Classifying Living Things

1. Classifying Living Things

2. Did you know that there are probably more than 10 million species (kinds) of living things in the world? Have you ever wondered how scientists keep all these different kinds of organisms straight? Classification is the organizing of things according to their similarities. Scientists use classification to sort out living things and understand them better.

3. Here is an example of how your pet dog is classified by scientists: … is part of the Animal kingdom Bounder … is part of the Vertebrate phylum … is part of the Mammal class … is part of the Carnivore order … is part of the Canidae family … is part of the Canis genus … is part of the C. lupus species

4. Bounder’s class … Arf! Arf! Nonvascular Vasular Mammals Reptiles Amphibians Fish Birds Plants Vertebrates Invertebrates Fungi Animals Bounder’s kingdom Monerans Protists Things All Living Another way to look at the classification of Bounder is to look at the classification system as a tree. There are 5 kingdoms of living things. These make up the large branches of this tree. Then there are several small branches that are the phyla. Getting close to the top of the tree are the classes. Bounder is part of the class of mammals. Do you see him up there? Bounder’s phylum

5. Nonvascular Vasular Mammals Reptiles Amphibians Fish Birds Plants Vertebrates Invertebrates Fungi Animals Monerans Protists Tree of Life This classification tree is a way to organize all living things. It is some- times called “The Tree of Life.” Explore the next pages to learn more about scientific classification.

6. Plants Fungi Animals Monerans Protists Kingdoms These are the 5 kingdoms of living things. Click on each one to learn more.

7. Phyla Nonvascular Vascular Vertebrates Invertebrates These are 2 different groups of phyla. Click on the labels to learn more.

8. Mammals Reptiles Amphibians Fish Birds Here are the 5 classes of the vertebrate phylum. Click on each to learn more. When you have explored these pages go to the Games Page And see how much you learned! Games Classes

9. Click HEREto learn more. Kingdom of Monerans • Monerans are one-celled organisms • that do not have a nucleus. • Some monerans make their own food. • Some monerans feed on living things. • Monerans are capable of movement. • Monerans are microscopic. • Bacteria are monerans. Back to Kingdom page

10. Kingdom of Protists • Protists are one-celled organisms that • have a nucleus. • Some protists make their own food. • Some protists feed on living things. • Most protists are capable of movement. • Protists are microscopic. • Yeast in bread and some algae on ponds • are examples of protists. Click HEREto learn more. Back to Kingdom page

11. Kingdom of Fungi • Fungi are many-celled organisms. • Fungi feed on once living things, • such as rotting logs. • Fungi are not capable of movement. • Mushrooms and molds are fungi. Click HEREto learn more. Back to Kingdom page

12. Kingdom of Plants • Plants are many-celled organisms. • Plants make their own food. • Plants are not capable of movement. • Trees, flowers, ferns, and mosses are all • plants. Click HEREto learn more. Back to Kingdom page

13. Kingdom of Animals • Animals are many-celled • organisms. • Animals feed on living or • once living things. • Animals are capable of • movement. • Dogs, insects, snails, and • humans are all animals. Click HEREto learn more. Back to Kingdom page

14. Vertebrates are animals that have backbones. Invertebrates are animals that do not have backbones. Examples: Mammals Birds Reptiles Amphibians Fish Examples: Insects Lobsters Spiders Starfish Worms Vertebrate and Invertebrate Animals Back to Phyla page

15. Vascular plants are those that have tubes (or vessels), such as roots and stems. These tubes carry water and nutrients to all parts of the plants. Vascular plants can grow to be very tall. Trees, ferns, and plants with flowers are all vascular plants. This diagram shows the roots, stem, and veins in the leaves of a plant. These are all tubes that carry water and nutrients to the plant’s different parts. Vascular Plants Back to Phyla page

16. Nonvascular Plants Nonvascular plants are those that do not have tubes (or vessels) to carry water and nutrients to the plants parts. Water and nutrients travel slowly from cell to cell in these plants. Because of this, nonvascular plants are never very big. Moss is an example of a nonvascular plant. Moss grows in damp places where it is surrounded by moisture and can more easily absorb water through its cells. Moss on a tree Moss under a microscope Back to Phyla page

