CLASSIFICATION

Y7 SCIENCE
WHY SORT?
 WHY DO WE CLASSIFY?
▪ Classification puts organisms into groups by looking at characteristics
(traits) they share.
WHY AND HOW DO WE CLASSIFY?
▪ To make it easier to communicate with other people
▪ Giving an object, substance or organism a name ensures
everyone knows what they are discussing
▪ Identify similarities and differences of the object, substance or
organism to the group
TAXONOMY & TAXONOMISTS
▪ Scientists who specialise in grouping and naming living things are
known as taxonomists.
▪ The science of grouping and naming things is called taxonomy.
▪ Classifying living things into groups based on their body
structures (anatomy), DNA or other traits.
 DICHOTOMOUS KEYS
▪ Characteristics of organisms can be used to develop a key
▪ A key can then be used to identify unknown organisms
▪ Dichotomous key is the simplest type of key which means ‘cut in two’: a
series of choices that leads to the identification of an object
▪ Flow charts or tables can be used to write keys
LIVING VS NON-LIVING THINGS – MRS
GREN
What are the characteristics that could be used to classify living
organisms from non-living things?
▪ movement

▪ respiration

▪ sensitivity

▪ growth

▪ reproduction

▪ excretion

▪ Nutrition
LIVING ORGANISMS
▪ What are the characteristics that could be used to classify living
organisms?
TASKS
▪ WS MRS GREN
▪ Unit Review
▪ Activity Book
6.3 6.4
 COMPARE THESE ORGANISMS

Finch Budgie

Structural
Similarities Differences
• Birds • Shape/size of beak
• Size • Colour of feathers
• Have feathers • Size of eyes
• Hard beak • Length of tail (?)
• Number of eyes, wings, legs
 COMPARE THESE ORGANISMS

Turtle
Octopus

Function
Similarities al Differences
• Both are marine • Turtle can live on land
• Both can swim • Octopus can eject ink
• Both have sight/vision • Octopus can camouflage
• Both can walk • Octopus reproduce once only
CHARACTERISTICS FOR CLASSIFICATION
Structure Function
• Wings • Swim
• Fins • Fly
• Gills • Breathe oxygen in water
• Shape of beak
• Number of tentacles
• Shape of body
TAXONOMY
CAROLUS LINNEAUS
▪ Swedish botanist, lived 1707-1778
▪ invented binomial nomenclature,
the 2-word naming system we still
use today to classify organisms
▪ called “the father of taxonomy.”
BINOMIAL NOMENCLATURE
• Gives a unique 2-word, Latin, scientific name to all living things
• Genus is capitalized; species is not; both are italicized
• Examples:

Binomial (or Scientific) Name Common Name

Homo sapiens Human
Felis domesticus Cat
Panthera tigris Tiger
TURN & TALK
▪ What are these animals’ scientific names?

Common Chimpanzee Paramecium

name
Domain Eukarya Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia Protista
Phylum Chordata Ciliophora
Class Mammalia Ciliatea
Order Primates Peniculida
Family Hominidae Paramecidae
Genus Pan Paramecium
species troglodytes caudatum
(scientific
name) ? ?
What would you
call this creature?
WHY ARE SCIENTIFIC NAMES BETTER THAN
COMMON NAMES?

▪ Its common name can be: pill bug or rolly polly or potato bug.
▪ Common names for the same species can be different and confusing.
▪ Binomial Nomenclature uses Latin (a “dead” unchanging language) that
is understood by scientists worldwide.
▪ Its scientific name: Armadillidium vulgare
 8 TAXA OF CLASSIFICATION:
1. Domain
2. Kingdom
3. Phylum
4. Class
5. Order
6. Family
7. Genus Binomial name or
8. Species Scientific Name
DOMAINS
▪ Prokaryotes – Bacteria and Archaea
▪ Eukaryotes – All other organisms
8 TAXA OF CLASSIFICATION:

DOMAIN
ACRONYM FOR THE 8 TAXA OF
CLASSIFICATION:
▪ "Do Keep Ponds Clean Or Fish Get Sick.“

• Domain
• Kingdom
• Phylum
• Class
• Order
• Family
• Genus
• Species
OR …..
▪ "Diverse Kids Prefer Carrots Over Fresh Green Spinach.“

▪ "Delicious Kale Provides Calcium Over Fresh Green Salad.“

▪ "Don't Kick Puppies, Cats Only Fetch Great Socks."

