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How Scientists Classify Living Things — Reading Comprehension

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This educational passage, audio integrated, delves into the fascinating world of how scientists classify living things. Students will learn about taxonomy, the hierarchical system used to organize life, and explore key concepts like kingdoms, phyla, and species. The content introduces the importance of scientific classification for understanding biodiversity and evolutionary relationships. It aligns with NGSS standard MS-LS4-5, providing foundational knowledge about how we organize the natural world, which connects to understanding how technologies influence desired traits in organisms. Key terms like 'taxonomy,' 'classification,' 'kingdom,' and 'species' are defined and explained, making complex ideas accessible for grade 6 readers.

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Illustration showing taxonomy levels with a tree and organisms. — Taxonomy organizes life into domains, kingdoms, and species.

How Scientists Classify Living Things

There are over two million known living things on Earth. To make sense of this huge variety, scientists organize all living things into groups. This process is called classification. It is like sorting books in a library or organizing your closet. Scientists use classification to help them study and describe the many forms of life.

Classification is important for several reasons. First, with so many living things, we need a system to keep track of them all. Second, it helps scientists from around the world communicate clearly without confusion. Third, it shows how living things are related to each other. Finally, it makes it easier to learn about life on Earth.

Scientists use a special system called taxonomy to group living things. There are eight main levels, from the largest group to the smallest: Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species. You can remember the order with the sentence: "Dear King Philip Came Over For Good Soup."

The largest group is the Domain. There are three domains: Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya. Next is Kingdom. Some kingdoms you should know are:

Animals: Multicellular, eat food, and can move.
Plants: Usually green, make their own food from sunlight.
Fungi: Like mushrooms and mold, break down dead things.
Protists: Mostly single-celled, like amoebas.
Bacteria: Tiny, single-celled organisms.

Each level gets more specific until you reach species, which is the smallest group. A species contains only living things that are very similar and can have babies together.

Scientists use special two-part names, called scientific names, to identify each species. These names use Latin words. For example, humans are called Homo sapiens. This system was invented by a Swedish scientist named Carolus Linnaeus in the 1700s. Scientific names are used everywhere in the world, so there is no confusion between languages.

Classifying living things is like sorting your whole school into grades, then classes, then tables, and finally individual desks—from the biggest group to the smallest!

Interesting Fact: The honey bee's scientific name is Apis mellifera, which means "honey-bearing bee" in Latin!

What is classification?

Sorting living things into groupsNaming only animalsWriting descriptions of plantsCounting all the species

Which is the largest group in taxonomy?

DomainKingdomSpeciesOrder

Who invented the naming system?

Carolus LinnaeusCharles DarwinJane GoodallIsaac Newton

Why do scientists use scientific names?

So everyone uses the same nameBecause they sound fancyTo confuse peopleTo use only English

What is an example of a kingdom?

AnimalsLatinSpeciesSoup

What does a species have in common?