This lesson plan is for a 45 minute biology class on classification of life. Students will learn about the hierarchical taxonomic system used to classify organisms based on shared characteristics. They will learn the six kingdoms of life - Archaea, Eubacteria, Protista, Fungi, Plantae, and Animalia - and key distinguishing traits of each. Students will take notes while the teacher presents on classification levels and kingdoms. For assessment, students will complete a worksheet classifying organisms into the appropriate kingdoms based on their characteristics. The teacher will check for understanding throughout and provide support to English language learners.

1. SMU
Lesson Plan Framework
Name: Joni Rorije Date Turned
In:
4/22/2014 Date
Taught:
4/23/2014
Subject/Grade: Biology Teacher’s Initials &
Date:
Unit/Lesson
Topic/Essential
Question(s):
Classification of Life Time Limit: 45 min
STATE STANDARDS
TEKS: (8) Science concepts. The student knows that taxonomy is a branching
classification based on the shared characteristics of organisms and can change as new
discoveries are made. The student is expected to:
(A) define taxonomy and recognize the importance of a standardized taxonomic system
to the scientific community;
(B) categorize organisms using a hierarchical classification system based on similarities
and differences shared among groups; and
(C) compare characteristics of taxonomic groups, including archaea, bacteria, protists,
fungi, plants, and animals
CCRS: (VI)(E)(1) Know ways in which living things can be classified based on each
organism’s internal and external structure, development, and relatedness of DNA
sequences.
OBJECTIVES
Students will be able to:
 Define the levels of classification based on shared derived characteristics
 Compare characteristics of and examplesfrom each kingdom of life
(Archaea, Eubacteria, Fungi, Plantae, Animalia)
 Classify life forms into their proper kingdoms based on their
characteristics.
Language Objectives:
2I – listening comprehension
3B – use new vocabulary about topic
4F – pictures / semantics to support reading (predictable text)
4J – make inferences about text & graphics
Assessment
During the Powerpoint/note-taking portion of the lesson, I will be asking content-checking
questions over different segments to be sure that students are paying attention and are
on the same page. Afterwards, I will give students their worksheets where they should be
able to classify all of the organisms given.
For ELLs, I will make sure as I walk by that they understand the vocabulary words and
are able to use the pictures as a guide to complete the classification assignment.
Materials
Powerpoint slides, Classification work sheet

2. SMU
Lesson Plan Framework
Procedures
A. Introduction/Motivation (Set Induction/Anticipatory set)
1. (5 min) Ask students: How many of you are the super-organized type? Everything
in its place, labels, etc. Talk about being organized and the difficulties of being
unorganized.
B. Lesson Activities Sequence and Procedures: (~25 min)
2. Today we will be learning about how life is organized. How do we put all living
things into categories?
3. The levels go from broadest to most specific. You can define what characteristics a
living thing has based on what categories it is in, just like an address tells you
where something is located, from country, state, county, etc.
4. One good way to remember Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus,
Species: King Phillip Came Over For Great Spaghetti
5. Naming system is called binomial nomenclature – have class say it back to you –
What is it called?
6. Call on a row (check prior knowledge) – can anyone give us an example of a
kingdom?
7. Short overview of 6 kingdoms –specific info on slides – remember important traits!
a. Archebacteria/Archaea – Bacteria are so diverse that they had to split them
up into two kingdoms. Archaea are more primitive, live in harsh
environments, etc
b. Eubacteria – more familiar, bacteria that cause disease, live everywhere
c. Protista/Protists – algae, amoebas
d. Fungi – yeast, mold, mushrooms
e. Plants – finally something familiar
f. Animals
8. Ask – what was the name of this naming system again? Write binomial
nomenclature on the board. (Pre-AP only?) What does “bi-“ mean? What about
“nom-“ – what does it sound like? (two names)
9. The proper way to write a species name is Genus first and capitalized, species last
and NOT capitalized.
C. Closure
(15 min) Students will be given a worksheet and asked to classify organisms into their
respective kingdoms. Students work independently with teacher’s help and monitoring as
needed.
Differentiation/Modifications
I will use a combination of pictures, real-world examples and anecdotes, written content and
spoken content in order to accommodate different learning styles and engage the entire class.
During the independent work, I will give as much individual attention to students as I can. For
ELLs, I will make sure the students have a firm grasp on the vocabulary by presenting it in
written, spoken, and visual form.