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Classifying living things
How scientists sort the huge variety of life into groups: by features you can see, by kingdoms and the levels from domain to species, by two-part scientific names, and by evolutionary relationships. Three ages, each with a text, an experiment, a game, a quiz, a printable worksheet and a teacher sheet.
Ages 6–7Sorting living thingsScientists sort living things into groups by looking closely at them. Find out about animals, plants and fungi, animals with and without a backbone, and sort some animals yourself.Ages 10–11Keys, kingdoms and scientific namesHow scientists classify living things into kingdoms and smaller groups, why every species has a two-part Latin name, and how to build and test your own identification key.Ages 15–16Taxonomy, binomials and evolutionary treesThe three domains and the taxonomic hierarchy, binomial nomenclature, why classification follows evolutionary relationships rather than looks, how kingdom systems changed, and designing an efficient dichotomous key.