Biodiversity, Classification and the History of Life: Representations
≈ 24 minRepresentations
Translate between words, diagrams, symbols, tables and graphs without changing the underlying meaning.
This extension applies that lens specifically to Biodiversity, Classification and the History of Life.
Biodiversity is the enormous variety of living organisms. South Africa is one of the most biodiverse countries on Earth, home to the unique fynbos of the Cape.
To make sense of this variety, biologists classify organisms into a nested hierarchy, from the broadest group to the most specific:
Kingdom -> Phylum -> Class -> Order -> Family -> Genus -> Species
(A helpful sentence: King Philip Came Over For Good Soup.) Older schemes grouped all life into five kingdoms: Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae and Animalia.
Each species gets a two-part Latin name using binomial nomenclature: the genus (capitalised) then the species, both in italics - for example Homo sapiens or Panthera leo (the lion).
The history of life is read from fossils - the preserved remains or traces of organisms in rock. Fossils in deeper rock layers are older, showing that life began in the sea over 3 500 million years ago and became more complex over time.
Life Sciences Grade 10: Cells, Tissues and the Diversity of Life — Representations: Which sequence lists the classification groups correctly, from the broadest to the most specific?
Life Sciences Grade 10: Cells, Tissues and the Diversity of Life — Representations: What is the name of the system that gives every species a two-part Latin name (genus and species), such as Panthera leo?
Life Sciences Grade 10: Cells, Tissues and the Diversity of Life — Representations: In the widely used five-kingdom system of classification (Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae, Animalia), how many kingdoms are there?
Name the original topic being extended by this representations lesson.
Which statement is the best evidence-led starting point for Biodiversity, Classification and the History of Life: Representations?