B1 Classification

Now, what is this classification all about? Some folk get really mixed up about all this but don't worry. It really is quite easy and I'm not just saying that because I am a science teacher - honest.

So where do we start. Let's start at the very beginning  - I think there is a song there!. Basically, all living things are put into groups because they have things that are the same. They have similar characteristics.

To help scientists and people who study living things talk about the same thing we use a classification system to classify (organise) living things into similar groups. These 'fancy names' ensure that no matter what language you speak you can talk about the same organism.

Panthera tigris is a tiger. Panthera leo is a lion - think of Leo the lion or the zodiac sign of leo. Notice there are 2 words - this called the binomial system of  classification. Bi means 2 like in bicycle. Anyhow, you have got to know the order of the grouping system we use - so learn it OK.

Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
species

If it helps to remember the order the just learn, King Phillip Came Over For Gooseberry soup.

So, with Leo the lion, Panthera is the Genus and leo is the species. The clue for the species is it is always the last word of the pair and it always starts with a small letter - Panthera leo.

 If you are still wondering why we bother with all this then think of the common woodlouse - Armadillidium vulgare. If I was giving a lesson on these wee beasties I would call it a 'slater' and you might not know what I was talking about so we use the binomial name so everyone everywhere who studies these crustaceans knows what is is.

The five kingdoms of organisms. Sounds impressive eh?! Kind of Lord of the Rings stuff.

B1 The five kingdoms of organisms

The five kingdoms of organisms. Sounds impressive eh?! Kind of Lord of the Rings stuff. It's not really too hard - just lots of facts to learn. It's more of classification and basically the reasons and characteristics to explain why we have these 5 kingdoms. Oh yes, the 5 kingdoms are:

1. Animalia
2. Plantae
3. Fungi
4. Protoctista
5. Prokaryote.

So you can take any living thing and put it into one of these 5 groups which are called kingdoms.

Now, lets think how we could divide all the living things into groups.

Some are unicellular - these have one cell and others are multicellular.
Many cells have a nucleus, like our cells but some like bacteria do not. Bacteria are members of the Prokaryotae group. You could also look at how the living thing gets its food. Some, like plants, make their food autotrophically using photosynthesis, while animals get their food by eating and digesting other living things heterotrophically. Fungi also get their food by digesting other organisms, but they do this outside the body and they are said to feed saprophytically.

So now we've got the basic differences between living things to put them into one of the 5 kindoms - hurrah! Here goes:

1. Animalia - multicellular, heterotrophic so no photosynthesis so no chlorophyll. Look in the mirror! You are not green - I hope. Complicated cells with a nucleus. 
2. Plantae - multicellular, autotrophic feeders. Photosynthesises using chlorophyll. Cell wall made of cellulose. Complicated cells with a nucleus.
3. Fungi - multicellular, cell wall is not made of cellulose. saprophytic feeders so no chlorophyll. Complicated cells with a nucleus.
4. Protoctista - Mostly unicellular. Complicated cell with a nucleus.
5. Prokaryote - Unicellular. Simple cell structure with no nucleus.

Learn the above because it comes up a lot in exams. Last little bit coming up. There is no kingdom for viruses because it is not classed as being alive.Yes, I know that viruses multiply inside a cell but it does not show any other life processes like growth or feeding so it is not alive.