Plate Tectonics Worksheets

About this resource

A complete plate tectonics kit for grades 6-8, built for the table where students need different amounts of support. Students read a one-page reference (the three kinds of plate boundary, six key words, and room to write what they know), label a cutaway of Earth's layers, fill in a paragraph and the order of the layers, complete a plate-boundary table, answer multiple-choice and true-or-false questions, read a data table and draw the bar graph, trace how heat inside Earth helps move the plates, sort statements into divergent or convergent boundaries, and write short answers and explanations. Every page has a name line, one short instruction and real room to write. Answer keys, a tracker, a class grid, a progress note and a family page are included, so nothing has to be written from scratch.

EVERYTHING INSIDE (25 pages)

• 11 student pages in 11 page types: At a Glance, Label the Layers of Earth, Fill In the Blanks, Plate Boundaries, Multiple Choice, True or False? Fix It, Read the Data and Draw the Graph, Trace the Process, Cut and Paste Sort, Short Answers and Explain It
• 72 scored items on 10 pages, every answer read from the same lists that draw the pages
• 4 numbered layers to label on a cutaway of Earth drawn in code (crust, mantle, outer core, inner core), with a word box of 6 (two are not used)
• 10 blanks in a paragraph plus the 4 layers to write in order, from a word box of 12 (two are not used)
• 1 plate-boundary table (worked first row, 3 rows to finish) plus 3 places to name by boundary type (Himalayas, San Andreas Fault, Mid-Atlantic Ridge) and 1 written question
• 8 multiple-choice questions and 8 true-or-false statements (with a line to fix each false one)
• 1 table of invented data (5 times, from 10 to 50 years, with the distance a marker on a plate has moved) and a graph grid to draw on
• 8 cut-and-paste pieces on one two-box sort mat (divergent or convergent), edge to edge, each piece 1.75 in by 1.15 in
• 5 short-answer questions with 4 writing lines each, and 3 explanation prompts with 5 or 6 writing lines each
• 2 answer keys, checked against the questions
• 1 tracker (page, page type, items right, date) and 1 whole-class progress grid
• 1 progress note (a hand-off page between team meetings) and 1 family page
• 1 filled example (an invented student, Jordan T.), 1 phrase bank (15 starters in 5 groups), 1 binder cover and 6 divider tabs with a spine label to cut out
• Start Here page

The Page Types

1. At a Glance: the three ways plates move, six key words (lithosphere, tectonic plate, mantle, convection, boundary, earthquake) and lines to write what the student knows.

2. Label the Layers of Earth: a cutaway drawn in code with four numbered layers, a word box, and two questions with writing lines.

3. Fill In the Blanks: a paragraph with 10 numbered blanks, then the four layers to write in order, then a short written question about a word not used.

4. Plate Boundaries: a worked first row, three rows to finish (how the plates move, what can form or happen), three places to name by boundary type, and four lines on why plates move.

5. Multiple Choice: 8 questions with four lettered choices each. The right letter moves from question to question.

6. True or False? Fix It: 8 statements, a T or F box, and a line to rewrite each false one.

7. Read the Data, Draw the Graph: invented data, a graph grid, two short answers and three written answers.

8. Trace the Process: fill in how heat inside Earth moves rock in the mantle and what that does to the plates, then explain the process in 8 lines using words from a box.

9. Cut and Paste: Sort It: 8 pieces to sort into Divergent boundary or Convergent boundary, then a sentence about how a transform boundary is different.

10. Short Answers: 5 recall questions with 4 lines each.

11. Explain It: 3 short situations (a marker that moves 3 cm a year, volcanoes and earthquakes near plate boundaries, a claim that the continents have always been in the same place) with 5 or 6 lines each and sentence starters.

Built For The Student Holding The Page

A big "My name" line, one short instruction, body text at 11 point or larger, answer boxes you can type in or write in, and writing lines at a size that fits middle school handwriting. There are no cartoon characters or baby-ish borders. Nothing on a student page is written for an adult; the keys, tracker and notes are on separate teacher pages. The file prints clean in black and white.

No Guessing The Answer

Wherever a student picks among printed spots (the lettered choices, the order of true and false, the order of the cut pieces) the position of the right answer is checked in code so it does not sit in the same spot three times in a row.

Type In, Or Print

The name line, every answer box, blank and writing line is a type-in field in any PDF reader: click one, type, then save. The same goes for the tracker, the class grid, the progress note and the family page. This is a fillable PDF; it is not a Google Slides or PowerPoint file. The graph and the cut-and-paste sort are for pencil and scissors.

Who This Is For

Middle school science classes, resource rooms, co-taught classrooms and special education teachers who need a complete plate tectonics unit at grades 6-8 content with room for support: a word box, sentence starters and a reference page. It can be used as a unit, as stations, or one page a day.

What This Is, And What It Is Not

A plate tectonics worksheet set with the record-keeping around it. The science is the standard middle school textbook version. It is not a timed test, a screener, a clinical tool, or a claim about any student's age or rate of progress. There is no IEP goal language or eligibility wording anywhere in the file.