Classification is the division of organisms into
groups based on specific characteristics
Biologists use classification to organize living
things into groups so that they are easier to
study.
Aristotle was the first scientist to classify
organisms. He organized animals in 3 groups:
those that fly, those that swim, and those that
walk, crawl, or run.
Taxonomy is the science of describing, naming,
and classifying organisms.
Carolus Linnaeus was the first scientist to group
organisms by their observable features.
He created a naming system for organisms
called binomial nomenclature.
Binomial Nomenclature is a naming system in
which organisms are given two-part names.
Scientific names are written in Latin and italics.
Part 1 is the organisms GENUS name. It is always
capitalized.
Part 2 is the organisms SPECIES name. It is always in
lower case.
EX: Felis concolor = Montain Lion/Cougar/Puma
Domain
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
Did
King
Phillip
Come
Over
For
Good
Spaghetti?
Domain is the broadest (largest) and Species is
the most specific (smallest)
A tool used to help identify organisms.
Consists of a series of paired statements that
describe the physical characteristics of different
organisms.
Another tool to help identify organisms is a field
guide.
Archea
Kingdom Archaebacteria
Bacteria
Kingdom Eubacteria
Eukarya
Kingdom Protista
Kingdom Fungi
Kingdom Plantae
Kingdom Animalia
Archaebacteria means “ancient bacteria”;
believed to have been around before the
dinosaurs.
Contains unicellular prokaryotes that like
extreme conditions
3 types:
Heat lovers – live in ocean vents & hot springs; can
survive temperatures 140⁰F – 176⁰F. Some can
survive temperatures up to 482⁰F
Salt lovers – live in areas with high salt
concentration like the Dead Sea and Salt Lake
Methane makers – give off gas and live in swamps
and animal intestines
Also unicellular prokaryotes; however, they live
in milder conditions. Can be used to flavor
cheese, make yogurt, aide in digestion, and can
make you sick.
3 shapes:
Bacilli – rod shaped
Cocci – spherical
Spirilla – spiral shaped
Some bacteria move using a flagella. The
flagella spins to push the bacteria through
water or other liquida
A virus is a small, nonliving particle that invades
and then reproduces inside a living cell (host).
Viruses are nonliving because they are not cells; they
do not use energy to grow or respond to
surroundings, and they cannot take in food, make
food, or excrete wastes.
Do not have scientific names; named after the
diseases they cause. (i.e. the polio virus causes polio)
4 basic shapes: crystals, spheres, cylinders, or
spacecraft.
A virus can remain dormant, or hidden, for some
time before becoming active.
All protists are eukaryotic and live in moist
surroundings.
Protists can be multicellular or unicellular; they
can also be autotrophic or heterotrophic or
both.
Often called the “junk drawer” kingdom
because these organisms do not quite fit into
any other classification kingdom.
3 main types
Animal-like Protists: called protozoans; can move
Protozoans with Pseudopods: called Sarcodines
pseudopod means “false foot”. These protozoans have
temporary bulges in the cell membrane that fill with
cytoplasm pushing the organisms forward. (Ex: Amoeba)
Protozoans with Cilia: called Ciliates.
Cilia are hairlike projections that move in a wavelike pattern
to assist in movement, obtaining food, and sensing the
environment. (Ex: Paramecium)
Protozoans with Flagella: called Zooflagellates.
Move using a flagellum that spins or whips back and forth
to assist in movement. Often live inside other organisms.
Sporozoans: parasites that feed on the cells and body fluids of
their hosts. (Ex: Plasmodium which causes Maleria)
Fungus-like Protists
Like fungi in that they heterotrophs, have cell walls,
and use spores to reproduce; different from fungi
in that the protists are able to move at some point
in their lives.
Three types: water mold, downy mildew, and slime
mold
Plant-like Protists; Commonly called algae
All are autotrophic; however there can be different
types & colors of algae (due to different pigments;
can be unicellular or multicellular
Includes seaweed, diatoms, dinoflagellates,
euglenoids; red algae, green algae, brown algae
Primarily multicellular eukaryotes that obtain
nutrients by breaking down substances and
absorbing the nutrients.
Grow hyphae (branching threadlike tubes)into food
source, digestive chemicals ooze out and break
down the food and absorb the nutrients theough
hyphae
Reproduce through asexual & sexual
reproduction via spores
Fruiting bodies are the reproductive hyphae that
produce spores.
Budding – a type of asexual reproduction in which
no spores are produced. Occurs in unicellular fungi
such as yeast.
There are 4 types of fungi
Threadlike Fungi - ~600 types of mold; spores are
produced in threadlike hyphae
Sac Fungi – 30,000 species including yeast and
truffles. Spores are made in structures that look like
sacs.
Club Fungi – 25,000 species including mushrooms.
Spores are produced in structures that look like
clubs.
Imperfect Fungi – 25,000 species including
Penicillium which is used to make penicillin and
blue cheese.
Contains multicellular, eukaryotic organisms
that lack cell walls, can usually move around,
and quickly respond to surroundings.
Must obtain food by eating other organisms
(heterotrophs)
Obtain water, food, & oxygen from their
environment
Are catagorized as vertebrates, having a
backbone, or invertebrates, with no backbone.
The bodies of complex animals have either
radial or bilateral symmetry.
Radial
More than 1 line of
symmetry goes
through a central
point
Live in water
Unable to search for
prey
Bilateral
Only 1 line of
symmetry goes
through a central
point.