SPECIES
▪ Species is the smallest, most
specific group in classification.
▪ Organisms in the same species
can reproduce together AND
their offspring are fertile.
 KINGDOMS OF LIVING THINGS
▪ The first level of classification of living things is called Kingdom.
▪ There are five (or six – latest) kingdoms:
▪ Animal
▪ Plant
▪ Fungi
▪ Protist
▪ Monera (Eubacteria & Archaebacteria)
When Carolus Linnaeus developed his system
of classification, there were only two
kingdoms, Plants and Animals. But the use
of the microscope led to the discovery of new
organisms and the identification of differences
in cells.

Today the system of classification includes five

kingdoms.
The Five Kingdoms of living
things:
Plants, Animals, Protists,
Fungi, Monerans.
How are organisms placed
into their kingdoms?
Cell type (complex or simple)
Ability to make food.
The number of cells in their
body
KINGDOM – PLANTS
Plants are autotrophs, organisms that
Plants are all multicellular make their own food (via photosynthesis).
(made of more than one cell)
and consist of complex cells.

With over 250,000 species, the plant kingdom is the second largest kingdom.
Without plants, life on Earth would not exist.
Plants feed almost all the heterotrophs (organisms that eat other organisms)
on Earth.
KINGDOM – ANIMALS
The animal kingdom is the largest
kingdom with over 1 million known
species.

All animals consist of many

complex cells. They are also
heterotrophs.

Members of the animal kingdom

are found in the most diverse
environments in the world.
KINGDOM – PROTISTS

Sometimes they are called the

odds and ends kingdom because
its members are so different from
one another.
Protists include all microscopic
organisms that are not bacteria,
not animals, not plants and not
fungi.

Most protists are unicellular

(made of one cell).
You may be wondering why
those protists are not classified
in the Moneran (archaebacteria
or eubacteria) kingdom.
It is because, unlike bacteria,
protists are complex cells.
KINGDOM – FUNGI
Mushrooms, mold and mildew are all
examples of organisms in the
kingdom fungi.

Most fungi are multicellular and

consists of many complex cells.

Fungi are organisms that

biologists once confused with
plants, however, unlike plants,
fungi cannot make their own
food. Most obtain their food
from parts of plants that are
Some fungi taste great and others can kill you! decaying in the soil.
KINGDOM – MONERANS
Members of moneran kingdom are
unicellular. They are heterotrophs. Moneran
kingdom is now further divided into two
kinds: Eubacteria and Archaebacteria.

1. Eubacteria
Eubacteria are complex and single celled.

Most bacteria are in the EUBACTERIA

kingdom. They are the kinds found
everywhere and are the ones people are
most familiar with.

Eubacteria are classified in their own kingdom

because their chemical makeup is different.
Most eubacteria are helpful. Some produce
vitamins and foods like yogurt (bottom right)
However, these eubacteria, Streptococci pictured
above right, can give you strep throat!
KINGDOM – MONERANS
2. Archaebacteria
In 1983, scientists tool samples from a spot
deep in the Pacific Ocean where hot gases
and molten rock boiled into the ocean form
the Earth’s interior. To their surprise they
discovered unicellular (one cell) organisms in
the samples. These organisms are today
classified in the kingdom, Archaebacteria

Finding Archaebacteria: The hot

springs of Yellowstone National
Park, USA, were among the first
places Archaebacteria were
discovered. The biologists pictured
Archaebacteria are found in extreme above are immersing microscope
environments such as hot boiling water slides in the boiling pool onto which
and thermal vents under conditions with some archaebacteria might be
no oxygen or highly acid environments captured for study.
Classification of the
Environment

