Chapter 17

Introduction to Animals
Worksheets

(Opening image copyright RAGMA IMAGES, 2010. Used under license from Shutterstock.com.)

• Lesson 17.1: Overview of Animals

• Lesson 17.2: Overview of Invertebrates

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17.1 Overview of Animals
Lesson 17.1: True or False
Name___________________ Class______________ Date________
Write true if the statement is true or false if the statement is false.
_____ 1. Animals are multicellular prokaryotes.
_____ 2. Animal cells have cell walls to maintain their shape.
_____ 3. All animals are heterotrophs.
_____ 4. Vertebrates do not have a backbone.
_____ 5. All animal cells are exactly the same shape.
_____ 6. Animals have a nervous system.
_____ 7. Almost all animals digest their food inside their bodies.
_____ 8. Most animals reproduce by sexual reproduction.
_____ 9. Fish are in the phylum Chordata.
_____ 10. Roundworms are in the phylum Arthropoda.
_____ 11. Over 90% of all animals species are vertebrates.
_____ 12. A characteristic of animals is that they have sensory organs.
_____ 13. An exoskeleton is a bony skeleton on the outside of some organisms.
_____ 14. A notochord is a rigid, supportive rod spanning the length of the body of chordates.
_____ 15. The first animals to evolve with true lungs were the reptiles.

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Lesson 17.1: Critical Reading
Name___________________ Class______________ Date________
Read these passages from the text and answer the questions that follow.
Evolution of Amniotes
Amphibians were the first animals to have true lungs and limbs for life on land. However, they still had
to return to water to reproduce. That’s because their eggs lacked a waterproof covering and would dry
out on land. The first fully terrestrial vertebrates were amniotes. Amniotes are animals that produce
eggs with internal membranes. The membranes let gases but not water pass through. Therefore, in an
amniotic egg, an embryo can breathe without drying out. Amniotic eggs were the first eggs that could be
laid on land. The earliest amniotes evolved about 350 million years ago. They may have looked like the
animal shown below. Within a few million years, two important amniote groups evolved: synapsids and
sauropsids. Synapsids evolved into mammals. The sauropsids gave rise to reptiles, dinosaurs, and birds.

Early Amniote. The earliest amniotes probably looked something like this. They were reptile-like, but
not actually reptiles. Reptiles evolved somewhat later. (Image courtesy of ArthurWeasley and under the
Creative Commons license CC-BY-SA 3.0.)
Questions
1. Why was the evolution of amphibians notable? What did they pioneer?

2. What characteristic of amphibians necessitates that they live near water?

3. Define amniote.

4. What reproductive advantage do amniotes have over pre-amniotes?

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5. What are the important animal groups that evolved from amniotes? What in turn, evolved from these
groups?

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Lesson 17.1: Multiple Choice
Name___________________ Class______________ Date________
Circle the letter of the correct choice.

1. Animal cells and bacterial cells both may have all of the following cell structures except
(a) mitochondria.
(b) DNA.
(c) plasma membrane.
(d) flagella.
2. Which of the following are animals?
(a) snake
(b) sponge
(c) flatworm
(d) all of the above
3. Which of the following is not a characteristic shared by almost all animals?
(a) digestion of food internally
(b) the ability to fly
(c) the ability to move, at least at some stage of their life
(d) detection of environmental stimuli
4. Invertebrates evolved adaptations including
(a) a fluid-filled body cavity.
(b) a complete digestive system.
(c) a symmetrical body.
(d) all of the above.
5. A skeleton forming outside the animal’s body is a(n)
(a) endoskeleton.
(b) exoskeleton.
(c) notochord.
(d) vertebrate.
6. One of the main challenges animals faced when moving to land was
(a) switching to asexual reproduction.
(b) getting rid of their nervous systems, which would be too sensitive on land.
(c) getting rid of extra water.
(d) not losing too much water from their bodies.
7. An example of an animal that has a notochord but lacks a backbone is a
(a) tunicate.
(b) fish.
(c) bird.
(d) all of the above
8. Animals that have eggs with internal membranes that permit diffusion of gases but prevent water
loss are classified as
(a) chordates.
(b) echinoderms.
(c) amniotes.

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 (d) rotifers.

