Taxonomy Review

Introduction

It is important to give the student a sense of the life itself that they are studying in marine biology. As each unit is studied, mention of specific marine organisms would be paramount for the students to make connections to the concepts they are trying to understand. The identification of organisms in the field is also an important task, allowing for an appreciation of the ecology that the student is visiting. In order to accomplish both of these tasks, students must have a knowledge of basic taxonomy, accomplished in this three week unit and in other activities throughout the semester.

Objectives

• Identify the major marine phyla and classes within the five kingdoms of life.

• Name examples of organisms within those groups.

• Apply an organismic key and/or field guide to identify unknown organisms.

• Recognize and identify the organisms they will see on their field trips.

Taxonomic Activities

Dissections

I like to do only one dissection a week for this three week period so as not to overload the kids with the stink and the "gore" of dissecting. Each dissection usually takes up two class periods. I pick organisms that I feel the students would find particularly interesting or that they have never been exposed to before, such as sharks (dogfish), sea cucumbers and squid. Nasco provides dissection guides for many of its organisms, but not all. However, students can still get a lot out of the dissection without a guide. For example, the sea cucumber dissection has been a lot of fun for the kids without a guide, allowing them to trace the organ systems and to theorize as to their functions.

For evaluation, I usually have them do an external and an internal sketch of their dissection and have them label it. They must classify the organism to its kingdom through species. Then I have them answer a question or two in a paragraph that I think is pertinent to the organism. For example, for the squid I ask the students to write up how they think the squid propels itself through the water by the organs that they were able to see in the dissection. I then evaluate them by the journal observation rubric.

Videos

A great way to expose the students to a variety of organisms (and ecosystems) is to watch videos. I am slowly building a library of videos through ones I have ordered or have taped from television. I then come up with a worksheet of questions for the students to answer directly from the video. I also ask them to classify two organisms mentioned in the video to its kingdom through species. I merely evaluate their papers as to whether the answers given were right or wrong. It usually takes two class periods to watch a video. (I also show videos throughout the semester, not just during the three week taxonomy unit).

Snail Identification

Spend two class periods on the snail identification activity. Evaluate the students as to whether they identified the shells correctly and if they followed directions. Many of the shells I will use for this will be samples specific to the areas that the students will visit on their trips to Rocky Point, Mexico and to Catalina Island.

Other Activities

Since I cover taxonomy thoroughly in my basic biology class, I do not spend a lot of time on the subject. The students will spend more time on classification later on the field trips where that subject is more pertinent and useful. This is just enough to review the categories for them. The teacher can certainly evaluate whether or not more time needs to be spent in review. It is just sometimes difficult to get specimens to directly identify when you are in a land-locked classroom. Permanent class collections of preserved organisms would certainly be helpful here, as opposed to mass dissections every year.

Important Marine Classifications (Certainly not an exhaustive list)

 

Lab Journal Observations Evaluation Standards