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CLASSIFICATION OF

LIVING THINGS

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WARM UP (15 minutes)

Line up around the room. You need to place yourself in order of your birthdays, but you cannot speak to one another.

- Class is organized into groups according to birthday. How else could the class have been divided into groups?

- Why might you want to group or classify objects?

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Who Needs a Classification System?

How is your life organized?

When you go to the grocery store, When you go to the grocery store, how do know how to find the milk?how do know how to find the milk?

When you go to the clothing store, When you go to the clothing store, how do you know where to look for how do you know where to look for your favorite brand?your favorite brand?

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Why do Scientists Classify?

Did you know that there are almost 2 million kinds of organisms on Earth?

How could we possibly keep them all straight or study them without some

form of organization?

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CLASSIFICATION

What is does the word classification mean?

Classification means the act of grouping living things by using a set of rules and similarities.

The “SCIENCE” of classification is called taxonomy. Taxonomy is the field of biology that study how living things are classified.

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Who first developed a system to classify

organisms?As early as 350 B.C., the Greek As early as 350 B.C., the Greek PhilosopherPhilosopherAristotle created guidelines for Aristotle created guidelines for groupinggroupingliving things. Aristotle grouped living things. Aristotle grouped organismsorganismsbased on four characteristics: based on four characteristics:

•Body partsBody parts•Life historiesLife histories•ActivitiesActivities•CharacterCharacter

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The modern classification system was The modern classification system was developed by the Swedish scientist, developed by the Swedish scientist,

CarolusCarolusLinnaeus, in the mid 1700’s. His system Linnaeus, in the mid 1700’s. His system was based upon classifying organisms was based upon classifying organisms

according to the organism’s physical and according to the organism’s physical and structural similarities. Some characteristicsstructural similarities. Some characteristicshe used to classify organisms were outsidehe used to classify organisms were outsideappearance, internal organs, and how bodyappearance, internal organs, and how bodysystems worked. Modern scientists are still systems worked. Modern scientists are still

using most of Linnaeus’s classification using most of Linnaeus’s classification system.system.

The Modern Classification System

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Linneaus’ System of Scientific Names

Binomial Nomenclature is a two word classification naming system developed by Linneaus.

Each species of a living thing is given a DOUBLE NAME

EX: Just like your first and last name

First Name (Genus)

Tells which group of similar species the living thing belongs to. Genus is ALWAYS capitalized.

Second Name (Species)

Tells the name of the one particular species in that genus. Species is NEVER capitalized.

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How Living Things Are Classified?

Organisms are ranked in a “Taxa” according to their characteristics.

Taxa is a further broken-down level of classification found within each kingdom according to similarities. The broader the Taxa the more general its characteristics & the more species it contains.

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How Are Living Things Classified?•There are 7 levels in the classification system of organisms

•As one goes from the Kingdom to the Species (DOWNWARD)…An increase in the similarity between organisms occur

•There are fewer numbers of different kinds of organisms

Broadest Level

Most Specific

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How Are Living Things Classified?

Kingdom: The highest level

Phylum: A subdivision of a kingdom

Class: Each phylum is divided into classes

Order: Each class is divided into orders

Family: Each order is divided into families

Genus: Each family is divided into genera

Species: Lowest level (represents a single type of organism)

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CLASSIFICATION OF CARS

CLASSIFICATION CAR 1

KINGDOM Mechanical Transportation

PHYLUM Automobile

CLASS SUV

ORDER Ford

FAMILY Explorer

GENUS Eddie Bauer

SPECIES All Wheel Drive

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How Are Living Things Classified?

Homework: Write an originaloriginal catch phrase for the categories of classification so that each word in the phrase begins with the letter of the category in their correct order from largest to smallest

Example:Example: Kids Play Cards On Fat Green Stools

KingdomPhyllum

Class

OrderFamily

Genus

Species

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In the following few slides, you will In the following few slides, you will findfind14 different organisms, each of 14 different organisms, each of them labeled with a letter. In your them labeled with a letter. In your groups, write down two main groups, write down two main classification (example red/green). classification (example red/green). Then place the corresponding Then place the corresponding letters underletters underthe correct classification.the correct classification.

The Classification Game!!The Classification Game!!

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For Example

These organisms have beenThese organisms have beenclassified by their color.classified by their color.

