NEW CAMBRIDGE SCHOOL

FACULTY EXACT SCIENCES

AREA SCIENCE

TEACHER KRÍSTEL JIMÉNEZ VADO

GRADE 6TH

DATE

STUDENT

BIOLOGY: To describe how energy flows in an ecosystem and how humans can affect it.

# –

The Earth's structure and plate movement

The earth has four key layers: inner core, outer core, mantle
and crust.

• The inner core is 5,500°C - extremely hot. It is a very

dense solid made from iron and nickel.
• The outer core is 2,000 km thick and is a liquid.
• The mantle is semi-molten and about 3,000 km thick.
• The crust is the rocky outer layer. It is thin compared to the other sections, approximately 5 to
70 km thick. If the Earth was scaled down to the size of an apple, the crust would be about the
thickness of the apple skin. The crust is made up of pieces called plates. There are two types
of crust: oceanic and continental crust. The oceanic crust is found under the sea and is thinner
and denser than the continental crust.

Plate movement

It was once believed that heat from the Earth's core caused convection currents in the mantle and
that these currents slowly moved the crust around.

It is now thought that plate movement is driven by a mechanism called slab pull. Slab pull occurs
where older, denser tectonic plates sink into the mantle. As these older sections of plates sink, newer
and less dense sections of plate are pulled along behind. Sinking in one place leads to plates
spreading apart in other places.

Earthquakes and volcanoes are primarily found at plate boundaries. The plates are like giant rafts
that slowly move around. At the boundaries between plates, molten magma is able to force its way to
the surface and escape as lava.
1. Label the parts of the Earth shown in the diagram. Use these labels.

Crust Inner core Mantle Outer core

2. Which layers of the Earth are made of:

a. The metals iron and nickel: ……………………………

b. Solid rock: ……………………………
c. Molten (hot liquid) rock and metal: ……………………………
d. Solid iron and nickel: ……………………………

3. In 1912, Alfred Wegener developed the idea of continental drift. Explain what is meant by
“continental drift”
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

4. Describe the evidence that Alfred Wegener to this idea (Think about the observations he made
before proposing his hypothesis).
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

5. Some people did not believe Wegener’s idea because he could not explain how continental drift
happened. What theory was developed in the 1960s that explained this idea?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

6. What name is given to the line where tectonic plates meet? Circle the correct answer.

Plate boundary Plated edge Middle of the plate End of the plate

7. What name is given to violent movement between two tectonic plates? Circle the correct answer.

Storm Volcano Earthquake Flood

8. The map shows the South American tectonic plate.

Mark on the map where:

a. An earthquake would be most likely on land; use the letter E.

b. A volcano would most likely under water; use the letter V.
c. Fold mountains could be forming on land; use the letter M.

9. The magnitude of an earthquake is measured on a times 10 scale.

Every time the magnitude number increases by 1, the earthquake becomes 10 times stronger.
For example, a magnitude 5 earthquake is 10 times stronger than magnitude 4.

a. How many times stronger is magnitude 6 than magnitude 5?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
b. How many times stronger is magnitude 7 than magnitude 4?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

10. Earthquakes can happen under the oceans.

a. State where these earthquakes are most likely to occur under the oceans?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

b. Earthquakes under the oceans can occur hundreds of kilometers from land. Explain how these
earthquakes can affect people living on land.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

11. Answer the following questions:

a. Which is the correct order for the layers of the Earth?

1. Inner mantle, outer mantle, core, outer core

2. Crust, core, mantle, outer core
3. Crust, mantle, outer core, inner core
 b. Which is the thinnest layer of the Earth?

1. Crust
2. Mantle
3. Core

c. Tides are…

1. Very big waves

2. Shallow areas of the sea
3. The rise / fall of sea levels

d. Tides are caused by the force of…

1. Air resistance
2. Friction
3. Gravity
4. Magnetism

e. The highest tides occur when the gravitational pull on the oceans is…

1. Greatest
2. Smallest
3. Neither strong nor weak

f. The highest tides occur when there is a...

1. Full Moon only

2. New Moon only
3. Full Moon or New Moon

12. Which human actions can pollute the air? Mention three.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

13. Match with a line the gas in column A with the correct percentage found in the atmosphere in
column B.

Column A Column B

Oxygen 78%

Water vapour 0.4%

Nitrogen 20%

Carbon dioxide 1%

14. Follow the steps to understand how tides work.

a. What is a tide?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

b. What force keeps water on the surface of the Earth? In other words, why liquid water doesn’t
spill in the outer space?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
 c. Check out the following model of the Sun, Moon and Earth and answer.

i. First, let’s analyze the model presented here.

What are the strengths and limitations of this model?

