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The Key to Classification

What kinds of characteristics do scientists use to classify plants and animals? How does a grizzly bear skull differ from a mountain lion skull?

Introduces students to taxonomy, the scientific classification of plants and animals. To make sense of the diversity that makes up our world, humans throughout history have given names to the objects around them and imposed a variety of schemes to categorize them. Students examine the skulls of Colorado mammals, such as grizzly bear, mountain lion, coyote, and raccoon, and learn to identify the skulls using a dichotomous key. Then they construct their own key creating a classification system for a set of plants.

Development and materials for this program made possible by the Berger Foundation.

This program supports the Colorado Model Content Standards for Science: 1, 3.