CLASSIFICATION

CLASSIFYING ORGANISMS

How hard would it be to find what you needed in this room? Especially if you had to find it in a hurry. It is not very organized.

Classifying Organisms

This room is very organized. Would you be able to easily find what you needed in this room? Probably, right?

Classifying Organisms

Scientists organize things as well. They have used a system of organization they call CLASSIFICATION.

Classification is the grouping of organisms based upon their similar properties.

Classifying OrganismsHow would you organize these things?

Classifying Organisms

I would have grouped all the spiders in one group and all of the butterflies in a different group. Is that what you did? There are many ways you could group them.

It is easy to group spiders together; you can group them by the number of legs they have. Spiders have 8 legs.

You might have grouped butterflies together because of their wings.

Classifying Organisms Organizing the butterflies and spiders is a way of classifying them!

When scientists classify organisms, they classify them by how closely they are related.

Classifying Organisms

The system scientists use to classify organisms has seven levels.

1

•KINGDOM

2

•PHYLUM

3

•CLASS

4

•ORDER

5

•FAMILY

6

•GENUS

7

•SPECIES

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Here are a few ways to help you remember the classification system… kin

gdom

•Kids

Phylum

•Prefer

Class

•Candy

Order

•Over

Family

•Fresh

Genus

•Green

Species

•Spinach

LET’S SEE HOW HUMANS ARE CLASSIFIED IN THIS SYSTEM

kingdom

•Animalia

Phylum

•Chordata

Class

•Mammalia

Order

•Primates

Family

•Hominidae

Genus

•Homo

Species

•Homo sapiens

CLASSIFICATIONAristotle was the first scientist who attempted to classify organisms. He developed a system that classified organisms as either plants or animals.

ClassificationHe then divided them into smaller classifications. For example, he divided animals according to where they lived the most…air, land or water.

We don’t classify them that way today. Think about some of the animals that live in the air. They include things like eagles, mosquitoes, and bats. We know today that these animals are not closely related. Mosquitoes are insects, eagles are birds, and bats are mammals. They are very different .

Classification

Modern ClassificationSo, a new system was developed by a guy named Carolus Linnaeus; call him Carl for short. He was a Swedish botanist. He classified organisms by physical and structural similarities, and we still use his system today.

Modern Classification

The modern system has changed over time. We used to have 5 Kingdoms, Moneran, Protista, Plantae, Fungi, Anamalia, but with the discovery of certain microscopic organisms we now have 6.

OLD

NEW

NEW CLASSIFICATIONIt is not important to memorize the six kingdoms right now. But you can see them below. Archaebacteria, Protista, Fungi, Plantae, Eubacteria and Animalia. There is a saying some people use to remember them. All

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Remember the Human Classification?

kingdom

•Animalia

Phylum

•Chordata

Class

•Mammalia

Order

•Primates

Family

•Hominidae

Genus

•Homo

Species

•Homo sapiens

Humans are a part of the animal kingdom, but as you move through the system of classification each step gets more specific. The phylum humans are in include only animals with backbones. The class humans are in is mammalia, or mammals. The organisms in this class have backbones and they have hair on their bodies and feed their young with mother’s milk.

ClassificationThe last two levels in the classification system are Genus and Species. Scientists use these two to name all organisms. It is like having a first name and last name.

It is called BINOMIAL CLASSIFICATION

These organisms are similar but they are not the same. Their Genus name is the same because they are very similar, it is Canis. However their species name is different. The dog is Canis familiaris. The wolf’s name is Canis lupis. No other animal can have the same genus and species name.

Genus and Species names

KEYS: A Tool of Classification

Scientists can use genetics, evolution, or physical characteristics to classify organisms.

Each one has a different tool. There are cladograms, phylogenetic trees, and dichotomous keys to name just a few.

KEYS AND CLASSIFICATIONSWe are most interested in using physical characteristics to identify organisms. A typical tool would be the dichotomous key.

A DICHOTOMOUS KEY is a tool for identifying a species by going through a series of choices that leads to the right name.

BRIEF SUMMARY SLIDE All organisms are classified by their

structural similarities. Carolus Linnaeus created the system

we use to classify organisms today. Organisms are classified into 7 levels:

Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species.

The Kingdoms are the most general and the genus and species are unique to each organism.