Active transport: pumps and vesicles
Grade 9 Science Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.
Membrane drawing (model, not to scale). Ari studies a membrane drawing. Letter A points to a large protein that spans the bilayer, with an ATP label beside it. What is A?
- A pump, which moves ions down the gradient with no energy
- A phospholipid head, which faces the watery fluid
- A channel protein, which opens a tunnel and uses no ATP
- A pump, which uses ATP energy to move ions
On Bo’s drawing, letter D points to a small bubble of membrane inside the cell. It just pinched off from the membrane and holds a large particle. What is D?
Membrane drawing (model, not to scale). A bilayer: a top row of round heads, tails meeting in the middle, and a bottom row of round heads, with watery fluid outside the cell above and watery fluid inside the cell below. Part of the top row has folded inward and pinched off. Letter D points to a small bubble of membrane inside the cell that holds 1 large particle. Membrane drawing (model, not to scale). A bilayer: a top row of round heads, tails meeting in the middle, and a bottom row of round heads, with watery fluid outside the cell above and watery fluid inside the cell below. Part of the top row has folded inward and pinched off. Letter D points to a small bubble of membrane inside the cell that holds 1 large particle. watery fluid outside the cell model, not to scale D watery fluid inside the cell - A channel protein with a tunnel
- A pump that moves ions using ATP
- A vesicle made by exocytosis
- A vesicle made by endocytosis
Esme studies another membrane drawing. Letter B points to a protein with a tunnel through it and no ATP label beside it. What is B?
Membrane drawing (model, not to scale). A bilayer: a top row of round heads, tails meeting in the middle, and a bottom row of round heads, with watery fluid outside the cell above and watery fluid inside the cell below. Letter B points to a protein that reaches all the way across the bilayer with a tunnel through it; no ATP label is beside it. Outside the cell: 8 sodium ions. Inside the cell: 2 sodium ions. Membrane drawing (model, not to scale). A bilayer: a top row of round heads, tails meeting in the middle, and a bottom row of round heads, with watery fluid outside the cell above and watery fluid inside the cell below. Letter B points to a protein that reaches all the way across the bilayer with a tunnel through it; no ATP label is beside it. Outside the cell: 8 sodium ions. Inside the cell: 2 sodium ions. watery fluid outside the cell watery fluid inside the cell B 8 sodium ions 2 sodium ions - A vesicle, which carries particles into the cell
- A channel protein, which uses ATP to open its tunnel
- A pump, which moves ions toward the side with more
- A channel protein, which lets ions through with no ATP
Two membrane drawings (model, not to scale). Jun compares two drawings of sodium ions crossing a membrane. Which drawing shows active transport, and why?
Two membrane drawings (model, not to scale). Each has watery fluid outside the cell above and watery fluid inside the cell below. Drawing X: a pump with an ATP label; 9 sodium ions outside and 3 inside; an arrow shows ions moving from inside to outside. Drawing Y: a channel protein with no ATP label; 9 sodium ions outside and 3 inside; an arrow shows ions moving from outside to inside. Two membrane drawings (model, not to scale). Each has watery fluid outside the cell above and watery fluid inside the cell below. Drawing X: a pump with an ATP label; 9 sodium ions outside and 3 inside; an arrow shows ions moving from inside to outside. Drawing Y: a channel protein with no ATP label; 9 sodium ions outside and 3 inside; an arrow shows ions moving from outside to inside. Drawing X Drawing Y watery fluid outside the cell watery fluid outside the cell watery fluid inside the cell watery fluid inside the cell sodium ions pump ATP sodium ions channel protein - Drawing Y, because ions are moved to the side with fewer ions
- Drawing X, because ions are moved to the side with more ions
- Drawing Y, because ions are moved by a channel using ATP
- Drawing X, because ions are moved with no energy from the cell
Kira compares two drawings of a membrane and a large particle. Which drawing shows endocytosis, and why?
Two membrane drawings (model, not to scale). Each has watery fluid outside the cell above and watery fluid inside the cell below. Drawing X: the top row folds inward around 1 large particle that began outside, forming a pocket that closes into a bubble inside the cell. Drawing Y: a bubble inside the cell touches the membrane and opens to the outside, and 1 large particle moves out. Two membrane drawings (model, not to scale). Each has watery fluid outside the cell above and watery fluid inside the cell below. Drawing X: the top row folds inward around 1 large particle that began outside, forming a pocket that closes into a bubble inside the cell. Drawing Y: a bubble inside the cell touches the membrane and opens to the outside, and 1 large particle moves out. Two membrane drawings (model, not to scale) watery fluid outside the cell Drawing X 1 large particle watery fluid inside the cell watery fluid outside the cell Drawing Y 1 large particle watery fluid inside the cell - Drawing Y, because the cell takes a particle in
- Drawing X, because the cell takes a particle in
- Drawing Y, because the cell sends a particle out
- Drawing X, because the cell sends a particle out
Luz compares two drawings of one cycle of a sodium-potassium pump. Which drawing is correct?
