Organisms groupings

• Broad descriptive groupings of organisms

  • Plants
  • Animals
• Plants

  • Non-flowering plants (do not produce flowers)
  • Flowering plants (do produce flowers)
• Non-flowering plants


  • Cactus
  • Ferns
  • Mosses
• Flowering plants


  • Dandelion
  • Daffodils
  • Daisies
  • Roses
• Animals

  • Invertebrates (do not have a backbone)
  • Vertebrates (do have a backbone)
• Invertebrates

  Animals that do not have a backbone
• Invertebrates

  • Snail
  • Spiders
  • Jellyfish
• Snakes are not invertebrates, they have a backbone
• Vertebrates


  Animals that do have a backbone
• Vertebrates

  • Eagle
  • Lions
  • Humans
• The key word to define invertebrates and vertebrates is 'backbone'
• Binomial Nomenclature - two words used to name an organism
• Scientists use binomial nomenclature (two-word naming system) to classify organisms
• Species = second part of the scientific name, lower case
• Genus = first part of the scientific name, capitalised
• Examples of binomial nomenclature include Homo sapiens (human), Panthera leo (lion)
• A species is a group of similar individuals that can breed together to produce fertile offspring.
• Classification helps us to understand how species are related to one another, which can be used to predict their characteristics