Year 6: Living things and their habitats
Classification into broader groups
Curriculum Requirement
- describe how living things are classified into broad groups according to common observable characteristics and based on similarities and differences, including micro organisms, plants and animals
- give reasons for classifying plants and animals based on specific characteristics.
Pupils should build on their learning about grouping living things in year 4 by looking at the classification system in more detail. They should be introduced to the idea that broad groupings, such as micro-organisms, plants and animals can be subdivided. Through direct observations where possible, they should classify animals into commonly found invertebrates (such as insects, spiders, snails, worms) and vertebrates (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals). They should discuss reasons why living things are placed in one group and not another.
Pupils might find out about the significance of the work of scientists such as Carl Linnaeus, a pioneer of classification.
Pupils might work scientifically by: using classification systems and keys to identify some animals and plants in the immediate environment. They could research unfamiliar animals and plants from a broad range of other habitats and decide where they belong in the classification system.
National Curriculum in England: primary curriculum, Section: "Living things and their habitats", p. 172.
What is Classification?
Imagine your school library with all the books just thrown in a giant pile. It would be impossible to find the one you want! Scientists faced a similar problem with millions of living things. Classification is simply how scientists sort all living things into groups based on their shared features, or characteristics. This makes it much easier to study them and understand how they are related.
Carl Linnaeus - The Father of Classification
Carl Linnaeus was a Swedish scientist who lived about 300 years ago. He is famous for creating the system of classification that scientists still use today.
He loved nature and was brilliant at spotting the similarities and differences between plants and animals.
💡 Fun Facts
- He is often called the "Father of Modern Taxonomy" (taxonomy is the science of classification).
- He gave everything a two-part Latin name, which works like a first name and a surname. For humans, it's Homo sapiens. This means scientists worldwide can use the same name and avoid confusion.
- When he was a boy, he was so interested in plants that he was nicknamed "the little botanist".
Kingdoms
The Animal Kingdom
All animals are multi-celled living things that must eat other organisms to get energy.
Examples: Insects, fish, birds, mammals.
💡 Fun Facts
- The animal kingdom includes everything from microscopic parasites to the blue whale, the largest animal that has ever lived.
- Over 800,000 different species of insect have been identified, making them the largest group in the animal kingdom.
- Animals communicate in many ways; whales sing complex songs, and bees perform a 'waggle dance' to tell their hive where to find flowers.
The Plant Kingdom
Plants are living things that make their own food using sunlight in a process called photosynthesis.
Examples: Trees, flowers, grasses, mosses.
💡 Fun Facts
- Plants can communicate! They can send chemical signals through their roots and the air to warn neighbouring plants about insect attacks.
- Plants make up around 80% of all living biomass on Earth, meaning they outweigh all animals, fungi, and microbes combined.
- Not all plants get their nutrients from the soil; some, like the Venus flytrap, are carnivorous and catch insects for food.
The Fungi Kingdom
Fungi are not plants because they don't make their own food; instead, they absorb nutrients from their surroundings.
Examples: Mushrooms, toadstools, yeast, mould.
💡 Fun Facts
- The largest living organism on Earth is a fungus in Oregon, a type of honey mushroom that covers nearly 4 square miles underground.
- It is estimated there could be as many as 3.8 million species of fungi, though only about 148,000 have been described so far.
- Some species of mushroom can glow in the dark through a process called bioluminescence, which may attract insects to help spread their spores.
Micro-organisms
This is a general name for living things that are too small to see with the naked eye. They belong to several different kingdoms, including Fungi (like yeast) and Bacteria.
Key Characteristics:
- They are microscopic (you need a microscope to see them).
- They are found everywhere: in the air, in water, in the soil, and even on and inside your body.
💡 Fun Facts
- Not all micro-organisms are 'germs'. Many are very helpful. We use yeast (a fungus) to make bread rise and bacteria to make yoghurt.
- There are more bacteria in your mouth right now than there are people in the world.
- A single teaspoon of garden soil can contain over a BILLION micro-organisms.
Animal Sub-divisions
Vertebrates
Vertebrates are animals that have a backbone or spinal column.
Examples: Mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish.
💡 Fun Facts
- Mammals: The only animals that produce milk to feed their young and have hair or fur.
- Birds: Modern-day dinosaurs, and the only animals with feathers.
- Reptiles: Have waterproof, scaly skin and are cold-blooded, relying on the sun for warmth.
- Amphibians: Live a "double life", starting with gills in water and developing lungs for land.
