HOW DOES CLASSIFICATION SEPARATE AND

CONNECT?


A Month Long Unit on the Classification of Life: For a 7
th
grade
science class



Josh Garrison
JGarrison2@Antioch.edu
Antioch University
Environmental Studies- Science Teacher Certification
Narrative Summary




Imagine you are a modern day explorer/ scientist. You have been hired by
the National Geographic Society to travel to a remote island off the coast of Chile.
This island has never been set foot on by another human! You will be spending two
weeks on this island with your trusted assistant observing, photographing, and
recording as many organisms you can find. It has been rumored that this island has
more biodiversity than the famed Galapagos Islands! National Geographic asks you
to organize the thousands of drawings and pictures you took on your expedition to
fit in next months April issue.
This is the essence of the modern day scientific concept of classification.
Scientists of the past and present have always been interested in sorting, organizing,
and classifying living and non-living organism into similar categories. Believe it or
not classification is not just a scientific concept. It is apparent in each and every one
of your daily lives. Imagine walking into a Wal-Mart to buy the latest video game,
and instead of knowing exactly where to look for it in the electronics section of the
store, every item in the store it totally disorganized as the clothing section is mixed
with the automobile section, and TVs are in same isle as the pillows. Further, what if
all these items had no names? How would you describe to someone that you were
looking to buy a video game but could not say the name? Its difficult, huh? You
wander around the store looking for the video games but cannot find them because
they are not in their usual spot.
For the next month, we will be looking at this question of why it is important
to classifying things? You will try to sort a pile of 50 pennies into as many different
groups as possible according to physical properties, as well as devise a classification
system for every persons shoes in the class. We will look at how some of the worlds
greatest minds tried to classify things, which will untimely help you create your own
classification system that you will put to use in the final activity of the class: the
scavenger hunt.
Challenge Board
Instructions: You need at least 20 points before the unit is over.
1. Is there a part of your school that is inefficient in how it is organized? Most likely,
you will write a proposal to the principal to present your findings. Talk to your
teacher for some guidance.
2. Additional questions to consider: Do you think their system is an effective one? Or
Would you use another method? Present your findings to the class.
3. Your paper should be 500 words. If you need an idea, think about what would
happen if you wanted to buy a video game from Walmart, but when you walked into
the store nothing was organized and the video games were not where they were
supposed to be!
4. If you need ideas, talk to your teacher.
5. Interview some one you know and find out their system for organizing their
refrigerator, tool shed, closet, etc. Some questions to ask them: Why did they
choose this system? Did they always use this way of organizing? Why has it stayed
the same or changed? Give a 5-minute presentation to the class.
6. Can you think of anything related to classification that intrigues you? Make a
challenge out of it and receive credit!
7. Write in first person voice. Describe what you see, tell a story, be descriptive!
8. This is your chance to observe very carefully all that is around you. Make sure you
find a place that is away from any sort of human development. You may want to wait
to do this assignment until you have learned about the 8 ways to classify organisms.



1. Find a disorganized
room/ part of your
school and propose a
new plan to organize it
differently. (10 points)
2. Research or visit a
recycling plant. How do
they sort /organize
incoming items? (5
points)
3. Write a humorous
fictional story about a
library without any
type of classification
system. Think chaos!
(10 points)
4. Write a poem, make a
video, create a rap, or
another creative way to
remember the eight
ways to classify
organisms. (5 points)
5. Interview a friend or
family member and
find out how they
organize their
refrigerator, tool shed,
etc. How is this system
similar or dissimilar to
the current scientific
classification system?
(5 points)
6. Come up with your
own challenge! (Points
depend on challenge)
7. Imagine you are
Aristotle or Linnaeus.
Write a one-page
journal entry from
their perspective as if
you are just
discovering an
organism for the first
time. (10 points)
8. Go out into the woods
and observe and record
every living organism
you see in 15 minutes.
From your list make a
classification tree of all
the organisms you
observe. (10 points)
Micro Lesson

