Minibeast Dichotomous Key worksheet - Free Printable

Let's solve this Animal Classification Key step by step.

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🔍 Objective:

Use the flowchart to classify each of the six animals shown at the bottom into the correct boxes based on their physical traits.

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🧩 Step 1: Understand the Flowchart

We have a decision tree with yes/no questions:

1. Has it got a furry body?
- Yes → Go to "Yes" box
- No → Next question: Has this minibeast got wings?

2. Has this minibeast got wings?
- Yes → Next: Has it got 6 legs?
- Yes → Box A
- No → Box B
- No → Next: Has it got legs?
- Yes → Box C
- No → Box D

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🐾 Step 2: Identify the Animals

From left to right in the image (bottom row):

1. Earthworm – no fur, no wings, no legs (segmented body)
2. Butterfly – no fur, has wings, 6 legs
3. Woodlouse (or pill bug) – no fur, no wings, many legs (more than 6)
4. Ant – no fur, has wings? (some ants do, but worker ants don’t) — but here it looks like a wingless ant, so assume no wings
5. Spider – no fur, no wings, 8 legs
6. Snail – no fur, no wings, no legs (has a foot, but not jointed legs)

> Note: The term "minibeast" refers to small invertebrates.

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✔ Now, classify each animal using the key:

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#### 🐌 1. Earthworm
- Furry body? → No
- Wings? → No
- Legs? → No
→ Goes to "No legs" box (last box on the right)

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#### 🦋 2. Butterfly
- Furry body? → No
- Wings? → Yes
- 6 legs? → Yes
→ Goes to "Yes" box under "Has it got 6 legs?" (leftmost of the two middle boxes)

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#### 🐚 3. Woodlouse (pill bug)
- Furry body? → No
- Wings? → No
- Legs? → Yes (many legs, more than 6)
→ Goes to "Yes" box under "Has it got legs?" (middle-right box)

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#### 🐜 4. Ant
- Furry body? → No
- Wings? → No (assuming worker ant)
- Legs? → Yes (6 legs)
→ Same as woodlouse? Wait! But we already used “Has it got legs?” after “no wings”.

So:
- No wings → go to "Has it got legs?"
- Yes → goes to "Yes" box under "Has it got legs?" (same as woodlouse?)

But wait — both woodlouse and ant have legs, but different numbers.

But the key only asks: "Has it got legs?", not how many.

So both go to the "Yes" box under "Has it got legs?"

But we need to distinguish them?

Wait — let’s re-express the key structure.

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🔁 Let's map the boxes:

Here are the empty boxes in order:

```
[Box 1] [Box 2]
↑ ↑
Furry body? Not furry → Wings?
↓ ↓
[Box 3] [Box 4]
↘ ↙
Has wings?
↓
[Box 5] [Box 6]
6 legs? No wings → Legs?
↓ ↓
[Box 7] [Box 8]
```

Wait — better to label the boxes:

Let me redraw the logic:

```
Start: Has it got a furry body?
├── Yes → Box A (top left)
└── No → Has it got wings?
├── Yes → Has it got 6 legs?
│ ├── Yes → Box B
│ └── No → Box C
└── No → Has it got legs?
├── Yes → Box D
└── No → Box E
```

So there are 5 boxes to fill:

- Box A: Furry body → Yes
- Box B: No fur, has wings, has 6 legs
- Box C: No fur, has wings, does NOT have 6 legs
- Box D: No fur, no wings, has legs
- Box E: No fur, no wings, no legs

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Now, classify each animal:

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1. Earthworm

- Furry? → No
- Wings? → No
- Legs? → No
→ Box E

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2. Butterfly

- Furry? → No
- Wings? → Yes
- 6 legs? → Yes
→ Box B

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3. Woodlouse (pill bug)

- Furry? → No
- Wings? → No
- Legs? → Yes (many legs, but still has legs)
→ Box D

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4. Ant

- Furry? → No
- Wings? → No (worker ant)
- Legs? → Yes (6 legs)
→ Box D (same as woodlouse)

Wait — but ant has 6 legs, but no wings, so it should go to Box D.

But what about spider?

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5. Spider

- Furry? → No
- Wings? → No
- Legs? → Yes (8 legs)
→ Also Box D

So both ant and spider go to Box D

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6. Snail

- Furry? → No
- Wings? → No
- Legs? → No (it has a muscular foot, but not jointed legs)
→ Box E

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Wait — now we have:

- Earthworm → Box E
- Snail → Box E
- Butterfly → Box B
- Ant → Box D
- Spider → Box D
- Woodlouse → Box D

But woodlouse has many legs, ant has 6, spider has 8 — all go to Box D because they all have legs and no wings.

But is there a problem?

Yes — only one animal can go into each box? Or multiple?

The key says: "which minibeast to stick in each box" — implying one per box, but we have six animals and five boxes.