(second largest animal phylum)

(largest animal
phylum)
RESEARCH TASK – PREPARE A POSTER
▪ Choose one phylum or class from the animal or plant kingdom
and prepare a poster to identify the differentiating features of
the category.
Chordates
• All vertebrates belong to the same phylum, the chordates.
• Chordates have a nerve cord running down their backs.
• Most chordates have skeletons inside their body (an
endoskeleton), and most have small bones (known as
vertebrae and together they are called the vertebral
column or backbone) protecting the nerve cord.
• A group of chordates that has a backbone is called the
vertebrates.
• All chordates have bilateral symmetry.

Commonly
called fish

These are the ‘Classes’

of the phylum
chordates.
Chordates – Agnatha (fish)
• The agnatha are jawless fish.
• They have an internal skeleton made of cartilage, which is
more flexible than bone.
• Their mouth is a round sucker, lined with horny teeth.
• All agnatha are parasites.
Chordates – Chondrichthyes (fish)
• Chondrichthyes have proper jaws and teeth.
• Their skeleton is also made of cartilage.
• Examples: sharks and rays
Chordates – Osteichthyes (fish)
• The osteichthyes are bony fish.
• They have proper jaws and teeth.
• They have fins on the back and sides of their body.
• Examples: tuna, goldfish, eels, sea horses and lungfish
Chordates – Amphibians
• Amphibians are chordates that live both in and out of
water.
• They lay eggs in water and the larvae or tadpoles must live
in water because they breathe through gills.
• As they grow their body changes in a process called
metamorphosis, enable the adult to live on land and
breathe air using lungs.
• They also take in oxygen through their skin, hence their
skin must remain moist.
Chordates – Reptiles
• Reptiles are ectothermic (i.e. cold-blooded, that is, any
animal whose regulation of body temperature depends on
external sources such as sunlight or heated rock), and have
a dry, scaly skin.
• In general, they lay eggs with a leathery shell on land (sea
snakes do not lay eggs).
Chordates – Aves
• Aves is the biological name for birds.
• They have feathers covering their body and lay hard-
shelled eggs.
• All have wings.
• Aves are endothermic – they generate their own heat and
are able to control their body temperature.
Chordates – Mammals
• Mammals include all animals that have hair covering their
body and feed their babies on milk produced by the
mother.
• They are endothermic.
• Mammals are divided into three sub-classes based on the
way they reproduce:
➢ Placental: the baby is nourished inside the mother’s body by
a placenta. The baby is born at a more mature stage.
➢ Monotremes: lay eggs (e.g. echidna and platypus)
➢ Marsupials: give birth to a tiny undeveloped young that
climbs into the pouch where it is fed on milk.
 TASKS
▪ Unit Review 6.2 (Q1 – 17)
▪ Activity Book 6.5 & 6.6
▪ Pearson Textbook
Additional: Q1 – 3 (p. 245)
Invertebrates – Arthropods
• They can survive on dry land because they have a
waterproof exoskeleton – a skeleton on the outside of the
body.
• They have jointed limbs to allow movement because the
skeleton does not bend.
• They can be divided into 4 groups: Crustaceans, Insects,
Spiders, Centipedes and Millipedes.
• Their body is divided into segments.
Invertebrates – Molluscs
• All of them live in water or in very moist
places.
• They all have bilateral symmetry.
• They have well developed internal organs,
and have a muscular foot.
• Some have a shell for protection.
Invertebrates – Poriferans
• commonly called sponges
• live in water and most are found in oceans
• full of holes (pores) through which water passes
• filter the food out of the water
Invertebrates – Cnidarians
• have radial symmetry
• have only one body opening (food and waste goes in and
