Assign: Unit 1: Preparation Activity
page 4 - 7
Chapter 1: Classifying Life’s Diversity
page 8
1.1: Identifying, Naming, and Classifying Species
page 10
Key Terms:
species, morphology, phylogeny, taxonomy, binomial
nomenclature, genus, classification, hierarchical classification,
rank, and taxon.
There are millions of species of organisms that inhabit the Earth.
Scientists have identified approximately 2 million to date. New
species are being discovered each day, it is estimated that there is a
range of 5 to 20 million species on this planet.
Identifying and Naming New Species
Species: a group of organisms that can interbreed in nature and
produce fertile offspring.
How do you determine a species of an organism?
What methods would you use to determine how closely they are
related to other species?
What methods would you use to classify them and give them
scientific names?
Scientist over time, have established different methods to classify
organisms. These methods have been modified and refined over
time, usually comparing different characteristics.
Identifying Species: Using Species Concepts
Scientists have been unable to agree on a single definition of what
a species is. Instead they have proposed various definitions of
species, which make up the species concepts.
There are three species concepts that scientists commonly used,
each having advantages and disadvantages.
a) Morphological species concept
b) Biological species concept
c) Phylogenetic species concept
See Table 1: Species Concepts, pg. 11
Morphology: the branch of biology that deals with the structures or
form of organisms.
Phylogeny: the evolutionary history of a species.
Naming Species
Once the new species has been identified, it must be named. Some
organisms may have more then one name, depending on where the
organism resides. (Continent to continent, country to country, and
region to region)
e.g.: ground hog, woodchuck, whistle pig, and forest
marmot, same species.
The multiple names leads to confusion, scientists have created a
standardized system of naming organisms.
A system of Standard Names for Species:
Binomial Nomenclature
Taxonomy: the branch of biology that identifies the names and
classifies species based on natural features.
Binomial Nomenclature: the system of giving a two-word Latin
name to each species – the first part is the genus and the second
part is the species.
Genus: taxonomic group of a closely related species.
Carolus Linnaeus is referred as the Father of Taxonomy. He
developed the system for naming a specie using two names.
Binomial means two parts, and nomenclature means naming
system. Each species will be identified using two names, species
name, but better known as the Scientific name.
The first name is known as the genus name, and the second name
is the particular species.
The scientific name is italicized when typed, with the genus name
first letter capitalized, and the second name in lower case. If the
name is hand written, both the genus and species names are
underlined.
Learning Check:
Questions 1 – 6.
Page 13
Classifying Species
page 13
Classification: the grouping of organisms based on a set of
criteria that helps to organize and indicate evolutionary
relationships.
Species concepts (morphological, biological, and phylogeny)
help to determine which groups of organisms make up a
species.
Binomial nomenclature allows scientist to name these species.
What are the criteria used to determine these groups?
Hierarchial Classification
The method of classifying organisms in which species are
arranged in categories from most general to most specific.
A hierarchy is an arrangement of items in which the items are
identified as being above, below, or at the same level.
- Nest System, group items by their characteristics. This
system is based on a hierarchy of categories.
- Items are arranged into categories, which lie above, below, or
on the same level.
Nest System:
Sports
Team Sports
Hockey
Non-team Sports
Soccer
Tennis
Golf
Taxonomic Categories Used to Classify Organisms (Table 1.2)
- Taxonomic categories are the groupings, arranged in a hierarchy,
that are used to classify organisms that have been named and
identified.
- There are usually 8 Nested categories, where each of the 8
categories is known as a rank.
- Ranks: Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus,
Species.
- As the organism pass from one rank to the next, the category
becomes more exclusive, to a point where the organism is the only
one left in the rank.
eg. The Wolf (Canis lupus)
Learning Check: questions 1 – 6, pg. 13
Section 1.1 Review: questions 1 – 11, pg. 16
CHAPTER 1
Taxa Graphic Organizer
BLM 1-1
Procedure
Each circle in the diagram below represents a larger group for classification. For
example, domains contain kingdoms and kingdoms contain phyla, so the phyla circle is
inside of the kingdom circle. Enter the names of the taxa from the outside (most general)
to the inside (most specific). The centre circle should contain species.
DATE:
NAME:
CHAPTER 1
CLASS:
Vocabulary Builder
BLM 1-2
Procedure
Use the table below to create your own science dictionary. Write the term, the text
definition, and the term used in a sentence to build your understanding.
Term
Text Definition
Example in a Descriptive
Sentence