Learning Objectives
To understand why
and how we classify
living things.
Learning Outcomes
To be able to classify
any living organism.
Success Criteria
Good if: you can name and describe the characteristics of the
five kingdoms of living things.
Excellent when: you can classify an organism within the animal
kingdom.
Exceptional if: you can explain why scientists do not classify
viruses as living things.
What Is Classification?
The Greek thinker Aristotle was one of the first
people to sort organisms into groups based upon
their characteristics (what they look like). This is
called classification. Today scientists have
classified over 1.75 million different living things.
K: Features of Organisms
U: The features in the cells of all living organisms
The main features used to place all organisms into the appropriate
kingdoms: Animal, Plant, Fungus, Prokaryote, Protoctist
The main features used to place organisms into groups within the
animal and plant kingdoms
The features of viruses, limited to protein coat and genetic material
D: Classification Card Games, PEEL
Animalia
Characteristics:
• Multicellular
• Heterotrophic
feeders: no
chlorophyll
• No cell walls
• Complex cell
structure with
a nucleus
Plantae
•
•
•
•
Characteristics:
Multicellular
Autotrophic
feeders: use
chlorophyll
Cell walls made
of cellulose
Complex cell
structure with a
nucleus
Fungi
•
•
•
•
Characteristics:
Multicellular
Cell walls not
made of
cellulose
Saprophytic
feeders: no
chlorophyll
Complex cell
structure with a
nucleus
Protoctista
Characteristics:
• Mostly
unicellular
(some are
multicellular)
• Complex cell
structure with a
nucleus.
Prokaryotae
Characteristics:
• Unicellular
• Simple cell
structure with
no nucleus
The Five Kingdoms of Living Organisms
Learning Objectives
To understand why
and how we classify
living things.
Learning Outcomes
To be able to classify
any living organism.
Success Criteria
Good if: you can name and describe the characteristics of the
five kingdoms of living things.
Excellent when: you can classify an organism within the animal
kingdom.
Exceptional if: you can explain why scientists do not classify
viruses as living things.
Classifying Organisms in a Kingdom
• Today scientists look at all the
characteristics of organisms to decide how
to group them.
• Organisms that have many characteristics in
common are grouped as a species.
• Species that have many characteristics in
common are grouped as a genus.
• A genus that has common features are
grouped as a family.
• And so on………
The Classification Ladder
We can further classify an organism
into these subgroups.
The number
of organisms
decreases
Largest number of
organisms
Smallest number of
organisms – the animal is
named.
Classifying a Lion – Kingdom Animalia
On Wikipedia
What about us?
Learning Objectives
To understand why
and how we classify
living things.
Learning Outcomes
To be able to classify
any living organism.
Success Criteria
Good if: you can name and describe the characteristics of the
five kingdoms of living things.
Excellent when: you can classify an organism within the animal
kingdom.
Exceptional if: you can explain why scientists do not classify
viruses as living things.
Isn’t a Virus Alive?
Viruses are very small,
much smaller than a
bacteria. When a virus
enters a cell it changes
the way it works, the cell
starts to make copies of
the virus.
The virus itself does not
show the behaviour of
living things; respiration,
excretion etc.
(MRS GREN)
Learning Objectives
To understand why
and how we classify
living things.
Learning Outcomes
To be able to classify
any living organism.
Success Criteria
Good if: you can name and describe the characteristics of the
five kingdoms of living things.
Excellent when: you can classify an organism within the animal
kingdom.
Exceptional if: you can explain why scientists do not classify
viruses as living things.
K: Features of Organisms
U: The features in the cells of all living organisms
The main features used to place all organisms into the appropriate
kingdoms: Animal, Plant, Fungus, Prokaryote, Protoctist
The main features used to place organisms into groups within the
animal and plant kingdoms
The features of viruses, limited to protein coat and genetic material
D: Classification Card Games, PEEL
Exit Task