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Los Angeles Unified School District
Office of Curriculum, Instruction, and School Support
INTERIM ASSESSMENT
Grade 6 Science
Instructional Component 1
2014-2015
Student Test Booklet
Grade 6 Science- Assessment 1
Student Pages
LAUSD/2014-2015
Item 1- Volcanic Eruptions
Prompt:
Imagine that you are a geologist visiting the city of Pompeii, Italy in 63 A.D., where seismic
events have been occurring over hundreds of years. Recently, there was a massive earthquake.
1) Using evidence from the article on the following pages, state two advantages and two
disadvantages of living in the city of Pompeii near Mount Vesuvius.
2) Write a letter to the leaders of the city of Pompeii explaining to them why they should
be concerned about another volcanic eruption after the massive earthquake. Include in
your response the causes of volcanoes using the following terms: fault, magma, lava,
energy, seismic waves, gas, subduction, convection, mantle and tectonic plates. You
may use information in Figure 1.
Figure 1
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Grade 6 Science- Assessment 1
Student Pages
LAUSD/2014-2015
Item 1- Volcanic Eruptions
Pompeii
Mount Vesuvius, a volcano near the Bay of Naples in Italy, is thousands of years old and
has erupted more than 50 times, which created a variety of valuable stones used for building,
aesthetic value and tools. Its most famous eruption took place in the year 79 A.D., when the
volcano buried the ancient Roman city of Pompeii under a thick carpet of volcanic ash. A
witness said that the dust “poured across the land” like a flood and shrouded the city in “a
darkness…like the black of closed and unlighted rooms.” Two thousand people died, and the city
was abandoned for almost as many years.
Ever since the ancient Greeks settled in the area in the 8th century B.C., the region
around Mount Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples attracted wealthy tourists. By the turn of the first
century A.D., the town of Pompeii, located about five miles from the mountain, was a booming
resort for Rome’s most well-known citizens. People in the city rushed in and out of small
factories and craft workers’ shops, pubs and cafes, and bathhouses and many gathered in the
20,000-seat arena and lounged in the open-air squares and marketplaces. On the eve of that
eruption in 79 A.D., scholars estimate that there were about 20,000 people living in Pompeiimany of them were farmers who benefitted from the rich soil in the region.
Mount Vesuvius
The Vesuvius volcano did not form overnight, of course. In fact, scholars say that the mountain
is hundreds of thousands of years old and had been erupting for generations. In about 1780 B.C.,
for example, an unusually violent eruption (known today as the “Avellino eruption”) shot
millions of tons of superheated lava, ash and rocks about 22 miles into the sky, which destroyed
almost every village, house and farm within 15 miles of the mountain. Volcanic eruptions often
release large clouds of poison gas. Clouds of ash can cover and destroy crops, which can cause
starvation. Mudslides can bury a complete neighborhood, and coastal cities can suffer from
tsunami after earthquakes. But it was easy to overlook the mountain’s bad temper in such a
pleasant, sunny spot. Even after a massive earthquake struck the Campania region in 63 A.D,
which scientists now think gave a warning, people still flocked to the shores of the Bay of Naples.
Pompeii grew more crowded every year.
.
Modified from Article from www.history.com (http://www.history.com/topics/pompeii)
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Grade 6 Science- Assessment 1
Student Pages
LAUSD/2014-2015
Item 2- Plate Tectonics
Prompt:
Johnny, a sixth grade student, found out that glaciation at one point was covering part
of Africa, South America, India, and all of Australia. He was surprised because of what he
knows about the weather in Africa. He was curious and kept looking for more information
until he found the map below. He shares this information with his friend Linda.
“Linda, you’ll never believe this, I found out that in Southern Africa there is landscape
evidence of past glaciation in locations where glaciers are nowadays completely absent. Can
you believe it?”
“Johnny, how is that possible? Africa is hot and glaciers have to be in cold places.”
A- How does Johnny’s discovery support the theory of plate tectonics?
B- State two more evidence that you learned from class that support the theory and explain
how they support plate tectonics theory.
You may use the following terms continental drift - plate tectonics – mantle - fit of the
continents – earthquakes – volcanoes - mid-ocean ridges – fossils - rock types climatic zones – lithosphere – pangea - convection current
http://cosscience1.pbworks.com/w/page/8286027/Lesson%2010-1%20Continental%20Drift
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Grade 6 Science- Assessment 1
Student Pages
LAUSD/2014-2015
Item 3- Plate Boundaries
Prompt:
Below are maps showing the plate movement for both California and the Himalayan regions.
Use the maps to answer the following question.
Question:
How is the plate boundary featured in the California map similar to and different from the plate
boundary featured in the Himalaya maps?
You must write a paragraph including:
a- A description of the plate boundary type occurring in each region. Cite evidence from
the map.
b- At least two tectonic events in the regions caused by the plate movement. You may use
the map for clues.
You may use the following words Convergent – subduction zone - transform - fault - seismic
activity – earthquake - mountain - San Andreas fault - plateau
Plate Information California Himalaya 4