1. Classifying Music Challenge (Teachers Eyes)
Goals and Objectives:
1) Students are introduced to the scientific concept of classification.
2) Students learn that items, organism, etc. are organized and sorted based on
shared characteristics.
Group Size: Entire class for parts one and two. Groups of 2 for part three.
Materials Needed/ Group: Device and speakers to play music from, samples of 5-6
different songs from various music genres.
Beginning Minutes Exercise: Have students listen to 30 seconds of five different
songs (only listen).
Ending Minutes Exercise: Exit Ticket- What are certain characteristics of pop,
country, rock, rap, classical, and bluegrass music? Be descriptive.
Additional Explanations:

1. Classifying Music Challenge (Students Eyes)
Agenda: -How well do you know your music?
-Music Challenge
-The Music Metaphor: Classifying all of life



Challenge Card: Part 1: Listen carefully to the 5 pieces of music.
Part 2: Listen to the same pieces of music, but this time write
down what genre/ type of music each piece is.
Part 3: Share and compare with your partner. Is there a
consensus? Why do you agree or disagree with each other? Be prepared to share.
Handouts: None


2. Penny, Button, Shoe Sort Challenge (Teachers Eyes)
Goals and Objectives:
1) Students start answering the driving questions for the unit: what is classification
and how do we separate and connect all of life?
2) Students discover that classification is based on morphology.
Group Size: Groups of 3-4 students.
Materials Needed/ Group: bag of assorted coins (hundreds of them!), hundreds of
buttons, students shoes, and stopwatch.
Beginning Minutes Exercise: Have students pair share and come up with one thing
they remembered from yesterdays music challenge. If the class guesses your top
three take a ways, they receive a pizza point.
Ending Minutes Exercise: Exit ticket- Think and write down one-way in which you
categorize or sort things in your daily life. What characteristics do you use to
separate these things?
Additional Explanations: Divide coins, buttons, and shoes into three stations
around the room. Divide students into groups of 3-4 and send to one of the three
stations. At the end of ten minutes, have them rotate to different station.

2. Penny, Button, Shoe Sort Challenge (Students Eyes)
Agenda: -Refresh of yesterday
-Penny, button, shoe sorting challenge
-What does it all mean?
-Exit ticket

Challenge Card: At each station you will find one of three different items: a group of
coins, a bag of buttons, and everyones shoes in the class. You will have 10 minutes
at each station to sort and categorize all of the contents at your station into
_________ different piles based on physical properties. If of the class figures out
their partners group classification scheme, then the whole class gets a pizza point.
Go!
Handouts: None


3. Personal Collection Museum Walk (Teachers Eyes)
Goals and Objectives:
1) Students will understand why it is important to classify/organize everyday items.
2) Students will articulate to their classmates their reasoning/thought process of
how they organized their item(s).
Group Size: Whole class
Materials Needed/ Group: Pen and paper.
Beginning Minutes Exercise: Journal question- Give two reasons how classification
makes things clearer and two reasons how classification makes things more
confusing. (5-8 minutes).
Ending Minutes Exercise: Exit ticket- Come up with one question/clue for the
scavenger hunt with your partner revolving around the importance of classifying
things.

Additional Explanations: Students will exhibit their items and the class will rotate
at the same time so they see each persons collection. At each station, they will write
down the way in which they think that person organized or sorted their collection.
Answers will be revealed in a group setting.

3. Personal Collection Museum Walk (Students Eyes)
Agenda: -Journal time
-Museum walk
-Share about your collection
-Exit ticket


Challenge Card: Bring into class a collection, item, etc. These items should show
how you classified/organized/sorted based on certain characteristics. Be ready to
explain your items and how you separated or connected them. (An example: a
collection of baseball cards, separated first by team and then by position: infield and
outfield).
Handouts: None


4. No Animals Allowed: Take a Stand (Teachers Eyes)
Goals and Objectives:
1) Students will be able to explain why humans are considered animals.
Group Size: Whole class
Materials Needed/ Group: mini white boards for each group, dry erase markers.
Beginning Minutes Exercise: How do scientists classify living things? Students
break up into groups of 3-4. Each group has white board and writes down possible
answers. Teacher then facilitates Scattegories style game.
Ending Minutes Exercise: Exit ticket- Describe in two sentences why or why not
humans are animals.
Additional Explanations: After Scattegories game, teacher will pose the question if
humans are considered to be animals? Ask students to take a stand on the issue and
stand on one side of the room if they say yes and have the other half that say no
stand on the other side.
~Possible probing questions to ask if the split is lopsided:
-If all say yes, humans are animals, then ask: why do we look so different
(no hair, walk upright)?
-If all say no, humans are not animals, then ask: why do some animals and
humans have over a 98% similarity in DNA?


