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
- One: they share a kingdom, which is the top level
- Zero: they sit in different domains
“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 - One: the domain Eukarya, since the kingdoms differ
- Zero: the kingdoms differ, and kingdom is the top level
- Two: the domain and the kingdom, since fungi are close to animals
- Eight: both are in Eukarya, so they share each level
Read this first
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?
- A grouping is fixed once scientists name it, so a DNA result cannot change where the hippopotamus sits
- DNA copies body shape, so it matches how animals look in any grouping
- Looks can mislead, so DNA evidence can place a hippopotamus nearer the whale
- A hippopotamus has no DNA that scientists can compare
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 shows that Bacteria and Archaea are not prokaryotes
- It complicates the simple tree, so scientists test new models
- It merges Bacteria and Archaea into one species
- It changes nothing, since a tree already shows these links between branches
Notebook
Notes on the three domains (classmate's notebook), 4 lines. Columns: line, entry. Line 1: Life is sorted into three domains: Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya. Line 2: Bacteria and Archaea cells have no nucleus, so both are prokaryotes. Line 3: Archaea cells have a nucleus, which is why they are not Bacteria. Line 4: Eukarya cells have a nucleus, so animals, plants and fungi belong there.
Milo reads a classmate's notebook about the three domains. Which line has the mistake?
- Line 1: kingdoms, not domains, form the first split of the tree
- Line 3: Archaea cells have no nucleus, and other differences set them apart
- Line 2: Bacteria and Archaea are one domain, since neither has a nucleus
- Line 4: fungi have no nucleus, so they belong with Bacteria
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 1: a scientific name needs three words
- Line 2: the genus Canis is not needed, since lupus alone names the wolf
- Line 3: the species word needs its genus to make a scientific name
- 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 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
- Line 2: the cat is not in an order with the dog
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 may move to group H, since its DNA matches H more closely
- Species 3 stays in group G, since flower shape outranks DNA results
- Species 3 stays in group G, since a grouping is fixed once it is named
- Species 1 and 2 move to group H, since species 3 matches H well
Bacteria and Archaea compared (real facts)
feature Bacteria Archaea nucleus no no peptidoglycan in the wall yes no lipid link in the membrane ester bond ether bond Tala reads a comparison of two groups of cells. Which claim and reason fit best?
- Archaea are their own domain, since their cells are far larger than Bacteria cells
- Archaea belong inside Bacteria, since both lack a nucleus in their cells
- Archaea are their own domain, since their walls and lipids differ from Bacteria
- Archaea belong with Eukarya, since their cells have a nucleus inside
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?
- Canis is the name, since the genus is the lowest level
- Canis lupus is the name, since it joins the genus and the species
- Canis lupus familiaris is the name, since the wolf is a subspecies of the dog
- lupus is the name, since the species word names the wolf alone