Year 7 Science · Unit 1 · Lesson 2

Classification Systems

Foundation Worksheet

Name

Date

Class

Learning Goals

Name the five kingdoms and the three domains, and define the key terms.
Write a binomial name in the correct format.
Use key features to place an organism in the correct kingdom, and compare two ways of classifying living things.

Warm Up

Fill the gap

Choose the correct word from the word bank. Each word is used once. Two words will not be used: cross them out.

species italics Woese capital binomial lowercase bold genus Linnaeus

Every species has a two-word scientific name, called its name. This naming system was invented by Carl in the 1700s. The first word is the , and it always starts with a letter. The second word is the , written all in letters. Both words are written in , or underlined when you write by hand.

Match each term to its meaning

Write the letter of the matching meaning in the middle column. Each letter is used once. The meanings are not in the same order as the terms.

Term	Letter	Meaning
Domain		A. Sorting living things into groups based on shared features.
Kingdom		B. Single cells with no nucleus that often live in extreme places, such as hot springs.
Classification		C. One of the five big groups, such as Animalia or Fungi.
Species		D. The two-word scientific name of a species, such as Canis lupus.
Binomial name		E. The biggest grouping of all; there are only three.
Archaea		F. A group of organisms that can breed together and have fertile offspring.

Your Turn

Sort it

Write each organism in the box for its kingdom. The boxes do not hold the same number of items.

amoeba kookaburra moss yeast E. coli octopus bread mould sunflower Paramecium ant

Animalia

Plantae

Fungi

Protista

Monera

1. Name the three domains. Which domain holds the kingdoms Animalia, Plantae, Fungi and Protista? The old Kingdom Monera is split between which two domains?

Recall 3 marks

2. A student types the scientific name of the dog and wolf in their notes like this: canis lupus. Identify two mistakes, then write the name correctly by hand.

Apply 3 marks

Go Deeper

Read the data

Scenario: a bush walk

A class collects five organisms on a bush walk. They use a microscope and a field guide to find out about each one. Table 1 shows what they found.

Table 1. Features of the five organisms

Organism	Number of cells	Cells have a nucleus?	Cell wall?	How it gets food
P	Many	Yes	Yes	Makes its own food using sunlight
Q	One	No	Yes	Takes in food from the soil around it
R	Many	Yes	Yes, made of chitin	Absorbs nutrients from a rotting log
S	One	Yes	No	Swims in pond water and takes in tiny food particles
T	Many	Yes	No	Eats other organisms

Source: made-up samples for this worksheet.

3. Name the kingdom of each organism, P to T. For P, R and T, give the feature from Table 1 that decided it.

Apply 4 marks

4. Organism Q has no nucleus. Which two domains could it belong to? What kind of evidence did Carl Woese use to tell these two domains apart?

Analyse 2 marks

Show What You Know

5. Compare the Linnaean classification system with the classification systems of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. Give one example from the lesson for each.

Analyse 5 marks

Answer Key (for teachers)

Fill the gap

binomial; Linnaeus; genus; capital; species; lowercase; italics. Not used: Woese, bold.

Match each term to its meaning

Domain → E; Kingdom → C; Classification → A; Species → F; Binomial name → D; Archaea → B.

Sort it

Animalia: kookaburra; octopus; ant. Plantae: moss; sunflower. Fungi: yeast; bread mould. Protista: amoeba; Paramecium. Monera: E. coli.

Question 1

Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya (1). Animalia, Plantae, Fungi and Protista are all in Eukarya (1). Monera is split between Bacteria and Archaea (1). [3 marks]

Question 2

The genus needs a capital letter: Canis, not canis (1). A typed name must be in italics (1). By hand: Canis lupus, underlined (1). [3 marks]

Read the data

3. P Plantae (makes own food using sunlight); Q Monera; R Fungi (chitin wall, absorbs nutrients); S Protista; T Animalia (no cell wall, eats other organisms). 1 for Q and S, 1 each for P, R, T with the feature. [4 marks]

4. Bacteria or Archaea (1). Woese compared their DNA (1). [2 marks]

Question 5

Marking guide: 1 Linnaean system groups by shared physical and genetic features, in ranks; 1 a Linnaean example (such as Homo sapiens); 1 each for two other ways of grouping: by use, by season and Country, or by relationship and responsibility (totems); 1 example (waratah in the D’harawal calendar, or Yolŋu moieties). Accept working with Traditional Owners in place of one mark. [5 marks]

Model answer: The Linnaean system groups living things by shared body and genetic features, in ranks from kingdom to species, such as Homo sapiens. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander systems also group them by use, such as food or medicine, and by season and Country: for the D’harawal people the waratah flowering signals a new season. Scientists work with Traditional Owners because this knowledge shows connections a microscope misses.

Common error: calling R a plant because it has a cell wall; it cannot make its own food.