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9th grade Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells compared worksheet

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Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells compared

Grade 9 Science Worksheet - Challenge Me

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

  1. Three cutaways side by side (model drawing, not to scale). no nucleus. no cell wall. Ari's friend says a cell with a cell wall must be a plant cell, so a bacterium with a wall would be a plant. Which response is best?

    • Disagree: bacteria and fungi have cell walls too, so a wall does not show a plant
    • Disagree: a cell with a wall and no nucleus is a tiny animal cell, not a plant cell
    • Agree: a wall holds a plant's shape, and no other cell needs one
    • Agree: a cell wall is a plant feature, so a bacterium with one is a plant
  2. Read this first

    Use this

    Two cell cutaways side by side (model drawing, not to scale) above a Venn diagram. Left cutaway: a prokaryotic cell. Right cutaway: a eukaryotic (animal) cell. Venn diagram, left circle, prokaryotic cell only: DNA in a nucleoid; no membrane-bound organelles. Right circle, eukaryotic cell only: DNA inside a nucleus; membrane-bound organelles. Overlap, both cells: plasma membrane; cytoplasm; ribosomes; DNA.

  3. Bo's friend says a bacterium has no DNA or ribosomes, since it has no nucleus and no organelles. Which response is best?

    • Agree: ribosomes are organelles, and a bacterium has no organelles
    • Disagree: a bacterium has DNA in a nucleoid and ribosomes, but no nucleus
    • Disagree: a bacterium is a tiny animal cell, so it has a nucleus and organelles
    • Agree: DNA needs a nucleus to be kept in, so a bacterium has no DNA
  4. Two cutaways side by side (model drawing, not to scale). Esme's friend sees a bacterium on a slide and says a bacterium is just a tiny animal. Which response is best?

    • Agree: a bacterium is an animal cell that is simply much smaller than the others
    • Disagree: a bacterium is not an animal, and it has no DNA
    • Agree: a bacterium has a flagellum to move, so it is a tiny animal
    • Disagree: a bacterium is a prokaryote with no nucleus, and it is not an animal
  5. Use this

    Mitochondria and bacteria (real data, from OpenStax Biology), 4 rows. Columns: feature, bacterium, mitochondrion. own DNA, yes, in a nucleoid, yes, its own genome; own ribosomes, yes, yes, like those of prokaryotes; membranes around it, one plasma membrane, two; how new ones form, the cell divides, divides by a process like binary fission.

  6. Kira reads about the idea that mitochondria came from bacteria taken into a larger cell. Which statement does the table best support?

    • Mitochondria have their own DNA and ribosomes, as bacteria do
    • Mitochondria have a nucleus of their own, which shows they were cells
    • Mitochondria have no DNA, since the nucleus holds the DNA of a eukaryotic cell
    • Mitochondria make energy and bacteria make energy, so they are the same
  7. Chloroplasts (real data, from OpenStax Biology)

    featurechloroplast
    own DNAa circular DNA chromosome
    own ribosomessimilar to those of cyanobacteria
    membranes around ittwo
    inner membranethought to come from the plasma membrane of a cyanobacterium taken in
  8. Luz asks why a chloroplast having two membranes fits the idea that chloroplasts came from bacteria taken into a larger cell. What is the best reason?

    • The inner membrane is thought to come from the plasma membrane of the cyanobacterium
    • Two membranes show that the cell built the chloroplast from scratch inside its cytoplasm
    • Both membranes came from the nucleus, since a chloroplast has no DNA of its own
    • Two membranes show chloroplasts came from mitochondria, which also have two
  9. How new mitochondria form (real data, from OpenStax Biology)

    observationresult
    where new mitochondria come fromprevious mitochondria
    how they divideby pinching in two like binary fission in prokaryotes
    built from scratch by the cellno
  10. Milo reads the card on new mitochondria. Which conclusion fits the evidence?