17. Reptiles are animals that • have a backbone • are cold-blooded* • have dry, scaly skin • usually live on land • lay eggs • *take on the temperature of • the air or water around them Komodo Dragon Sinaioan Milk Snake Aldabra Tortoise Reptiles Back to Class page

18. Birds are animals that • have a backbone • are warm-blooded* • have feathers • can fly (almost all) • lay eggs • *maintain their own body • temperature Red Head Duck Swainson’s Hawk Rufous Hummingbird Birds Back to Class page

19. Amphibians • Amphibians are animals that • have a backbone • are cold-blooded* • have moist, smooth skin • start their life in water, but • live their life as an adult on land • lay eggs • *take on the temperature of the • air or water around them Common Frog Tadpole Common Mudpuppy Poison Dart Frog Back to Class page

20. Fish are animals that • have a backbone • are cold-blooded* • have moist, scaly skin • live their entire life in water • have gills for taking oxygen • from the surrounding water • lay eggs • *take on the temperature of • the air or water around them Feather Blenny Electric Eel Bangaii Cardinalfish Fish Back to Class page

21. Mammals • Mammals are animals that • have a backbone • are warm-blooded* • have fur • have live-born offspring • produce milk to feed their young • *maintain their own body • temperature Asian Elephant River Otter Back to Class page

22. Games and Quizzes Practice classifying animals into different classes in this game. Click “click here to begin” at the web page. Test your knowledge of living things classification in this crossword puzzle. Print the puzzle on paper to do your work. Practice putting animals into classes and kingdoms with these games. Just for fun, watch some of this student-made movieabout invertebrates. In the first scene you will see 3 vertebrates. What are they? (Click on the blue words to get to each quiz or game) (Click here for a classification word bank to help with these games)

23. Kingdoms: Largest groups into which living things can be classified One-cell organisms without a nucleus One-cell organisms with a nucleus Many-celled organisms that absorb food from dead things Many-celled organisms that cannot move and make their own food Many-celled organisms that can move and feed on living things Vascular Plants: Plants with tubes, such as roots and stems Terminology Classification: organizing things by their similarities. We can classify all living things by their similarities. Vertebrates: Animals with backbones Animals that begin their life in water, but live on land as adults Animals that have dry, scaly skin and lay eggs Animals that live their whole life in water Animals that have feathers and lay eggs Animals that have hair and produce milk for their young Invertebrates: Animals without backbones Ex: Crustaceans Ex: Mollusks Ex: Arachnids Ex: Insects Ex: Flowering Plants Ex: Ferns Ex: Cacti Ex: Trees Nonvascular Plants: Plants without tubes to carry water Ex: Liverworts Ex: Moss

