Classification: domains, kingdoms and scientific names
Grade 9 Science Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.
“Tree of life (real groups, not to scale):” Ari reads a tree and the list of levels. How many of the eight levels do the dog and Haloarcula marismortui share?
- Two: they share a domain and a kingdom
- Eight: they are both cells, so they share each level
- Zero: they sit in different domains
- One: they share a kingdom, which is the top level
“Tree (real groups, not to scale):” Bo reads a nested tree. How many of the eight levels do the dog and the honey mushroom share?
Tree (real groups, not to scale): the domain Eukarya holds the dog, the honey mushroom and the garden pea. The kingdom Animalia holds the dog. The kingdom Fungi holds the honey mushroom. The kingdom Plantae holds the garden pea. Tree (real groups, not to scale): the domain Eukarya holds the dog, the honey mushroom and the garden pea. The kingdom Animalia holds the dog. The kingdom Fungi holds the honey mushroom. The kingdom Plantae holds the garden pea. domain Eukarya kingdom Animalia kingdom Fungi kingdom Plantae dog honey mushroom garden pea - Zero: the kingdoms differ, and kingdom is the top level
- Eight: both are in Eukarya, so they share each level
- One: the domain Eukarya, since the kingdoms differ
- Two: the domain and the kingdom, since fungi are close to animals
Read this first
Dog and wolf (real facts)
level dog wolf genus Canis Canis species lupus lupus extra subspecies name familiaris not used here Esme reads two names. The dog is a subspecies of the wolf. How many of the eight levels do the dog and the wolf share?
- Six: domain through family
- Eight: domain through species
- Seven: domain through genus
- Nine: the subspecies counts as a ninth level
Hippopotamus, pig and whale (real facts)
observation fact what a hippopotamus resembles more a pig, not a whale what DNA analysis suggests the hippopotamus may be the closest living relative of the whale Jun reads that a hippopotamus looks more like a pig than a whale. Why can DNA evidence still move it nearer the whale?
- DNA copies body shape, so it matches how animals look in any grouping
- A grouping is fixed once scientists name it, so a DNA result cannot change where the hippopotamus sits
- A hippopotamus has no DNA that scientists can compare
- Looks can mislead, so DNA evidence can place a hippopotamus nearer the whale
How prokaryotes were grouped (real facts)
period grouping until the 1970s all prokaryotes counted as bacteria later two domains, Archaea and Bacteria reason for the change large genetic differences Kira knows Archaea and Bacteria cells both lack a nucleus. Why are they now two separate domains?
- Both lack a nucleus, so Archaea are still a kind of Bacteria
- Archaea cells are far larger than Bacteria cells
- Their genes differ so much that DNA evidence supports two branches
- Archaea cells have a nucleus, which Bacteria cells lack
Horizontal gene transfer (real facts)
feature fact meaning genes pass between unrelated species common in Bacteria and Archaea in Eukarya rarer and less important Luz learns that genes can pass between distantly related species. What does this do to a simple branching tree?
- It complicates the simple tree, so scientists test new models
- It shows that Bacteria and Archaea are not prokaryotes
- It changes nothing, since a tree already shows these links between branches
- It merges Bacteria and Archaea into one species
Notebook
Notes on the wolf's name (classmate's notebook), 4 lines. Columns: line, entry. Line 1: The wolf's scientific name has two words, Canis lupus. Line 2: The first word, Canis, is the genus and starts with a capital letter. Line 3: The second word, lupus, names the wolf by itself, so Canis can be dropped. Line 4: Both words are written in italics.
Noah reads a classmate's notebook about the wolf's name. Which line has the mistake?
- Line 3: the species word needs its genus to make a scientific name
- Line 2: the genus Canis is not needed, since lupus alone names the wolf
- Line 1: a scientific name needs three words
- Line 4: scientific names are written in plain type, not italics
Notebook
Notes on a dog and a cat (classmate's notebook), 4 lines. Columns: line, entry. Line 1: The dog and the cat are both in class Mammalia. Line 2: They are also both in order Carnivora. Line 3: Sharing an order means they must share a genus too. Line 4: Counting from domain, they share five levels.
Pia reads a classmate's notebook about a dog and a cat. Which line has the mistake?
- Line 2: the cat is not in an order with the dog
- Line 4: they share eight levels, not five, when counting from domain
- Line 3: sharing an order does not mean sharing a genus
- Line 1: the dog and the cat are in different classes
DNA match for three model plant species (model data)
species match with group G (percent) match with group H (percent) species 1 96 62 species 2 94 60 species 3 63 95 Ren reads DNA results for three model plant species that were grouped together by flower shape. Which claim and reason fit best for species 3?
- Species 3 stays in group G, since flower shape outranks DNA results
- Species 1 and 2 move to group H, since species 3 matches H well
- Species 3 may move to group H, since its DNA matches H more closely
- Species 3 stays in group G, since a grouping is fixed once it is named
Names of the wolf and the dog (real facts)
animal scientific name wolf Canis lupus dog Canis lupus familiaris Zee reads two scientific names. Which claim and reason fit best for the wolf's scientific name?
- lupus is the name, since the species word names the wolf alone
- Canis lupus familiaris is the name, since the wolf is a subspecies of the dog
- Canis lupus is the name, since it joins the genus and the species
- Canis is the name, since the genus is the lowest level