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# Plant, animal or something else?

Year 7 Biology · Classification

<!-- Speaker note: Students place organisms into kingdoms using observable features, justify each placement, recognise a hard-to-classify case, and see that kingdoms sort by features rather than relatedness, a model revised as evidence improved (AC9S7U01, node 2, a hinge node). About 28 minutes (Engage and Explore 8 min · Explain 13 min · A hard one 2 min · Evaluate 3 min · Wider adds about 3 min). -->

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## Today

**We are learning to** living things are sorted into kingdoms (animals, plants, fungi, protists and bacteria) using features you can observe, and you can justify each placement with those features.

- I can name the five kingdoms.
- I can place an organism in its kingdom and give the observable feature that decides it.
- I can explain why some organisms are hard to classify.
- I can explain why kingdoms don't always show which organisms are related, and why classification changes with new evidence.

<!-- Speaker note: Before class: A concept tutorial for introducing or revising the idea; it does not replace specimens, photos or a microscope. Set the width with `?width=minimum`, `typical` (default) or `wider`. The hinge is feature-based justification: students who sort by first impressions ("it doesn't move, so it's a plant") can't choose discriminating features when they build keys in node 4. Kingdoms are not the endpoint. The five-kingdom scheme (common in Year 7) sorts by observable features, which is what the descriptor asks for, but it is not a family tree: fungi share a more recent common ancestor with animals than with plants, "protists" is a grab-bag of unrelated groups, and "bacteria" hides the archaea. Two Explain questions make this explicit, and the history (two kingdoms, then five, then three domains as microscopes and then DNA added evidence) shows classification as a model revised under evidence, the point about scientific rigour. Model notes: algae such as kelp are grouped with protists here; many textbooks differ. Yeast is a single-celled fungus, so "can you see one without a microscope?" doesn't place it: it is in the sort, not the key, on purpose. Teacher: In your own words: the five-organism list with features is the node's evidence. -->

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## Why it matters

> A mushroom pops up on the lawn overnight. It grows from the ground and doesn't walk away, so it must be a plant. Right?

<!-- Speaker note: There are millions of kinds of living things. This lesson is about the biggest groups scientists sort them into, and the features that decide. -->

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<span style="background:#dbeafe; color:#1a1a1a; border:1.5px solid #3b82f6; padding:6px 18px; border-radius:8px; font-size:1em; font-weight:500;">💬 Discussion</span>

## Engage: predict

**Is a mushroom a plant?**

- Yes: it's alive and isn't an animal
- No: it can't make its own food from sunlight, so it belongs to a different group
- Yes: it grows in the ground and doesn't move

<!-- Speaker note: What happens: No. A mushroom isn't green and can't make food from sunlight; it absorbs food from dead material. It belongs to the fungi. Take two or three predictions before anyone runs it. -->

<!-- Speaker note: Teacher: ask the 'plant' voters which feature they used. Keep the list. -->

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<span style="background:#fef3c7; color:#1a1a1a; border:1.5px solid #f59e0b; padding:6px 18px; border-radius:8px; font-size:1em; font-weight:500;">✍️ Activity</span>

## Explore it

{{embed: https://studio.learningwaypoints.com/tutorials/_playground-board/index.html?id=deck%2Fscience%2Fbiology-7%2Fkingdoms%2Fstep-2&code=widget%3A+key%0Astep+A%3A+Can+you+see+a+single+one+without+a+microscope%3F+%7C+B+%7C+D%0Astep+B%3A+Does+it+make+its+own+food+using+sunlight%3F+%7C+Plant+%7C+C%0Astep+C%3A+Does+it+absorb+its+food+from+dead+or+decaying+material%3F+%7C+Fungus+%7C+Animal%0Astep+D%3A+Does+its+cell+have+a+nucleus%3F+%7C+Protist+%7C+Bacteria%0Aspecimen%3A+Plant+%7C+Large%2C+with+green+leaves%3B+makes+its+own+food+using+sunlight%3B+stays+in+one+place.+%7C+Gum+tree%0Aspecimen%3A+Fungus+%7C+Grows+on+rotting+logs%3B+not+green%3B+absorbs+food+from+the+dead+wood%3B+has+a+cap+and+gills.+%7C+Mushroom%0Aspecimen%3A+Animal+%7C+Moves+slowly+over+rocks%3B+eats+mussels%3B+cannot+make+its+own+food.+%7C+Sea+star%0Aspecimen%3A+Protist+%7C+Only+visible+with+a+microscope%3B+one+cell+with+a+nucleus%3B+flows+around+its+food.+%7C+Amoeba%0Aspecimen%3A+Bacteria+%7C+Only+visible+with+a+microscope%3B+one+tiny+cell+with+no+nucleus%3B+turns+milk+into+yoghurt.+%7C+Yoghurt+bacteria%0Aspecimen%3A+Fungus+%7C+Fuzzy+white+and+black+patches+on+old+bread%3B+absorbs+food+from+the+bread.+%7C+Bread+mould%0Aspecimen%3A+Plant+%7C+Small%2C+soft+and+green%3B+makes+its+own+food+from+sunlight%3B+grows+on+damp+rocks.+%7C+Moss%0Aneed%3A+5%0A&fresh=1}}

