#672: Taxonomy and wildlife groupings

Taxonomy is a system of classification of living things.

An early draft subject content document for the GCSE Natural History said that students need to know about this process: to "gain knowledge of classification and taxonomy and enable them to identify plants, animals and fungi found in the UK, both native and alien (non-native, including invasive)."

The proposed subject content (currently up for consultation until early September) says that the specification:

must require students to extend the knowledge of the natural world acquired at key stage 3 of the national curriculum, to gain knowledge of classification and taxonomy and enable them to identify plants, animals and fungi found in the UK, both native and alien (non-native, including invasive). 

Taxonomy is described by the Natural History Museum as "the science that attempts to categorise the many millions of species on Earth." 

Here's how humans are classified:

It is defined as:
"the study and classification of living and extinct forms of life". 

It works by dividing all life into groups known as taxa, where a single taxon represents a particular way of dividing up nature.

There are different systems, the most commonly used being the Linnaean classification.

Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) was a Swedish naturalist who became known as the father of taxonomy.

A PPT and other resources connected to this will be created, including some activities testing understanding of the different levels of taxonomy that can be used to identify something.

Image source: https://www.yourdictionary.com/articles/classification-living-things-taxonomy

Students also (according to the proposed subject content) must be required:

to know and understand the main groupings and characteristics of each of the following wildlife groupings generally, as well as each of the specified sub-groupings: invertebrates (including insects, arachnids, crustaceans, molluscs, and worms), vertebrates (including mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish), flowering and non-flowering plants (including vascular plants, trees, ferns, bryophytes), lichens and fungi. Awarding organisations must select an appropriate number of characteristics to effectively distinguish between each of the groupings.