Learn how identification keys word

Let’s start with some invertebrates and use a key to sort them out.

SNAIL	WORM	BEETLE	HOVERFLY

Use the ‘clue’ key below to work out which invertebrate matches which letter:

This time, we have a selection of delicious cakes!

Here is a spider key which sorts out the cakes according to their characteristics – look through it first, to get an idea of how it’s put together, and then tackle the question at the bottom:

Use the key to find out which cake is brown in colour and has raisins in it.

Next, we have a selection of liquorice allsorts:

Here is a ‘clue’ key to help sort them out. Look over it, to get an idea of how it works:

You’re going to use the key to find out which round sweet has blue but not black colouring.

Remember, always start at Clue 1 and go from there, OK?

Imagine that you’re designing a spider key to sort out some toys.

You have three toys with wheels that you want to sort out into two groups.

The two groups will be:

Toys with four wheels.

Toys with more than four wheels.

Digger	Sports car	Train

Which of these branching keys would be correct for the three toys above?

Here are five more toys, which we need to sort out into groups.

Let’s say that we’ve chosen the question “Does the toy have legs?” as the best feature to help split these toys into two groups:

Lego bricks	Teddy	Animal family figure	Jigsaw	Dinosaur

Which of these spider keys would correctly split them into two groups of ‘legs’ and ‘no legs’?

So, let’s put those eight toys together and give each one a name:

Bob	Lewis	James	Henry

Edward	Flopsy	Bosch	Rex

Now, all we need to do is to construct the full spider key to sort them out.

Now, use the key to find a toy which has no wheels or legs but does have straight edges.

Next, we’ve got a selection of four sweets:

Sweet W	Sweet X	Sweet Y	Sweet Z

Our ‘clue’ key for these four sweets is as follows:

You’re going to use this key to find one particular type of sweet.

So, starting at Clue 1, use the key to find the sweet which is round and soft, and not brightly coloured.

In trying to sort out these four sweets, let’s imagine we’ve chosen to ask “If the sweet is brown in colour” as a characteristic of some sweets in this group.

Choc bar	Teddy chews	Liquorice	Toffee

Which of these groups contains only brown sweets?

Right, let’s finish with these eight sweets.

You have the ‘clue’ key to sort them out.

And, there’s one for you to find.

Sweet A	Sweet B	Sweet C	Sweet D

Sweet E	Sweet F	Sweet G	Sweet H

Right, final question.

Find the sweet that is not shaped like a teddy, and isn’t round or brown.