RedRedGreenGreen

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ARE ARE YOUYOU

READYREADY

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I

B

H

L M

A D

F

C

N

G

E

K

J

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One Possible Solution

PlantsPlants AnimalsAnimals

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

????????

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Did You Have Problems??

There were actually several different ways to There were actually several different ways to gogoabout classifying these 14 organisms. You about classifying these 14 organisms. You might might have done color, shape, size, number of legs… have done color, shape, size, number of legs… the the possibilities are endless. You might have possibilities are endless. You might have encountered one or two that really did not fit encountered one or two that really did not fit into either of your two classifications, what into either of your two classifications, what should you do when this happens? Make a should you do when this happens? Make a new classification of course! And this is what new classification of course! And this is what scientist have done as well through the years.scientist have done as well through the years.

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The 5 KINGDOMS of Classification

A Kingdom is the largest group in the Classification system. It encompasses all the related species.

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The 5 KINGDOMS of Classification

In all, there are 5 Kingdoms of Life…

1.Monera 2.Protista3.Fungi4.Plantae 5.Animalia

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The 5 Kingdoms of Classification

The Kingdom, Monera consists of all Bacteria.

Examples of Bacteria include:

Cyan bacteria,Staphylococcus

aureus Escherichia coli.

This picture is of E. coli

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The 5 Kingdoms of Classification

The Kingdom, Protista consists of simple eukaryotes (multi-cellular organisms).

Examples of Protista include:majority of molds suchas Saprolegnia (Water mold) Dictyostelium diccoideum (Slime

Mold).

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The 5 Kingdoms of Classification

The Kingdom, Fungi consists of fungus & yeasts members. These break down organic materials to obtain food.

Examples of different types of fungus include:

Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Yeast)Amanita muscaria (Fly Agaric).

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The 5 Kingdoms of Classification

The Kingdom,

Plantae houses all the plant members.

Examples of plants include:

FlowersCornMossFernsTrees

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The 5 Kingdoms of Classification

The last Kingdom, Animalia consists of Humans and ALL animals.

Examples of Animalia include:

InsectsMammalsReptilesBirdsAmphibians.

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Using the Classification System

Field guides help identify organisms.-they highlight differences between similar organisms (like trees)

Taxonomic Key / Dichotomous Key) is a paired statements that describe the physical characteristics of different organisms

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Taxonomic Key

1. Has pointed ears .................................... go to 31’ Has rounded ears ....................................go to

22.

2 Has no tail ............................................. Kentuckyus

2’ Has tail .................................................. Dakotus

3 Ears point upward .................................. go to 53’ Ears point downward ............................. go to 4

4 Engages in waving behavior .................. Dallus4’ Has hairy tufts on

ears .........................Californius

5 Engages in waving behavior .................. WalaWala

5’ Does not engage in waving behavior.......go to 6

6 Has hair on head ..................................... Beverlus

6’ Has no hair on head (may have ear tufts) .......go to 7

7 Has a tail ................................................. Yorkio7’ Has no tail, aggressive ............................ Rajus

Norns belong to the genus Norno and can be divided into eight species that are generally located in specific regions of the world. Use the dichotomos key to identify the norns below.

G

FED

CBA

H

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REVIEWClassification means the act of grouping living things by using a

set of rules and similarities.

Taxonomy is the field of biology that study how living things are classified.

The modern classification system was developed by Carolus The modern classification system was developed by Carolus Linnaeus. His system is based upon classifying organisms Linnaeus. His system is based upon classifying organisms according to physical and structural similarities.according to physical and structural similarities.

Binomial Nomenclature is a two word classification naming system. Each species of a living this is give a double name. First name (Genus) is ALWAYS capitalized. The second name (Species) is NEVER capitalized.

Organisms are ranked in a “Taxa” according to their characteristics. Taxa is a further broken-down level of classification found within each kingdom according to similarities. The broader the Taxa the more general its characteristics & the more species it contains.

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REVIEW (Cont’d)

There are7 levels

in theclassification

system

Broadest Level

Most Specific

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REVIEW (Cont’d)The 5 Kingdoms

Monera – all bacteria

Protista – all simple eukaryotes (multi-cellular organisms, i.e. molds)

Fungi – all fungus and yeasts (i.e. mushrooms)

Plantae – all plants

Animalia – all animals, reptiles, insects, birds

Taxonomic Key / Dichotomous Key) is a paired statements that describe the physical characteristics of different organisms