Plant Phyla

Four of the several types of plant phyla include:
 Bryophyta: short in stature such as moss
 Filicinophyta: ferns and horsetails
 Coniferophyta: coniferous, pine trees cedar,
juniper, fir
 Angiospermophyta: all plants that make flowers
and have seeds surrounded by fruit
Distinguish plant phylas

Vegetative Characteristics such as leave types and
stems
 Bryophytes:
 Filicinophyta:
 Conifers:
 Angiosperms:
Distinguish plant phylas

Reproductive characteristics
 Bryophytes: produce spores (microscopic reproductive
structures) transported by rain water
 Filicinophytes: produce using spores in a similar
manner
 Conifer: use wind to help reproduce by pollination,
produce seed cones with seed scales
 Angiosperms: produce seeds, rely on birds, insects,
and mammals to transport pollen. Sexual organ is
flower, fruit is enlarged ovary
Animal Phyla

Six of many animal phyla include:
 Proifera:
sponges
 Cnidaria: sea jellies (jellyfish), coral polyps, and
others
 Platyhelminthes: flatworms
 Annelida: segmented worms
 Mollusca: snails, clams, octopi, etc…
 Arthropoda: insects, spiders, crustaceans, etc…

All listed phyla are invertebrates
Details

Porifera:
 Simple
marina animals that are sessile (stuck)
 Feed by pumping water through tissues and filtering out
food
 No muscle, nerve tissues, or internal organs
Details

Cnidaria:
 Very
Diverse: Coaral, sea
anamones, jellyfish, hydra,
Portuguese man-of-war



Details

Platyhelminthes:
 Flatworms
with one body cavity, gut with one opening
for food to enter and waste to leave


Details

Annelida:
 Segmented
worms such as
earthworms, leeches, and
polychaetes



Details

Mollusca:
 Aquatic
animals, snails, clams, octopi
 Shell produced with calcium
 Non-segmented bodies
Details

Arthropoda:
 Hard
exoskeleton made
with chitin, segmented
bodies, and limbs
(walking, swimming,
eating)



Dichotomous Key



Used to help identify which order, genus, and species an organism is
by using observable characteristics
In General:
 Look at first section of key which has a pair of sentences
 Look at the organism to see if particular characteristics are
present
 If answer is yes, to go end of line/next section that contain a new
pair of statements to examine
 If answer is no, go to second statement just below it and follow
that one, should it be true
 Continue this until the end of the line has a name, not a number
and if each question was answered correctly, should be your
organism.
Example in book, pg. 149

1. a. Organism is living........................................................go to 4.

1. b. Organism is nonliving..................................................go to 2.

2. a. Object is metallic........................................................go to 3.


2. b. Object is nonmetallic..................................................ROCK.
3. a. Object has wheels......................................................BICYCLE.
3. b. Object does not have wheels......................................TIN CAN.


4. a. Organism is microscopic...................................PARAMECIUM.

4. b. Organism is macroscopic............................................go to 5.

5. a. Organism is a plant.....................................................go to 6.

5. b. Organism is an animal.................................................go to 8.

6. a. Plant has a woody stem..............................................go to 7.
6. b. Plant has a herbaceous stem.................................DANDELION.


7. a. Tree has needle like leaves.....................................PINE TREE.

7. b. Tree has broad leaves............................................OAK TREE.

8. a. Organism lives on land................................................go to 9.

8. b. Organism lives in water...............................................CLAM.
9. a. Organism has 4 legs or fewer......................................go to 10.


10 a. Organism has fur........................................................go to 11.




9. b. Organism has more than 4 legs...................................ANT.
10 b. Organism has feathers................................................ROBIN.
11 a. Organism has hooves.................................................DEER.
11 b. Organism has no hooves............................................MOUSE.
Dichotomous Key



Vocabulary can be challenging and technical
Make sure using the right key, no key can identify
all the species
Making a Dichotomous Key
 Start
by putting things in groups by identical
characteristics
 Invent statements that divide things into created groups
Dichotomous Key




Read pages 148 and 149 on dichotomous keys
Complete dichotomous key activity
Using 10 different objects in the room, design a
dichotomous key.
10-15 minutes to read, 15-20 minutes to create
dichotomous key, 10 minutes to share.