Carl Linnaeus and classification
I can describe the work of Carl Linnaeus and his contribution to how we classify living things.
Carl Linnaeus and classification
I can describe the work of Carl Linnaeus and his contribution to how we classify living things.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Taxonomy is the science of naming, describing and grouping all living things.
- Scientists have improved classification of organisms over time as they've been able to make more accurate observations.
- Carl Linnaeus is most famous for creating a system of naming living things.
- His ideas on classification have influenced generations of biologists during, and after, his own lifetime.
- His system for naming and classifying living things is still used today.
Keywords
Scientist - A scientist is a person who learns about science and carries out enquiries.
Organism - An organism is a living thing.
Taxonomy - Taxonomy is the science of naming, describing and grouping all living things.
Classify - To classify things is to sort them into groups.
Carl Linnaeus - Carl Linnaeus was a Swedish botanist and taxonomist who created a scientific naming system for living things.
Common misconception
Pupils may think that animals are classified according to their habitat, for example aquatic animals, or by their method of movement, for example creeping animals.
Explain that Aristotle classified animals into water, air and land groups, but there are problems with this method, e.g. this would put birds, bees and bats in the same group. Use the examples in the lesson to make clear the correct groupings.
Equipment
Large paper for Task A would be helpful. Access to the internet and books for research.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Scientists sort living things into groups based on similarities and between their observable characteristics.
Q2.What do we do when we classify things?
Q3.What is an organism?
Q4.Match the living things to the correct group.
birds
mammals
insects
molluscs
fish
Q5.Animals that do not have a backbone or interior skeleton are called .
Q6.What do these living things all have in common?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Why didn’t scientists working centuries ago, like Aristotle, identify micro-organisms as living things?
Q2.The science of naming, describing and grouping all living things is called .
Q3.What is Swedish scientist Carl Linnaeus famous for?
Q4.Carl Linnaeus created the binomial system for living things that we still use today. What is the binomial system used for?
Q5.Which of these names for this organism uses the binomial system?