[Open this step in the tutorial](https://studio.learningwaypoints.com/tutorials/science/biology-7/kingdoms/?full=step-2#step-2)

<!-- Speaker note: Choose a specimen, read its description, and answer each question about it. The key tells you its kingdom. -->

<!-- Speaker note: Teacher: specimen names appear only after the key places them; students should read descriptions, not guess. -->

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<span style="background:#dcfce7; color:#1a1a1a; border:1.5px solid #22c55e; padding:6px 18px; border-radius:8px; font-size:1em; font-weight:500;">✅ Check</span>

## What happened?

* No. A mushroom isn't green and can't make food from sunlight; it absorbs food from dead material. It belongs to the fungi.

<!-- Speaker note: Reveal after running. Ask who predicted it, and what made them think so. -->

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<span style="background:#dcfce7; color:#1a1a1a; border:1.5px solid #22c55e; padding:6px 18px; border-radius:8px; font-size:1em; font-weight:500;">✅ Check</span>

## Sort them

**Which kingdom does each belong to?**

Groups: Animals · Plants · Fungi · Protists · Bacteria

Kookaburra · Wattle tree · Yeast (used to make bread rise) · Paramecium (one cell with a nucleus, in pond water) · Huntsman spider · Kelp (a giant brown seaweed) · Bacteria that cause tooth decay · Grass · Mould on an orange · Coral

* Answer: Kookaburra → Animals; Wattle tree → Plants; Yeast (used to make bread rise) → Fungi; Paramecium (one cell with a nucleus, in pond water) → Protists; Huntsman spider → Animals; Kelp (a giant brown seaweed) → Protists; Bacteria that cause tooth decay → Bacteria; Grass → Plants; Mould on an orange → Fungi; Coral → Animals

<!-- Speaker note:  -->

<!-- Speaker note: Teacher: the sort has two deliberate boundary items (kelp, coral) with explanations. -->

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<span style="background:#dcfce7; color:#1a1a1a; border:1.5px solid #22c55e; padding:6px 18px; border-radius:8px; font-size:1em; font-weight:500;">✅ Check</span>

## Plants or fungi

**Which feature best separates plants from fungi?**

- Fungi are smaller than plants
- Plants make their own food using sunlight; fungi absorb food from other material
- Plants grow in soil; fungi don't

* Answer: Plants make their own food using sunlight; fungi absorb food from other material

<!-- Speaker note:  -->

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<span style="background:#dcfce7; color:#1a1a1a; border:1.5px solid #22c55e; padding:6px 18px; border-radius:8px; font-size:1em; font-weight:500;">✅ Check</span>

## Why features

**Why do scientists use observable features to classify?**

- Anyone can check them, so everyone sorts the same organism the same way
- Because organisms choose their own group
- They always show which organisms are most closely related

* Answer: Anyone can check them, so everyone sorts the same organism the same way

<!-- Speaker note:  -->

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<span style="background:#dcfce7; color:#1a1a1a; border:1.5px solid #22c55e; padding:6px 18px; border-radius:8px; font-size:1em; font-weight:500;">✅ Check</span>

## Closer relatives

**DNA evidence shows which living things share a recent common ancestor. Which is a mushroom's closer relative?**

- A sea star (an animal)
- Neither: fungi aren't related to anything
- A fern (a plant)

* Answer: A sea star (an animal)

<!-- Speaker note: Fungi and animals share a more recent common ancestor than fungi and plants do. Kingdoms sort by features; they don't always show who is related. -->

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<span style="background:#dcfce7; color:#1a1a1a; border:1.5px solid #22c55e; padding:6px 18px; border-radius:8px; font-size:1em; font-weight:500;">✅ Check</span>

## Why it changed

**Scientists once used two kingdoms (plants and animals), then five, and now group life into three domains. Why did it keep changing?**

- New evidence (microscopes, then DNA) showed groups that didn't fit the old system
- The earlier scientists were careless
- Living things have evolved into new kingdoms since then

