PencilGo

Grade 9 · Science · Biology

9th grade Cell theory and how it was discovered worksheet

6 printable versionsBuilding Confidence10 questions · answer keyFree · no account

Level: Building Confidence · On Level · Challenge Me

When it’s done, scan the sheet with your phone and PencilGo marks it and picks the next one. Create a free account

Version
Print

Cell theory and how it was discovered

Grade 9 Science Worksheet - Building Confidence

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

  1. Read this first

    Use this

    Four event cards, not in order. A: Schleiden says plants are made of cells (1838). B: Hooke names cells in cork (1665). C: Virchow publishes an essay saying that cells come from cells (1855). D: Schwann says animals are made of cells (1839).

  2. Ari puts four cell-theory events on a timeline, earliest first. Which order is right?

    • B, D, A, C
    • A, B, D, C
    • B, A, D, C
    • B, A, C, D
  3. Use this

    Four event cards, not in order. A: Remak shows that cells come from cells by dividing (1852). B: Leeuwenhoek sees single-celled organisms in lake water (1674). C: Schwann says animals are made of cells (1839). D: Hooke names cells in cork (1665).

  4. Bo sorts four more events from earliest to latest. Which order is right?

    • D, B, C, A
    • B, D, C, A
    • D, C, B, A
    • D, B, A, C
  5. Use this

    Four event cards, not in order. A: Virchow publishes an essay saying that cells come from cells (1855). B: Pasteur disproves spontaneous generation with a flask experiment (1862). C: Leeuwenhoek sees single-celled organisms in lake water (1674). D: Schleiden says plants are made of cells (1838).

  6. Esme lines up another set of events, earliest first. Which order is right?

    • C, D, B, A
    • C, A, D, B
    • D, C, A, B
    • C, D, A, B
  7. Jun reads that Robert Hooke looked at thin slices of cork in the 1665 book Micrographia. What did Hooke do?

    • Finished cell theory without any help
    • Showed that cells come from other cells
    • Named the box-like cork structures cells
    • Saw single-celled organisms in lake water
  8. A Dutch shopkeeper, Antony van Leeuwenhoek, made single-lens microscopes. Kira reads that Leeuwenhoek looked at lake water in 1674. What did Leeuwenhoek see?

    • Box-like cork walls he named cells
    • Plant tissue that he described as made up of cells
    • Single-celled organisms he called animalcules
    • A finished cell theory he wrote himself
  9. Milo lists some ideas about cells. Which idea is part of cell theory?

    • Living things are made of one or more cells
    • New cells form from soil and water, with no cells needed
    • Just plants are made of cells
    • One scientist alone worked out the theory
  10. Use this

    Cell theory card. Part 1: one or more cells make up all living things. Part 2: the cell is the basic living unit. Part 3: new cells arise from existing cells.

  11. Noah reads the cell theory card. Which part tells where new cells come from?

    • Part 3: new cells arise from existing cells
    • Part 1: one or more cells make up living things
    • Part 2: the cell is the basic living unit
    • Part 3: new cells form from nonliving matter
  12. Pia sees mold spread across stale bread. By cell theory, where did the new mold cells come from?

    • From damp air with no cells in it
    • From the bread itself turning into new cells
    • From the scientist who named cells
    • From mold cells that already existed
  13. Ren reads that cell theory is a scientific theory. What does theory mean in science?

    • A single observation made once
    • A guess that has not yet been tested
    • A tested and confirmed explanation
    • A rule that cannot change
  14. Tala reads that a suggested explanation for an observation, one that can be tested, has a name. What is it?

    • A measurement
    • A theory
    • A hypothesis
    • A fact
PencilGopencilgo.com

9th grade Cell theory and how it was discovered worksheet – printable
Print: 123456

About this worksheet

Cell theory and how it was discovered. Every version has 10 questions, and the answer key prints on the second page.

What your child will learn

  • I can put the main events of cell theory in order with their years: Hooke 1665, Leeuwenhoek 1674, Schleiden 1838, Schwann 1839, Remak 1852, Virchow 1855.
  • I can say who found what, and why no single scientist built cell theory alone.
  • I can state the three parts of cell theory and say which part a described observation supports.
  • I can say why Hooke's cork "cells" were empty walls, not living cells, and what better lenses and stains let scientists see.
  • I can read a timeline: find the gap between two events and which came first.
  • I can say what a scientific theory is (a tested and confirmed explanation, not a guess), and tell it from a hypothesis.

Standard: none (FL)

Words to know

cell: The basic unit of life; the smallest unit of a living thing

cell theory: One or more cells make up living things; the cell is life's unit; cells come from cells

microscope: A tool with lenses that makes tiny things look bigger

magnification: How many times larger a microscope makes something look

resolving power: A microscope's ability to show two nearby structures as separate

single-celled organism: A living thing made of just one cell

spontaneous generation: The old idea that living things arise from nonliving matter

hypothesis: A suggested explanation for an observation that can be tested

Common mistakes

Your child put cell-theory events in the wrong order or mixed up which came first. Ask which year is smaller, and why the smaller year comes first on a timeline.

Your child thought one scientist built cell theory alone. Ask who named cells, who studied plants and animals, and who said cells come from cells.

Your child thought Hooke saw living cells. Ask what was left of the cork cells (only the walls) and why walls alone are not a living cell.

Questions parents ask

What is the most common mistake with cell theory and how it was discovered?

Your child put cell-theory events in the wrong order or mixed up which came first. Ask which year is smaller, and why the smaller year comes first on a timeline.

Are these 9th grade science worksheets free to print?

Yes. All 6 printable versions at each level are free to print, with the answer key, and no account is needed.

More biology

See all Biology

Every sheet you scan goes into your child’s record: dated, marked and ready for the year-end portfolio. Homeschool records