    • New mitochondria grow from ribosomes in the cytoplasm
    • New mitochondria are built from scratch whenever the cell needs energy
    • New mitochondria are copied from the nucleus's DNA, since they have no DNA of their own
    • New mitochondria come from existing ones that divide, much as bacteria divide
  11. Pia compares model cell P, a 3 µm cube, with model cell Q, a 30 µm cube. Which statement about their exchange of materials is right?

    • Q exchanges better, because 27000 cubic µm of volume holds more materials
    • P and Q exchange equally well, because both cells are cubes
    • Q exchanges better, because 5400 square µm is far more membrane than the 54 of cell P
    • P has 10 times the ratio of Q, so P has more membrane for each unit of volume
  12. The side is unknown. Tala knows a model cube cell has a surface area-to-volume ratio of 0.15 per µm. Use the rule. How long is its side?

    • 0.9 µm
    • 0.025 µm
    • 40 µm
    • 5.85 µm
  13. Zee doubles a model cell's side from 6 µm to 12 µm. Which statement fits the table?

    • Volume and surface area both grew 8 times, so the ratio stayed at 1
    • The bigger cell holds 8 times the materials, so it exchanges 8 times better than before
    • Surface area grew from 216 to 864, so the larger cell exchanges better
    • Volume grew 8 times but surface area only 4 times, so the ratio fell from 1 to 0.5
  14. model data, not to scale. Its inside has not been checked yet. Esme thinks the soil cell is a eukaryote because it might have DNA and ribosomes. Which finding would show it is a prokaryote?

    • Its DNA lies in a nucleoid, with no nucleus or organelles with membranes
    • It has a cell wall, because prokaryotes are the cells that have walls
    • It has no ribosomes, because prokaryotes are cells that lack ribosomes
    • It has no DNA of its own, because prokaryotes are cells that lack DNA
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9th grade Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells compared worksheet – printable
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About this worksheet

Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells compared. Every version has 10 questions, and the answer key prints on the second page.

What your child will learn

  • I can name the parts of a prokaryotic cell drawing: nucleoid, ribosomes, plasma membrane, cytoplasm and cell wall, and say which parts a bacterium may also have (flagellum).
  • I can say what makes a prokaryote (bacteria and archaea) different from a eukaryote (animals, plants, fungi and protists): no nucleus and no membrane-bound organelles.
  • I can read a Venn diagram of the two cell types and place the shared parts (plasma membrane, cytoplasm, ribosomes, DNA) in the overlap.
  • I can read the size ranges (prokaryotic cells about 0.1 to 5.0 µm across, eukaryotic cells about 10 to 100 µm) and use them, with a cell's parts, to classify a cell.
  • I can work out a cube cell's surface area (6 × side × side), volume (side × side × side) and the ratio of the two, and explain why a small cell exchanges materials better than a big one.
  • I can read an evidence table and say why the facts about mitochondria and chloroplasts (their own DNA and ribosomes, two membranes, division like bacteria) support the endosymbiotic idea.

Standard: supports HS-LS1-2

Words to know

prokaryote: A cell with no nucleus and no membrane-bound organelles; bacteria and archaea

eukaryote: A cell with a nucleus and membrane-bound organelles; animals, plants, fungi, protists

nucleoid: The central region of a prokaryotic cell where the DNA is found

organelle: A cell part with a job; in eukaryotes many are wrapped in a membrane

ribosome: A small structure that builds proteins; every cell type here has them

plasma membrane: The outer covering that separates the cell's inside from its surroundings

cytoplasm: The jelly-like fluid, with parts in it, inside the plasma membrane

cell wall: A rigid layer outside the plasma membrane in bacteria, plants and fungi

Common mistakes

Your child thought a cell with no nucleus has no DNA. Ask where a bacterium keeps its DNA, and which Venn region lists DNA.

Your child thought bacteria have no ribosomes because they have no organelles with membranes. Ask which cell parts sit in the middle of the Venn diagram.

Your child thought a bacterium is a tiny animal cell. Ask what a bacterium lacks that an animal cell has.

Questions parents ask

What is the most common mistake with prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells compared?

Your child thought a cell with no nucleus has no DNA. Ask where a bacterium keeps its DNA, and which Venn region lists DNA.

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.

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