Dallas Baptist Univercity Taxonamy Lab Report

Introduction: • This lab is designed to help you become familiar with scientific names and the classification scheme biologists use to understand organisms. This branch of biology that deals with classifying and naming organisms is called taxonomy. • The modern system of classification began in 1758 when a Swedish doctor/botanist introduced the binomial system of nomenclature (based upon two names). Carl von Linne, better known in the style of his own naming system as Carolus Linnaeus, published his concept of binomial nomenclature in the tenth edition of his book, Systema Naturae. This system used two Latin names—genus and species— for each species of organism. Binomial names are either italicized or underlined. The first letter of the Genus name is capitalized, but the species is always writing in lowercase (ie. Genus species or Genus species). After the genus name has been written out once, it may be abbreviated in writing as G. species of G. Species. • In addition to assigning a unique name to each species, Linnaeus recognized a need for placing organisms into groups based on their similarities. These similarities were first based solely on the appearances and behaviors of organisms; now, however, they are also based on genetic similarities by using DNA. As a result, some species were reclassified. The classification originally divided all life forms into two major kingdoms. (Animalia and Plantae). Recently, though, biologists have added a new category above the kingdom, known as domain, and have expanded the kingdoms to six (Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, Protista, Bacteria, and Archaea). The three domains are Eubacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya. The domain classifications are based on the type of cells that make up the organism. Prokaryotic cells are those that have no nucleus or membrane-bound organelles. Eukaryotic cells, on the other hand, do have a nucleus and membrane-bound organelles. • Kingdoms are divided into smaller groups called phyla (singular, phylum). A phylum is divided into classes; classes into orders; orders into families; families into genera (singular, genus); and a genus is divided into species. Therefore, all organisms can be described in terms of their hierarchical taxonomic classification scheme: To help you remember this sequence, remember this mnemonic device: Dear King Phillip came over for good spaghetti Taxonomy Lab (student handout continued) Prelab. Exploring Taxonomy 1. Some resources name name the father of binomial nomenclature as Carolus Linaeus and other resources report the name Carl von Linne’. Why are there 2 different names? 2 points 2. Research another individual linked to taxonomy (google early taxonomists). What characteristics did this scientist use to classify organisms? 3.What is your favorite animal? Give its common name and scientific name __________________________________________________________________________________________ What is your favorite plant (flower, cactus, tree…) Give its common name and scientific name 4. I am sure that all of you have read about a family who “buys/adopts” a dog from a pet store, thinking it was a Tibetan Mastiff. After a short period of time, they notice strange behaviors, like eating no meat and walking on its hind legs. I’m sure you guessed it- a, Asiatic Black Bear. What are 2 features that the species have in common? What are 2 physical features that should have been noticed by the family and used to rule out their pet as a dog? 1.__________________________________________________________________________________________ 2.__________________________________________________________________________________________ 1.__________________________________________________________________________________________ 2.__________________________________________________________________________________________ The family called in specialists, who identified the bear and transported it to a wild life sanctuary. (I thought you would want to know ward’s science + Page 3 Taxonomy Lab (student handout continued) Lab exercise 1 Taxonomic Hierarchy (10 points) Record the scientific names of the following organisms in the table below. Note: All of these organisms are indigenous to Texas! (Use Reliable sources to obtain this information.) Houston toad American bison Attwater Prairie Chicken Bald Eagle Pecan Tree Bluebonnets Armadillo Bobcat Coyote Ocelot One of the important uses of classification (finding out the proper name) is to determine whether an animal or plant needs additional protection due to endangered status. Which of the organism(s) above is endangered? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Why is/are they endangered? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ward’s science + Page 4 Taxonomy Lab (student handout continued) Choose ONE of the previous animals and record its complete classification in the table below. Be sure to record both the common name and its complete taxonomic classification. (Use reliable sources to obtain this information). Common Name Domain Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species Would it be easier to identify these and other species is we had a guide book? How about an app? 1. state one app that could help you identify plants __________________________ State one APP that can help you to identify animals _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ ward’s science + Page 5 Taxonomy Lab (student handout continued) Part 4. Postlab (50 points) name:_____________________________ The Guide on the Side Context: A field guide is a book designed to help the reader identify organisms. It is generally designed to be brought into the ‘field’ or local area where such organisms exist to help distinguish between them. Field guides are often designed to help users distinguish animals and plants that may be similar in appearance but are not necessarily closely related. Scenario: Each year, the local environmental group publishes an updated field guide of organisms in your immediate area for scout groups and environmental enthusiasts to use while they are exploring local parks and nature preserves. This year, they have approached us, because they know we are studying taxonomy, and thought it would be a great way to get students involved in studying nature. So, you will be creating a field guide of your own to submit for publication. Only the best entries will be selected and receive the honor of being in this year’s guide. Challenge: You will choose any 10 living organisms that you can see and compile a picture collection of these organisms. For each organism, you will highlight some information about it and include its scientific name. Limitations: 1. The organisms cannot come from taxonomy lab pages. 2. The organisms must be living. 3. The photographs must be yours, not something pulled from the internet. Rules: 1. You must use the template provided to submit your work. (online) 2. You must include 10 photographs. 3. The images in the photographs must be clear. 4. You must include the common name and scientific name of each organism. 5. You must indicate the date and location of each picture. 6. Spelling and classification rules apply. ward’s science + Page 6 Taxonomy Lab (student handout continued) Image Scientific Name (Genus species) Common Name: Scientific Name: Location of Photograph: Date and Time of Photograph: Interesting Notes: Common Name: Scientific Name: Location of Photograph: Date and Time of Photograph: Interesting Notes: Common Name: Scientific Name: Location of Photograph: Date and Time of Photograph: Interesting Notes: Common Name: Scientific Name: Location of Photograph: Date and Time of Photograph: Interesting Notes: Page 7 Image Scientific Name (Genus species) Taxonomy Lab (student handout continued) Common Name: Scientific Name: Location of Photograph: Date and Time of Photograph: Interesting Notes: Common Name: Scientific Name: Location of Photograph: Date and Time of Photograph: Interesting Notes: Common Name: Scientific Name: Location of Photograph: Date and Time of Photograph: Interesting Notes: Common Name: Scientific Name: Location of Photograph: Date and Time of Photograph: Interesting Notes: Page 8

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