Moving Plates, Boundaries & Earth Evidence — Practice · Grade 6 Science

Chapter: Earth Systems, Plates & Earth Materials

What this practice covers

By the end of Moving Plates, Boundaries & Earth Evidence you should be able to:

8 questions, written answer and multiple choice, each with a worked explanation.

Vocabulary used: plate boundary, subduction, evidence, system boundary, uncertainty.

Problem 1

What motion does increasing separation suggest?
Answer and explanation

Divergence between the compared markers, with the method and time interval stated.

Compare the scientific meaning and reasoning after an independent attempt. A different accurate supported response can be correct; human review is required.

Problem 2

Do all convergent boundaries have identical outcomes?
Answer and explanation

No. Plate composition, density, and geometry affect whether subduction, mountain building, and volcanic activity occur.

Compare the scientific meaning and reasoning after an independent attempt. A different accurate supported response can be correct; human review is required.

Problem 3

What can the location pattern support?
Answer and explanation

A relationship between seismic activity and a boundary region, not an exact earthquake prediction.

Compare the scientific meaning and reasoning after an independent attempt. A different accurate supported response can be correct; human review is required.

Problem 4

Why is a coastline not necessarily a tectonic boundary?
Answer and explanation

It marks land meeting water, not necessarily a change between moving lithospheric plates.

Compare the scientific meaning and reasoning after an independent attempt. A different accurate supported response can be correct; human review is required.

Problem 5

Develop a complete response: Calculate the mean separation rate and explain a boundary inference with a limit. Include relevant evidence and one method or model limit.
Answer and explanation

Separation grows by 6.0 cm in three years, a mean relative rate of 2.0 cm/year. Together with the ridge, this supports a divergent-boundary interpretation in the supplied model. It does not establish that each plate moves at exactly 2 cm/year or predict every earthquake or volcano.

Compare the scientific meaning and reasoning after an independent attempt. A different accurate supported response can be correct; human review is required.

Problem 6

Apply the unit independently: Two plates slide horizontally past each other in a supplied model. Must a new mountain range form there? Give a reason and a relevant qualification.
Answer and explanation

No. That is transform motion; outcomes depend on local conditions, and mountain building is not an automatic result of every boundary interaction.

Compare the scientific meaning and reasoning after an independent attempt. A different accurate supported response can be correct; human review is required.

Problem 7

Which statement correctly uses plate boundary in Moving Plates, Boundaries & Earth Evidence?
  1. A boundary map predicts the exact time of the next earthquake.
  2. Every coastline is necessarily a plate boundary.
  3. plate boundary: A region where tectonic plates interact through relative motion.
  4. One illustrative result establishes every real condition and needs no further evidence.
Answer and explanation

plate boundary: A region where tectonic plates interact through relative motion.

A region where tectonic plates interact through relative motion. Separation grows by 6.0 cm in three years, a mean relative rate of 2.0 cm/year. Together with the ridge, this supports a divergent-boundary interpretation in the supplied model. It does not establish that each plate moves at exactly 2 cm/year or predict every earthquake or volcano.

Problem 8

Which statement correctly uses subduction in Moving Plates, Boundaries & Earth Evidence?
  1. One illustrative result establishes every real condition and needs no further evidence.
  2. Every coastline is necessarily a plate boundary.
  3. A boundary map predicts the exact time of the next earthquake.
  4. subduction: One lithospheric plate sinking beneath another at a suitable convergent boundary.
Answer and explanation

subduction: One lithospheric plate sinking beneath another at a suitable convergent boundary.

One lithospheric plate sinking beneath another at a suitable convergent boundary. Separation grows by 6.0 cm in three years, a mean relative rate of 2.0 cm/year. Together with the ridge, this supports a divergent-boundary interpretation in the supplied model. It does not establish that each plate moves at exactly 2 cm/year or predict every earthquake or volcano.

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