24. Credits Slides 1 & 2: Praying mantis - http://www.pbase.com/hsandler/image/31785681 Snake - http://www.pitt.edu/~mcs2/herp/snake.pics/Clonophis_kirtlandii.jpg Badger - http://www.municipiodenogales.org/images/BADGER.jpg Cat - http://www.merryair.com/catpage.htm Crab - http://viewfromtheloft.typepad.com/photos/birds/crab.jpg Leech – http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/08/images/leech.jpg Pine cones – http://www.octoberphotography.com/blog%20photos/Dec.%202005/pinecones.jpg Cucumbers - http://www.seedsofchange.com/product_shots/PS14572B.jpg Moneran - http://www.kidsbiology.com/biology_basics/five_kingdoms_life/moneran2.php Mushrooms - http://www.stock-photography.co.za/images/mushrooms_wild_4979.jpg Lichen - http://www.dimijianimages.com/More-page4-mutualisms/lichens-TasmaniaTN.jpg Goldfish - http://cavyspirit.com/images/goldfish%20in%20bowl.jpg Peas - http://www.turnerphotographics.com/ag/graphics/9810042.jpg Eagle - http://www.impressionsofnature.net/images/gallery/thumbnails/ABE-50336-Flying-bald-eagle.jpg Elephant - http://www.natureartists.com/art/resized/599_behindthebush1.jpg Chimp - http://www.african-safari-pictures.com/image-files/baby-chimpanzee-picture.jpg Pumpkins - http://shecodes.smugmug.com/keyword/pumpkin Protist - http://www.kidsbiology.com/images/protista.jpg Tomato - http://www.goodearthliveherbs.com/images/vegetable_patio_tomato_plants2.jpg Worm - http://www.kitchengardens.dial.pipex.com/earthworm.jpg Seaweed - http://tepserver.ucsd.edu/~eshepard/Images/KELP.jpg Pine tree - http://www.halesteward.com/new-photos/property/pine-tree-med.jpg Protist - http://www.kidsbiology.com/biology_basics/five_kingdoms_life/protist3.php Ladybug - http://surgery-graphics.med.umich.edu/~matt/archives/images/Ladybug.jpg Whale – http://www.underwater.com.au/article.php/id/1265/ Dianthus - http://www.stauder.net/bildearkiv/Dianthus%20allwoodii%20alpinus.jpg

25. Credits (continued) Slide 3: Microsoft clip art Slide 4-8: Clip art by Enoch Ihde Slide 9: http://www.kidsbiology.com/biology_basics/five_kingdoms_life/moneran2.php http://www.kidsbiology.com/biology_basics/five_kingdoms_life/moneran2.php http://www.kidsbiology.com/biology_basics/five_kingdoms_life/moneran2.php Slide 10: http://www.kidsbiology.com/biology_basics/five_kingdoms_life/protist3.php http://www.kidsbiology.com/biology_basics/five_kingdoms_life/protist3.php http://www.kidsbiology.com/biology_basics/five_kingdoms_life/protist3.php Slide 11: http://www.kidsbiology.com/biology_basics/five_kingdoms_life/fungi4.php http://www.kidsbiology.com/biology_basics/five_kingdoms_life/fungi4.php http://ezzelino.ifa.hawaii.edu/~bresolin/infrared/images/10.%20Mushroom.jpg Slide 12: http://www.kidsbiology.com/biology_basics/five_kingdoms_life/plant5.php http://www.battagliaranch.com/photos/400_Noble-Fir.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/A_sunflower.jpg http://tepserver.ucsd.edu/~eshepard/Images/KELP.jpg Slide 13: http://www.underwater.com.au/article.php/id/1265/ http://surgery-graphics.med.umich.edu/~matt/archives/images/Ladybug.jpg http://www.greggman.com/gallery/photos/2001-07-21-a.htm\ http://www.african-safari-pictures.com/image-files/baby-chimpanzee.jpg Slide 14: http://www.karensclassroom.com/treasuretrove/gradetwo/animals/backbone.jpg Microsoft clip art Slide 15: http://www.infovisual.info/0101/img_en/003%20Structure%20of%20a%20plant.jpg Slide 16: http://ls.berkeley.edu/images/divisions/bio/gallery_ib/moss-lg.jpg http://www.sethwhite.org/ images/science/other%20science%20related%20photos/moss% 20under%20microscope%204.jpg Slide 17-18: http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/PhotoGallery Slide 19: http://www.digimorph.org/specimens/Necturus_maculosus/mudpuppy.jpg http://web.ukonline.co.uk/m.hoult/a_an_r/images/tadpole.jpg http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/PhotoGallery

26. Credits (continued) Slide 20: -- http://www.aqua.org/animals_electriceel.html http://www.aqua.org/animals_featherblenny.html http://www.aqua.org/animals_bangaiicardinalfish.html Slide 21: http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/PhotoGallery Slide 22: http://lockwoodwebs.com/composting/bacteria3.gif http://img.tfd.com/dict/101/268337-moneran.gif Microsoft clip art Slide 23: Microsoft clip art Clip art by Enoch Ihde