Classification is the grouping of things based on function, characteristics, similarities and differences. Classification is something that was first started hundreds of years ago, and is something that we still do today; in fact, classifying things has become a common part of our lives. We could be do something as small as sorting our rooms, or something as complex as figuring out the binomial nomenclature for a new species of animal/plant. Take a step back for a second and think about how classification first began. What was the purpose of classification? What system is currently being used for classification? Who first started what is now known as “classification”?

Aristotle was the first person to begin classifying. He lived from 384 B.C until 322 B.C. Aristotle was a Greek philosopher who was first to invent a system for grouping together living organisms. His system divided living things into two groups – plants and animals. Aristotle further divided the animal group into blood, or bloodless. The animal group was divided further into three groups based on how they move either by walking, flying, or swimming. Looking back, we would think that his system isn’t too complex and anyone could do it. But back then, this was a ground-breaking system that was used up until the 1600s when Carolus Linnaeus developed a new system based off of Aristotle’s system.

Carolus Linnaeus was a Swedish scientist that built off of the commonly used Aristotle system and made it his own. Unlike Aristotle, Linnaeus classified plants and animals according to similarities in form; while Aristotle looked more at behavior. Linnaeus divided living things into one of two “kingdoms”, the plant kingdom (Plantae Kingdom) and the animal kingdom (Animilia Kingdom). Kingdoms were divided into small groups called “genera” (plural form of “genus”). Each genus was divided into smaller groups of “species”. Carolus Linnaeus did something else that Aristotle didn’t, which was to figure out a system for naming organisms. He named it binomial (meaning “two names”) nomenclature (meaning “system of naming”). His system would give every organism two names, genus and species. You could think of binomial nomenclature as the first and last name of each organism. When writing the binomial nomenclature for an organism, the genus is always capitalized while the species is not. For the name to be written correctly, the scientific name must be either underlined or italicized (i.e., Puma concolor or Puma concolor). Carolus Linnaeus’ system is still used today, except for a few add-ons by scientists like Haeckel (1866), Chatton (1925), Copeland (1938), Whittaker (1969) and the most recent, Woese (1977-1999). Carolus Linnaeus and many other taxonomists have contributed to the evolution of classification.

As you could see, classification has grown from its beginnings in the 4^th century with Aristotle. Classification is something that has evolved with our knowledge and our technology. Without the increase in technology, we would have no way of seeing the microscopic organisms (which are in the Protista Kingdom). Without all of the past taxonomists, we wouldn’t be as advanced in our knowledge of the world around us. It is possible that we may find even more than what we already know as our knowledge and technology increases. Only time will tell what we will find in the future.

Unit:  Just So Stories

Objective: Students will read Kipling’s Just So Stories and work to write and revise their own Just So Stories.  They will identify a topic under the above capstone which will be a variation of Kipling’s Just So Stories. They will create and write their stories focusing on the use of dialogue. They will read their stories to a group of 1^st and 2^nd graders who will then draw pictures for the Just So Stories.

ODE Benchmarks Addressed:  WRTP A, WRTP C-E, WRTA A

1. How do the Just So Stories relate to our Classification Capstone? Explain in detail.

I believe that they relate to each other by what we are writing about. The stories are helping us think about what makes an animal, an animal. We are breaking down the animal in our minds and we are writing about something that makes that animal what it is. For example, I wrote about chameleons and their colors. If chameleons didn’t have the ability to change their colors then they would they would basically be differently shaped lizards.

2. What did you like and/or dislike about writing your own Just So Story? Explain in detail?

I like the freedom given to us when we were making our stories. Some students, like me, enjoy writing about things that we want to write about. We may not always enjoy some of the more standard writing assignments and because of that we won’t get as good as grades; but with the Just So Stories, we chose what we wanted to write about and how we were going to go about writing it. That was something that really made me look forward to coming to class and work on my story.

3. What was your experience working with the elementary students? Give a detailed summary of your experience.

While reading my story to my kids, I was surprised by how attentive they were. I would stop every once in a while and ask the kids something about the story, so that I would know they understood it all. I also asked if they had any questions, because if something wasn’t clear I wanted to be able to explain it to them so that they could understand what I was trying to get across.

4. Would you work with elementary students in the future? Give 3 examples of how we can work with elementary students in all subject areas.

Yes, because I think that reaching out to the younger grades is really good for them and us. The kids could get an idea on how the older kids work and us older kids could get used to being the role model. A few things that we could do with the younger kids in other subjects could be:

·         Using the Lego robots to have the kids understand doing things one at a time.

·         We could explain a few things about classification and use animals as easy examples for them to understand it better.

·         Then for engineering we could make simple machines with them so they could better understand the world around them.