Wouldn't it be really cool to discover
a new species? To heighten the thrill of discovery you also get to
choose its name. Awesome!
Most of you probably saw pictures in
the past two weeks of the newly discovered glass frog,
Hyalinobatrachium
dianae, of Costa Rica. This
new discovery got more notice than usual due to the frog's striking
resemblance to one of our favorite Muppets- Kermit the Frog.
Glass
frogs were given their name due to the translucent skin of their
underside. This skin allows one to see the internal organs of the
frog from the outside. Several types of glass frogs live in Costa
Rica, however, the last time a new one was discovered there was in
1973. This new glass frog was named after the lead researcher's
mother.
What
sets one species apart from another? How are animals and plants
organized? Using a new discovery, particularly one
with so much kid-appeal, is a great launching point for lessons in
identifying characteristics, biological classification and taxonomy
across all age groups.
Preschool/Early
Childhood Education: Students can identify the different
characteristics of an animal to begin to sort and classify creatures
into groups. An easy approach would be to provide pictures or cards
with different animals on them. Have students find the animals with
wings or feathers, or have them count how many legs the animal has.
Sort the animals with similar characteristics into groups. Depending
on age and ability you could sort them in any way you choose- color,
size or more specific characteristics. Just be sure to choose images
where the characteristics are clear. For example identifying feathers
on a penguin could be difficult.
Elementary
School: Given a set of animal characteristics have students create
their own creature. What makes a bird a bird? Feathers, wings, 2
legs, beaks, hollow bones, builds nests, cares for young, lays eggs,
has a backbone, etc. The students can now create a bird that fits these
characteristics. To extend the activity have the students explain
what habitat their bird needs, what it eats, how many eggs it lays,
etc. This activity has always been a big hit in my experience. It is
a good balance of creativity and reinforcement of science content.
Middle School: Have students create a
creature to teach them how to use a dichotomous key. A dichotomous
key is a tool for identification. To identify a plant or animal you
answer a series of 2 choice options until you have limited the
options to one choice.
For example:
#1 If the bird is larger than a
pigeon go to #2. If the bird is smaller than a pigeon go to #4.
#2 If the bird is brown and white go to
#5. If the bird is completely white go to #6.
etc.
Students can create their own examples
of creatures and their own dichotomous key. I have found that it is
easier if they begin with two similar yet slightly different new
creatures. This way they have something to compare when they are
making their key. Keys can be used as a class later on to identify
what the new mystery creatures are. This can be a great lead in to
using a dichotomous key to identify actual animals or plants.
High School: As a lesson in taxonomy,
or the classification of living things, have students create their
own creature. Give the parameters that it should be new and unique,
but within our realm of possibility. i.e. no unicorns that spit fire.
Students can then work to fit their creature into the existing
taxonomic ranks: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus,
Species. As they have created the animal, they will have the honor of
naming the species. In order to place their new species accurately,
they will have to study the different characteristics of the
groupings within the taxonomic ranks. If all students are creating an
animal, then the Kingdom for everyone will be Animalia. The
University of Michigan's Animal Diversity Web is an excellent
resource for this type of activity.
Do you have a great animal classification activity? Comment below with your ideas!
Read more:
Lessons and Resources:
Post updated: 4/14/16
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