Classification of Living
Things
6th Grade Taxonomy
Begin
Kings play chess on fine glass sets
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This software was developed
to be used by 6th grade
students in a classroom setting
to assist teachers in the
instruction of taxonomy and
the classification of living
things.
The mnemonic device of
“Kings Play Chess” will be used
throughout the program for
subject matter retention.
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Classification of Living Things
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Please Select Teacher or Student Module
Teacher
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Student
Classification of Living Things
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Welcome to the Teacher Module!
Lesson Plans
Weblinks
Printables
Teacher
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Classification of Living Things
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Lesson Plans
Select from the available lesson plans by
clicking on the pdf file icon:
•Classification of Shoes
•Potato Chip Classification
•Classification of Doughnuts
Teacher
•Animal Classification
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Classification of Living Things
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Weblinks
The World Wide Web offers even more lesson plans and activities.
We have listed some here for you.
1) Classification tutorial
A Touch of Class Online Interactive Game
http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/interactives/class.html
2) Aliens in your neighborhood!
Classification is Sweet Lesson
http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/nttidb/lessons/dn/classdn.html
Invasive Species and the National Parks
http://www.nps.gov/invspcurr/alienXIDactivities.htm
3) Introduction to the Principles of Taxonomy
http://anthro.palomar.edu/animal/
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Classification of Living Things
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Printables
Below you will find more resources for your lessons. These printables
can be used for in-class assignments or homework to further
reinforce the lessons. Click on the pdf icon to open.
•Classification Word Search
•Classification Crossword Puzzle
•Scientific Naming Worksheet
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Classification of Living Things
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Welcome to the Student Module!
In this area, you will have access to
interactive lessons to accompany
classroom discussions. At the end of each
lesson, you will have the opportunity to
complete a unit quiz or activity before
moving onto the next area.
Student
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For help at any time, click on the
at
the top of each screen. Use the arrows to
advance forward or go back. If no arrows
are shown, click on the screen to continue
the action until the arrows appear.
Classification of Living Things
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1 – UMnemonic Devices
Student
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2 – USeven Levels of
Classification
Classification of Living Things
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Mnemonic Devices
Many of you have used a mnemonic device
throughout school to help you remember
something. Some examples of mnemonic devices
you may have used: ROYGBIV (to remember the
colors of the rainbow), Every Good Boy Does Fine (to
remember the line notes on music) and King Henry
Drinks Chocolate Milk (to remember the metric
system).
Taxonomists have a mnemonic device, too. The
next section of this program will help you to find a
fun way to remember the classification system.
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Classification of Living Things
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Mnemonic Devices
Now, let’s play with the words and see if we can think of any rhymes
to help us remember each classification word.
Kingdom –
Phylum –
Class –
Order –
Family –
Genus –
Species –
- King, kings, kids, any k words....
- play, Phillip, party
- chess, checkers, cooks, came
- on, over
- for, fine, fun
- glass, great
- spaghetti, sets
Can you think of anymore?
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Classification of Living Things
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Mnemonic Devices
Obviously, different people may come up with different sentences or
rhymes that help them. For today, let’s go with:
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Kings
Play
Chess
On
Fine
Glass
Sets
K
I
N
G
D
O
M
P
H
Y
L
U
M
C
L
A
S
S
O
R
D
E
R
F
A
M
I
L
Y
G
E
N
U
S
S
P
E
C
I
E
S
Classification of Living Things
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Mnemonic Devices Activity
Now it is time to see what you have learned. There is no time limit.
When you are finished, simply close the web page to return to this
program.
Start Activity
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Classification of Living Things
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7 Levels of Classification
Scientists classify millions
of species. If all of the
species were not classified,
it would be next to
impossible to know much
about animals.
Classification helps
scientists (and us) to know
the similarities and
differences between living
things.
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Classification of Living Things
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7 Levels of Classification
Classification is defined as the
process of arranging organisms
into groups based on
similarities. Taxonomy is the
science of naming and
classifying organisms.
Scientists use both genetic (the
DNA makeup of a living thing)
and physical evidence (how it
looks) to classifying living
things.
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Classification of Living Things
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KINGDOM
The highest category in classification is the kingdom. Each organism is
distinguished based on its cells and methods of nutrition. For this lesson,
let’s look at the animal kingdom and use the polar bear as an example.
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Protists
Plants
Archaea
Animals
Bacteria
Fungi
Classification of Living Things
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PHYLUM
After the kingdom, the phylum is determined. At this level, the organisms
are
based
on their
similarities
in their
basic
body that
or organization.
The grouped
polar bears
phylum
would
be Chordata,
which
means
he is an
animal with a rod like structure that develops into a backbone.
These two do not belong
Click on these two to
throw away.
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Classification of Living Things
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CLASS
Class
is directly
below the
phylum.
The class breaks
up the phylum
The
polar
bear belongs
to the
class Mammailia.
This means
that animals in
further.
this
group have a notochord (mammary gland) that feed their young milk.
Click on these four to
throw away.
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These four do not belong
Classification of Living Things
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ORDER
Order is directly below the class. Order continues to break the groups up
In our example of the polar bear, the order would be Carnivora; animals that
by using their similarities.
primarily eat flesh and possess special teeth for sheering through the
flesh.
These three do not belong
Click on these three to
throw away.
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Classification of Living Things
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FAMILY
Family further breaks up the order groups by making the groups even
The
polarThe
beargoal
hasof
a the
family,
too. His family
is the
family.
This its
smaller.
classification
system
is toUrsidae
give each
organism
means
that and
all ofclassification
his family are
carnivores with large skulls and short tails.
own name
tree.
The tiger does not belong
Click on the tiger to
throw away.
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GENUS
The genus further breaks up the family into smaller groups.
The polar bear belongs to the genus Ursus. Ursus classifies all the bears
except those who eat mostly vegetation.
The panda does not belong
Click on the panda to
throw away.
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SPECIES
You have finally narrowed down your organism to no similarities with any
Your
the
Martimus.
Thethat
common
for the
Ursus
otherorganism
animals.species
There isisno
other
organism
sharesname
all of the
same
Martimus
is the Polar
Bear.named the organism.
characteristics.
You have
The grizzly bear does not belong
Click on the grizzly
bear to throw away.
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Classification of Living Things
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7 Levels of Classification Quiz
Now it is time to test what you have learned. There is no time limit.
When you finish, simply close the web page to return to this
program.
Start Quiz
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Classification of Living Things
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Summary
Congratulations! You have completed the
program.
Top Three things you have now learned:
• There are 7 levels of classification
• There are 6 kingdoms of living things
• What a mnemonic device is and how
it can be used to help you remember
things.
Hope you had fun and learned something, too!
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Please exit the program now by closing your
screen using the escape key (Esc) on your
keyboard. This key can usually be found in
the top left hand corner of your keyboard.
You may also use the back button
to
return to the summary screen or the return
button
to return to the home page of the
program.
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Glossary

Classification: the process of arranging
organisms into groups based on similarities.

Taxonomy: the science of naming and
classifying organisms.

Genus: a group of species that have similar
characteristics.

Dichotomous Key: a tool to identify
organisms.
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•To advance screens, the user may click on the navigational
arrows at the bottom right hand corner of the screen or anywhere
on the screen.
•Hidden text will appear when the user clicks anywhere on the
screen.
•Users may replay or turn off the narration by clicking on the
speaker.
Go to the
Glossary
by clicking
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