4. No Animals Allowed: Take a Stand (Students Eyes)
Agenda: -Are humans animals?
-Take a stand
-Exit Ticket

Challenge Card: Scenario- You are walking down the street and about to go inside a
convenient store to buy some snacks. You see a sign posted on the door of the store
entitled: STRICTLY NO ANIMALS ALLOWED. You think about the sign for a minute
and wonder how scientifically accurate it is. Do you go inside or not? TAKE A
STAND!
Handouts: None

5. Can we classify all living things? Classroom Sort Challenge
(Teachers Eyes)
Goals and Objectives:
1.) Students will be introduced to the Linnaean classification system.
2.) Students will understand that all life can be categorized using eight categories
(DKPCOFGS).
Group Size: Split the class in half, each doing the same task.
Materials Needed/ Group: Two large white boards, dry erase markers
Beginning Minutes Exercise: Reflection lecture: Everyday, we classify. Anytime we
sort objects and put them in a specific place, its classification. What are some
examples in your daily life where you classify? What is scientific classification?
Grouping things according to similarities based on morphology, internal (spinal
cord)/external (hair, skin, scales) structures and evolutionary history (DNA).
-Morphology - (morph=form and ology= the study of) - The branch of
biology that deals with the form and structure of organisms without
consideration of function.
-Taxonomy (taxis=arrangement, nomos=law) classification of organisms
into different categories based on their physical characteristics and presumed
natural relationship.
Ending Minutes Exercise: Exit Ticket: Did you find it difficult to add new items
after you already categorized everything else? What happens if these items dont fit
in perfectly? Does this happen in science?
Additional Explanations: To add elements of sabotage, introduce new items to the
students once they have set up their basic structure to their classification system.
Does it fit in? Where does it fit?

5. Can we classify all living things? Classroom Sort Challenge
(Students Eyes)
Agenda: -Do scientists classify too?
-Classroom Sort Challenge
-Exit Ticket



Challenge Card: Working in groups, organize all of the objects in the room into 3
categories (domains), then 6 (kingdoms). Draw lists on white board. Go!
-HINT-Sort objects based on physical appearances.
Handouts: None


6. Whats in a name? (Teachers Eyes)
Goals and Objectives:
1.) Students will learn that scientists use binomial nomenclature to classify species
because it allows them to accurately identify individual species wherever they are in
the world.
2.)
Group Size: 3-4 students
Materials Needed/ Group: white board, computers with Internet access, Binomial
Name Scavenger Hunt chart.
Beginning Minutes Exercise: Tell the class that you once spotted a "Helianthus
giganteus" in your neighbor's garden. As your students puzzle over your sighting
and wonder if you actually spotted Charlie Brown's "Great Pumpkin," display the
Visual Thesaurus word web for the term "Helianthus giganteus" on the white board.
Students will discover that "Helianthus giganteus" is just another name for the
"giant sunflower" plant.
Ask students why they think there is a need in the scientific community for binomial
nomenclature? If organisms already have common names such as "sunflower," why
do we need an entirely different system of naming them?
Ending Minutes Exercise: Exit ticket: Come up with one question/clue for the
scavenger hunt with your partner revolving around the concept of binomial
nomenclature.

Additional Explanations: Inform teams that today they will be competing in a
scavenger hunt during which they will attempt to identify as many well-known
species in particular genus categories by their binomial names as they can (in a
limited amount of time).
Explain to students that each team in the room will begin with a list of "genus"
names and then they will be allowed to use two resources in their quest for binomial
names: the Visual Thesaurus (https://www.visualthesaurus.com) and The Catalogue
of Life (online index of the world's known species: http://www.catalogueoflife.org).
-You may have to model one round of the scavenger hunt process.

