Primary Booklet - Grouping and Classification

One of a series of booklets written to support plant science in the Primary Curriculum. This topic encourages children to explore the nature of living things, and introduces the ideas of classification and making keys.

As the fourth theme in the series, this booklet includes activities that encourage children to explore the nature of living things. The activities help children understand how we can group objects (both living and not living) leading on to how we classify living things and why we give them names. It enables children to make simple keys based on similarities and differences between objects (including parts of plants) and to use keys to identify certain plants.

In the booklet, there is a progression from deciding whether objects are living or have never been alive and how plants differ from animals. Children then develop their skills in making careful and accurate observations of living plant material and using appropriate vocabulary in describing the features observed. From this they sort items, make groups, learn the importance of giving names to things and apply skills developed through the grouping activities to make and use keys. Some activities are presented at two levels - an introductory version that may be suitable for younger children and a version that may be suitable for older children, to help them build on earlier knowledge and develop them further in a more advanced way.

Considerable emphasis is given to observation of living material. Making a key or using a key can be quite difficult concepts, but the activities involving sorting, grouping and naming lead children stepwise to the basic principles. The challenge of being able to use this and then work through the stages of identifying the flower of one of several commonly found buttercups can be highly rewarding. Some activities show a way through topics that are not easy to teach while others provide a fresh approach to some familiar topics.

The 6 'Plants for Primary Pupils' booklets were written in conjunction with the Field Studies Council, and copies were sent out to all UK state primary schools. For extra print copies, please contact the FSC. The booklets can also be downloaded in PDF form from the links on the right. Worksheets are also available online in Word format for editing in your own classroom.

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Contents

Parts A to F are available as separate pdf files, and the contents of Parts G as zip files, all downloadable from the links on the right.

Part A

• Front page
• Safety
• Copyright information and acknowledgements
• Progression of ideas within this theme
• Contents
• Introduction

Part B

• Living or never alive?
• Activity 1: Going on a treasure hunt (1) and (2)
• Activity 2: Living things - what they need and what they can do

Part C

• Making observations
• Activity 1: Observing leaves and learning how to describe them
• Activity 2: Copycats – a game
• Activity 3: Observing leaves and learning about their shapes –
• What can you turn your leaf into?

Part D

• Sorting, grouping and naming
• Activity 1: Sorting seeds into groups
• Activity 2: Sort it! – a game with cards

Part E

• Making and using keys
• Activity 1: Introducing keys – with liquorice allsorts
• Activity 2: Making a key – using leaves (mainly from tree and hedgerow plants)
• Activity 3: Using a key – following the trail with buttercups

Part F

• Background information for teachers
• Characteristics of living things
• Constructing keys
• Classification of living things

Part G (Supporting material on the SAPS website)

• Introducing the supporting material
• Index to supporting material

Acknowledgements

Science and Plants for Schools and the Field Studies Council are grateful for permission to include the following copyright photographs and artwork. Photographs: All photographs are by John Bebbington FRPS, with the exception of some in the PowerPoint presentation. Artwork: Artwork, including cartoons and cover artwork, is by Anne Bebbington. Illustrations used in Figure 5 and Figure 7 are reproduced by courtesy of The Cavendish School, London. The cartoon used in Activity 2, page 6 (Living things – what they need and what they can do) was inspired by the Concept Cartoons™ used by Brenda Keogh and Stuart Naylor (Millgate House Publishing; www.conceptcartoons.com).

For the Copycats activity, the Writing Group has drawn on an idea that came originally from Claire Dalby (a botanical artist).

Members of the Writing Group: Anne Bebbington (FSC and SAPS), Colin Bielby (Manchester Metropolitan University), Ruth Thomas (The Cavendish School), Judy Vincent (formerly of Hartest Primary School) and Erica Clark, editor (SAPS).. We are grateful to Maggie Bolt and John Hewitson for their skill and effort.