Scientists classify living things to identify them, to talk about them clearly (one name the whole world understands), and to see how they are related. A classification is built for a purpose, and different systems can suit different purposes.
There are about 2 million named species of living things, and millions more not yet named. Without a system, how would anyone find their way around them?
A short lesson: why we classify at all, before the kingdoms and keys.
Engage: Commit to a prediction before you test anything. A wrong guess is fine: it shows you what to look for.
Explore: Try it on the board and compare what happens with your prediction.
Explain: Use the particle model to explain what you saw.
Elaborate: Use the same idea in a new context.
Evaluate: Look back at your first ideas and what changed.
WidthMore contexts, same idea.
Make your prediction first. Help opens once you've locked it in.
EngageCommit to a prediction before you test anything. A wrong guess is fine: it shows you what to look for.
Engage: a new beetle
ExploreTry it on the board and compare what happens with your prediction.
Explore: identify with a key
Answer each question about the animal shown. The key is built from groups: backbone or not, then feathers or not.
Try it yourselfYour edits are saved in this browser.
Use the key to identify two of the animals.
Use the board. This ticks when you get there.
ExplainUse the particle model to explain what you saw.
Explain: what classification is for
In your book: write two reasons why scientists classify living things, and one example of classification from everyday life.
Is it a reason scientists classify living things?
To identify an organism they don't know
To use names every scientist understandsOne scientific name, whatever language you speak.
To see which organisms are related
To make the living world look neat
To decide which organisms are betterGroups describe features and relationships, not worth.
Elaborate TypicalUse the same idea in a new context.
Elaborate: two ways to group
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Identify the rest of the animals with the key.
Use the board. This ticks when you get there.
Elaborate WiderUse the same idea in a new context.
Elaborate: other ways of knowing
Try it yourselfYour edits are saved in this browser.
Identify two animals with the key again.
Use the board. This ticks when you get there.
EvaluateLook back at your first ideas and what changed.
Evaluate: look back
Write one sentence: "At first I thought… Now I think… because…"
Revision summary
Scientists classify living things to identify them, to communicate clearly (one name everyone understands) and to show how they are related.
Classification groups by shared features; a list (alphabetical, by date) does not.
Every classification is built for a purpose; different purposes can suit different systems.
For teachers
Students explain why living things are classified (identifying, communicating, showing relationships), tell classification from a plain list, and give an everyday example (AC9S7U01, node 1). About 14 minutes.
I can give two reasons why living things are classified.
I can tell classification from a simple list.
I can give an everyday example of classification.
Before class
A short concept tutorial to open the unit, before Plant, animal or something else? (kingdoms, node 2) and Who is it? Using a key (node 3). Set the width with ?width=minimum, typical (default) or wider.
Not a hinge node, and mostly a discussion: the board is a five-animal key to show identification in action. The progression's Wider lenses (First Nations classification, change through microscopy, biosecurity) are richer in class than on screen.
Board notes: the key uses features you can see; students meet longer keys in node 3.
Running the lesson
Engage: ask students who chose 'a tidy list' what the list would let them do.
Explain: the reasons sort and the 'classification or a list' question are the success criteria.
In your own words: two reasons and an everyday example.
The hard part (on purpose)
Saying why, not just what. When a student says classification is sorting, ask what the sorting lets a scientist do that a list doesn't.
When students get stuck
A student says classification is just putting things in order. Ask: What does an alphabetical list tell you about each animal? Fix: Nothing about the animal. Grouping by shared features means the group tells you something about each member.
A student thinks there is one right way to group living things. Ask: Would an ecologist planning a wetland reserve and a scientist studying ancestry group the same way? Fix: Not necessarily: each system is built for a purpose.
Stretch and support
Stretch: Why does every species have a two-part Latin name (Homo sapiens) as well as everyday names? (One name understood worldwide; everyday names differ between languages and places.)
Support: Give the reasons as cards (identify, communicate, show relationships) to match to examples.
Where it leads
Next: Plant, animal or something else? (kingdoms, node 2), which also shows classification changing with evidence.
In class: sort a bag of everyday objects two different ways and discuss which grouping suits which purpose. The Wider question on First Nations classification is general: for richer context, use local resources and community guidance, such as seasonal calendars made with Traditional Owners.
What each step is for
Engage: a new beetle: Students who see classification as tidying up, or as just making lists, pick those options; the purposes (identify, communicate, show relationships) are what the lesson builds.
Explore: identify with a key: Using a short key shows one purpose in action: features organised into groups let you identify something you don't know.
Explain: what classification is for: Naming the purposes, then telling classification apart from a plain list, meets the node's success criteria in a few minutes.
Elaborate: two ways to group: Comparing two systems for one purpose shows a classification is chosen for what it is meant to do.
Elaborate: other ways of knowing: Different knowledge systems classify for different purposes; comparing them shows classification as purposeful and made by people.
Now you can
Give two reasons why living things are classified.