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Class 9 Science: Patterns in Life, Diversity and Classification, 8 practice questions with answers

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These are 8 practice questions on Chapter 12, Patterns in Life: Diversity and Classification, of the new NCERT Class 9 Science textbook, Exploration (First Edition, April 2026). Each has a worked answer and the textbook page it comes from. They cover how classification grew from two kingdoms to five, why fungi have a kingdom of their own, lichens, why mosses are the "amphibians" of the plant kingdom, gymnosperms, flatworms and roundworms, echinoderms and the notochord, and how to write a scientific name. Try each one before you open the answer.

These questions are our own, drafted with AI help, and every answer was checked against the textbook page it cites, but no practising teacher has reviewed them yet. If you find a mistake, please tell us.

What the chapter says you need

Facts from the NCERT textbook (Exploration: Textbook of Science for Grade 9, Chapter 12, printed pages 228 to 251):

Kingdoms

Question 1. Put these classification systems in the order in which they were introduced, and say what each new step added: the four kingdom system, the two kingdom system, the five kingdom system, the three kingdom system.

Answer: two kingdom, three kingdom, four kingdom, five kingdom. The two kingdom system divided life into Plantae and Animalia. The three kingdom system added Protista for microscopic, single-celled life. The four kingdom system separated bacteria into Monera, because they have no true, membrane-bound nucleus. The five kingdom system, Whittaker's, gave Fungi a kingdom of their own. (Classification systems over time, page 233; Fig. 12.4.)

Question 2. A shelf-shaped bracket fungus grows out of a fallen log. Like a plant, it stays fixed in one place. Why is it placed in the kingdom Fungi and not in Plantae?

Answer: because it cannot make its own food. A fungus is heterotrophic: it absorbs nutrients from dead or decaying matter, here the log, while plants make their own food by photosynthesis. Its cell walls are also made of chitin, not of the cellulose found in plant cell walls. (Why fungi got their own kingdom, page 233; Kingdom Fungi, page 236; Kingdom Plantae, page 237.)

Question 3. A student looks at a thin slice of a crusty, grey-green growth under a microscope. It shows fine fungal filaments wrapped around small, round green cells. What is this growth, what does each of the two partners do, and how can such growths help researchers check the air?

Answer: a lichen, a partnership of an alga and a fungus. The green cells are the alga: it is autotrophic and makes food by photosynthesis. The filaments are the fungus: it is heterotrophic and gives protection. Lichens change colour with air pollutants, so from their colour researchers can work out how much pollution is in the air: they are natural bioindicators of air quality. (Lichens, page 237; fungal filaments, page 236.)

Plants

Question 4. A green mat of moss grows on a damp wall during the monsoon. Why is a bryophyte like this called an "amphibian" of the plant kingdom?

Answer: because it lives on land but needs water to reproduce. Its male reproductive cells must swim through water to reach the female cells, and it has no vascular tissue to carry water, so it stays in moist, shady places. (Bryophyta, page 238; Table 12.3, Classes of Kingdom Plantae, page 239.)

Question 5. The deodar tree grows on cold, dry Himalayan slopes. It has needle-like leaves and bears its seeds on cones, with no fruit around them. To which class of Plantae does it belong, and does it need water for fertilisation?

Answer: Gymnosperms; no. Gymnosperm means "naked seed": the seeds are not enclosed in fruits and are exposed on cones. Gymnosperms do not need water for fertilisation, and their needle-like leaves reduce water loss, which suits cold, dry places. (Gymnosperms, page 238; Table 12.3, Classes of Kingdom Plantae, page 240.)

Animals and naming

Question 6. Worm A has a flat body and a single opening that takes in food and also removes waste. Worm B has a long, cylindrical body with a mouth at one end and an anus at the other. Which group does each belong to?

Answer: A is a flatworm (Platyhelminthes); B is a roundworm (Nematoda). Flatworms have a single opening for food intake and waste removal. Roundworms have elongated, cylindrical bodies with two openings, the mouth and the anus. (Platyhelminthes, page 241; Nematoda, page 242.)

Question 7. A sea animal has a hard internal skeleton made of calcium carbonate, but it never has a notochord at any stage of its life. Is it a chordate? To which phylum does it belong?

Answer: no, it is a non-chordate (invertebrate); it belongs to Echinodermata. Animals are divided into chordates and non-chordates by whether they have a notochord, not by whether they have an internal skeleton. Echinoderms have a hard internal skeleton of calcium carbonate but lack a notochord. (The notochord as the basis of grouping, page 240; Echinodermata, page 243.)

Question 8. The Indian peafowl belongs to the genus Pavo, and its species name is cristatus. Which of these is written correctly in print: pavo cristatus, Pavo Cristatus, Pavo cristatus, Cristatus pavo? How would you show it when writing by hand?

Answer: Pavo cristatus, underlined when handwritten. The genus comes first and begins with a capital letter; the species name follows in small letters; the name is printed in italics. When you write it by hand, you underline it instead. (Rules for writing scientific names, page 246.)

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Sources

All opened and read on 22 October 2026. Page numbers are the printed page numbers of the textbook; printed page = PDF page + 227.

The facts are from the textbook pages above. The questions and worked answers are our own. This guide is general information; follow your teacher and the textbook.