Living things and their habitats
18 Nov 2021
Over the last couple of weeks, we have been learning about living things and their habitats in our science work.
We began by finding out what classification means and what common observable characteristics are. We discovered that classification happens when living things are placed into groups according to their similarities. These similarites are known as observable characteristics - what we can find out about a living thing from watching it.
We then found out about Carl Linnaeus, who created the first standard system of classification back in 1735 when he collected and examined over 40 000 specimens. The Linnaean system classified everything in nature into a hierarchy and it's still used today.
The children completed some research on animals, and particularly vertebrates and invertebrates.
We then moved on to look at classification keys, which are another way to identify living things, through a series of questions. The questions have to be answered using 'yes' or 'no' and they each lead you one step closer to the name of a living thing.
The children created some of their own classification keys.
The next lesson, we looked at microorganisms. These are very tiny living things that are so small that we can't see them unless we look through a microscope. They can be found all around us, and the children were particularly interested in looking at dust mites! We found out how some microorganisms can be harmful and some can be helpful. The children chose a group of microorganisms to research and find out more about.
At the end of our unit, the children completed a quiz and were able to show easily how much they had learnt over the last couple of weeks.
At the end of each lesson, we consider which scientific skills we have used, and we add labels to our posters to build up a picture of what we've used in the unit so far.
