SCIENCE – TERM 4
BIOLOGY – ORGANISING ORGANISMS
LEVELS OF CLASSIFICATION OF LIFE
Exploring classification of living things and
the development of classification
Lesson Goals:
• Recall the levels of classification of life
• Understand the biological names of organisms by
applying naming conventions
• Identify the relative closeness of different organisms
based on their classification
Success Criteria:
• Identify the levels of classification of life
• Identify the biological names of organisms by applying
naming conventions
• Compare the relative closeness of different organisms
based on their classification
Homework
Kingdom
Cell Make-up
Examples
Other
Characteristic
Monera
Protista
Fungi
Plantae
Animalia
unicellular
unicellular
Most multi-cellular;
Multi-cellular
some unicellular
Multi-cellular
bacteria
Amoeba
Paramecium
Mushrooms
Yeast
Grasses
Trees
Mammals
Reptiles
have a nucleus
Motionless
organisms that
absorb nutrients for
survival
Flower and fruitproducing and non- Invertebrates
Vertebrates
flower and fruitproducing plants
cynaobacteria
no nucleus
Warm-Up:
Answer the following questions in your science
workbook.
1. Living things are classified into 5 kingdoms. Name the 5 kingdoms
of life.
2. Rewrite and complete this sentence:
The A___________ K___________ has animals with backbones:
these are called v_____________; and animals without backbones:
these are called i___________________.
3. The Plant Kingdom is divided into 2 groups. Name these groups.
4. Green plants contain c__________________ so they can make
their own food.
5. What is the process in Q4 called? It starts with a
p_________________
6. Rewrite and complete this sentence:
Protists are simple animals and are usually made up of o_____
c_________.
7. Mushrooms belong to which kingdom?
8. Name an organism that belongs to the Monera Kingdom.
Answers to Warm-Up questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Monera, Protista, Fungi, Animalia, Plantae
The Animalia Kingdom has animals with backbones: these
are called vertebrates; and animals without backbones:
these are called invertebrates.
Flower and fruit-producing plants and non-flower and fruitproducing plants
Green plants contain chlorophyll so they can make their
own food.
The process is called photosynthesis.
Protists are simple animals and are usually made up of one
cell.
Mushrooms belong to the Fungi Kingdom.
Bacteria belongs to the Monera Kingdom.
Popcorn Time
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqxom
JIBGcY
Why do we need to Classify
• Over 2 million species in the world and
counting…. We find more every day with new
technologies such as microscopes and camera
traps.
• Carolus Linneuas was one of the key scientists to
classify organisms
• Biological classification is like a library, sorting
living things into certain areas.
• Kids books are in one area, and the adult books
are in another. Within each of those sections,
there will be more divisions such as fiction and
non-fiction. This keeps going on to romance
and science fiction until you get to one book.
• Without that, we couldn’t organise how to
classify animals when we find new ones.
How does biological classification work
• Biological classification works in the same way
as a library
• At the top there are the kingdoms. This is sort
of like the adult section vs. the kids' section.
• The kingdoms divide up life into big groups like
plants and animals. Under the kingdoms are
more divisions which would be like fiction,
non-fiction, mystery, etc.
• Finally, you get to the species, which is sort of
like getting to the actual book in the library.
Levels of Classification of Life
There are seven major
levels of classification:
Kingdom, Phylum, Class,
Order, Family, Genus, and
Species. The two main
kingdoms we think about
are plants and animals.
Scientists also list three
other kingdoms including
bacteria, fungi, and
protista.
Let’s
now
have a
closer
look at
each
level!
We will now have a look at these levels in
practise. The seven levels of classification are
listed below for a housecat.
Let’s now compare three similar animals and their
levels of classification, and write a paragraph
discussing similarities/differences.
Take notice of which level of classification they branch
off?
Housecat
Tiger
Lion
Kingdom
Animalia
Animalia
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Chordata
Chordata
Class
Mammalia
Mammalia
Mammalia
Order
Carnivora
Carnivora
Carnivora
Family
Felidae
Felidae
Felidae
Genus
Felis
Panthera
Panthera
Species
Catus
P. tigris
P. leo
These animals are similar in that they are all part of the
‘Felidae’ family, however the housecat separates at the genus
level because it has more differences than the tiger and lion,
where they separate at the species level.
The following chart traces the classification of a
grizzly bear through each of the 7 levels of
classification. At each level, be aware of the
characteristics the different organisms share.
Lesson summary
Every organism can be classified at 7 different levels - kingdom,
phylum, class, order, family, genus and species. Each level contains
organisms with similar characteristics. The kingdom is the largest
group and very broad. Each successive group contains fewer
organisms, but the organisms are more similar. The species is the
smallest group and is very narrow. Organisms within a species are
able to mate and produce fertile offspring.
You can use the following mnemonic to remember the 7 levels –
Kings Play Chess On Fat Green Stools
Homework Create a table to compare the levels of classification between
humans, the gorilla and the baboon. Then write a paragraph
commenting on similarities and differences between each.
Your table should look like the one below.
Human
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
Gorilla
Baboon