Not every nonfiction passage tells a story or explains a process. Some are built specifically to weigh two sides of an issue against each other, fairly and directly. This worksheet uses exactly that structure, comparing robotic and human space exploration, to teach sixth graders how compare-and-contrast writing actually works.
Grade 6 Nonfiction Worksheet
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Why Compare and Contrast Nonfiction Belongs in Grade 6 Reading Practice
Sixth grade reading standards expect students to recognize different organizational structures in nonfiction writing, not just read for content. Compare and contrast is one of the most common of these structures, showing up constantly in science, social studies, and persuasive writing throughout middle and high school. Learning to recognize it, and understanding how it shapes a reader’s understanding of a topic, is a genuinely transferable skill.
This passage also introduces something a little more sophisticated than a simple side-by-side list. Rather than declaring one approach flatly better than the other, it builds toward a more nuanced conclusion: that robots and humans increasingly work together, and the future may not require choosing a side at all. Recognizing that kind of nuance is exactly the kind of critical reading sixth grade is meant to build.
How Compare and Contrast Structure Shapes a Reader’s Understanding
It’s worth discussing this directly. A compare and contrast passage lays out two sides so a reader can weigh them fairly, rather than presenting only one perspective as the obvious truth. Notice how this passage dedicates a full section to the case for robotic missions, then a full section to the case for human missions, before combining both perspectives in its final two sections. That structure itself is doing rhetorical work, signaling to the reader that this is a genuinely balanced issue worth thinking through carefully, not a simple right-or-wrong question.
Pointing this structural choice out to a sixth grader helps them notice that how information is organized affects how persuasive or balanced it feels, a skill that will matter increasingly as they encounter more overtly persuasive nonfiction in the years ahead.
What’s Inside This Worksheet
This worksheet features an original informational passage, “Two Paths to the Moon: Robotic vs. Human Space Exploration,” broken into four sections that lay out the case for robotic missions, the case for human missions, where the two approaches already work together in practice, and what the future of space exploration might look like. The passage stays balanced throughout, avoiding a simple declaration that one approach is better than the other.
The worksheet includes:
- Multiple Choice. Questions checking recall of specific facts and arguments across all four sections.
- True or False. Quick statements reinforcing careful, fact-based reading.
- Fill in the Blank. Vocabulary practice using words pulled directly from the passage.
- Think and Explain. Two short-answer questions: one asking students to identify specific points of comparison and explain how the structure helps readers understand the topic, and one asking students to evaluate whether the passage takes a side, using evidence from the text.
That second question asks for genuine critical evaluation, not just summary. Students have to look across the entire passage and make a judgment call about its balance, supporting that judgment with specific textual evidence.
How to Use This Worksheet
Before diving into the worksheet questions, try having your child make a simple two-column list, one side for robotic mission advantages, one side for human mission advantages, based on the passage. This kind of visual organization often makes the compare and contrast structure click much faster than reading straight through without pausing to sort information.
This worksheet fits well in a classroom studying nonfiction text structures, at home as an engaging science-adjacent reading activity, or in a homeschool setting exploring space science and informational reading together. It also pairs well with our other Grade 6 worksheets, “The Class Election” and “The Lighthouse Cipher,” rounding out a mix of realistic fiction, mystery, and nonfiction at this grade level.
Tips for Getting the Most Out of It
Read the passage twice: once for the overall content, and once specifically tracking which section supports which side of the comparison. Ask your child whether they personally think the passage favors one side, and to defend that opinion using specific lines from the text. And for the structure question, encourage them to name the actual headings when explaining their answer, since that habit of citing structure directly strengthens both reading and writing skills.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this worksheet fiction or nonfiction?
It’s nonfiction, an informational compare and contrast passage about space exploration, different from the fictional and mystery stories used in our other Grade 6 worksheets.
How long does this worksheet take to complete?
Most sixth graders finish in about 25 to 30 minutes, including the two short-answer questions.
Is an answer key included?
Yes, as a separate PDF, so you can print just the worksheet for your child and keep the key handy for grading.
Download the Worksheet
The printable nonfiction worksheet and its separate answer key are ready to download. It’s a structure-focused addition to your Grade 6 reading library, giving students practice recognizing and analyzing one of the most common organizational patterns in nonfiction writing.
Happy reading.