2

General
Biology 2 12
General Biology 2 – Grade 12
Quarter 3 – Module 13: Taxonomy: Classification and Naming of Living Things
First Edition, 2020

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 General
Biology 2
12
Quarter 3
Module 13
Taxonomy: Classification and
Naming of Living Things
Introductory Message

For the facilitator:

Welcome to the General Biology 2 of Grade 12 Module 13 on Taxonomy: Classification

and Naming of Living Things!

This module was collaboratively designed, developed and reviewed by educators from
Schools Division Office of Pasig City headed by its Officer-In-Charge Schools Division
Superintendent, Ma. Evalou Concepcion A. Agustin in partnership with the Local
Government of Pasig through its mayor, Honorable Vico Sotto.
The writers utilized the standards set by the K to 12 Curriculum using the Most
Essential Learning Competencies (MELC) while overcoming their personal, social,
and economic constraints in schooling.

This learning material hopes to engage the learners into guided and independent
learning activities at their own pace and time. Further, this also aims to help learners
acquire the needed 21st century skills especially the 5 Cs namely: Communication,
Collaboration, Creativity, Critical Thinking and Character while taking into
consideration their needs and circumstances.

In addition to the material in the main text, you will also see this box in the body of
the module:

Notes to the Teacher

This contains helpful tips or strategies that
will help you in guiding the learners.

As a facilitator you are expected to orient the learners on how to use this module.
You also need to keep track of the learners' progress while allowing them to manage
their own learning. Moreover, you are expected to encourage and assist the learners
as they do the tasks included in the module.
For the learner:

Welcome to the General Biology 2 Module 13 on Taxonomy: Classification and

Naming of Living Things!

The hand is one of the most symbolized part of the human body. It is often
used to depict skill, action and purpose. Through our hands we may learn, create
and accomplish. Hence, the hand in this learning resource signifies that you as a
learner is capable and empowered to successfully achieve the relevant competencies
and skills at your own pace and time. Your academic success lies in your own hands!

This module was designed to provide you with fun and meaningful opportunities for
guided and independent learning at your own pace and time. You will be enabled to
process the contents of the learning material while being an active learner.

This module has the following parts and corresponding icons:

Expectation - These are what you will be able to know after completing the
lessons in the module

Pre-test - This will measure your prior knowledge and the concepts to be
mastered throughout the lesson.

Recap - This section will measure what learnings and skills that you
understand from the previous lesson.

Lesson- This section will discuss the topic for this module.

Activities - This is a set of activities you will perform.

Wrap Up- This section summarizes the concepts and applications of the
lessons.

Valuing-this part will check the integration of values in the learning

competency.

Post-test - This will measure how much you have learned from the entire
module. Ito po ang parts ng module

EXPECTATION
After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. define taxonomy, classification, and trait; and

2. demonstrate knowledge of binomial nomenclature; and
3. appreciate how diverse organisms are named, described, and classified.

PRETEST

Directions: Read the statements/questions comprehensively and choose the

letter of the best answer. Write the answer on the separate sheet of paper.
________1. The science of identifying, classifying, and naming living things is
called ___________.
A. classification C. taxonomy
B. nomenclature D. systematics
________2. Grouping objects based on what they have in common is __________.
A. classification C. taxonomy
B. nomenclature D. systematics
________3. An organism's scientific name is based on how it is classified. Which
of the following levels of classification determine the name?
A. class and order C. kingdom and phylum
B. kingdom and class D. genus and species
______ 4. Largest and most general group into which organisms are classified is
called
A. class and order C. kingdom and phylum
B. kingdom and class D. genus and species
_______5. You are exploring a rain forest. You spot a flying animal. You notice it
spends the daylight hours hanging from a cave. You examine the
animal, and it has a thin layer of hair. What order would this animal
be placed?
A. bird C. fish
B. mammal D. reptile
 RECAP
Activity 13.1. Direction: Identify what type of reproductive barrier applies to each
of these scenarios.

1. Water buffalo and cattle can mate with each other, but the embryos die
early in development.
2. Scientists try to mate two species of dragonfly that inhabit the same pond
at the same time of day. However, females never allow males of the other
species to mate with them.
3. Scientists mate two eagles from different populations to see if speciation
has occurred. The parrots mate over and over again, but the male’s sperm
never fertilizes the female’s egg.

