a tectonic plate?

Please select an answer first.

Correct answer: A

The correct answer is A rigid piece of the lithosphere that moves over the asthenosphere.

  1. Identify the plate setting: Determine whether the plates move apart, together, or past one another.
  2. Connect movement and result: Tectonic plates are large sections of the rigid lithosphere that move slowly.
  3. Check the evidence: Use landforms, earthquakes, volcanoes, seafloor patterns, or rock evidence to confirm the boundary type.

Tectonic plates are large sections of the rigid lithosphere that move slowly.

2. QuestionMultiple choice

At which type of boundary do plates move apart?

Please select an answer first.

Correct answer: B

The correct answer is A divergent boundary.

  1. Identify the plate setting: Determine whether the plates move apart, together, or past one another.
  2. Connect movement and result: Divergent boundaries form where tectonic plates move away from one another.
  3. Check the evidence: Use landforms, earthquakes, volcanoes, seafloor patterns, or rock evidence to confirm the boundary type.

Divergent boundaries form where tectonic plates move away from one another.

3. QuestionMultiple choice

At which type of boundary do plates move toward one another?

Please select an answer first.

Correct answer: C

The correct answer is A convergent boundary.

  1. Identify the plate setting: Determine whether the plates move apart, together, or past one another.
  2. Connect movement and result: Convergent boundaries form where plates move together.
  3. Check the evidence: Use landforms, earthquakes, volcanoes, seafloor patterns, or rock evidence to confirm the boundary type.

Convergent boundaries form where plates move together.

4. QuestionMultiple choice

At which type of boundary do plates slide past one another?

Please select an answer first.

Correct answer: D

The correct answer is A transform boundary.

  1. Identify the plate setting: Determine whether the plates move apart, together, or past one another.
  2. Connect movement and result: Transform boundaries are places where plates move horizontally past one another.
  3. Check the evidence: Use landforms, earthquakes, volcanoes, seafloor patterns, or rock evidence to confirm the boundary type.

Transform boundaries are places where plates move horizontally past one another.

5. QuestionMultiple choice

What commonly forms at a divergent boundary in the ocean?

Please select an answer first.

Correct answer: A

The correct answer is New oceanic crust at a mid-ocean ridge.

  1. Identify the plate setting: Determine whether the plates move apart, together, or past one another.
  2. Connect movement and result: As plates separate, magma can rise and cool to form new seafloor.
  3. Check the evidence: Use landforms, earthquakes, volcanoes, seafloor patterns, or rock evidence to confirm the boundary type.

As plates separate, magma can rise and cool to form new seafloor.

6. QuestionMultiple choice

What is subduction?

Please select an answer first.

Correct answer: B

The correct answer is The movement of one tectonic plate beneath another plate.

  1. Identify the plate setting: Determine whether the plates move apart, together, or past one another.
  2. Connect movement and result: Subduction occurs when a denser plate sinks into the mantle at a convergent boundary.
  3. Check the evidence: Use landforms, earthquakes, volcanoes, seafloor patterns, or rock evidence to confirm the boundary type.

Subduction occurs when a denser plate sinks into the mantle at a convergent boundary.

7. QuestionMultiple choice

Which event is common at many transform boundaries?

Please select an answer first.

Correct answer: C

The correct answer is Earthquakes caused by plates slipping along a fault.

  1. Identify the plate setting: Determine whether the plates move apart, together, or past one another.
  2. Connect movement and result: Stress can build and release as plates slide past each other along faults.
  3. Check the evidence: Use landforms, earthquakes, volcanoes, seafloor patterns, or rock evidence to confirm the boundary type.

Stress can build and release as plates slide past each other along faults.

8. QuestionMultiple choice

Why do tectonic plates move?

Please select an answer first.

Correct answer: D

The correct answer is Heat-driven movement inside Earth and forces at plate boundaries help move them..

  1. Identify the plate setting: Determine whether the plates move apart, together, or past one another.
  2. Connect movement and result: Heat and gravity-related forces in Earths interior and at boundaries contribute to plate motion.
  3. Check the evidence: Use landforms, earthquakes, volcanoes, seafloor patterns, or rock evidence to confirm the boundary type.

Heat and gravity-related forces in Earths interior and at boundaries contribute to plate motion.

9. QuestionMultiple choice

Which landform is often associated with a convergent boundary where one plate subducts?

Please select an answer first.

Correct answer: A

The correct answer is A deep ocean trench.

  1. Identify the plate setting: Determine whether the plates move apart, together, or past one another.
  2. Connect movement and result: Subduction bends the seafloor downward and can form a deep trench.
  3. Check the evidence: Use landforms, earthquakes, volcanoes, seafloor patterns, or rock evidence to confirm the boundary type.

Subduction bends the seafloor downward and can form a deep trench.

10. QuestionMultiple choice

Why are plate movements important to scientists?

Please select an answer first.

Correct answer: B

The correct answer is They help explain the locations of earthquakes, volcanoes, mountains, and ocean trenches..

  1. Identify the plate setting: Determine whether the plates move apart, together, or past one another.
  2. Connect movement and result: Plate motion connects internal Earth processes with many surface features and events.
  3. Check the evidence: Use landforms, earthquakes, volcanoes, seafloor patterns, or rock evidence to confirm the boundary type.

Plate motion connects internal Earth processes with many surface features and events.

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Frequently asked questions about Grade 6 Plate Tectonics

What topics are covered?

The page covers tectonic plates, divergent, convergent, and transform boundaries, subduction, seafloor spreading, faults, earthquakes, volcanoes, mountains, continental drift, and scientific evidence.

How can students identify a plate boundary?

Determine the direction of plate motion, then look for related evidence such as ridges, trenches, mountains, volcanoes, faults, earthquakes, or GPS movement.

How many questions are on this page?

The page includes five mini tests with 10 questions each, for 50 Grade 6 Plate Tectonics questions in total.