6. Whats in a name? (Students Eyes)
Agenda: -Anticipation guide
-Lecture on naming organisms
-Name that organism challenge
-Exit ticket

Challenge Card: In your group, use these two websites:
https://www.visualthesaurus.com and http://www.catalogueoflife.org to find out
the both the binomial name of the species and the common name of the species.
Along the way you should also answer these questions: what genus categories
seemed to contain the most species variation? What genus had the least species
variation? You have 45 minutes. Go!
Handouts
GENUS BINOMIAL NAME OF
SPECIES
COMMON NAME
Asio
Brassica
Canis
Chaetodon
Chelydra
Citrullus
Citrus
Delphinapterus
Delphinus
Digitaria
Glycine
Narcissus
Panthera
Rosa
Rubus
Spinacia
Ursus
Zalophus





Anticipation Guide

True or False.

1.______Scientists classify living things based only on physical appearances.
2.______ Scientists will still be using Linnaeus classification system in 200 years.
3.______When a new organism is discovered, the classification system for all living
things has to be changed.
4.______Scientists have scientific names for organisms (Canis latrans = coyote)
because it makes them sound smart.
5.______Humans are animals.
6.______You need a microscope to correctly classify and identify an organism.
7.______A bird can be both an animal and a vertebrate.
8.______ The currently accepted scientific animal classification system reveals that
the red panda is more closely related to a raccoon than it is to a panda bear.
raccoon panda

red panda




7. Dichotomous Keys: Whats On Your Desk?- part 1 (Teachers
Eyes)
Goals and Objectives:
1.) Students will learn what a dichotomous key is and how to use one.
Group Size: Part 1-Can be done by groups of 2-4 students.
Materials Needed/ Group: Items typically found in a classroom, large writing
surface, dry erase markers, scrap paper.
Beginning Minutes Exercise: How can we identify an organism we are unfamiliar
with? Teams of 4 brainstorm ideas for 5-10 minutes and write answers on mini
white board. The teacher facilitates Scattegories style game to elicit answers and
award points.
Ending Minutes Exercise: Exit ticket: Come up with one question/clue for the
scavenger hunt with your partner revolving around the concept of using
dichotomous keys.
Additional Explanations

7. Dichotomous Keys: Whats On Your Desk- part 1 (Students Eyes)
Agenda: -Scattegories game
-Whats on your desk challenge?
-Make a dichotomous key as a class
Challenge Card
Handouts: Example of dichotomous key of things that can be found on a desk:

1a Object made entirely of metal ............................................................................... 2
1b Object not made entirely of metal ......................................................................... 5
2a Object has no thin metal projections ..................................................................... 4
2b Object is flat at one end with a sharp projection coming from the center .............. 3
3a Flat end is not larger than 1 cm ............................................................ thumb tack
3b Flat end (base) is at least 5 cm in diameter ..................................... .paper spindle
4a Object is made of bent wire .................................................................... paper clip
4b Object is box shape with a hinged lid ..................................................... card box
5a Object is made entirely of rubber ................................................................. eraser
5b Object may be rubber in part ................................................................................ 6
6a Object is long, thin, has graphite inside and has rubber at one end ............. pencil
6b Object is long, thin, has removable cap, but does not have rubber at each end
......................................................................................... fountain pen

8. Dichotomous Keys: Leaves- part 2 (Teachers Eyes)
Goals and Objectives:
1.) Students will create their own working dichotomous key.
Group Size: 2-3 students
Materials Needed/ Group: Tree ID book, pen, notebook
Beginning Minutes Exercise: review from yesterday. Sweep the room: one thing
they remember from yesterday (No repeats).
Ending Minutes Exercise: Exit Ticket- Come up with one question/clue for the
scavenger hunt with your partner revolving around the concept of using
dichotomous keys.
Additional Explanations: Students will collect 6-8 different leaves from outside to
create their dichotomous key. The process of gathering and making a dichotomous
key may take multiple class periods.

8. Dichotomous Keys: Leaves- part 2 (Students Eyes)
Agenda: -Review from yesterday
-Collect leaves from outside
-Make dichotomous Key
-Test out dichotomous keys with other groups: does it work?

