The Ocean Floor · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

The Ocean Floor Is Not Flat

Science · Ocean Life · ages 7-9
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. What is the name of the deepest point on Earth?

    • The Grand Canyon
    • The Mariana Trench
    • Mount Everest

  2. Which best describes the ocean floor?

    • It is flat and smooth everywhere
    • It has mountains, valleys, and trenches
    • It is just flat sand

  3. The ocean floor is completely flat, like a smooth plate.

    Circle one:   True   False

  4. Look at the heights below. How does the Mariana Trench's depth compare to Mount Everest's height?

    Everestheight9Trenchdepth11
    • The trench is shallower than Everest is tall
    • The trench is deeper than Everest is tall
    • They are the same

  5. Which of these would you actually find on the ocean floor?

    • Underwater mountains and valleys
    • Only sand and nothing else
    • One giant flat plate

  6. If Mount Everest were dropped into the Mariana Trench, its peak would poke out above the water.

    Circle one:   True   False

  7. Mount Everest is about 9 kilometers tall. The Mariana Trench is about 11 kilometers deep. About how many kilometers deeper is the trench than Everest is tall?

    Everestheight9Trenchdepth11

    Answer: ______________

  8. Jamal says the Grand Canyon is the deepest place on Earth. What is wrong with his idea?

    • The deepest place is on land, not in the ocean
    • Nothing, he is right
    • The Mariana Trench is actually deeper than the Grand Canyon
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

The Ocean Floor Is Not Flat W1-mt_yxL1v4LuqR-s1

  1. The Mariana Trench · The Mariana Trench, in the Pacific Ocean, is the deepest known spot on Earth.
  2. It has mountains, valleys, and trenches · Just like land, the ocean floor rises into mountains and dips into valleys and trenches.
  3. False · The ocean floor has mountains, ridges, and deep trenches, not one flat surface.
  4. The trench is deeper than Everest is tall · The trench goes down about 11 kilometers, further than Everest's 9 kilometers of height.
  5. Underwater mountains and valleys · The seafloor has ridges, canyons, and trenches, just like the land above water.
  6. False · The trench is deeper than Everest is tall, so the peak would stay underwater.
  7. 2 · 11 kilometers minus 9 kilometers leaves 2 kilometers of extra depth.
  8. The Mariana Trench is actually deeper than the Grand Canyon · The Mariana Trench, deep in the ocean, is deeper than any canyon on land.
Worksheet · LightMySky