LESSON

Figure 13.1. Milk fish (Chanos chanson) is called in different local names in the Philippines. Source: philnews.ph

Milkfish (Fig. 13.1) or what we called bangus in Tagalog dialect is a Filipino

favorite dish whether it is fried, daing or sinigang. Interestingly, this particular fish
is known in different local names such as bangrus in Guimaras and Samar and awa
in Cebu. Other Philippine fish names can get confusing because different names can
be given to the same kind and can be used in multiple other fish just on the same
region and dialect. Imagine the confusion it brings to various animals, plants and
other living things if different people throughout the world used their own names in
different languages.
In order to avoid confusion, a formal system of naming species of living things
that reflects order and relationship arise from evolutionary processes is used
universally. Systematics, is the study of diversity of organisms and the evolutionary
 relationships among them. Taxonomy, on the other hand,
is the scientific study of describing, naming and classifying
living organisms.
A Swedish botanist, Karl von Linne popularly known in
his Latin name as Carolus Linnaeus, Father of Modern
Taxonomy created Binomial System of Nomenclature.
This binomial system of nomenclature brings order to a
Figure 13.2. Carolus Linnaeus,
Father of Taxonomy. chaotic world of common names. It is universal and clearly
indicates the level of classification involved in any descriptions. Every species has
two-part name: the broader classification genus (plural: genera) with a second word
designates species or specific epithet. No two kinds of living organisms have the same
binomial name, and every organism has only one correct name as required by various
internationally agreed codes of rules. At present, the following nomenclature codes
govern the naming of species, as follows:

 Algae, Fungi, and Plants – International Code of Botanical Nomenclature

(ICBN)
 Animals - International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN)
 Bacteria –International Code of Nomenclature Bacteria (ICNB)
 Viruses - International Committee on Taxonomy 0fof Viruses (ICTV).

Some of the major rules in nomenclature include: (1) the name should be in Latin;
(2) the genus of an organism begins with a capital letter; the species designation
begins with a lowercase letter; (3) the entire scientific name is italicized when
typewritten or underlined separately when handwritten. Thus, the scientific name of
human is written as Homo sapiens; (4) all taxa must have an author when described.
That is, Homo sapiens L., the L stands for Linneaus who first successfully described
and named the organism. When the genus is understood, it can be abbreviated as
H. sapiens.

Taxonomic Hierarchy
Carolus Linnaeus recognized that different species could be grouped into
broader categories based on shared characteristics. Any grouping of organisms that
shares a particular set of characteristics forms an assemblage called taxon.
Although scientists now use additional categories, Linnaeus’s idea is the basis of the
taxonomic hierarchy used today (Table.13.1). The three major domains Archaea,
Bacteria, and Eukarya are the most inclusive levels. Each domain is divided into
kingdoms, which in turn are divided into phyla, then classes, orders, families, genera
and species. A taxon is a group at any rank that is domain Eukarya is a taxon, as is
the order Primates and the species Homo sapiens.
Table 13.1. Taxonomic Hierarchy. Life is divided into domains, then kingdoms, then numerous smaller categories. This table shows the complete
classification for human. Source: Krempels and Lee,2003.

Taxonomic Group Human found in:

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Class Mammalia
Order Primates
Family Pongidae
Genus Homo
Species Homo sapiens

The more features two organisms have in common, the more taxonomic levels
they share. A human, a squid and a fly are all members of the kingdom Animalia but
their differences place them in separate phyla. A human, rat and pig are more closely
related –all belong to the same kingdom, phylum and class. A human, orangutan
and chimpanzee are even more closely related, sharing the same kingdom, phylum,
class, order and family.

Dichotomous Key

For the field of biology, classification is very critical. It is important to have

systems in place to recognize and classify organisms as we continue to discover new
species, learn better techniques for analyzing interactions between species (i.e. DNA
analysis) and exchange knowledge internationally. Having such, you can easily
distinguish any particular entities and describe any living specimens at hand. A
taxonomic key is suitable tool for this purpose, which is an organized set of couplets
of mutually exclusive characteristics of biological organisms. Because the key
branches split in two at each stage, it is called a dichotomous (from the Greek dicho
meaning “in two” or “split” and tom, meaning “to cut”) key. The paired statements
described contrasting features found in the organisms against an appropriate
dichotomous key. These taxonomic keys will begin with general characteristics and
lead to couplets indicating progressively specific characteristics. If the organism falls
into the indicated taxonomic level. Look at the example below.
 Animals

Has no Has
feathers feathers

Has no cannot
Has legs Can swim
legs swim

lizard snake duck hen

Figure 13.4. Dichotomous Key. A tool that allows the user to determine the identify of items in the natural world. Source: Ryan P. Murphy 2010.

