Purpose: The purpose of this investigation is to develop skill in using a

classification system. You will also learn how to develop a classification

key to identify organisms.

Materials:
 Metric Ruler,
 20 3” x 5” cards
 Pencil
 Textbook

Procedure
Part A

1. Examine the drawings of the plants, animals & Fungi in figure 3-

1.

2. On each of the cards, write the number of one of the organisms.

3. Separate the cards into 3 large groups, each containing

organisms with generally similar characteristics.

4. Continue to divide the cards into smaller and smaller groups. The
organisms in each of the groups should be related in some way
to the others in the group. Use the Classification Table in the
reference section of your text to help you group the organisms.

Part B

1. Examine the drawing of salamander 1 in Figure 3-2.

2. Read statements 1a and 1b in the classification key in Figure 3-3.

One of these statements describes salamander 1; the other
statement does not. Follow the directions in statements 1a and
1b until salamander 1 has been identified.

3. Write the scientific name and the common name of salamander

1 on the line provided under the drawing.

4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 with all salamanders until all the

animals have been identified.

Observation and Conclusion

Part A
 1. List some characteristics of the organisms in Figure 3-1.

Some are mammals and characteristic’s are, fish, or plants;

some with four legs and some with eight as well as some with gills and
others with no gills.

2. Give the names of the 3 groups into which you separated these
organisms.
The 3 groups in which the organisms where separated into are the
kingdom’s of Animally, Fungi, and Plant.

3. How did you further separate each of the above three groups?
Explain.
The groups were then later on broken into vertebrae and
invertebrate, due to some have back bones and others don’t have back
bones.

4A.
Do all the animals that belong to the same kingdom belong to the
same phylum?
No, they do not since some of them belong to different kinds of
phylum.

4B.
Do all the animals that belong to the same phylum belong to the same
kingdom?
Yes they do since it is related to the same kingdom of there
phylum and class.

Part B

1. As you used the classification key to identify salamanders, did

you g from general to specific characteristics or from specific to
general characteristics?

I had gone from specific to general characteristics when using

the key to fill in the missing information.

2.What two groupings do the scientific names of the salamanders

represent?

One group describes the salamander while the other one doesn’t.