Minibeast Dichotomous Key worksheet - Free Printable

Let me carefully analyze the classification key and match each animal to the correct box.

The key works like a decision tree:
1. First question: Does it have wings?
- Yes → go left
- No → go right

If yes (has wings):
2. Next: Has it got a furry body?
- Yes: box 1 (top-left)
- No: box 2 (top-middle)

If no (no wings):
3. Next: Has it got legs?
- Yes: go down to next question
- No: go further down

If has legs (yes):
4. Next: Has it got 8 legs?
- Yes: box 3 (middle-left)
- No: box 4 (middle-right)

If no legs (from step 3):
5. Next: Has it got a shell?
- Yes: box 5 (bottom-left)
- No: box 6 (bottom-right)

Now let’s examine each animal:

1. Slug (leftmost):
- No wings → go right
- Has legs? Slugs move on a muscular foot, but in basic classification like this, they’re considered *legless* (no jointed legs).
- So: No wings → No legs? → Then ask: Has it got a shell? Slug: no shell → goes to bottom-right box.

2. Butterfly:
- Has wings → yes
- Furry body? Butterflies have scaled bodies, not furry → No → top-middle box.

3. Woodlouse (pill bug):
- No wings
- Has legs? Yes — it has 7 pairs = 14 legs, so definitely has legs
- Has 8 legs? No (spiders have 8; woodlice have more)
- So: No wings → Yes legs → No 8 legs → middle-right box.

4. Bee:
- Has wings → yes
- Furry body? Bees are fuzzy/hairy → Yes → top-left box.

5. Spider:
- No wings
- Has legs? Yes
- Has 8 legs? Yes → middle-left box.

6. Snail:
- No wings
- Has legs? No jointed legs — moves on foot
- Has a shell? Yes (visible spiral shell) → bottom-left box.

Let me double-check using the image layout (boxes are in order left to right, top to bottom as 6 boxes):

Box positions:
- Top row: [1] [2]
- Middle row: [3] [4]
- Bottom row: [5] [6]

So mapping:
- Box 1 (top-left): furry + wings → bee
- Box 2 (top-middle): wings, not furry → butterfly
- Box 3 (middle-left): no wings, legs, 8 legs → spider
- Box 4 (middle-right): no wings, legs, not 8 legs → woodlouse
- Box 5 (bottom-left): no wings, no legs, has shell → snail
- Box 6 (bottom-right): no wings, no legs, no shell → slug

That matches all.

Final Answer:
Box 1: bee
Box 2: butterfly
Box 3: spider
Box 4: woodlouse
Box 5: snail
Box 6: slug