Kevin's Cards about the Classification of Living Things

Question 1

Class Definition

Answer 1

A taxonomic category representing a group of similar or closely related orders

Question 2

Classification Definition

Answer 2

The process of dividing things into groups according to their characteristics

Question 3

Domain Definition

Answer 3

The highest level of taxonomic category for organisms, above the traditional category of kingdom

Question 4

Family Definition

Answer 4

A taxonomic category representing a group of similar or closely related genera

Question 5

Genus Definition

Answer 5

(plural: genera) A taxonomic category representing a group of similar or closely related
species

Question 6

Kingdom Definition

Answer 6

The second highest level of taxonomic category for organisms, under domains, and above phyla or
divisions

Question 7

Order Definition

Answer 7

A taxonomic category representing a group of similarly or closely related families

Question 8

Phylum Definition

Answer 8

A taxonomic category representing a group of similarly or closely related classes

Question 9

Species Definition

Answer 9

A taxonomic category representing a group of individual organisms that resemble one another closely and are able to interbreed

Question 10

Taxonomy Definition

Answer 10

The science of naming and classifying organisms based on their natural relationships

Question 11

Who created the first widely accepted way of classifying living things

Answer 11

Swedish scientist named Carolus Linnaeus

Question 12

What did Carolus Linnaeus do

Answer 12

Linnaeus classified each organism into several groups and devised the modern system of scientific names

Question 13

What is Carolus Linnaeus known as

Answer 13

He is sometimes called the “father of taxonomy”

Question 14

What is “The Language of Classification”

Answer 14

Latin

Question 15

Before Carolus Linnaeus scientist did what

Answer 15

Before Linnaeus, scientists often gave long, confusing Latin names to plants and animals

Question 16

What was Carolus Linnaeus’ system

Answer 16

In his system, a living thing is given a name made up of two Latin words

Question 17

Which system was simpler

Answer 17

Carolus Linnaeus’ system

Question 18

Why did Linnaeus use Latin terms

Answer 18

In his time most scientists, no matter what language they spoke, wrote their scholarly works in Latin. Latin follows a strict set of grammatical rules - an advantage for scientific use. With Latin as a shared scholarly language, a French or Spanish scientist could understand the writings of a Swedish scientist (Communication)

Question 19

What is the order of the Classification System

Answer 19

Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species

Question 20

Where can you find the specific name of an animal

Answer 20

The second Latin name for each organism

Question 21

Where can you find the genus of an animal

Answer 21

The first Latin name for each organism

Question 22

Naming System Definition

Answer 22

A two-word name that describes a specific organism (Latin)

Question 23

What do you call creative word ways to study

Answer 23

Mnemonic

Question 24

What is Binominal Nomenclature

Answer 24

The system of nomenclature in which two terms are used to denote a species of living organism, the first one indicating the genus and the second the specific epithet

Question 25

When writing an organisms Latin name what must you do

Answer 25

The first letter of the first word of the Latin name must be capitalized and the rest is lower case

Question 26

What did scientists first think about organisms and kingdoms

Answer 26

They first thought that they only needed 2 kingdoms which were plants and animals

Question 27

What changed scientists minds about 2 kingdoms

Answer 27

Advances in microscopes allowed closer study of individual cells, scientists discovered a more basic difference: the presence or absence of a cell nucleus, which divides life into eukaryotes (with a nucleus, like higher plants and animals) and prokaryotes (without a nucleus, like bacteria)

Question 28

What was the main goal of Taxonomy at first

Answer 28

At first, the main goal of taxonomy was to name and classify organisms

Question 29

What is now the main goal of Taxonomy. What changed the scientists minds

Answer 29

Scientists began to realize that life changes over time, taxonomy took on a new goal: describing the history of life

Question 30

How was the classification system developed

Answer 30

In the past, the anatomy of existing organisms was compared to each other and to fossils of extinct organisms to find relationships