Sorting and Classifying Living Things: Concept Map
≈ 24 minConcept Map
Organise the vocabulary, quantities and relationships into a connected model.
This extension applies that lens specifically to Sorting and Classifying Living Things.
There are millions of species, so scientists classify them: they sort organisms into groups whose members share observable features. Classification makes life findable — and it lets you predict things about an organism you have never seen before, just from the group it belongs to.
The broadest everyday groups are:
| Group | Makes its own food? | Moves about? | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plants | yes, using sunlight | no | protea, maize |
| Animals | no — eats other organisms | yes | eland, hadeda, dung beetle |
| Fungi | no — absorbs food from dead or living matter | no | mushroom, bread mould |
Animals are split first into invertebrates (no backbone: insects, spiders, worms, snails) and vertebrates (with a backbone). Vertebrates are then sorted into five groups:
- fish — live in water, breathe with gills, scales;
- amphibians — moist skin, young live in water (platanna, rain frog);
- reptiles — dry scaly skin, eggs with leathery shells (tortoise, puff adder);
- birds — feathers, beaks, hard-shelled eggs;
- mammals — hair or fur, feed their young on milk.
Worked example — using a two-way key. A key asks yes/no questions that split a group in half each time.
- Does it have a backbone? No → invertebrate. Yes → go to 2.
- Does it have feathers? Yes → bird. No → go to 3.
- Does it feed its young on milk? Yes → mammal. No → go to 4.
A hadeda answers "yes" at question 2 and is identified as a bird in two questions.
Natural Sciences — Grade 7 — Concept Map: A mushroom is growing on a dead log. It has no leaves, cannot make its own food, and takes in nutrients from the rotting wood. Which group does it belong to?
Natural Sciences — Grade 7 — Concept Map: What is the general name for animals that have a backbone?
Natural Sciences — Grade 7 — Concept Map: A learner collects 24 small animals from a school garden. She finds that 18 of them have no backbone. How many of the 24 are vertebrates?
Name the original topic being extended by this concept map lesson.
Which statement is the best evidence-led starting point for Sorting and Classifying Living Things: Concept Map?