Challenge Card: With your partner, collect 6-8 different leaves. Using the skills
from yesterday create a working dichotomous key, so another group can
successfully identify a random leaf they find in the forest.
-If more than the class can use another groups dichotomous key to correctly
identify a leaf, you get a pizza point.
Handouts: See handouts from part 1 for additional help


9. Marine Invertebrate Sabotage (Teachers Eyes)
Goals and Objectives:
1.) Students will understand the type of characteristics scientists use to classify life
at the phyla level.
Group Size: 2-3 students per group
Materials Needed/ Group: (per group) 6 Pictures or actual specimens of various
marine invertebrates (one for each phyla described below/ each group should have
different organisms), posted notes.
Beginning Minutes Exercise: 10-minute power point lecture on basics of marine
invertebrates or show a short clip about marine invertebrates.
Ending Minutes Exercise: Exit ticket: Come up with one question/ clue for your
scavenger hunt with your partner revolving around marine invertebrates.
Additional Explanations:

9. Marine Invertebrate Sabotage (Students Eyes)
Agenda: -Marine invertebrate intro lecture
-Marine Invertebrate sorting challenge
-Sabotage your peers!
-Exit ticket
Challenge Card:
INTRODUCTION:
Youve just received an introduction to how life is classified using the organizational
hierarchy DKPCOFGS. Remember, the three domains include bacteria, archaea, and
eukarya, and the six kingdoms include plants, animals, protists, fungi, bacteria, and
archaea. You are already familiar with the qualities used to classify life at the
domain and kingdom levels. We will now investigate the next level of
classification, phylum.
However, there are MANY more phyla then there are kingdoms. In fact, there are 35
animal phyla and 12 plant phyla alone! Therefore, we will focus on a selection of the
marine invertebrate phyla, or organisms that live in marine environments and lack
backbones. Each table in the lab room has a jumbled-up selection of several
representatives from each of the following marine invertebrate phyla:
porifera, annelida, echinodermata, cnidaria, mollusca, and flatworms.
Step 1- Meet your partners at your assigned table and
CHALLENGE: Using only your phyla descriptors, sort & label your specimens
into six mutually exclusive groups!
Use the post-its on your table to label your groups by phyla.
Step 2- Get checked off by your teacher when you think you have it perfect.
BONUS ROUND: Once every group has completed the challenge, they will plant a
sabotage somewhere in one of their phyla. Each group will rotate to the next lab
table and attempt to identify the sabotage.
Write down what you think the sabotage is and how you would correct it on
the back of this page for credit. (Hint: If you dont know the name of what you
are looking at, sketch it.)

Handouts:
Porifera
1.Lack true tissues &
Annelida
1.Segmented bodies
Echinodermata
1.Radial symmetry
organs
2.Pores throughout outer
body layer
3.Filter feeds (bacteria)
4.Sessile (anchored in one
place)
2.Closed circulatory system
3.Bilaterally symmetrical
4.Three tissue layers
2.Spiny skin
3.Tube feet
4.Water vascular system

Cnidaria
1.Radial symmetry
2.Tentacles with stinging
cells
3.1-way digestive cavity
mass used for movement)
Mollusca
1.Soft body (and hard shell,
for most)
2.Muscular "foot" (a.k.a. a
muscular)
3.Tongue-tooth"radula"
4. Mantle

Flatworms
1.Bilaterally symmetrical
2.Three tissue layers
3.2-way digestive cavity




Hint Cards:
1) Radial vs. bilateral symmetry


2) The water vascular system provides the water pressure that allow tube feet to move!



10. Scavenger Hunt (Teachers Eyes) TAKES PLACE OVER 3 DAYS!
Goals and Objectives:
1,) The goal of this activity is to have students apply the knowledge they have
gained so far around the classification process.
2.) The objective is to have each group of students create a scavenger hunt for
another group.
Group Size: Teams of 2-3 students
Materials Needed/ Group: Scrap paper, flagging tape for checkpoints, optional ID
books
Beginning Minutes Exercise: Describe rules and parameters of final challenge
Ending Minutes Exercise: Debrief of activity, do you look at objects around you
differently now?
Additional Explanations: This scavenger hunt will lead each group around the
class, school, and woods (in different parts in order for supervision) to find 5-6
different checkpoints. Each checkpoint will contain 4-6 random objects (living or
non-living). Groups will collect and carry all of their items to the finish line/final
clue. Upon completion, they will then be challenged to create their own classification
system based on these objects.
-You will need to explain to the students that at each station, they need to include a
clue/description of how to find the next checkpoint. They should be creative in this
process (perhaps treasure map style). Clues should contain content driven
questions from previous lessons throughout the unit. (Example: Name an original
classification system, ID a leaf, etc) Students could develop one question after
every lesson so that they will have their clues by the time the scavenger hunt begins.

