Running Header: THE CLASSIFICATION OF LIFE

The Classification of Life: Dichotomous Keys Lesson Plan

T. Ryan Conley
Shawnee State University
05/01/15

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The Classification of Life: Dichotomous Keys Lesson Plan

This lesson plan is designed for grade levels 7-12 and is
based in the Ohio Science Standards: Biology content area,
subsection Diversity and Interdependence of Life. The goal of
this activity is to build on information of Biological
interdependence and energy flow taught in elementary and middle
school. We will explore the process of classifying life and its
practical applications. This is the lesson plan I got my
inspiration from: http://tinyurl.com/llabt4e
My lesson plan starts on the weekend before we start inclass activities. A Friday would be optimal to hand out the
homework. I will have all my students in one of my Google+
circles, post this blog

http://tinyurl.com/oyzj4wc,

and share it to their circle with a youtube

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video embedded in it for them to watch before Mondays class. I

will also post the link to the blog on a Facebook group of the
class I will create and on Twitter for those students who follow
me. In this way, I will be using a Flipped Classroom approach to
this lesson. The students will learn a concept over the weekend
and apply it in the classroom. I like the Flipped Classroom
because I think it will get students more excited about things
that they already have to do, like homework. Most people nowadays
do have internet access, and the younger generation are becoming
more and more in-tune with computers. If I can have the kids
watch Youtube videos instead of reading black and white sheets of
paper maybe I can veil the fact that theyre learning. Another
big benefit of having these activities online is that I can keep
parents up-to-date on things were doing in class if they have
Google+, Facebook, or Twitter accounts of their own. I will make

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up a small quiz similar to this

on the history of taxonomy for Monday worth a small amount of

points to motivate them to watch the video.
DAY I: I will use a paper quiz, to limit cheating, so I can
actually determine who watched the video and who didnt. For
students without internet at home I will allow them extra time
during the school day on the Friday before or Monday of the quiz
to watch the video. It is not even seven minutes long, so I could

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find a convenient time to fit it in. This will be the way I make
sure everyone is on the same page. After the quiz, we will then
use the SMART board or projector (whichever I have available) to
do an interactive game that helps to further illustrate the
classification of life

http://tinyurl.com/27e9q52.

This activity will also help students who either did not watch
the video or did not get the concepts introduced by the video. It
will aid the students not only with collaboration by picking one
answer as a group, but also to see the ways that we classify life

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in an interactive and exciting webpage. If there is time

remaining in class I will give the students an opportunity to get
in groups of three to create an acronym for the classification
hierarchy. The traditional stance is Dashing King Phillip Came
Over For Gold and Silver, (Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order,
Family, Genus, and Species). I will give them time until classtime tomorrow to email, share, message, etc. their version to me
so I can decide the winners.
DAY II: The winners will be announced first thing, they will get
their pick of a beverage, which I will buy, for the next lunch
period. I will then spend the rest of the day illustrating the
process of Dichotomous Keys. I will start by distributing small
Ziploc baggies with different types of screws, nails, bolts,
washers, wingnuts, etc. to the students for examination. I will
then show them how to classify these step-by-step by giving them
instructions on how to separate them. For example, Separate them
into 2 piles, one with pieces that have a central shaft and one
with the rest. Now, separate the ones with the central shaft into
ones with pointy ends and ones without pointy ends. The ones
without pointy ends are Bolts. Separate the pointy pile into
threaded ones or non-threaded ones. The threaded ones are Screws
and the non-threaded ones are Nails. This will effectively
illustrate what a Dichotomous Key does. By monitoring the

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students and helping them separate the pieces in the correct

manner I can make sure everyone understands what I am portraying
for the day. With the remaining time, I will use a prezi with
several different dichotomous keys in it organized from easiest

To hardest

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The prezi is included because it is just more aesthetically

pleasing than a powerpoint, and I will ask if anyone has
questions at the end of it to clarify any misconceptions.
DAY III: I will pass out a rubric, an example key, and a sheet
showing the rules of making a dichotomous key
http://tinyurl.com/kmgrf9y.

I will then arrange the students into

groups of four and hand them a bag of items that they will be
using to create their own dichotomous key. They will be graded on
the correct application of the knowledge used in classifying life

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and on the following of the rules of creating a dichotomous key.

Optimal materials would be branches from different kinds of
trees, but other things like hotweels cars or animal figurines
will also suffice. I will explain to them that they need to use
the knowledge of how we sort and classify life into creating
their own dichotomous keys of the collection theyve been given.
I will then give them the rest of the class time to work on their
projects and to ask me questions to help them understand their
objective. This way I can facilitate an active learning
environment that is more engaging to students, and correct any
misapplications of the concepts. The students should, at least,
have the characteristics listed that they want to use for the key
and show me the first two lines of their key. This way I can see
if they are actually applying the knowledge correctly. If they
arent I will know the group that I need to work with the most on
day IV.
DAY IV: The last day of in-class work. The students will have the
entire class-time to work on finishing their dichotomous keys and
ask me questions. They will get until class-time tomorrow,
however, to word-process it, print it out, and turn it in to me.
I will arrange for access to a computer lab if I do not have
adequate computers in my classroom. I will then monitor the

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groups and help any groups that need it to finish their project
with a good grasp on classification and dichotomous keys.