Plate TectonicsGrade 6 Science for Kids

Moving plates, plate boundaries and the supercontinent Pangaea.

Plate Tectonics helps sixth graders sort what happens at different plate boundaries, piece together the break-up of Pangaea and compare how fast real plates move. Big-idea earth science with interactive puzzles.

  • Grade 6 · Ages 11–12
  • 3 lessons
  • 3 experiments
  • 12 practice questions
  • About 25 min
Start Learning Free Open the Course
  • Plate Boundaries
  • Boundary Sort
  • Pangaea
  • Continents on the Move
  • Plate Speedometer
  • Speed Check

Science lab course · Grade 6

Plate Tectonics · Learning goals

What Your Child Will Learn

Sort what happens at different plate boundaries, piece together the break-up of Pangaea, and compare how fast real plates move.

  • Plates push together, pull apart or slide past each other, making mountains, rifts and earthquakes.
  • All land was once joined as Pangaea. It broke apart, and the continents are still moving.
  • Plates move a few centimeters a year. The Pacific plate is one of the fastest.

Why it matters

Why This Matters for Kids

  • A moving planet

    Plate tectonics explains mountains, earthquakes, volcanoes and the shape of continents.

  • Evidence-based science

    Pangaea shows how scientists used fossils and coastlines as evidence.

  • Deep time

    Slow plate speeds help kids grasp how Earth changes over millions of years.

Inside Plate Tectonics

How the Course Works

Each level has a short read-aloud lesson, an interactive experiment and a mini quiz.

  1. Step 1 · Lesson

    Plate Boundaries

    Earth's crust is broken into huge plates that float on the slowly flowing mantle.

  2. Step 2 · Experiment

    Boundary Sort

    Lots of Earth's action happens where plates meet. Which kind of boundary made each feature?

  3. Step 3 · Lesson

    Pangaea

    About 250 million years ago, all land was one supercontinent: Pangaea.

  4. Step 4 · Experiment

    Continents on the Move

    Let's run Earth's history forward. Put the break-up of Pangaea in order.

  5. Step 5 · Lesson

    Plate Speedometer

    Plates move only a few centimeters a year.

  6. Step 6 · Experiment

    Speed Check

    GPS stations measure how fast plates really move. Let's compare four of them.

Lesson preview

A Peek Inside the Lesson

This is the real lesson text your child hears, read aloud by a friendly voice.

Plate Boundaries

Earth's crust is broken into huge plates that float on the slowly flowing mantle.

At convergent boundaries, plates push together, making mountains and volcanoes.

At divergent boundaries they pull apart. At transform boundaries they slide past each other.

Pangaea

About 250 million years ago, all land was one supercontinent: Pangaea.

Over millions of years it broke apart and the pieces drifted.

Clues: matching coastlines, matching fossils and matching rocks on different continents!

Plate Speedometer

Plates move only a few centimeters a year.

That's about as fast as your fingernails grow!

Over millions of years, a few centimeters adds up to thousands of kilometers.

For parents

Try It at Home

Learning sticks best when kids use it in real life. Here are simple ideas from this course.

Parent Tip

Print or trace a world map, cut out the continents and try to fit them together like Pangaea. Which coastlines match best?

Boundary Sort

  1. Push two towels together on a table: they fold into 'mountains'.
  2. Pull two crackers apart on frosting: a rift.
  3. Slide them past each other: they catch and jerk, like a quake.

Plates push together, pull apart or slide past each other, making mountains, rifts and earthquakes.

Continents on the Move

  1. Cut out the continents from a printed world map.
  2. Try to fit South America and Africa together.
  3. See how well they match!

All land was once joined as Pangaea. It broke apart, and the continents are still moving.

Speed Check

  1. Measure your fingernail's growth over a month.
  2. Multiply by 12 to get cm per year.
  3. Compare it with the Pacific plate!

Plates move a few centimeters a year. The Pacific plate is one of the fastest.

Practice

Grade 6 Science Practice Questions

Real questions from Plate Tectonics. Try them with your child, then tap to see the answer.

  1. Question 1

    What forms where plates push together?

    • A.Mountains and volcanoes
    • B.Deserts
    • C.Rivers
    Show answer

    Mountains and volcanoes

  2. Question 2

    What was Pangaea?

    • A.An ocean
    • B.One giant supercontinent
    • C.A dinosaur
    Show answer

    One giant supercontinent

  3. Question 3

    How fast do plates move?

    • A.A few meters a day
    • B.Kilometers an hour
    • C.A few centimeters a year
    Show answer

    A few centimeters a year

The full course has 12 questions with instant feedback, stars and rewards. Create a free account to play them all.

Plate Tectonics · Questions from parents

Frequently Asked Questions

What age is this course for?

Plate Tectonics is a grade 6 science course for kids ages 11–12. That is Year 7 science in the UK and Year 6 in Australia. It also works well for review in the next grade, or as a challenge for a confident younger learner.

What will my child learn?

Sort what happens at different plate boundaries, piece together the break-up of Pangaea, and compare how fast real plates move. Along the way they practice: Plates push together, pull apart or slide past each other, making mountains, rifts and earthquakes; All land was once joined as Pangaea. It broke apart, and the continents are still moving; Plates move a few centimeters a year. The Pacific plate is one of the fastest.

How long does the course take?

About 25 minutes in total, split into 3 short levels. Most kids finish it over two or three sessions. Progress is saved, so they can stop any time and pick up where they left off.

Is this course free?

Plate Tectonics is part of SkillBloom Premium, which unlocks every course in every subject. Each subject also has free courses, so your child can try SkillBloom before you decide.

Does my child need to read well to use it?

No. Every lesson has a friendly read-aloud voice, questions are read aloud too, and the pictures help kids follow along. Confident readers can turn the voice off.

Can we use it for homeschool?

Yes. SkillBloom is built for homeschooling families. Kids work through lessons, games and quizzes on their own, and the parent dashboard shows what they finished and which skills need more practice. It works on phones, tablets and laptops.

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