The Classification of Living Things Inquiry Activity How are living things grouped? Taxonomy Using a Mnemonic The 6 Kingdoms What is Dichotomous Key?
Why do we group things? With the person beside you, think about the HOW things are grouped together in a grocery store. Think about it in two ways. The first should be very general while the second is more specific. Use the library example as a guide. Example: The Library General – Fiction (not real) and Non-Fiction (real) Specific – For both fiction and non-fiction, books are grouped based on subject (i.e. for fiction – mystery vs. science fiction) The Grocery Store
Classification/Taxonomy
How are living things grouped? Organisms are grouped just like objects in library or a grocery store. First they are grouped in general based on shared, similar characteristics (example – plant or animal) They are then grouped on more specific characteristics such as appearance. The grouping of living things makes it easier for scientists to study them.
Taxonomy The science of grouping living organisms based on shared characteristics Name given to the scientific system of classification
Taxonomy There are 7 levels of taxonomy. Each is more specific then the previous and includes fewer organisms Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species
Taxonomy of Humans Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Primates Family: Hominidae Genus: Homo Species: Homo sapiens
How Can You Remember? Use a Mnemonic King Philip Coughed On Fred and he Got Sick Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species
Come up with your own mnemonic K P C O F G S Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species
The 6 Kingdoms Plants Animals Protists Fungi Archaebacteria Eubacteria
The 6 Kingdoms Web Quest
Dichotomous Key A dichotomous key is a tool that allows you to determine the scientific name of an object (living or not) by answering a series of questions It is called a key because each answer gets you one step closer to the correct name Eventually the correct name is reached
Steps to using a Dichotomous Key Always start at number one Answer the question and move where you are directed Each question will only have two possible answers Here is a very basic example
This one is more complex
These keys can be used to identify anything View the video then create your own dichotomous key for something you are interested in - Sports - Movies - Books - Animals - etc.