comes out of the same opening)
• have stinging cells which they use to catch food
Invertebrates – Echinoderms
• all live in the ocean, often near the coast
• some have a spiny skin, others have leathery skin
• all have radial symmetry
Invertebrates – Platyhelminths
• are ‘flatworms’
• have bilateral symmetry with the body flattened top to
bottom
• live in water or very moist places
PLANT DIVISIONS
PLANT PHYLUM – MOSSES & LIVERWORTS
▪ Liverworts and mosses are usually very small because they do not
have any tissues to transport water or nutrients through the plant.
▪ They absorb water from the atmosphere through their leaves, hence
they mostly live in damp places.
▪ Mosses reproduce using single cells called spores.
PLANT PHYLUM – FERNS
▪ Ferns have a vascular system for transporting food
and water throughout the plant.
▪ They also reproduce using spores in structures
known as sporangia.
▪ The first ferns appeared on Earth about 360 million
years ago (long before flowering plants).
▪ They vary in size.
PLANT PHYLUM – SEED PRODUCING PLANTS
▪ Seed-producing plants reproduce using seeds. Seeds
are more complex than spores. Seeds are made of
multiple cells which provide food for the developing
plant until leaves are formed for photosynthesis.
▪ There are four classes of seed-producing plants:
▪ Cycads
▪ Ginkgo
▪ Conifers
▪ Flowering plants
SEED PRODUCING PLANTS - CYCADS
▪ Cycads have separate male and female plants.
▪ The male plant produces pollen in cones.
▪ The female cone produces the seed and provides
some protection for the seed as it develops.
SEED PRODUCING PLANTS - GINKGOS
▪ Ginkgos also have separate male and female trees.
▪ Male trees produce pollen in cones.
▪ Female trees produce seeds in fruit with a fleshy,
smelly coat.
SEED PRODUCING PLANTS - CONIFERS
▪ Most conifers produce the
male (pollen-bearing) and
female (seed-bearing) cones
on the same tree.
▪ Cypress, fir and pine belong
to this class.
▪ Australian conifers include the
hop pine and Wollemi pine.
▪ The Wollemi pine has been
found in fossils from 90 million
years ago. Living trees were
discovered in 1994 in the Blue
Mountains.
SEED PRODUCING PLANTS – FLOWERING PLANTS
▪ Flowering plants produce seeds fully protected inside
the female part of the flower, which is known as the
ovary.
▪ Many of their flowers attract pollinators (such as bees
and birds) using bright colours, perfume and nectar
(about 65% are pollinated by insects). Grasses, with
less showy flowers, are pollinated by wind.
PLANT CLASSIFICATION
LEAF SHAPES
LEAF SHAPE
LEAF VENATION
NUMBER OF COTYLEDONS IN THE SEED
 MICROORGANISM
▪ A microorganism or microbe is an organism that is so small that
it is microscopic (invisible to the naked eye). Most
microorganisms are single-celled or unicellular, however, some
unicellular protists are visible to the naked eye, and some
multicellular species are microscopic.
▪ Microorganisms are divided into seven types: bacteria, archaea,
protozoa, algae, fungi, viruses, and multicellular animal parasites
(helminths).
 CELL FEATURES OF ALL KINGDOMS
Animal Plant Fungi Protists Monera

Cytoplasm

Cell
membrane

Cell wall

Nucleus

chloroplast
INDIGENOUS
CLASSIFICATION
 TASKS
▪ Pearson Textbook
6.3 Unit Review: Q1 – 13 (p. 256)
▪ Pearson Textbook
Indigenous Classification (p.264-265)
Answer Review questions 1 – 7
▪ Activity Book
6.7 6.8 6.9
Classification of the Monotremes

Environment Without
backbones
Mammals Marsupials

Birds Placental
Chordates With
backbones Amphibians
(Vertebrates)
Reptiles Agnatha

Fish Chondrichthyes

Animals Arthropods Osteichthyes

Molluscs

Poriferans
Environment

Cnidarians
Invertebrates
(without backbone)
Echinoderms
Living
Annelids
Non-living
Nematodes

Platyhelminths
Mosses &
Liverworts
Cycads
Plants Ferns
Ginkgo
Seed
Producing
Conifers

Flowering
Plants