Independent Site Visits 9th Grade:

Independent Site Visits 9^th Grade:

Topic: Diversity of Life
A Visit to the Hall of Biodiversity at the Museum of Natural History

New York State Learning Standards Addressed:
Standard 1: Using scientific inquiry to pose questions, seek answers and develop solutions
Standard 4: Science, Physical Setting: Knowledge of Earth phenomena that involves interactions among components of air, water, and land that help students explain how the atmosphere (air), hydrosphere (water), and lithosphere (land) interact, evolve and change;
Standard 6: Interconnectedness, Patterns of Change: Identify patterns of changes to make predictions about future behavior and conditions.
Standard 7: Interdisciplinary Problem Solving: Combine the knowledge and skills of math, science and technology to make informed decisions and solve problems, especially those relating to issues of science/technology/society,
consumer decision making, design, and inquiry into phenomena.
National Standards:
A: Science as Inquiry
C: Life Science
G: History and Nature of Science
Science background and notes for Teacher:
Students often have the misconception that "naming" and classifying organism is a straightforward process with no ambiguities or uncertainties. This lesson will try to present a different view, illustrated in the section on classification of the whitefly (refer to Biology: A Critical Thinking Approach handout)
Biologist name and categorize living organisms in order to organize our knowledge and increase our understanding of the world around us. The classifications described in this lesson plan only begin to introduce the incredible variety in the living world. The basic physiological processes that would have, ideally been discussed previous to this lesson and museum visit will provide a basis for classifying all organisms on earth. A review of the following key points may be useful.
1. Taxonomy is the branch of biology concerned with identifying, naming and classifying organisms.
2. Carolus Linnaeus established Modern principles of taxonomy in the early 1700's.
3. The most useful classification system is constructed as a hierarchy in which categories become progressively more detailed. Categories are identified with scientific manes given in Latin.
4. The eight basic categories used in classification are kingdom, phylum, class order, family, genus, species and form A good mnemonic to remember this is: King Peter came over from Germany seeking fortune)
5. Many different factors, including structural, biochemical and behavioral characteristics are used to classify organism.

6. New species are constantly being discovered, especially among smaller organism. Biologist estimate that there may be as many as 10 million species, though only about 1.8 million species are known. If evolution is true, ten new species are constantly being formed while others are becoming extinct.
7. Most taxonomists use the five-kingdom system of classification.
A. Monera includes all prokaryotic cells, dived into bacteria and cyanobacteria.
B. Protista are the simplest eucaryote, which include algae and protozoan.
C. Fungi feed on organic material from other organisms. Except for yeast, they grow as long, threadlike hyphae.
D. Plantae includes eukaryotic, primarily terrestrial organisms that obtain energy by photosynthesis—i.e., plants. They are divided into bryophytes and tracheophytes. See plants, in turn, are divided into gymnosperms and angiosperms.
E. Animalia kingdom includes all animals, which obtain energy from complex organism molecules by expending energy. Symmetry and body cavity are characteristics used to classify animals.
Instructional Objectives
At the end of this site visit the students will be able to:
demonstrate the basic principles of taxonomy and the characteristics of the major genera.
demonstrate how organisms are classified and named, what characteristics are used, and how new species a re established.
understand and apply the concepts of taxonomy as opposed to being able to memorize the names and characteristics
Materials and Methods
Pre-visit and Advanced Preparations:
Do a pre-visit to the Hall of Biodiversity to familiarize yourself with the content and test-run the activities. Use the map of the hall and coordinate with the science education specialist at the Museum with regards to planning the
visit. Contact the Museum for a docent or explainer or guide to lead the class through the pertinent parts of the museum, make reservation/booking well in advance. Coordinate with the Education personnel regarding the purpose of the visit and the subject that you want to explore in conjunction with this visit. Assign advanced readings on Classification Systems, Classifying Organisms, The Taxonomic System from Biology: A Critical Thinking Approach (by Robert D Allen, IA, 1995, Wm. C. Brown, Publishers) and May, R. M. 1992. "How Many Species Inhabit the Earth?" Scientific American 267, no. 4: 42-48.andPerring, T. M., et al. 1993. "Identification of a Whitefly Species by Generic and Behavioral Studies." Science 259: 74-77.
On site:
Allow 1 hour and 20 minutes of contact time with docent/ instructor on survey of the Hall Exhibits and 15 minutes of the video.
Post visit activity
Twenty Questions: Identifying An Unknown Shoe
A hierarchy, or rank series of questions are used to create a classification scheme for different footwear. The initial divisions are rather broad (laces or no laces) but gradually becomes more detailed until a specific type of footwear is identified. All questions are answerable by yes or no. You could use your 20 questions by randomly guessing shoe type (Jogging or slippers? ) or you could ask questions that gradually narrow the possibilities ("does it have shoelaces?"). If you guess randomly, you may have to ask many questions before you identify the shoe. If you ask gradually more detailed questions, however, you would need at most four questions. Show a typical classification hierarchy (diagrammatic) using the following criteria to classify the hiking boot:
1. Has laces
2. Has high tops over ankles
3. Has no projections from sole
4. Sole is indented for traction

Classifying Living Organisms
Draw parallelism of hierarchical classification systems in the boots above to that used by Linnaeus for biological organism. He proposed seven levels or categories of classification that still used by biologist today. Show table of the most useful characteristics for classifying organisms (gross morphology, embryology, physiology and biochemistry, behavior, breeding experiment, DNA base sequence similarities), why they are useful, their limitation as source of data, and the taxonomic levels they are used . Also use examples of how taxonomist use these characteristics for a specific of animal, e.g. the gray wolf, plus a description of the taxonomic category and designation. Discuss the whiteflies (in handout) infestation in California 1990, and the dilemma of classifying the "old" and "new" crop pest. Facilitate discussion using this lead question:
Suppose the two types of whitefly were different in appearance but were able to mate and produce offspring. Would this affect the biologist's conclusion about whether the two flies were different species?
Assessment
Exercise and questions in p290 of Biology: A Critical Approach are assigned and to be answered in teams and discussed in class. Worksheet and the reports are submitted after a week.

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