Primary 5 · Science · Diversity: Classification
Diversity: Classification questions for Primary 5 Science
9 questions to work through online, 2 of them written out the way the paper asks. Answer and you get the working straight away, then a score at the end. No sign-up, and you can retake it as often as you like.
- Choosing a splitting question
- Completing a key
- What makes a good key question
- Reading a table into a key
- Why a question fails
- Vertebrate groups
- Naming the tool
- Naming a group
- Applying the ideas
| Organism | Makes own food | Has a backbone | Moves about |
|---|---|---|---|
| W | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| X | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Y | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Z | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
Answers and explanations for all 9 questions
Every answer with the reasoning behind it. Worth reading after you have tried the set — or on its own, if you are a parent marking it.
Which question would split a spider, a bee, a frog and a snake into two pairs in one step?
Answer: Does it have a backbone?
The frog and the snake have backbones; the spider and the bee do not. That is the only question here that gives two pairs.
In the key above, which question should replace 'How many legs?' so that it works properly?
Answer: Does it have six legs?
A key question has to be answerable yes or no from something observable. 'Does it have six legs?' separates the bee from the eight-legged spider.
Which two of these are good questions to use in a classification key?
Answer: A and B only
A key question must have one answer everyone would agree on. Feathers and egg-laying can be observed; beauty and suitability as a pet cannot.
Based on the table above, which organism is most likely a fungus?
Answer: Z
A fungus cannot make its own food, has no backbone and does not move from place to place. Z is the only column with that combination.
Why is 'Is it useful to people?' a poor question for a classification key?
Answer: Different people would answer it differently for the same organism.
A key has to give the same result whoever uses it. Usefulness depends on who is asking, so two people would sort the same organism into different groups.
Which two of these are true of all amphibians?
Answer: A and B only
Amphibians have moist skin and start life in water as tadpoles, moving onto land as adults. That double life is what the name means.
This is the name for a set of yes-or-no questions used to identify an unknown living thing. It is called a classification ______ .
Answer: key
A set of yes-or-no questions for identifying organisms is a classification key.
Animals with no backbone are put together in one very large group. What is this group called?
Answer: invertebrates
Animals without backbones are invertebrates.
A scientist finds an unfamiliar animal with a backbone, moist skin and no scales, whose young live in water. Which group does it belong to?
Answer: amphibians
Moist skin without scales, plus young that develop in water, is the amphibian pattern — the same one a frog follows.