Classification Project
You have the choice of completing 1 of 2 projects for this unit. Both will count equally towards your grade. You may present your project in pretty much any way you like; all presentations must be approved by the teacher. Websites, Prezi, blogs, movies, powerpoints, typed papers w/ diagrams where neccesary, etc, are all acceptable as long as the required info is presented.
Up to 5 points of extra credit is available for going above and beyond in this project. Points will be awarded for quality work, not just more work. Extra organisms will not get you more points. An extremely well done project will.
Classify 5 organisms you find using the system of taxonomy we discussed in class. The organisms must be local and you must have 1 from each kingdom (excluding archea): Plantae, Animalia, Protista, Fungi, and Bacteria.
You must list the domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species for your organisms.
You must describe why the organism is classified the way it is for each taxon. For example, you will have 5 different organisms; therefore, you will have 5 sets of explanations of domain, 5 sets of kingdom, 5 of phylum, 5 of class, 5 order, 5 family, 5 genus, 5 species. This will probably require research into the origins of the words. For example, the class Mamalia is characterized by 3 bones in the inner ear and production of milk via specialized sweat glands.
This needs to be presented in a creative way such as a Prezi, website, video, etc. No Powerpoints or slide based presentations on this project.
Scoring:
8 points - Correct description of each taxon chosen
14 points - Accurate classification of 8 taxons for each organism
6 points - Organisms are local and requirements are met for plants/animals
10 points - Presentation shows creativity and effort
IN THE YEAR 2525
Humans have successfully polluted all bodies of water on Earth. As a result, almost all previously known species of plant, animal, and other life have become extinct. Through natural selection, genetic engineering, and selective breeding programs, a portion of the Earth has been successfully repopulated. The following organisms are all that remain:
1. Photosynthetic sun-basking sharks. Their green fins have chlorophyll to convert sunlight to energy (autotrophs)
2. Chemosynthetic goldfish that convert pollution to food (autotrophs)
3. Aquatic humanoids whose main diet is aqua-wheat and basking sharks. They have fins instead of legs (heterotrophs)
4. Aqua-wheat: one of the few plants that remain, it is similar to algae (autotrophs)
5. Terrestrial Humanoids with 4 arms, their diet consists of butter-roaches and fuzzy hamsters.
6. Tentacled aqua humanoids, they only feed on aqua-wheat and have tentacles for arms and legs.
7. Cockroaches that feed on humanoid waste.
8. Giant Aqua-spiders that live in water and feed on goldfish and basking sharks.
9. Green-haired rats that are photosynthetic (autotrophs)
10. Parasitic mosquitoes that feed off any humanoid
11. Ten-legged fleas that live on the photosynthetic rats and drink blood.
12. Poison Grass - this plant is a hybrid between grass and poison ivy. The plants are toxic to almost everything (autotrophs)
13. Fuzzy hamsters with green hair that use the sunlight to make their food, thought to be related to the rats (autotrophs)
14. Butter-roaches: genetic engineering created these butterfly-like creatures from cockroaches. Butter-roaches eat poison grass.
YOUR ASSIGNMENT
1. As a taxonomist, it is your responsibility to classify these existing organism types.
a. Create a taxonomic scheme using only kingdom, phylum, genus, and species. The intermediate categories have been eliminated since the total number of species has been drastically reduced. (Two Kingdoms are recommended). Use the numbers of each organism to identify where they are placed on your chart.
b. Create Latin-sounding names for each organism. Remember, these will be scientific names and will include the genus and species classification. Written in this form: Genus species
2. Illustrate your interpretation of each organism's appearance. Write the number and the name (from 1b) next to the drawing.
3. Prepare a dichotomous key for these organisms so that your fellow aliens can identify them when they come to Earth for their summer vacations. Remember that a dichotomous key is based on APPEARANCE of the organisms. Use your drawings to make the key
4. Diagram a food web using the organisms. You could easily put your pictures here, or have them elsewhere in the presentation and just use names, it is up to you.
Thanks to www.biologycorner.com for this lesson idea.
Scoring:
8 points - Taxonomic scheme created meeting requirements
14 points - Latin-esqe names and illustrations for each organism
6 points - Dichotomous key is complete and usable
10 points - Food web is complete and accurate