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Learning Intention: Students will be able to classify animals into species groups by identifying their specialised characteristics, and can apply their understanding of characteristics when classifying a new species.

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Student Activity: 

Use information from Melbourne Zoo (Excursion or https://www.zoo.org.au/melbourne/animals) to complete the following activies.

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Part 1: Zoo Animal Dichotomous Key

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Using your knowledge on how to classify animals into their genus groups using a dichotomous key, create a dichotomous key for the following zoo animals. You should explore the zoo to find these animals, as it is useful to observe the physical characteristics that make these animals special.

• Asian Elephant

• African Wild Dog

• Australian Fur Seal

• Australian Pelican

• Kangaroo island Kangaroo

• Gorilla

• Penguin

• Tiger

• Snow Leopard

• Ring-tailed Lemur

• Regent Honeyeater

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For each animal, write a sentence about one of their adaptations, and what you think it is used for. Example: Crocodiles have their eyes and nostrils on top of their head, so their body can remain submerged while they watch for prey.

 

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Part 2: New species identification

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An animal has been found. Being one of the top researchers in animal identification, you have been asked to determine which group this animal belongs to, and if it could be a new species. If it is a new species, you are the expert and should name it appropriately.

 

The following notes were taken from the discoverer’s journal. Unfortunately, the specimen escaped before it could be captured, but these preliminary observations should be enough for an expert such as yourself.

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The animal has four legs, with claws on the end of its’s three toes. It has a fine layer of brown fur over its body. The animal is roughly the size of an orange. It has a hairless tail, and small ears. It has four eyes, two on the front and two on the back, possibly so it can watch its own back. It four large teeth (two on the top and two on the bottom) in its mouth. It seems to be an herbivore.

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Try to draw a picture of the animal. What group of animals do you think it belongs to? Is it a new species? How can you tell?

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Extension: Once determining which group this animal is likely to come from, add it to your dichotomous key.

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Biological sciences.

There are differences within and between groups of organisms; classification helps organise this diversity (VCSSU091)

- using scientific conventions for naming species

- using provided keys to identify organisms surveyed in a local habitat