Why Are Things Grouped?

You should now understand why a two-name classification system is important!

_________________________ - Group things together based on similarities.

Ex: Grocery stores group items so that we can find them; School courses are grouped into "departments," Foreign Languages (Spanish, French, Italian), Science (Earth Science, Biology, Chemistry, Physics).

Why do we Classify things?

1.

2.

_________________________ - A feature a thing has. (Ex: Having fur, having bones)

Methods of Classification

Scientists do not always agree on how to classify living things.

__________________________, a Greek scientist, was the first person to classify living things 2,000 years ago.

He classified things as PLANTS or ANIMALS, and he further classified plants and animals according to…
                                   Green         Not green
                               Don't move      Move
           size/growth pattern      where they live  
                    trees-shrubs-herbs      air-land-water

BUT…as scientists discovered more living things, many of them did not fit into Aristotle's system. Aristotle's system became less useful.

In 1735, _____________________________________ developed a new classification system. He first placed living things into 2 main groups, or ______________________: ____________________ and ______________________.

This is the largest group of living things.

 He then organized these groups more specifically, according to traits that each group shared:

KINGDOM (largest group)

¯

GENUS (middle group)

¯

SPECIES (smallest group)

Linnaeus made three important changes:

1.

2.

3.

Today there are seven groups for classifying organisms:

1.                                 (Largest Group)        King
2.                                 ¯                              Phillip
3.                                 ¯                              Came
4.                                 ¯                              Over
5.                                 ¯                              From
6.                                 ¯                             Great
7.                                 (Smallest Group)      Spain

Having more groups makes it easier to place an organism in the proper group. For example, imagine trying to find a friend's house when all you knew was the COUNTRY he/ she lived in ???

1. Classification based on how organisms are related (Organisms that are closely related will be in many of the same classification groups)

 

Classifying a House Cat

Group	Group Name	Group Trait
Kingdom	Animal	Has many cells; eats food
Phylum	Chordate	Rodlike structure along back for support
Class	Mammal	Nurses young; has hair
Order	Carnivore	Eats flesh; has long teeth
Family	Felidae	Sharp claws; large eyes
Genus	Felis	Small Cats
Species	catus	Tame

 

Compare the House Cat to a Lion

Group	House Cat	Lion	Comparison
Kingdom	Animal	Animal	Same
Phylum	Chordate	Chordate	Same
Class	Mammal	Mammal	Same
Order	Carnivore	Carnivore	Same
Family	Felidae	Felidae	Same
Genus	Felis	Panthera	Different
Species	catus	Ieo	Different


Compare the House Cat to a Deer

Group	House Cat	Deer	Comparison
Kingdom	Animal	Animal	Same
Phylum	Chordate	Chordate	Same
Class	Mammal	Mammal	Same
Order	Carnivore	Artiodactyla	Different
Family	Felidae	Cervidae	Different
Genus	Felis	Odocoileus	Different
Species	catus	virginianus	DIfferent


Compare the House Cat to an Octopus

Group	House Cat	Octopus	Comparison
Kingdom	Animal	Animal	Same
Phylum	Chordate	Mollusk	Different
Class	Mammal	Cephalopod	Different
Order	Carnivore	Octopoda	Different
Family	Felidae	Octopodidae	Different
Genus	Felis	Octopus	Different
Species	catus	vulgaris	Different

2. Classification based on Ancestry (Related organisms that lived sometime in the past).
3. Classification based on similar body structures (Bone structure; limbs)
4. Classification based on Body Chemistry (cold-blooded, warm-blooded???)

Scientific Names of Organisms come from Classification

Scientific names are a combination of an organisms' _________________________ + ______________________

Scientific names are based on the _____________________language, and are written in ____________________. The first part of the name is written in __________________ case, and the second part of the name is written in ____________________ case.

__________________________ was the first person to give organisms a 2 - part name.

Examples:

Scientists use Scientific Names rather than common names because:

1.

2.

3.

1. _________________________ - Single-celled organisms that don't have a nucleus. (ex: bacteria, blue-green algae).
2. _________________________ - Mostly single-celled organisms that have a nucleus & organelles. Some have chlorophyll and can make their own food. Some can move, some can not. This Kingdom is difficult to classify because they are so different from one another and from other kingdoms.
3. _________________________ - Organisms that have cell walls and absorb food from their surroundings. They don't have chlorophyll, so they can't make their own food. (ex: mushrooms, molds, yeast).
4. _________________________ - Organisms that are made up of many complex cells, have chlorophyll, and can make their own food (producers). They do not move.
5. _________________________ - Organisms that have many complex cells, can not make their own food (consumers), and can move.