* Answer: New evidence (microscopes, then DNA) showed groups that didn't fit the old system

<!-- Speaker note: Microscopes revealed single-celled life that was neither plant nor animal; DNA showed that 'bacteria' are really two very different groups (bacteria and archaea), and that protists aren't one family. Classification is a model, revised when the evidence demands it. -->

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<span style="background:#dcfce7; color:#1a1a1a; border:1.5px solid #22c55e; padding:6px 18px; border-radius:8px; font-size:1em; font-weight:500;">✅ Check</span>

## Mix it up

**Looking back at why scientists classify: which is a reason to group living things?**

- To decide which organisms are better than others
- To make the living world look tidy
- To use names every scientist understands, and to show how organisms are related
- To put them in alphabetical order

* Answer: To use names every scientist understands, and to show how organisms are related

<!-- Speaker note: Scientists classify to identify organisms, to communicate clearly with one name, and to show how organisms are related. What this step is for: The reasons for classifying are what the kingdoms are built for, and they come back before the kingdoms are sorted by features. -->

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<span style="background:#dcfce7; color:#1a1a1a; border:1.5px solid #22c55e; padding:6px 18px; border-radius:8px; font-size:1em; font-weight:500;">✅ Check</span>

## Elaborate: a hard one

**Euglena is a single cell that swims with a tail, and it is green: it makes food from sunlight, but also eats when it is dark. Why is it hard to classify?**

- It doesn't have any features
- It is too small to see
- It has features of both plants (makes food) and animals (moves and eats)

* Answer: It has features of both plants (makes food) and animals (moves and eats)

<!-- Speaker note: It is placed with the protists, but it shows why classification systems keep changing as we learn more. What this step is for: A boundary case shows that the kingdom model is a human tool with limits, not a fact of nature. -->

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<span style="background:#dcfce7; color:#1a1a1a; border:1.5px solid #22c55e; padding:6px 18px; border-radius:8px; font-size:1em; font-weight:500;">✅ Check</span>

## Elaborate: the full address of a kangaroo

**Put the red kangaroo's classification in order, from the biggest group to the smallest.**

```science
Family: Kangaroos and wallabies (Macropodidae)
Phylum: Chordates (animals with a backbone)
Order: Diprotodonts (Diprotodontia: kangaroos, wombats, koalas and possums)
Species: Osphranter rufus (red kangaroo)
Class: Mammals
Genus: Osphranter
Kingdom: Animals
```

<!-- Speaker note: Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species: each level is a smaller group that shares more features. The two-part scientific name is genus + species: Osphranter rufus. Correct order: Kingdom: Animals Phylum: Chordates (animals with a backbone) Class: Mammals Order: Diprotodonts (Diprotodontia: kangaroos, wombats, koalas and possums) Family: Kangaroos and wallabies (Macropodidae) Genus: Osphranter Species: Osphranter rufus (red kangaroo) What this step is for: The Linnaean hierarchy extends kingdoms into nested groups, each level sharing more features. -->

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## Evaluate: look back

Write one sentence: "At first I thought… Now I think… because…"

**Revision summary**

- Living things are grouped by **observable features** into **kingdoms**: animals, plants, fungi, protists and bacteria.
- **Plants** make their own food from sunlight; **fungi** absorb food from other material; **animals** eat other living things.
- **Protists** are mostly single cells with a nucleus; **bacteria** are single tiny cells with no nucleus.
- Some organisms (Euglena, algae) are hard to place: classification is a tool that changes with evidence.
- Kingdoms sort by **features**; they don't always show who is **related**. Fungi are closer relatives of animals than of plants, and protists aren't one family.
- Scientists now group life by evolutionary relationships, using DNA: **three domains** (bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes). The five kingdoms are still a useful way to sort what you can see.

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<span style="background:#dcfce7; color:#1a1a1a; border:1.5px solid #22c55e; padding:6px 18px; border-radius:8px; font-size:1em; font-weight:500;">✅ Check</span>

## Exit ticket

**A slime grows on a dead log. It isn't green and it absorbs food from the wood. Which kingdom? Why?**

* Fungi: it can't make food from sunlight and it absorbs food from dead material.

<!-- Speaker note: Students answer on paper or a mini whiteboard before the reveal. Anyone who cannot answer needs the main idea again next lesson. Where this leads: Next: using dichotomous keys (node 3), the same feature-by-feature reasoning, one choice at a time. In Year 10, natural selection and common ancestry explain why relatedness, not features alone, is the basis of modern classification. In class: a tray of specimens or photos (moss, mushroom, bread mould, insect, shell), and a microscope slide of pond water. -->