Grouping Living Things
Recognise that living things can be grouped in a variety of ways based on observable features
What a learner can do afterwards
- Group a set of organisms using at least two different criteria (e.g. by habitat, by body covering, by diet)
- Explain the reasoning behind each grouping choice
- Recognise that the same organism can belong to different groups depending on the criteria used
The lesson
Living things can be grouped in more than one way. You pick a feature to sort by, like where something lives, what covers its body, or what it eats. Change the feature, and you get a new set of groups.
Look at an owl, a rabbit, and a fish. Sort by body covering: the owl has feathers, the rabbit has fur, and the fish has scales. All three land in different groups. Now sort by diet: the owl eats mice and the fish eats smaller water creatures, so they group together as meat-eaters. The rabbit eats grass, so it stands alone this time.
The same animal can belong to different groups. Sort by habitat and the owl joins the rabbit as a land animal. Sort by diet and the owl joins the fish as a meat-eater. The animal did not change, only the feature you chose to sort by.
Pick a feature to group by, and the same living things can land in new groups every time.
Watch it
Where it sits
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.