Given that $f(x) = x^k$ where $k < 0$, what is the range of $f(x)$ on the interval $[1, \infty)$?
We are looking at the range of $f(x)$ when $x$ is in the interval $[1,\infty)$. Because $k < 0$, $f(x)$ is decreasing on the interval $[1, \infty)$. We see that $f(1) = 1^k = 1$, and as $x$ increases, $f(x) = x^k$ approaches 0, but never reaches it.  Hence, on the interval $[1,\infty)$, $f(x)$ takes on all values between 0 (exclusive) and 1 inclusive, which means the range of $f(x)$ is $\boxed{(0,1]}$.