How can you classify animals?

Think about why you grouped the animals as you did.   How did you do it?  

When you compared the animals, you probably looked for similarities and differences.   You put the animals that are alike into the same group.   For example, parrots and magpies have got feathers and wings so I put them into the same group.   Flies, cockroaches, moths, butterflies, and bees are in another group because they all have wings and lots of legs.

When Kim classified the animals at her place, she used a range of features, such as skin covering, number of legs, wings and how they move.   But this makes it really hard to group things.   Did you have trouble classifying the animals?   How can classifying animals be made easier?  

All the living things on the planet make up one very large group.   It would be much easier if you used just one feature to divide the group into a small number of groups.  

You will be dividing animals into two major groups based on one feature.   This will make classifying much simpler.   But which feature should you choose?  

Describing similarities and differences

Similarities

·      A dog is similar to a cat because they are both covered in fur.

·      Both dogs and cats have four legs.

·      Neither dogs or cats have feathers.

·      Dogs and cats are alike because they have warm blood.  

·      One feature that dogs and cats have in common is teeth.  

Differences

·      Dogs are different from birds because dogs have fur but birds have feathers.  

·      Dogs differ from birds because dogs have four legs but birds have two.  

·      Birds have beaks but dogs do not.

·      Birds lay eggs whereas dogs have young born alive.