Two pump drawings (model, not to scale). Each shows a pump with an ATP label across a membrane, with watery fluid outside the cell above and watery fluid inside the cell below. Drawing X: arrows show 3 sodium ions moving out and 2 potassium ions moving in. Drawing Y: arrows show 2 sodium ions moving out and 3 potassium ions moving in. Two pump drawings (model, not to scale). Each shows a pump with an ATP label across a membrane, with watery fluid outside the cell above and watery fluid inside the cell below. Drawing X: arrows show 3 sodium ions moving out and 2 potassium ions moving in. Drawing Y: arrows show 2 sodium ions moving out and 3 potassium ions moving in. model, not to scale Drawing X Drawing Y watery fluid outside the cell watery fluid outside the cell ATP ATP 3 sodium ions 2 potassium ions 2 sodium ions 3 potassium ions watery fluid inside the cell watery fluid inside the cell - Drawing X, because 3 sodium ions leave for 2 potassium ions that enter
- Drawing Y, because the pump needs no ATP to move the ions
- Drawing X, because the same number of ions go each way
- Drawing Y, because 3 potassium ions enter for 2 sodium ions that leave
Membrane drawing (model, not to scale). Milo reads a membrane drawing with a pump and an ATP label. Which meaning matches the term active transport?
Membrane drawing (model, not to scale). A bilayer: a top row of round heads, tails meeting in the middle, and a bottom row of round heads, with watery fluid outside the cell above and watery fluid inside the cell below. Letter A points to a pump with an ATP label beside it; it moves 3 sodium ions out of the cell. Letter B points to a channel protein with no ATP label. Membrane drawing (model, not to scale). A bilayer: a top row of round heads, tails meeting in the middle, and a bottom row of round heads, with watery fluid outside the cell above and watery fluid inside the cell below. Letter A points to a pump with an ATP label beside it; it moves 3 sodium ions out of the cell. Letter B points to a channel protein with no ATP label. watery fluid outside the cell watery fluid inside the cell A ATP B channel protein 3 sodium ions pump bilayer - Moving a substance across a membrane through any channel protein
- Moving a substance across a membrane from high to low concentration
- Moving a substance across a membrane using the cell’s energy
- Moving a substance across a membrane with no energy from the cell
Noah reads about sodium ions on two sides of a membrane. Which meaning matches the term electrochemical gradient?
Membrane drawing (model, not to scale). A bilayer: a top row of round heads, tails meeting in the middle, and a bottom row of round heads, with watery fluid outside the cell above and watery fluid inside the cell below. Outside the cell: 12 sodium ions and a slight positive charge. Inside the cell: 3 sodium ions and a slight negative charge. Membrane drawing (model, not to scale). A bilayer: a top row of round heads, tails meeting in the middle, and a bottom row of round heads, with watery fluid outside the cell above and watery fluid inside the cell below. Outside the cell: 12 sodium ions and a slight positive charge. Inside the cell: 3 sodium ions and a slight negative charge. watery fluid outside the cell slight positive charge 12 sodium ions 3 sodium ions watery fluid inside the cell slight negative charge - A concentration difference with no charge difference involved
- The energy a pump gets when it splits an ATP molecule
- A concentration difference and a charge difference acting together on an ion
- The path an ion takes through a channel protein
Read this first
Use this
Membrane drawing (model, not to scale). A bilayer: a top row of round heads, tails meeting in the middle, and a bottom row of round heads, with watery fluid outside the cell above and watery fluid inside the cell below. Letter P points to a pump with 1 ATP label beside it. Arrows show 3 sodium ions moving from inside to outside and 2 potassium ions moving from outside to inside in one cycle.
In Ren’s drawing, what does pump P move in one cycle?
- 2 sodium ions out and 3 potassium ions in
- 3 sodium ions in and 2 potassium ions out
- 3 sodium ions out and 2 potassium ions in
- 3 sodium ions out and 3 potassium ions in
Use this
Membrane drawing (model, not to scale). A bilayer: a top row of round heads, tails meeting in the middle, and a bottom row of round heads, with watery fluid outside the cell above and watery fluid inside the cell below. Letter A points to a protein with a tunnel through it and no label beside it. Letter B points to a protein with an ATP label beside its inside end. Outside the cell: 6 sodium ions. Inside the cell: 6 sodium ions.
In Zee’s drawing, which lettered protein has an ATP label beside it?
- Both A and B, since membrane proteins use ATP
- Neither, since ATP labels sit in the watery fluid
- A, the protein with the tunnel and no label
- B, the protein with the label beside it