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Lesson 17.1: Vocabulary I
Name___________________ Class______________ Date________
Match the vocabulary word with the proper definition.
Definitions
_____ 1. living on land
_____ 2. animals with a notochord
_____ 3. an animal with a backbone
_____ 4. a hollow nerve cord running the length of the body
_____ 5. a living organism whose eggs are surrounded by membranes
_____ 6. an animal with no backbone
_____ 7. another name for backbone
_____ 8. heterotrophic organisms that can detect environmental stimuli, can move on their own during
at least part of their life, and most often digest their food internally
_____ 9. living in the ocean
_____ 10. the parts of an animal that detect environmental stimuli
_____ 11. a non-bony skeleton on the outside of arthropods
_____ 12. cell with a nucleus
Terms
a. amniote
b. animal
c. chordate
d. eukaryote
e. exoskeleton
f. invertebrate
g. marine
h. notochord
i. sensory organs
j. terrestrial
k. vertebral column
l. vertebrate

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Lesson 17.1: Vocabulary II
Name___________________ Class______________ Date________
Fill in the blank with the appropriate term.
1. Another name for backbone is __________.
2. __________ are heterotrophs that have sensory organs, internal digestion, and the ability to move.
3. __________ organisms live in the ocean.
4. __________ organisms live on land.
5. A __________ is a hollow nerve cord running the length of the animal’s body.
6. In animals, __________ detect environmental stimuli.
7. __________ animals have backbones.
8. __________ animals lack a backbone.
9. The eggs of __________ have internal membranes.
10. A __________ has its DNA contained within a nucleus.
11. A __________ has a notochord.
12. Arthropods, such as insects and crustaceans, have a(n) __________ to help protect and support
them.

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Lesson 17.1: Critical Writing
Name___________________ Class______________ Date________
Thoroughly answer the question below. Use appropriate academic vocabulary and clear and complete
sentences.
Land animals evolved from animals that live in the water. What kinds of adaptations did animals evolve
that allowed them to move from water to land?

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17.2 Overview of Invertebrates
Lesson 17.2: True or False
Name___________________ Class______________ Date________
Write true if the statement is true or false if the statement is false.
_____ 1. An earthworm is an example of a segmented invertebrate.
_____ 2. Invertebrates with an incomplete digestive system starve, because their food cannot be com-
pletely digested.
_____ 3. A psuedocoelom refers to concentration of nervous tissue at one end of the animal.
_____ 4. Some invertebrates move, but cannot regulate which direction they move or how fast they
move.
_____ 5. A larva is a juvenile stage of the life cycle.
_____ 6. A bilaterally symmetrical invertebrate has two identical left and right halves.
_____ 7. A radially symmetrical invertebrate can be divided into two similar halves by a line traversing
the center of the animal.
_____ 8. Endoderm becomes muscle tissue.
_____ 9. All invertebrates reproduce by asexual budding.
_____ 10. Body segments make an animal less flexible.
_____ 11. Protostome and deuterostome are two main classes of invertebrates.
_____ 12. Some invertebrates have an internal skeleton.
_____ 13. The outside of an animal is formed from the ectoderm.
_____ 14. A partial coelom is called a psuedocoelom.
_____ 15. Complete digestion is less efficient than incomplete digestion because most animals eat too
much food.

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Lesson 17.2: Critical Reading
Name___________________ Class______________ Date________
Read these passages from the text and answer the questions that follow.
Complete Digestive System
Early invertebrates had an incomplete digestive system. There was just one opening for the mouth and
anus. Ancestors of modern roundworms were the first animals to evolve a complete digestive system. With
a separate mouth and anus, food could move through the body in just one direction. This made digestion
more efficient. An animal could keep eating while digesting food and getting rid of waste. Different parts of
the digestive tract could also become specialized for different digestive functions. This led to the evolution
of digestive organs.
Pseudocoelom and Coelom
Ancestors of roundworms also evolved a pseudocoelom. This is a partial body cavity that is filled with fluid.
It allows room for internal organs to develop. The fluid also cushions the internal organs. The pressure
of the fluid within the cavity provides stiffness. It gives the body internal support, forming a hydrostatic
skeleton. It explains why roundworms are round and flatworms are flat. Later, a true coelom evolved.
This is a fluid-filled body cavity, completely enclosed by mesoderm. It lies between the digestive cavity
and body wall (see the figure below). Invertebrates with a true coelom include mollusks and annelids.

