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Year 10 Science — Diversity and classification

Place an organism in one of the five kingdoms, run the hierarchy from kingdom down to species, and read and write a scientific name in the binomial system.

Name: ________________________

Before you start

The seven bands of the classification pyramid, each one named.

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  1. 1. Kingdom, the broadest group of the seven
  2. 2. Phylum
  3. 3. Class
  4. 4. Order
  5. 5. Family
  6. 6. Genus
  7. 7. Species, the narrowest group of the seven

Each band sits inside the one above it, and the organisms in it share more features than the organisms in the band above. It works like an address, narrowing from country down to house.

  1. 1.In 1977 Carl Woese proposed a system with three groups above the kingdoms. What are they?

    • a) Chordata, Non-chordata and Protochordata
    • b) Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya
    • c) Plantae, Animalia and Fungi
    • d) Monera, Protista and Fungi

  2. 2.What word describes a species found naturally in one region of the world and nowhere else? Give the one word.

  3. 3.Which of these is written according to the rules for a scientific name?

    • a) panthera Tigris, in italics
    • b) Panthera tigris, in italics
    • c) PANTHERA TIGRIS, in italics
    • d) Tigris panthera, in italics

  4. 4.This pyramid shows the seven levels of classification, the broadest at the top. Tap the band whose members share the most features with one another.

    Write the number of the part.

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  5. 5.Yeast is a single-celled organism, yet it is not placed in Protista. Why is it in Fungi?

    • a) It is multicellular under the microscope
    • b) It makes its own food by photosynthesis
    • c) Its cell wall is made of chitin
    • d) It is a prokaryote

  6. 6.Who introduced binomial nomenclature in the 18th century? Give the surname.

  7. 7.A geologist digs down through undisturbed rock layers. What does the chapter say she will generally find as she goes deeper?

    • a) Fossils of simpler organisms
    • b) Fossils of more complex organisms
    • c) The same organisms at each depth
    • d) No fossils at any depth

  8. 8.Why does the chapter say classification is worth the trouble?

    • a) It fixes the number of kingdoms once and for good
    • b) There are millions of organisms, and a system makes any of them findable and comparable
    • c) It gives each organism a name in the language of the country it lives in
    • d) It reduces the number of species that scientists have to study

Answer key — Year 10 Science — Diversity and classification

  1. 1. b) Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya
  2. 2. endemic
  3. 3. b) Panthera tigris, in italics
  4. 4. 7 — The narrowest band, at the bottom
  5. 5. c) Its cell wall is made of chitin
  6. 6. Linnaeus
  7. 7. a) Fossils of simpler organisms
  8. 8. b) There are millions of organisms, and a system makes any of them findable and comparable