Many Ways To Classify Date

Objective: Demonstrate that there are many ways to classify things.

The need to classify

Suppose you had only ten minutes to run into a supermarket to get what you need-milk and tomatoes.

Could you do it?

In most supermarkets this would be an easy task. First, you might go to the dairy aisle and find the milk. Then you’d go to the produce aisle and find the tomatoes, Finally, you’d pay for the items and leave the store.

Now...

Imagine shopping for these same items in a market where the shelves were organized in a random manner.

To find what you need, you’d have to search through boxes of cereal, cans of tuna, bins of apples, and much more. You could be there for a long time!

Why do Scientists Classify?

Just as shopping can be a problem in a disorganized store, finding information about one of the millions of kinds of organisms can also be a problem.

Today, scientists have identified at least 2 million kinds of organisms on Earth.

This number includes all forms of life, from plants and animals to bacteria. It is important for biologists to have all these living things organized.

Classification...

…is the process of grouping things based on their similarities.

People organize a lot of things into groups. For example, if a friend asks you what kind of music you like, you might say that you like country or rock and roll music. Although you may not know it, you have grouped the music you like.

Biologists use classification to organize living things into groups so that organisms are easier to study.

The scientific study of how living things are classified is called taxonomy.

Taxonomy is useful because once an organism is classified, a scientist knows a lot about that organism.

For example, if you know that crows are classified as birds, you know that crows have wings, feathers, and beaks.

There is no one correct way to classify. However, scientists have come up with ways to group or classify things to better help them understand and study them.

Watch for the many ways in which things are classified.