(Image courtesy of CK-12 Foundation and under the Creative Commons license CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0.)
Questions
1. Define complete digestive system. What are two advantages of having a complete digestive system?

2. Define psuedocoelom.

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3. Define coelom.

4. An organism gains what advantages by having a coelom?

5. Do you think humans have a coelom? Why or why not?

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Lesson 17.2: Multiple Choice
Name___________________ Class______________ Date________
Circle the letter of the correct choice.

1. An example of an organism that has an incomplete digestive system is

(a) a sea star.
(b) a sponge.
(c) a spider.
(d) a sand dollar.
2. Animals who can control the direction they move in all have
(a) a home in the ocean.
(b) development as a deuterostome.
(c) muscles.
(d) radial symmetry.
3. Corals detect touch with
(a) a nerve net.
(b) a brain.
(c) a complete digestive system.
(d) a gamete.
4. ________ was one of the first animal traits to evolve.
(a) cephalization
(b) a complete digestive system
(c) a notochord
(d) multicellularity
5. Humans have
(a) no symmetry.
(b) radial symmetry.
(c) bilateral symmetry.
(d) none of the above.
6. The mesoderm is located
(a) outside the ectoderm.
(b) inside the endoderm.
(c) in between the ectoderm and endoderm.
(d) inside the gut.
7. The notochord evolved
(a) before a bony backbone.
(b) before multicellurity.
(c) outside the animal’s body.
(d) none of the above.
8. Squids belong to the phylum
(a) Porifera.
(b) Nematoda.
(c) Arthropoda.
(d) none of the above

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Lesson 17.2: Vocabulary I
Name___________________ Class______________ Date________
Match the vocabulary word with the proper definition.
Definitions
_____ 1. outer embryonic cell layer in animals
_____ 2. digestive system that consists of a digestive cavity and a single opening that serves as both
mouth and anus
_____ 3. concentration of nerve tissue in one end of an animal, forming a head region
_____ 4. partial, fluid-filled cavity inside the body of some invertebrates
_____ 5. fluid-filled body cavity
_____ 6. inner embryonic cell layer in animals
_____ 7. division of an animal body into multiple segments
_____ 8. type of internal support in an animal body that results from the pressure of fluid within the
body cavity known as the coelom
_____ 9. digestive system consisting of a digestive tract and two body openings (mouth and anus)
_____ 10. juvenile stage that occurs in the life cycle of many invertebrates, fish, and amphibians and
that differs in form and function from the adult stage
_____ 11. embryonic cell layer in many animals that is located between the endoderm (inner cell layer)
and ectoderm (outer cell layer)
_____ 12. symmetry of a body plan in which there are distinct head and tail ends, so the body can be
divided into two identical right and left halves
Terms
a. bilateral symmetry
b. cephalization
c. coelom
d. complete digestive system
e. ectoderm
f. endoderm
g. hydrostatic skeleton
h. incomplete digestive system
i. larva
j. mesoderm
k. psuedocoelom
l. segmentation

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Lesson 17.2: Vocabulary II
Name___________________ Class______________ Date________
Fill in the blank with the appropriate term.
1. Sea stars (starfish) have ________ symmetry.
2. ________ is the concentration of nerve tissue in one end of an animal, forming a head region.
3. A digestive system in which food enters and waste exits the same body opening is ________.
4. A false coelom (incomplete coelom) is called a ________.
5. In animals, the middle embryonic cell layer is the ________.
6. In animals, the inner embryonic cell layer is the ________.
7. In animals, the outer embyronic cell layer is the ________.
8. A ________ is a digestive system consisting of a digestive tract and two body openings.
9. ________ refers to division of an animal into multiple segments.
10. ________ symmetry is the type where the body can be divided into two identical right and left
halves.
11. The ________ is a juvenile stage that occurs in the life cycle of many invertebrates, fish, and
amphibians and that differs in form and function from the adult stage.
12. The support from a ________ results from the pressure of fluid within the body cavity known as
the coelom.

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Lesson 17.2: Critical Writing
Name___________________ Class______________ Date________
Thoroughly answer the question below. Use appropriate academic vocabulary and clear and complete
sentences.
Assume you have discovered a new invertebrate. It has multicellularity, specialized cells but no tissues,
asymmetry, and an incomplete digestive system. In which phylum would you place it? Why?

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