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It is common for people to arrange items based on their characteristics.
How might you arrange the following objects used in transportation?
In the activity below, different modes of transportation have been arranged into groups based on their characteristics. Determine the characteristics that describe each group.
You just classified objects of transportation into groups with similar characteristics.Scientists also organize living things into groups based on their similar characteristics. These groups are called Kingdoms. Scientists classify organisms to organize and understand similarities among organisms.
Watch the following video that introduces the six Kingdoms.
As you watch the video, look for the names of the six Kingdoms and basic characteristics of each Kingdom.
Watch the following video as a quick review of the characteristics used to classify organisms into Kingdoms. Then complete the interactive activity to review the vocabulary.
As a reminder, record the terms and their descriptions in your science notebook.
Watch the video to learn about the characteristics of each Kingdom.
As you watch the video, record the information in your science notebook or on the Kingdom Classifications Table. Find a copy of the Kingdom Classifications Table in the “Related Items” section below.
Review this information in the interactive game following the video. Use the information recorded in your science notebook or in the table if you need extra help.
In the Engage phase of this lesson, you determined the characteristics of different modes of transportation and then determined in which groups a bus, airplane, and horse should be placed. In this phase of the lesson, you will determine Kingdom classification for several different organisms.
To complete this activity, use your Kingdom Classifications Table to help determine the correct Kingdom for each organism.
Complete the assessment below to determine your knowledge of the basic characteristics that are used to classify organisms into Kingdoms.
In this lesson, students identify the basic characteristics of organisms and then classify organisms in the currently recognized Kingdoms.
| Lesson Part | Description |
| Engage | Students determine the characteristics of several groupings of transportation vehicles. Students consider the characteristics of common items in Engage to help transition to the classification of organisms into appropriate Kingdoms based on the characteristics listed in the TEKS. |
| Explore | Students watch a brief introductory video on the six Kingdoms and the basic characteristics by which organisms within the Kingdoms are classified. Not all the required characteristics are included in the video. Teachers may have students write preliminary information in their science notebooks about the Kingdoms and then add to this information as the lesson progresses through Explain 1 and Explain 2. |
| Explain 1 | Students review the extensive terminology found in this TEKS to classify organisms into Kingdoms. Students watch a video to help learn or refresh the terminology used within classification of organisms, including prokaryotic, eukaryotic, unicellular, multicellular, autotroph, heterotroph, and sexual and asexual reproduction. Students then review the information through an interactive activity where they have to either select the correct answer choice or type the answer. Care has been taken to make sure that the correct answers students type are accepted, but the answers must be spelled correctly. Encourage students to record information from the video and activity in their science notebooks to reference throughout the rest of the lesson. In “Related Items,” an additional video about single-celled organisms is included if additional help is needed. If students are familiar with the terminology, teachers may opt for students to do the interactive activity first and then have students revisit the terms video only if additional remediation is needed. |
| Explain 2 | Students complete a table that identifies each Kingdom and its characteristics by gathering information from the Kingdom Classifications video. Students may create their own tables or use a template similar to the Kingdom Classifications Table found in “Related Items.” The Kingdom Classifications Table key is located at the end of the video for students to check their information. An interactive activity follows where students use their tables to select the appropriate characteristics of each Kingdom. Variation of the terms has been included in this activity to help reinforce the characteristics' terminology, definitions, and usage. Allowing students to interact in several different ways with the extensive terminology involved in this TEKS helps to improve student retention of knowledge. |
| Elaborate | Students are given characteristics of several organisms and must determine the Kingdom in which each is classified. Students should be encouraged to review their answers upon completion. A detailed description is included in the interactive activity review. Students should use their Kingdom Classifications Tables created in Explain 2. Students must type in the Kingdom names rather than simply clicking on the correct box. This provides students with another opportunity, presented in a different way, to interact with the information. |
| Evaluate | Student assess their learning by completing five questions relating to TEKS 6.12D. |