A free printable plant vs animal cells worksheet for Grade 8 science.
Students sort cell features into a Venn diagram, complete a comparison table, identify mystery cells from drawings with evidence, classify real cells such as onion skin and cheek cells, explain why plants need cell walls, and correct common misconceptions. Includes 29 questions (30 marks) and a worked answer key.
By Kris Reddy, Ontario teacher · Updated October 17, 2026 · 29 questions (30 marks) · PDF + answer key
This free plant and animal cell worksheet helps Grade 8 students compare the two kinds of cells they meet most in science class. Students sort twelve features into a Venn diagram (plant only, animal only, or both), then complete a comparison table covering shape, outer layers, vacuoles, how each cell gets food, stored food and colour under a microscope.
On the second page, students identify two mystery cells from drawings and give evidence, decide whether real cells (a leaf cell, a cheek cell, an onion skin cell and a white blood cell) are plant or animal, explain why plants need cell walls, and correct two common misconceptions. To print it, use the Download button above.
The plant and animal cell worksheet supports the Ontario Grade 8 science curriculum, Life Systems: Cells, where students compare the structures of plant and animal cells. It follows on from the cell organelles worksheet, which covers labelling each part and its job.
Plant and Animal Cells Side by Side
Look at the two cells below. The plant cell (left) has a thick green cell wall, green chloroplasts and a huge central vacuole, which give it a boxy shape. The animal cell (right) has only a flexible membrane, so it's rounder, and its vacuoles are tiny. These are the same drawings students identify in Part C of the plant and animal cell worksheet.
Plant cell
Animal cell
Venn Diagram: Similarities and Differences
A Venn diagram is the clearest way to show what the two cells share and what makes each one different. Here is the completed Venn diagram from Part A:
The big idea: plant cells have everything animal cells have (except, usually, lysosomes), plus three extras that suit a living thing that can't move and makes its own food. Plants have no skeleton, so stiff cell walls and water-filled vacuoles hold them up. And because plants make food from sunlight, their cells contain chloroplasts. For more background, see plant cell on Wikipedia.
Plant and Animal Cell Comparison Table
This table is the completed version of Part B of the plant and animal cell worksheet.
Feature
Plant cell
Animal cell
Shape
Boxy / rectangular (fixed shape)
Round or irregular (flexible)
Outer layer(s)
Cell wall outside a cell membrane
Cell membrane only
Vacuoles
One large central vacuole
Small vacuoles, or none
How it gets food
Makes its own by photosynthesis
Eats other living things
Extra food stored as
Starch
Glycogen (and fat)
Colour under a microscope (unstained)
Often green (chloroplasts)
Mostly colourless
One detail students often miss: plants still need mitochondria. Chloroplasts make sugar from sunlight, but mitochondria release the energy stored in that sugar, in plant cells just as in animal cells.
Plant and Animal Cell Worksheet Practice Questions
These questions match the plant and animal cell worksheet PDF, which includes the Venn diagram and both mystery cell drawings.
Part A – Venn Diagram
boxy shape
cell membrane
cell wall
chloroplasts
cytoplasm
large central vacuole
lysosomes (usually)
makes its own food
mitochondria
nucleus
round or irregular shape
small vacuoles or none
Part B – Comparison Table
Shape: plant cell vs animal cell
Outer layer(s): plant cell vs animal cell
Vacuoles: plant cell vs animal cell
How it gets food: plant cell vs animal cell
Extra food stored as: plant cell vs animal cell
Colour under a microscope (unstained): plant cell vs animal cell
Part C – Mystery Cells
Mystery cell X: plant or animal? Give two pieces of evidence.
Mystery cell Y: plant or animal? Give two pieces of evidence.
Part D – Plant or Animal?
A cell from a leaf that contains many small green structures
A cell gently scraped from the inside of your cheek
An onion skin cell that is box-shaped with a cell wall, but has no chloroplasts
A white blood cell with a flexible membrane that changes shape as it moves
Part E – Explain Your Thinking
Plant cells have a cell wall, but animal cells don't. Explain why plants need one and animals don't.
Onion skin cells have no chloroplasts. Are they still plant cells? Explain.
Animal cells have no chloroplasts. Where do animals get their energy, and which organelle releases it?
Part F – Spot the Mistake
A student says, "Plant cells have a cell wall instead of a cell membrane." Explain the error.
A student says, "Only plant cells have a nucleus, because plant cells are bigger." Explain the error.
Plant and Animal Cell Worksheet Answer Key
Open each part to check the plant and animal cell worksheet answers. The printable key is on the last two pages of the PDF.
Plant: Cell wall outside a cell membrane. Animal: Cell membrane only
Plant: One large central vacuole. Animal: Small vacuoles, or none
Plant: Makes its own by photosynthesis. Animal: Eats other living things
Plant: Starch. Animal: Glycogen (and fat)
Plant: Often green (chloroplasts). Animal: Mostly colourless
Part C answers (Q19–20)
Plant cell (cell wall, boxy shape, chloroplasts)
Animal cell (no cell wall, round shape, no chloroplasts)
Part D answers (Q21–24)
Plant: chloroplasts → leaf cell
Animal: humans are animals
Plant: the cell wall shows it's a plant; onions grow underground, so no chloroplasts
Animal: flexible, no cell wall
Part E answers (Q25–27)
Plants have no skeleton. Stiff cell walls, pushed out by full vacuoles, hold the plant upright. Animals are supported by skeletons and need flexible cells so they can move.
Yes. They have a cell wall and a large central vacuole. The onion bulb grows underground with no light, so its cells don't need chloroplasts.
Animals eat food (plants or other animals). Mitochondria release the energy from that food in both plant and animal cells.
Part F answers (Q28–29)
Plant cells have both. The cell wall is outside, and the cell membrane is just inside it.
Both plant and animal cells have a nucleus. Size has nothing to do with it.
5 Common Misconceptions About Plant and Animal Cells
These come up often when marking this plant and animal cell worksheet. Part F targets two of them directly.
"Plant cells have a cell wall instead of a membrane." They have both.
"Plants don't need mitochondria." They do, to release energy from the food they make.
"Every plant cell is green." Root and onion cells have no chloroplasts.
"Animal cells have a cell wall too." They don't, which is why they're flexible.
"Only one kind of cell has a nucleus." Both plant and animal cells do.
How to Use This Plant and Animal Cell Worksheet in Class
Lesson 1: Parts A–B, after viewing onion skin (plant) and cheek (animal) cells under a microscope.
Lesson 2: Parts C–F of the plant and animal cell worksheet, then have students sketch both cells from memory.
Extension: Compare a plant cell with a fungus cell or a bacterium.
Yes. The worksheet and its answer key are free to download and print as one PDF, with no account needed.
What are 3 differences between plant and animal cells?
Plant cells have a cell wall, chloroplasts and one large central vacuole. Animal cells have no cell wall, no chloroplasts, and only small vacuoles or none.
What do plant and animal cells have in common?
Both have a nucleus, cell membrane, cytoplasm and mitochondria, as well as an endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus and ribosomes.
Why are plant cells rectangular and animal cells round?
The stiff cell wall gives plant cells a fixed, boxy shape. Animal cells have only a flexible membrane, so they are round or irregular and can change shape.
What grade is this plant and animal cell worksheet for?
It is written for Grade 8 science (the Cells unit in Ontario) and also works as Grade 9 or 10 biology review.
Ready to start? Use the Download button above to print the free plant and animal cell worksheet double-sided, and keep the answer key pages for marking.