ACTIVITIES
ACTIVITY 13.2.

Directions: Practice writing scientific names. Change the following microbial names
to make them scientifically correct according to binomial nomenclature.

1. clostridium BOTULINUM –

2. Vibrio Cholerae –

3. streptococcus pneumoniae –

4. Salmonella Typhii –

5. Yersinia ENTEROLITICA -
Activity 13.3: Identifying Aliens with Dichotomous Key

Directions: Look carefully at the aliens pictured below. Use the dichotomous key to
find the scientific name of each one.
 WRAP–UP

Activity 13.4.

I. Give the major rules in nomenclature.

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
II. Give the taxonomic hierarchy from the most general to specific.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

VALUING

Activity 13.6. Essay

Directions: In a minimum of 5 sentences, explain the importance of modern system

of naming and classification, (binomial nomenclature) in the study and discoveries
of various living organisms.

__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

POST TEST

Direction: Read each question carefully and choose the letter of the best answer.

_________1. Which of the following statements about taxonomic levels is correct?

A. Species is the most general.
B. Kingdom is the most specific.
C. Class is less specific than phylum.
D. Family is more specific than order.
_________2. What is the name for the classification system that uses two names?
A. Classification studies C. taxonomic hierarchy
B. binomial nomenclature D. binomial theorem
_________3. Which of the following statements is incorrect about the rules in binomial
nomenclature?
A. When scientific names are written by hand, it must be always
italicized.
B. It is a standard rule for all organisms to have a latinized scientific
name.
C. Linnaean nomenclature is composed of genus and specific epithet.
D. First letter of genus should be in uppercase while lowercase in
species.
_________4. The correct way of writing scientific name of human is _______________.

A. HOMO SAPIENS C. Homo sapiens

B. Homo sapiens D. Homo sapiens
_________5. A student discovers an arachnid with a segmented abdomen, long legs,
and a tail with no stinger. The student uses the dichotomous key below
to identify it. Which arachnid has the student found?

A. Whip Scorpion C. Wind Scorpion

B. Daddy Long Legs D. Scorpion
Activity 13.2 PRETEST
1. C
1. Clostridium botulinum – Clostridium botulinum 2. A
2. Vibrio cholerae- Vibrio cholerae 3. D
3. Streptococcus pneumonia - Streptococcus pneumonia 4. C
4. Salmonella typhii- Salmonella typhii 5. B
5. Yersinia enterolitica - Yersinia enterolitica
Activity 13. 3 POSTTEST
Alienus
1. D
2. B
Alienus hairicus Alienus tritoothicus 3. A
4. C
5. A
Alienus stripicus Alienus fuzzicus
RECAP
1. Postzygotic
Barriers
2. Prezygotic
Alienus quadlegicus
Alienus blobicus reproductive
isolation
3. Prezygotic
reproductive
isolation
KEY TO CORRECTION
 R E F E R E N CE S
NATIONAL SYMBOLS OF THE PHILIPPINES – Symbols of Our Country. “NATIONAL
SYMBOLS OF THE PHILIPPINES - Symbols of Our Country.” Philippine News,
July 12, 2019. https://philnews.ph/2019/07/11/national-symbols-of-the-
philippines/.

Hoefnagels, Marielle. General Biology. McGraw-Hill Education. Abiva Publishing

House,Inc. 2016.

Learning, Lumen. “Biology for Non-Majors I.” Lumen. Accessed September 6, 2020.
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-nmbiology1/chapter/reading-
genetic-information/.
Miller, Stephen A. Zoology. McGraw-Hill. New York. 2010.

Starr, Cecie. Evers, Christine. and Lisa. Starr. Biology: Today and Tomorrow Biology
for Non Science
Majors. Cengage Learning. 201