Ms. Shaffren)

Biology I

Period 4

June 14th

Approximate time:

50 minutes

Objective: The student will identify the characteristics of each kingdom, including the monera, fungi, animals, plants, and protists, by applying these definitions to classify organisms. (6b)

Materials: pictures of organisms from each kingdom with clear details, white board and markers, timer, pens or pencils and paper.

Warm-Up:

1) Define Taxonomy

2) What is Linnaeus’s system of classification?

3) What is binomial nomenclature? Please given an example.

4) What is morphology?

5) Besides morphology, what is a source of information for creating a phylogeny for a set of organisms?

Set: Yesterday we talked about classification and talked about objects that get classified. Today we will learn some characteristics that biologists use to classify living organisms, and point out what some of those categories are.

For three minutes, you will write down every living thing that you can think of.. This will count as extra credit points on your quiz. The person with the most organisms gets a prize.

Have students share their lists.

Procedure:

1) Set. As students are sharing their lists, make a “master” list on the board.

2) Have students pair up again, and have each pair go through the master list and place all of the organisms in their own groups- as many as they want- based on any characteristics they choose. Explain that they are to build a zoo (that includes plants, insects, bacteria, etc.)  and must place organisms in categories to help them design their zoo. Have each pair share the categories they came up with (participation counts for extra credit) and the characteristics they used; how would their zoo be arranged. Drawings are acceptable.

3) Explain that students all have great ideas, but point out how many different systems they came up with and explain that scientists need to have one common system to use for classification.

4) Tell the students that we are going to figure out what the scientists system is, and tell them you will start them off by giving them the categories. Write the kingdoms on the board (monera, fungi, protists, plants, animals) and have them copy these into their notebooks. Have students work in their pairs again, and given the categories on the board, give the students three minutes to place each organisms into a kingdom. The teacher can add some organisms if each group is not represented. Have students share what they came up with.

5) Tell the students that you will be giving them another set of hints to make it easier. On the board and underneath each kingdom, write the characteristics of each kingdom, explaining as you go. Be creative and use examples to explain. Protist is a giant water monster shrunk down by the honey-I-shrunk-the-kids zapper. Fungi is mushrooms & yeast; imagine a carnivorous creature that can’t move, who can think of what it is? Monera is bacteria; give some very diverse examples (pink lake, extremophiles) and ask the students what they have in common, what makes us sick, use the arm getting tired example for plants, and for animals challenge students to come up with a list of what all animals have in common (3 minutes with partner), share, and then the teacher explains where they were right and wrong, using examples.

6) Now allow students to work in pairs again for 4 minute tos categorize the same list they used at the beginning of the class. Have students share, and make any corrections.

7) Hold up pictures of different organisms, have students point out the details of each organism that can be used to classify, and have students classify for extra practice. Students must raise hands. Use candy for correct answers.

Closure: Today we have identified characteristics of each kingdom using these characteristics to identify which kingdom organisms belong to. For your quiz tomorrow, you will have to know the characteristics of each kingdom and to classify organisms. So, what are the characteristics? What are some examples or organisms that you see every day? For each organism listed, what are its characteristics? What category does it fit in? For the remainder of the week, we will more closely examining each of the animals kingdoms and look at the system of classifying as whole- we have so far only touched on the broadest category that includes the most number of organisms in each. Just like you can places foods into smaller and smaller categories, you can do the same thing with organisms. After we have looked at all of the kingdoms in depth, we will try our classification activity again.

Assessment:

Informal- The teacher will observe the student’s class participation (M) and enthusiasm for classification activities (C).

Formal: The student will take a graded quiz (M) on the classification of the organisms and characteristics of the kingdoms (C), and the grade will be recorded (D). Students will also be given credit for class participation and group work activities (M, C). This will be a more general participation grade (D).