Lesson 1: Diversity and Classification

Question 1

What is biodiversity?

Answer 1

a measure of the variety and numbers of life forms on Earth

Question 2

What is a species?

Answer 2

a group of organisms that can successfully mate under natural conditions and whose offspring can do the same (can be determined based on physical characteristics and morphology)

Question 3

Where is diversity seen?

Answer 3

1. within species
2. interactions between species
3. diversity of habitats/structural diversity

Question 4

What can a loss of biodiversity do?

Answer 4

• threaten our food supply
• eliminate sources of natural medicines
• impact tourism and forestry
• impact/disrupt biogeochemical cycles (water cycle, carbon cycle, etc)

Question 5

What is biological classification?

Answer 5

systematic grouping of organisms into categories on the basis of defined characteristics

Question 6

Taxonomy

Answer 6

science of identifying and classifying all organisms

Question 7

How are species identified?

Answer 7

1. morphology
2. behaviour
3. geographic location
4. DNA

Question 8

Who is Carl Linnaeus?

Answer 8

the father of taxonomy; he introduced the grouping of species based on morphological or physical similarities

Question 9

Binomial nomenclature?

Answer 9

Carl Linnaeus developed this two-word short formed name; the first name is always the genus, the second name is always the species name

Ex: Ursus americanus (black bear) Ursus maritimus (polar bear)
genus name is always capitalized and species name is always lowercase
both names are italicized

Question 10

Dichotomous key?

Answer 10

tool that allows the user to determine the identity of items in the natural world based on characteristics; dichotomous keys always give two choices in each step that are often opposites