Larger, more
complex animals
Able to search for
prey and excape
predators
Invertebrates
Sponges
Cnidarians
Worms
Mollusks
Arthropods
Insects
Echinoderms
Vertebrates
Fish
Amphibians
Reptiles
Birds
Mammals
Contains multicellular, eukaryotic organisms
that have cell walls, cannot move, and perform
photosynthesis to obtain energy. (autotrophs)
Basic Characteristics:
Contain chlorophyll in chloroplasts that permit
photosynthesis to occur.
Cuticle: waxy layer that coats plants and prevents
them from drying out.
Cell Walls: Support and protect the cell
They obtain water and nutrients from
surroundings
They retain water
They transport materials throughout their
“body”
They must reproduce successfully
Via adaptations
i.e. roots to absorbs water from the ground
i.e. Cuticle to prevent loss of water
Cuticle – waxy waterproof layer that covers the leaves of
most plants
Vascular tissue – internal system of tubelike
structures through which water and nutrients
move inside the plant.
All plants undergo sexual reproduction
Involves
Fertilization – occurs when a sperm cell unites
with an egg cell
Fertilized Egg is called a zygote.
2 stages of Life Cycle:
Sporophyte: plant produces spores
Gametophyte: plant produces gametes
Gamete – sperm cell or egg cell
Plants that are low-growing and lack vascular
tissue
Vascular tissue: system of tube-like structures
that transport water and other materials
Nonvascular plants can only pass materials from
one cell to the next
Only have the rigid cell wall for support – hence
why they are small and low to the ground
Require water to survive, but lack roots. Therefore,
water is obtained from surroundings.
Example Plants: Moss, Liverworts, Hornworts
Have vascular tissue;
this provides for faster transport of materials
throughout the plant,
support for the plants allowing them to grow
stronger and taller,
and the ability to live better on land than
nonvascular plants.
Use spores to reproduce
Plants release spores into surroundings, where they
grow into gametophytes.
Water must be available for fertilization when the
gametophytes produce egg and sperm cells
Examples: Ferns, Club Mosses, and Horsetails
Plants that have vascular tissue and use seeds
to reproduce.
Bodies include leaves, stems, and roots.
Recall that vascular tissue is a system of tubelike structures that transport water and other
materials
Two Types:
Phloem: transports food
Xylem: transports water and nutrients
Seeds are structures that contain a young plant
inside a protective covering.
Seed plants do not need water in their
surroundings to reproduce because the sperm
cells are delivered to an area around the eggs.
After the sperm fertilizes the egg, a seed
develops to protect the young plant.
A seed has 3 important parts
Embryo
Stored food
Seed coat
After seeds are formed they need to be
scattered to grow.
3 main ways
Ingestion
“Hitch-hiking”
Wind
Germination is the early growth stage of an
embryo
Begins when the seed absorbs water from the
environment
First roots grow downward – leaves and stem grow
upward
Further from “home” = Better chance for
survival
Capture the sun’s energy and carries out
process of photosynthesis.
Top and bottom layers protect the inside
Xylem and Phloem rest between
Underside has stomata (pores) which controls
when gases enter and leave
Process in which water evaporates from a
plant’s leaves
Can be slowed down by closing the stomata
(often occurs in high heat)
2 important functions
Carry substances between roots and leaves
Provides support / holds up leaves to the sun
Can be herbaceous (soft) or woody.
Also contains phloem and xylem
Phloem has cambium which divides to form new
phloem and xylem
Roots anchor a plant into the ground; absorbs
water and nutrients from the ground
Two Types
Taproot (1 thick, main root)
Fibrous (thin, branching roots)
Defn: seed plant that produced naked seeds
Other characteristics:
Needlelike or scalelike leaves
Deep growing root systems
4 Groups:
Cycads: look like a palm tree w/ cones
Ginkgo: only 1 still survives: Ginkgo Biloba
Gnetophytes: Trees/shrubs/vines grow in hot, dry deserts &
tropical rain forests
Conifers: Cone-bearing; largest group of gymnosperms
Reproduction
Cones – reproductive structure (2 types: male &
female)
Male cones produce pollen
Pollen – contains microscopic cells that later produce
sperm cells
Female cones contain an ovule at the base
Ovule – structure that contains an egg cell
After fertilization the ovule develops into a seed
Reproductive Process:
1st : Pollen falls from male cone onto a female cone
(often pollen is carried by the wind)
2nd: sperm cell and egg cell join together in an
ovule on the female cone
3rd: fertilization occurs and zygote develops into the
embryo part of the seed.
Defn: plant that produces seeds that are
enclosed in a fruit.
Other Characteristics:
Produce flowers & fruits
Stamen: male reproductive part;
the thin stalks topped by
small knobs
Pistil: female reproductive part;
found in the center of the
flower
Petal: colorful structure seen
when flower is open
Sepal: leaflike structure that
protects the developing
flower.
1st: Pollen falls on the stigma
2nd: sperm and egg cell join together in the flower’s ovary.
3rd: Zygote develops into the embryo part of the seed.
As the seed develops the ovary changes into a fruit
The fruit is a a ripened ovary that encloses & protects the
seed(s)
Monocots:
1 seed leaf
Flowers have 3 petals or multiples of 3
Long, slender leaves
Vascular tissue is scattered randomly through stem
Dicots:
two seed leaves
Flowers have 4/5 petals or multiples of 4/5
Wide leaves
Vascular tissue arranged in a circle