- Fish: Have gills to breathe underwater and fins for movement.
- The smallest known vertebrate is a tiny frog from Papua New Guinea, called Paedophryne amauensis, which is only 7.7 millimetres long on average.
- Although they are often larger, vertebrates make up only about 3% of all known animal species.
Invertebrates
Invertebrates are animals that do not have a backbone. About 97% of all animal species are invertebrates.
Examples: Insects, arachnids, and molluscs.
💡 Fun Facts
- Insects: Have an external skeleton (exoskeleton) and six legs.
- Arachnids: Unlike insects, arachnids (like spiders) have eight legs and two main body parts.
- Molluscs: A soft-bodied group that includes everything from snails to the giant squid, which has eyes as big as dinner plates!
- The octopus, a mollusc, is thought to be the most intelligent invertebrate, capable of solving complex puzzles, using tools, and even escaping from aquariums.
- The phylum (a major group) of insects and other arthropods is the largest in the animal kingdom, with over a million described species.
Plant Sub-divisions
Flowering Plants
This is the largest group of plants. They use flowers with bright colours and scents to attract pollinators to help them make seeds.
Examples: Poppies, roses, fruit trees, and most vegetables.
💡 Fun Facts
- Poppy seeds can lie dormant in the soil for over 80 years and will only grow when the ground is disturbed and they are exposed to sunlight.
- The largest single flower in the world is the Rafflesia arnoldii, which can grow up to a metre across and smells of rotting meat to attract flies for pollination.
- With over 28,000 known species, orchids are one of the largest and most diverse families of flowering plants.
Non-flowering Plants
These ancient plants do not produce flowers. Instead, they reproduce using spores or seeds from cones.
Examples: Ferns, mosses, and conifers (like pine trees).
💡 Fun Facts
- Ferns: Existed on Earth hundreds of millions of years before the dinosaurs.
- Mosses: Act like natural sponges and can hold up to 20 times their own weight in water.
- Conifers, like pine trees, are some of the oldest living things on Earth. A bristlecone pine in California is estimated to be over 5,000 years old.
- The seeds of a conifer are protected inside a woody cone, which opens up in dry weather to release them.
- Mosses don't have roots to absorb water; instead, they soak it up through their tiny leaves.
Micro-organisms
Micro-organisms
Tiny living things, also known as microbes, that are too small to be seen without a microscope.
Examples: Yeast, bacteria, and mould.
💡 Fun Facts
- Yeast: The bubbles in bread are created by billions of tiny yeast organisms releasing carbon dioxide gas as they feed on sugar.
- Bacteria: There are more bacterial cells in and on your body than there are human cells, and most are essential for your health.
- Mould: The life-saving antibiotic, penicillin, was discovered by accident when a scientist noticed that mould had killed bacteria in a petri dish.
- Some bacteria can reproduce extremely quickly. In ideal conditions, a single bacterium like E. coli can divide into two every 20 minutes.
- Micro-organisms in the ocean, called phytoplankton, produce more than half of the oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere through photosynthesis.
Activities
Classification Challenge
Provide a wide range of pictures of living things (from a lion to a mushroom to pond algae to a fern). In groups, children must create their own classification system and justify their groupings. Compare this to the standard scientific classification system.
Linnaeus's Legacy
Research the work of Carl Linnaeus, the "father of modern taxonomy," who developed the system of naming organisms with two parts (binomial nomenclature), like Homo sapiens.
Grow Your Own Mould
(Under strict supervision) Leave a piece of damp bread in a sealed, transparent bag in a warm, dark place. Observe the growth of mould (a type of micro-organism) with a magnifying glass over several days without opening the bag.
Reflections
Use these prompts to help pupils think about the broad concept of classification and how it applies to all life, including themselves.
Self-Reflection (Exit Ticket)
On a sticky note, write down all the classification groups they belong to from today's lesson (e.g., Kingdom: Animal, Sub-division: Vertebrate, Class: Mammal).
Paired Reflection (Think-Pair-Share)
Discuss with a partner: A spider and a beetle are both invertebrates, but they are not in the same group. What is the biggest difference between them?
Group Reflection
In small groups, have a gentle debate: Of the three main kingdoms (Animal, Plant, Fungi), which do you think is the most important or interesting, and why?
Whole Class Share-Out
Question for the whole class to prompt curiosity: Scientists are still discovering new species. Why do you think they sometimes disagree on how to classify a new living thing?
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