5.3
classification of biodiversity
Essential Idea: Species are named and classified using an internationally agreed system.
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Nature of Science: Cooperation and collaboration between groups of scientists: scientists use the binomial system to identify a species rather than the many different local names.
UNDERSTANDINGS:
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5.3.U1 The binomial system of names for species is universal among biologists and has been agreed and developed at a series of congresses.
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5.3.U2 When species are discovered they are given scientific names using the binomial system.
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5.3.U3 Taxonomists classify species using a hierarchy of taxa.
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5.3.U4 All organisms are classified into three domains.
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5.3.U5 The principal taxa for classifying eukaryotes are kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species.
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5.3.U6 In a natural classification, the genus and accompanying higher taxa consist of all the species that have evolved from one common ancestral species.
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5.3.U7 Taxonomists sometimes reclassify groups of species when new evidence shows that a previous taxon contains species that have evolved from different ancestral species.
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5.3.U8 Natural classifications help in identification of species and allow the prediction of characteristics shared by species within a group.
APPLICATIONS & SKILLS:
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Application: Classification of one plant and one animal species from domain to species level.
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Application: Recognition features of Bryophyta, Filicinophyta, Coniferophyta, and Angiospermophyta.
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Application: Recognition features of Porifera, Cnidaria, Platyhelmintha, Annelida, Mollusca, Arthropoda, and Chordata.
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Application: Recognition of features of birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles and fish.
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Skill: Construction of dichotomous keys for use in identifying specimens.
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