Name: Class: Date:

Benchmark 4: The 5 kingdoms

Cracking the classification code

Each level of the Linnaean classification system is like a code that describes the way
an organism looks or behaves.

Kingdom
Animalia – has many cells with a nucleus, is able to move freely from one area to
another, needs to eat its nutrients and gives birth to live young.
Plantae – has many cells with a nucleus and cell wall. Although it can move one part
of its body, it usually stays in the one place. It uses photosynthesis to makes its own
food (it has green chlorophyll) and has seeds.
Fungi – usually has many cells with cell walls, needs to eat its nutrients, has spores
instead of seeds and usually does not move from place to place.

Phylum
Chordata – has a vertebrate column with a cord of nerves that runs through it at
some point in their life, has an endoskeleton (internal skeleton) and has a tail at
some stage of their life (sometimes before they are born).
Mollusca – has a large external shell with a hollow centre filled with fluid.
Cnidaria – has no skeleton and has at least two stages of life – a free-swimming
stage as a bell shape, and a stage when it settles down in one place as a vase-
shaped polyp. It contains stinging cells for defence or capturing food.
Arthropoda – has an exoskeleton (external skeleton), jointed appendages (legs) and
a body made of segments that allow movement.

Class
Bivalvia – has an external shell divided into two halves that are connected with a
hinge.
Mammalia – has a fur or hair-covered body, gives birth to live young, feeds its young
with milk produced by mammary glands and is able to keep the blood at a constant
temperature.
Pisces – lives in water, has a non-constant body temperature. The skin is covered in
scales, and it breathes through gills.
Reptilia – lives on land, has a body covered in scales, lays eggs, has a non-constant
body temperature and breathes through lungs.
Amphibia – lives part of its life in water and part on land, lays eggs, has a body
covered in moist skin and has a non-constant body temperature.
Aves – has a body covered in feathers, lays eggs, has a constant body temperature
and breathes through lungs.
1. Find each of the classification groups in the word search.

© 2013 Education Services Australia Ltd, except where indicated otherwise. You may copy, distribute
and adapt this material free of charge for non-commercial educational purposes, provided you retain
all copyright notices and acknowledgements.
Name: Class: Date:

A M P H I B I A A M

© 2013 Education Services Australia Ltd, except where indicated otherwise. You may copy, distribute
and adapt this material free of charge for non-commercial educational purposes, provided you retain
all copyright notices and acknowledgements.
Name: Class: Date:

V A I N Q I J N N O

E C S N W V K G I L

S I C B E A R I M L

E E E B R L E O A U

R B S V T V P S L S

T F U N G I T P I C

C A P V Y A I E A A

C N A C U J L R Q S

H O I X I H I M M M

O P L D O G A O N A

R O D R A F L P B M

D I F L P R Q H V M

A U G K A K I Y C A

T Y H J S S W A R L

A P L A N T A E E I

A R T H R O P O D A

2. Name an animal that fits into each of the classification groups above.

© 2013 Education Services Australia Ltd, except where indicated otherwise. You may copy, distribute
and adapt this material free of charge for non-commercial educational purposes, provided you retain
all copyright notices and acknowledgements.