Classification of Living

ThingsIntroduction to Classification

How are things classified?

How do you know where to find an item at the grocery store?

If items were placed just anywhere, it would be very hard to find the milk!

But you know that milk is found in the Dairy section.

Similar items are placed together so they are easier to find.

Grouping Makes Things Easy!

Living things are also placed in groups to make it easier to study them and their relationship to one another.

Classification Into Kingdoms

All living things can be placed into one of six major categories called ‘Kingdoms’:

Animal (Animalia) Plant (Plantae) Fungi Protist (Protista) Eubacteria Archeabacteria

Further Classification Organisms can be further classified

based on other similarities, such as structure and early development.

PhylumClassOrderFamilyGenusSpecies

Going down the list, each category contains

organisms that are more and more alike!

Discovery Education

King Philip Came Over For Good Spaghetti

3 (things you learned)

2 (things you know or want to

know)

1 (mnemonic device)

Classifying

K – Central Dauphin School District

P – Linglestown Middle School

C – 6th Grade

O – Lions Team

F – Lamb’s Science Class

G – Period # ___

S – Student’s name

Humans and Horses

You might not think humans and horses are much alike, but:

Both are animalsBoth have a backbone

and four limbsBoth have hair and bear

live youngBoth feed their young

milk

Humans and Horses

And, there are many differences.

See how we only share three categories with horses:

Humans Horse

Kingdom: Animalia AnimaliaPhylum: Chordata ChordataClass: Mammalia MammaliaOrder: Primate PerissodactylaFamily: Hominidae EquidaeGenus: HomoEquusSpecies: H. sapiens E. ferus

Canis familiaris

The system uses the organism’s genus for its first name, and its species for its second name.

For example, the scientific name of dog is Canis familiaris

Genus and species names are of Latin origin and universal. No matter the language or country, Canis familiaris would mean the organism seen above!

Canis-Canine

Canis is a Latin term that refers to dog-like, canine creatures.

Wolves, coyotes, jackals, dingos, and dogs all belong to the genus Canis.

Canis species

But wolves, coyotes, dogs, and jackals are different enough that they are considered separate species.

Canis

familiaris

Canis latrans

Canis lupus

Canis aureus

REVIEW

Animals in the same Genus share many common characteristics and are closely related

They are not exactly the same though, so they are given a separate species name so that scientists do not get confused

Broad

Narrow

Genus species

Lamb christineshare with others specific just to me as an individual

Think of the Genus almost as a person’s last name. People that are related to each other have the same last name…however not all family members are the same. There are individuals within the family.

Think of the species as an individual’s first name. This name helps identify the specific person within the family. In a similar way, the species name lets the scientist know exactly which species in the genus they are talking about.

Why do scientists use a standard classification system?

1 official name for each animal {prevents duplication because all names must be approved by the international naming congresses}

Shows the relationship between animals It is easier to locate names/species Scientists can share information & collaborate Keeps it organized This system allows scientists to identify new

species Eliminates misnaming {ex: a star fish is not a fish}

Easy to use system with clear rules for naming Latin – uses 1 common language