Strengths:
…………..……………………………………………………………………………………………..………….
…………..……………………………………………………………………………………………..………….
…………..……………………………………………………………………………………………..………….
Limitations:
…………..……………………………………………………………………………………………..………….
…………..……………………………………………………………………………………………..………….
…………..……………………………………………………………………………………………..………….

ii. Based on the diagram, which of these two celestial bodies that interact with the Earth has a
major influence on tides? Circle the correct answer

Sun Moon

iii. Explain your previous choice.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……….

iv. What force causes tides?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……..

v. What happens to the water in the oceans when the Moon is directly overhead?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……….

vi. What would happen to tidal forces if the Moon was less massive?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……….

vii. What would happen to tidal forces if the Moon was closer to the Earth?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……….

15. There are two high tides and two low tides each day.

The size of the high and low tides changes over the month. During a full moon or a new moon, the
difference between the high and low tide is at its greatest. This is because when the Earth, the
Sun and the Moon are in a line, the gravitational pull is at its strongest.

The alignment of Moon, Earth and Sun creates two types of tides.
 Spring tides, which are higher than the average higher tides and they take place during new
moon or Full moon. On the other hand, neap tides are lower than the average low tides and
happen during the first and third quarter of the moon, when the moon forms a right angle with the
position of the Sun.

During one day, in some places close to the beach, you could observe two high tides and two low
tides.

On the drawing below, paint with blue the bulges of the ocean that forms tides on Earth. Pay close
attention to the position of the Moon.

16. Complete the following sentences using the words of the box. You can use them once, more than
once or not at all.

Water droplets Shrink rays Rivers and lakes Melting

Condensing Sea Evaporation Precipitation

a. The journey that water takes as it moves from the land to the sky and back again is called the
water: …………………………..

b. Clouds in the sky are made of: …………………………….

c. Water in the sea become clouds in the sky through: ……………………..

d. When the raindrops get heavy in clouds, they fall as snow, hail or rain. This is called:
…………………………………………

e. Rainfall collects in ……………………… and then it flows back to the ………………….

17. These are the major steps of water cycle.

Write the steps in order starting with evaporation.

Evaporation, ………………………, …………………………, ……………………………

18. Write the correct word or words next to each description. Choose words form the list. You can
use each word once, more than once or not at all.

Bacterium Decomposer Food web Microorganism Producer

a. An organism that is so small it cannot be seen without a microscope. …………………..

b. A diagram showing how energy passes from one organism to another. ………………….

c. An organism that feeds by decaying organic matter. …………………..

19. In a meadow, grasshoppers and caterpillar eat grass. Lizards eat grasshoppers. Small birds eat
caterpillars. Hawks eat lizards and small birds.

i. Use this information to construct a food web. Do NOT draw, just write the names of the
animals/plants.

ii. Then, add decomposers.

20. The image on the right shows the rotting of an
apple.

i. State two examples of organisms that can

allow decomposition.
…………………………………………..……
…………………………………………..……

ii. What is the biological role of decomposers

in an ecosystem?

…………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……….
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……….

21. Sofia and Zara investigate how temperature affects the growth of mould on moist bread.
They take some slices of bread and cut them into 15 equal-sized pieces. They place three pieces in
each of five identical dishes. The diagram shows one of the dishes.

The girls add the same volume of water to each dish – just enough to make sure the bread is damp.
They then place the dishes in five containers, each kept at a different temperature, ranging from -4°C
to 60°C. They leave the dishes in the containers form three days. Each day, they add a mall volume
of water to each dish to keep the bread damp.

On the fourth day, the girls measure the area of the bread that has mould growing on it. Their results
are shown in the table.

a. One of the results for the dish kept at 40°C does not fit the pattern of all the other results. It is
an anomalous result. Draw a circle around the anomalous result.

b. Ignoring the result you have circled, calculate the mean are of mould growth for the dishes
kept at 40°C.
To do this, add the other two results and divide by 2. Write your answer in the table.

Calculate the mean area of mould growth in the dish kept at 60°C. Write your answer to one
decimal place.

Remember than when you write numbers to one decimal place:

32.48 becomes 32.5

Write your answer in the table.

22. Complete the following diagram using the components and products of the photosynthesis:

Sugar Oxygen Carbon dioxide Light energy Water

REFERENCES

Jones, M, Fellowes-Freeman, Diane & Smyth, M. Cambridge Lower Secondary Science Workbook 7.
Cambridge University press.

BBC. Bitesize.

AUTHOR: APPROVED BY:

KRÍSTEL JIMÉNEZ VADO TANIA DÍAZ

DATE: DATE OF APPROVAL:

MARCH, 2022 MARCH, 2022