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Our state has, this past year asked it's 6th grade teachers to teach taxonomy (in the broadest sense)- Kingdoms and Domains, prokaryotes and eukaryote. I have some resources but I'd like some things that are not as "old" as I was given to teach with. What is "out there"? Do you have something that you have used and like?

Sue wrote, 'Our state has, this past year asked it's 6th grade teachers to teach taxonomy (in the broadest sense)- Kingdoms and Domains, prokaryotes and eukaryote.'

Hi Sue,

I have students showing up in a couple of minutes, but I wanted to bring the Learning Center article Current Taxonomy in Classroom Instruction to your attention. I also have some other resources I use. I will post them later today.

Attachments

Current Taxonomy in Classroom Instruction (Journal Article)

Thanks Ruth. I already downloaded the article and have read it. It is wonderful....addresses many of the concerns that I have with our "older" curriculum and gives me a little validation as to what I really need to get all of the other teachers on board with. If you know of any other things that will help me, I greatly appreciate the effort. Sue Garcia

Hi Sue,
I was just doing some research on taxonomic keys for my preservice science methods class. I had come across Ruth's article and a few others that you might find of interest.
Recycled Insect Models was written for high schoolers, but I think could be adapted to middle schoolers. The students create insects from recycled materials as they learn how to 'read' a taxonomic key.
Science Sampler: Using the Pokemon alphabet to teach classification and phylogeny
By using Pokemon phylogeny, the author provides an effective, fun way to approach this challenging biological concept.
Harry Potter and the Dichotomous Key
The author uses Bertie Bott’s “Every Flavor Beans” from the Harry Potter series to teach students about classification. Students sort jellybeans according to a key and then construct their own dichotomous key for a new bean flavor.
There are other resources in the Learning Center, too. These just happen to be a few I had just reviewed. I hope this helps.
Carolyn

Page Keeley's Uncovering Student Ideas in Science, Volume 1: 25 Formative Assessment Probes, the Is It an Animal? probe has helped me get to the root of what kids understand about different types of living things. I'm sure you've seen the same: 'It's not an animal; it's an insect!' It was a nice place to begin.

Hi Sue -

Windows to the Universe has an updated Classificaiton of Living Things page with links to the Domains and Kingdoms. http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Life/classification_intro.html

A nice feature for Differentiated Instruction is that in Windows to the Universe you can change the reading level (Beginning, Intermediate Advanced) and select language English or Spanish.

Dorothy

Thanks for that information about Windows to the Universe, Dorothy. I had not noticed the 'differentiation' button before! That is a great feature to have added.

Hi Sue,

As promised, I am posting some other taxonomy resources. Cheryl Massengale's Biology Junction offers some great resources in the study of taxonomy. Have look at the curriculum map and scroll down on the page until you reach chapter 18. In the right hand column, there are links to several very good resources that you can use to help teach taxonomy.

In my high school biology class, I have my students collect local plants. They collect specimens from five trees, three forbs, and one grass. We press them and use dichotomous keys to identify the plants. I have my students predict possible relationships between the plants according to each plant's division. Then we look at the relationships determined by botanists and talk about what these plants have in common that led scientists to conclude these plants had a common ancestor. This activity might be a little difficult for middle schoolers. However, if you keep it very structured, you might be able to adapt it for your classes.

Hi Carolyn -

Glad you found the Windows to the Universe site helpful. Their content differentiation tools are fantastic. I've used them with 8th graders in the classroom, and the students love that they can 'self-select' their reading level.

Dorothy

Hello everyone, I'm sorry I don't have a copy of the worksheet we just did in class, but it is a Butterfly Fish Classification worksheet. This was the way I introduced the dichotomous key to my students in our classification/taxonomy chapter. We also did an Alien Classification activity where the students had to classify the aliens and put them into groups according to certain characteristics they possessed. I'm not sure how I can put a pdf file of that on here but I will try as soon as I can scan the worksheet into my computer. We are almost done with this chapter but I learned lots of cool things I can do with my students next year. Thank you everyone.

Hi Tina -

The butterfly fish and Alien activities sound terrific.

If you want to attach a file to a post, it's an easy process.

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Dorothy

Thanks for the help Dorothy...now all I have to do is figure out how to scan the worksheet into my computer. The one I have here at home is not working. I have to go back to school and do it there. I will try to do that this week.

Aloha Carolyn, regarding taxonomy activities. Thank you for the resources. They are all great ways to teach my diverse learners to have fun while learning. Aloha, Linda

The JASON Project has some good, interactive activities for students. You can search by your state standards, or it is in Operation Resilient Planet. All of the curriculum on JASON is free. Go to jason.org