1. The 6 Kingdoms – Diversity of Living Things

2. Start thinking · Everyone classifies…books on a shelf, clothes
in drawers or the closet, put stuff in your
locker (maybe!), files on your computer, iPod...
· You organize by certain characteristics

3. Biologists have a classification challenge...
If you were given the task of separating the Earth’s millions of species, how would you begin?

4. What is life? What are the characteristics of living things?
With your neighbor write down some ideas of what all living things must have/do...

5. How does your list compare?
1) A cellular structure – physical and chemical distinction from surrounding environment 2) Growth 3) Reproduction 4) Metabolism (obtain and use energy sources) 5) Irritability (response to stimulus) 6) Mobility (even the tiny movements of plants) 7) Homeostasis (keeps a balance of important things like temp, water level, etc) 8) Adaptation to environment through mutation

6. The Six Kingdoms of Life
Over 2,000 years ago, Aristotle (Greek philosopher) divided all living things into 2 groups:
Plantae
Animalia
He called these groups kingdoms.
Kingdom Plantae
Life
Kingdom Animalia

7. Kingdom Archaebacteria
3 Domains, 6 Kingdoms
As new characteristics are studied and new species are discovered, the classification system changes.
The current most accepted system consists of 6 Kingdoms and 3 Domains (higher than a Kingdom)
Domain Bacteria
Kingdom Bacteria
Domain Archaea
Kingdom Archaebacteria
Kingdom Protista
LIFE
Kingdom Fungi
Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Plantae
Kingdom Animalia

8. Domains
The discovery of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells was fundamental.
That all life is made up of two different cell types resulted in the creation of Domains above Kingdoms.
Prokaryotic: cells with free floating DNA,
ex. bacteria, blue‐green algae
Eukaryotic: cells with DNA
in a nucleus

9. The Classification of Living Things
Within the current kingdoms the array of organisms is still vast.
Which Kingdom is represented by the images below?
Each kingdom has been subdivided several times into a series of smaller groups to distinguish different degrees of similarity.
Taxonomy: the practice of classifying organisms into groups; taxis “arrangement”, nomos “law”

10. As you move down the table each taxon contains
Example
Organisms Included
Kingdom
Animalia
bee, shark, horse, clam, frog, dog, cougar, lynx, bobcat
Phylum
Chordata
shark, horse, frog, dog, cougar, lynx, bobcat
Class
Mammalia
horse, dog, cougar, lynx, bobcat
Order
Carnivora
dog, cougar, lynx, bobcat
Family
Filidae
cougar, lynx, bobcat
Genus
Lynx
lynx, bobcat
Species
Lynx canadensis
lynx
Lynx rufus
bobcat
As you move down the table each taxon contains
fewer species as they become more similar.

11. Taxonomy Each group is called a taxon (plural: taxa)
The taxa in order of most general to more specific are:
Kingdom ‐‐> Phylum ‐‐> Class ‐‐>
Order‐‐> Family‐‐> Genus‐‐>
Species
Memory aid: “King Phillip Could Only Find Green Socks”

12. Kingdoms are the largest and most general, they include many thousands of species. Species are the smallest and most specific taxon – they include only one type of organism.

13. Species includes members that resemble each other so closely (physically and biochemically ‐ think DNA!) that they
can interbreed and produce fertile offspring.

14. Fact
Over 75% of named living species belong to ONE phylum Arthropoda…lobsters, craps, scorpions, spiders, millipedes, insects…

15. Carolus Linnaeus
The system was founded 300 years ago by Carolus (Carl) Linnaeus (1707‐1778), a Swedish botanist.
He used simple physical characteristics
(morphology) to identify different species and
organize them into groups.

16. Dichotomous Key A dichotomous key is a series of two‐part
questions used by scientists to classify
organisms (like a flow chart).

17. Binomial Nomenclature
Linnaeus also established binomial nomenclature
for naming species, a system of scientific two‐word
names. Ex. Felis domesticus (house cat)
Names were in Latin or Greek, because those were
the languages of science in Linnaeus’ time. Latin is still
used for new species found today.
The names often reflect the organism's
characteristics, location, or honour a scientist or
historical figure.

18. Binomial Nomenclature
The first word is the name of the genus. It is
Capitalized. Species with the same first name are very closely related.
The second word is the name of the specific
species. It is not capitalized.
They are both italicized or underlined
Lynx canadensis
Lynx rufus

19. Try This: Match the scientific name with the common name:
Canis lupus domestic dog
Canis latrans wolf
Canis familiaris coyote

20. Check Your Understanding:
1. Fill in the blanks: Kingdom, _____________, Class, Order,
________________, Genus, _______________
2. Which two groups are used for an organism's scientific
name?
3. Which of the following pairs is MOST closely related?
Acer rubrum & Acer saccharum
Acer rubrum & Chenopodium rubrum
4. The system we use for naming is called ____________ nomenclature.
5. The science of classification is called ________________
Homework: Page 384 #11 (‐don’t make a handout)
396 #1,2,5,6,7 and Create a Dichotomous Key page 392.