Wait — let’s count the boxes:

In the diagram:

- One box for "Furry body? → Yes"
- One box for "Furry body? → No"
- Then from "Has wings?" → two boxes: "Yes" and "No"
- From "Has 6 legs?" → two boxes: "Yes" and "No"
- From "Has legs?" → two boxes: "Yes" and "No"

But visually, there are 6 empty boxes:

Let’s count:

1. Under "Yes" for furry body → Box 1
2. Under "No" for furry body → Box 2
3. Under "Yes" for wings → Box 3
4. Under "No" for wings → Box 4
5. Under "Yes" for 6 legs → Box 5
6. Under "No" for 6 legs → Box 6
7. Under "Yes" for legs → Box 7
8. Under "No" for legs → Box 8

Wait — actually, looking at the image:

There are 6 boxes:

- One for furry body → Yes
- One for furry body → No
- Then four boxes below the "wings" and "legs" branches.

Actually, from the image:

- First: Furry body?
- Yes → Box A
- No → then "Has it got wings?"

Then:
- Wings? → Yes → "Has it got 6 legs?" → Yes → Box B, No → Box C
- Wings? → No → "Has it got legs?" → Yes → Box D, No → Box E

So total 5 boxes:

1. Furry body → Yes → Box A
2. Furry body → No → (not a box, leads to next)
3. Wings → Yes → 6 legs → Yes → Box B
4. Wings → Yes → 6 legs → No → Box C
5. Wings → No → legs → Yes → Box D
6. Wings → No → legs → No → Box E

So 6 boxes total.

Now, assign animals:

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Final Classification:

| Animal | Furry? | Wings? | 6 legs? | Legs? | Box |
|---------------|--------|--------|---------|-------|-----|
| Earthworm | No | No | N/A | No | E |
| Butterfly | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | B |
| Woodlouse | No | No | N/A | Yes | D |
| Ant | No | No | N/A | Yes | D |
| Spider | No | No | N/A | Yes | D |
| Snail | No | No | N/A | No | E |

But now we see:

- Box D has three animals: woodlouse, ant, spider
- Box E has two: earthworm, snail
- Box B has one: butterfly
- Box A: none
- Box C: none

But only one animal per box? That seems unlikely.

Wait — maybe the "furry body" box is for mammals?

But none of these animals are mammals.

Let’s check:

- Earthworm: no
- Butterfly: no
- Woodlouse: no
- Ant: no
- Spider: no
- Snail: no

So no animal has a furry body → Box A is empty

So Box A = None

Now, Box C: animals that have wings but not 6 legs

Which animals have wings but not 6 legs?

- Butterfly has wings and 6 legs → goes to Box B
- Any other flying insect with more than 6 legs?

None in the list.

So Box C is empty

So only Boxes B, D, E are used.

But we have 6 animals, and only 3 boxes filled?

But the diagram shows 6 boxes, so likely multiple animals can go in one box.

So final assignment:

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✔ Final Answer:

Label the boxes:

1. Box A (Furry body → Yes) → Empty
*(No animal here)*

2. Box B (Wings → Yes, 6 legs → Yes) → Butterfly

3. Box C (Wings → Yes, 6 legs → No) → Empty
*(e.g., dragonfly would go here — but not present)*

4. Box D (No wings, has legs) → Woodlouse, Ant, Spider

5. Box E (No wings, no legs) → Earthworm, Snail

Wait — but snail has a foot, not legs, so no legs → yes

Earthworm has no legs → yes

So both go to Box E

But ant and spider have legs → go to Box D

Woodlouse has legs → also Box D

So:

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📌 Final Classification:

- Box A (Furry body?) → No animal (none have furry bodies)
- Box B (Wings + 6 legs) → Butterfly
- Box C (Wings + not 6 legs) → No animal
- Box D (No wings, has legs) → Ant, Spider, Woodlouse
- Box E (No wings, no legs) → Earthworm, Snail

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🧩 Summary:

| Box | Animal(s) |
|-----|----------|
| A | (empty) |
| B | Butterfly |
| C | (empty) |
| D | Ant, Spider, Woodlouse |
| E | Earthworm, Snail |

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✔ How to Fill the Boxes:

In the worksheet, draw or write:

- Box A (Furry body → Yes): Leave blank
- Box B (Wings + 6 legs): Draw or place butterfly
- Box C (Wings + not 6 legs): Leave blank
- Box D (No wings, has legs): Place ant, spider, woodlouse
- Box E (No wings, no legs): Place earthworm, snail

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💡 Explanation:

This classification key uses physical characteristics to sort animals:

- Fur → mammals (none here)
- Wings → insects or birds (here, only butterfly)
- Number of legs → helps distinguish insects (6 legs), arachnids (8 legs), crustaceans (many legs)
- Presence of legs → separates legged vs. legless creatures

Even though ant and spider both have legs, they are grouped together in Box D because the key doesn't differentiate beyond "has legs".

Similarly, earthworm and snail both lack legs and wings → same group.

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✔ Final Answer:
- Box A: (empty)
- Box B: Butterfly
- Box C: (empty)
- Box D: Ant, Spider, Woodlouse
- Box E: Earthworm, Snail

You would place the images accordingly.