10. Scavenger Hunt (Students Eyes)

Agenda: 2 prep days to create scavenger hunt, 1 day to find clues and create
classification system
Challenge Card: You have acquired all the necessary skills and components to be
considered a taxonomist. Congratulations! Your final challenge is to create a
scavenger hunt for another team to follow and complete. In the design of your
scavenger hunt, you will lead your peers throughout the school, class, and woods to
collect all of the necessary clues to complete the final challenge of creating your own
classification system from scratch. You will create 5-6 checkpoints throughout this
scavenger hunt. At each location you must do two things: 1)provide a
creative/clever way for students to find the next checkpoint (should not be easy)
2)leave 4-6 random items (living or nonliving) at each station that the group that is
following your scavenger hunt will collect and take with them. When you reach your
final clue, you will have to sort through all of your items and create your own
classification system from scratch based on your items physical features. Good luck!
Handouts: None




Summative Assessment

CRITERIA CRITERIA EXPLAINED COMMENTS
-End of unit presentations 15-minute interactive group
presentations

-Scavenger Hunt Partnering group successfully
completed/ followed your
descriptions and collected all of
your tokens.

-Conceptual Questions
(see below)
Summative Assessment based on
entire month long unit. See below.



1. The more classification levels that two organisms share,
A. The closer together on Earth they live.
B. The easier it is to tell them apart due to the differences they have.
C. The more characteristics they have in common.
D. The more distantly related they are.

Use the taxonomic key and the drawings of the bird feet to answer questions 5 and 6.



























2. Bird B is correctly identified as a(n)
A. Cormorant.
B. Duck.
C. Eagle.






4. Examine the scientific names of these three species:

Felis concolor Canus lupus Felis domesticus

Circle the two that are MOST closely related? Explain your answer in the space
below.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Classification has many purposes for both scientists and non-scientists. Give an
example of how both scientists and non-scientists use classification in their daily
lives.





6. Write a paragraph incorporating these words: Aristotle, Linnaeus, binomial
nomenclature, common name, 7 levels of classification. Make sure to show how they
are connected.





7. Pick some type of classification system that is already in place that you think is
inefficient, and suggest a different way to categorize all of these items.
3. What is the difference
between the eagle and the
kingfisher?
A. Size of claws.
B. Curvature of claws.
C. Number of webbed
toes.
D. Presence of webbed
toes.

Rubric
Throughout this unit, students will be asked to self-assess, assess their peers,
and be assessed by the teacher. For their overall unit grade, they will be graded by
their mastery of the content and their performance. I have provided guidelines for
exemplary work, because it sets the bar high and encourages students to strive for
more than the bare minimum and leaves more flexibility for assessing a student on
an individual basis.

Goals Grade
Percentage
Exemplary Performance Comments
Conceptual
Understanding
(see separate
rubric)
40% Displays a clear understanding of
the concepts and information
covered through projects,
presentations, assignments,
challenge board projects, and in
class discussions.

Challenge
Board
20% Student completes assignments on
time. Student s work should
demonstrate that it was done with
effort and should include minimal
or no errors. Student must
accumulate at least 20 points

Final Challenge 20% Student participates, works well
with their team, and creates a
working scavenger hunt that
another group is able to complete.

Participation 20% Student is fully engaged and
participates willingly in all group
activities. He or she contributes to
small and large class discussions.





Conceptual Understanding (Content) Rubric

Concept Exemplary Performance Comments
7 levels of
classification
Be able to explain that
every organism can be
classified at 7 different
levels - kingdom, phylum,
class, order, family, genus
and species. Each level

contains organisms with
similar characteristics.
The kingdom is the largest
group and very broad.
Each successive group
contains fewer organisms,
but the organisms are
more similar.
6 kingdoms Be able to place individual
organisms into correct
kingdom based on traits:
Animalia, Plantae, Fungi,
Protista, Archaea, and
Bacteria.

Aristotles
inadequate
classification
system
He grouped the types of
creatures according to
their similarities: animals
with blood and animals
without blood, animals
that live on water and
animals that live on land.
His system of
classification was not
evolutionary, and the
various species on the
ladder had no specific
genetic relationship to
each other. Aristotle
regarded the essence of
species as fixed and
unchanging