‘Class’ification

In this lesson, students will be introduced to the concept of taxonomy, and categorization of organisms based on Carl Linnaeus’s system of classification. The class watches the Taxonomy video from shapeoflife.org and reviews the concept of classification. Then, the class is divided into groups to begin classifying themselves. Classification starts at the ‘Class’ level, and continues through division and classification down to the species level. Along the way, students are researching their classification level, and recording derived characteristics that separate them from other groups within that level.