Classifying Plants
Essential Question: How do we classify plants into major groups? “What characteristics classify these organisms as flowering and non-flowering?" Classifying Organisms Scientists classify things in nature. To classify means to sort things into groups according to their features, or characteristics. Scientists classify nonliving things, such as rocks. Scientists also classify organisms, or living things. Trees, worms, grasses, birds, and ants are all organisms. Scientists classify many organisms into two large groups-- plants and animals. Then scientists sort these large groups into smaller groups. Classifying helps scientists understand how living things are related to each other. A plant is a living thing that makes its own food. Trees, bushes, grass, and wildflowers all take in the sun’s energy and use it to make food. Animals cannot make their own food. They must take in, or eat, food. They also have body parts that let them move from place to place. Examples of animals include humans, dogs, flies, and worms. Flowering Plants (DE Link) One way scientists group plants is by how they reproduce. When living things reproduce, they make new living things of the same kind. Flowering plants are plants that reproduce by making seeds inside flowers. A flower is a plant part in which seeds form. A seed contains a tiny new plant. The seed protects the new plant and stores food to help it start growing. Some flowers become fruits. A fruit grows around the seed. There are many different kinds of flowering plants. In fact, flowering plants are the largest group of plants on Earth. This group includes grasses, roses, lilies, oak trees, apple trees, tomato plants, and many more. How Do Flowering Plants Produce Seeds? DE text Why Are Flowering Plants so Important? DE text Nonflowering Plants (DE link)
Not all seed plants have flowers. Some plants reproduce by making seeds in cones. A cone is a plant part covered with scales. Seeds form on the scales of some cones. Pine, spruce, and cedar trees are all plants that have cones. Some plants do not make seeds. Instead, these plants reproduce by releasing spores. Spores are tiny cells that can grow into new plants. Spores drop off the plant into the soil. There they may begin to grow into new plants. Ferns and mosses are plants that reproduce with spores. The diagram below shows part of a fern plant with spores. Plants that make seeds in cones or produce spores instead of seeds are called nonflowering plants. All plants can be classified as either flowering or nonflowering. |
Classifying Animals
Essential Question: How do we classify animals into major groups? Two Main Animal Groups As you have learned, all animals have one important thing in common. Unlike plants, animals cannot make their own food. All animals get energy from eating plants or other animals. Scientists classify animals into two main groups – those with back bones and those without backbones. A backbone is a row of connected bones down the middle of the back. These bones are called vertebrae. Vertebrates are animals that have backbones. Animals without backbones are called invertebrates. You are a vertebrate. So is a snake. An earthworm is an invertebrate. Vertebrates (DE Link) Brain Pop Besides backbones, vertebrates share other physical features. Vertebrates have a covering of skin that protects them. They have a framework of bones called a skeleton inside their bodies. Muscles help these animals move. They have blood that moves through tubes called blood vessels. And vertebrates have lungs or gills for breathing. Scientists sort vertebrates into five smaller groups. These groups are the following: Fish are vertebrates that live in water. They breathe with gills. Most fish have scales on their bodies and fins that help them swim through water. Most fish lay eggs & their young grow from the eggs. Amphibians spend the first part of their lives in water. They breathe underwater with gills, like fish. Then they change form and develop lungs. As adults, they breathe air and can live on land. They have smooth, moist skin. Most amphibians lay eggs. The Declining Population of Amphibians video Reptiles breath air using lungs. Reptiles have scales or plates on their skin. Most lay eggs on land. Fish amphibians, and reptiles have body temperatures that change with their surroundings. When the water or air gets cooler, their bodies cool off, too. Snakes, lizards, and other reptiles lie in sunlight to warm up. They move into the shade to cool off. Birds have feathers covering their skin. They have a beak, two feet, and two wings. Birds live on land, breathe with lungs, and lay eggs. Most fly through the air to get from place to place. Unlike fish, amphibians, and reptiles, birds keep a constant body temperature. Their bodies stay warm even when the air around them cools off. Mammals are vertebrates that have hair or fur. They breathe using lungs. The young of almost all mammals grow inside the mother until they are ready to be born. Once mammal babies are born, they are fed milk from their mother. Like birds, mammals keep a constant body temperature. Vertebrates on Animoto Study Jams! Vertebrates Invertebrates Brainpop
About 95 percent of all animals are invertebrates. They do not have backbones. Some invertebrates have a hard covering or shell on the outside of their bodies. These animals include insects, spiders, crabs, snails, clams & lobsters. Other invertebrates, such as squid, sea stars, sponges, jellyfish, and earthworms, do not have a hard covering. Study Jams! Invertebrates |