What salty or fresh water does to plant and animal cells
Grade 9 Science Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.
Read this first
Use the table
Lab card and beaker drawing (model data, not to scale). A teacher soaked potato strips from one potato; a class reads about the test.
Salt in the solution (%) Start mass (g) End mass (g) Change in mass (%) 0 4.0 4.8 20 2 4.0 4.4 10 5 4.0 3.8 −5 10 4.0 2.8 −30 Percent change = (end mass - start mass) / start mass x 100. Beaker Z: salt water, 3% solute, holding one strip from the same potato.
Bo puts a strip from the same potato in beaker Z. Which prediction fits the card?
- It stays the same, because isotonic means no water moves
- It gains mass, because salt moves in from beaker Z into the strip
- It gains mass, because 3% is under the balance point near 4%
- It loses mass, because water moves toward the side with less solute
Use the table
Lab card and beaker drawing (model data, not to scale). A teacher soaked celery strips from one stalk; a class reads about the test.
Salt in the solution (%) Start mass (g) End mass (g) Change in mass (%) 0 6.0 6.72 12 2 6.0 6.24 4 4 6.0 5.76 −4 6 6.0 5.28 −12 Percent change = (end mass - start mass) / start mass x 100. Beaker P: salt water, 1% solute. Beaker Q: salt water, 5% solute. Each beaker holds one celery strip from the same stalk.
Jun uses the card and the two beakers. Which beaker holds a solution hypertonic to the celery cells?
- Beaker P, because water moves toward the side with less solute
- Beaker P, because the celery cells hold more solute than P
- Beaker P, because 1% is closer to the card's 0% row
- Beaker Q, because 5% is above the balance point near 3%
Use the table
Lab card and beaker drawing (model data, not to scale). A teacher placed a shell-less egg in each liquid; the shell was dissolved in vinegar beforehand.
Solute in the solution (%) Start mass (g) End mass (g) Change in mass (%) 0 60 66 10 10 60 60 0 40 60 42 −30 Percent change = (end mass - start mass) / start mass x 100. Beaker D: sugar solution, 25% solute, holding a fourth egg of the same kind with a start mass of 60 g.
Kira adds beaker D. Which prediction for the fourth egg fits the card?
- Its mass falls, because 25% is above the egg's 10%
- Its mass rises, because beaker D is hypotonic to the egg
- Its mass stays at 60 g, because isotonic means no water moves
- Its mass rises, because sugar moves into the egg
Use this
Beaker drawing (model data, not to scale). One beaker holding one plant cell, drawn as a stiff wall with the membrane just inside it. Inside the cell: 3% solute. The beaker: fresh water, 0% solute; after 30 minutes the cell is larger and firm, and it has not burst. The wall is drawn stiff, with the membrane pressed against it.
Water entered Luz's plant cell, yet the cell did not burst. What best explains this?
- Water moves toward less solute, so it stopped at the wall
- Salt left the cell and balanced the water that came in
- The membrane blocks water once the cell is full
- The wall pushes back, building turgor pressure
Use this
Beaker drawing of a paramecium, a single-celled organism (model data, not to scale). After an hour the paramecium has not burst.
Milo reads that this paramecium sits in a hypotonic medium yet has not burst. What best explains this?
- Water moves toward less solute, so it leaves the cell
- The medium is hypertonic to the cell, so water leaves
- Salt flows out of the cell as fast as water flows in
- Its contractile vacuole pumps extra water out
“model data, not to scale” In Noah's drawing the cell contents shrank, yet the wall kept its outline. What best explains this?
Beaker drawing (model data, not to scale). One beaker holding one plant cell, drawn as a stiff wall with the membrane just inside it. Inside the cell: 3% solute. The beaker: salt water, 10% solute; the cell contents shrank away from the wall, but the wall kept its outline. Beaker drawing (model data, not to scale). One beaker holding one plant cell, drawn as a stiff wall with the membrane just inside it. Inside the cell: 3% solute. The beaker: salt water, 10% solute; the cell contents shrank away from the wall, but the wall kept its outline. salt water 10% solute stiff wall 3% solute membrane - The wall shrank first, and the membrane followed it
- Water left the cytoplasm, but the stiff wall stayed
- The cell burst, so the wall was left as an empty outline
- Salt entered the cell and pushed the membrane inward
Use this
Beaker drawing (model data, not to scale). One beaker holding one plant cell, drawn as a stiff wall with the membrane just inside it. Inside the cell:
Pia's notes say a plant cell in fresh water takes in water until it bursts. Which correction fixes the notes?
Beaker drawing (model data, not to scale). One beaker holding one plant cell, drawn as a stiff wall with the membrane just inside it. Inside the cell: 3% solute. The beaker: fresh water, 0% solute. Beaker drawing (model data, not to scale). One beaker holding one plant cell, drawn as a stiff wall with the membrane just inside it. Inside the cell: 3% solute. The beaker: fresh water, 0% solute. fresh water, 0% solute 3% solute membrane stiff wall plant cell - Water enters until the cell is isotonic, and then it bursts
- Water enters until the wall resists, so the cell is turgid
- Salt enters the cell until both sides match
- Water leaves the cell, so the cell shrinks and wilts
Use this
Beaker drawing (model data, not to scale). One beaker holding one plant cell, drawn as a stiff wall with the membrane just inside it. Inside the cell: 4% solute. The beaker: salt water, 10% solute. The cell is a potato cell.
Ren's notes say the potato strip's mass rises in 10% salt water because salt moves in. Which correction fixes the notes?
- Water enters the strip, so its mass rises
- The mass holds steady, because no water crosses
- Water leaves the strip, so its mass falls
- Salt leaves the strip, so its mass falls
Beaker drawing (model data, not to scale). Tala's notes say the solution is hypertonic because the cell holds 6% and the solution 2%. Which correction fixes the notes?
Beaker drawing (model data, not to scale). One beaker holding one cell, drawn as a round outline (the membrane). Inside the cell: 6% solute. The beaker: salt water, 2% solute. Beaker drawing (model data, not to scale). One beaker holding one cell, drawn as a round outline (the membrane). Inside the cell: 6% solute. The beaker: salt water, 2% solute. 6% solute membrane salt water 2% solute - The solution is isotonic, because both contain solute
- The note is right, because the cell holds more solute than the solution
- The solution is hypotonic, so water leaves the cell
- It is hypotonic, because it has less solute than the cell
After a day in corn syrup the egg lost water and shriveled; a teacher now moves it into beaker W. Ari's teacher moves the shriveled egg from corn syrup into beaker W. Which claim, with its reason, fits?
Beaker drawing (model data, not to scale). One beaker holding one shell-less egg (the shell was dissolved in vinegar by the teacher beforehand), drawn as a round outline. Inside the egg: 20% solute. The beaker: plain water, 0% solute. After a day in corn syrup the egg lost water and shriveled; a teacher now moves it into beaker W. Beaker drawing (model data, not to scale). One beaker holding one shell-less egg (the shell was dissolved in vinegar by the teacher beforehand), drawn as a round outline. Inside the egg: 20% solute. The beaker: plain water, 0% solute. After a day in corn syrup the egg lost water and shriveled; a teacher now moves it into beaker W. Beaker drawing (model data, not to scale) 20% solute plain water 0% solute beaker W - It stays the same, because isotonic means no water moves
- It swells, because sugar leaves the egg
- It swells, because water moves toward its higher solute
- It keeps shrinking, because water moves toward less solute