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Chapter 2 review and test
A one-page summary of classification, the key words, and a chapter test with multiple choice, sorting, ordering and extended responses with marking guidelines.
Every idea in this chapter answers one question: how do you find order among millions of different living things? Use this page to check you can explain each step, from "is it alive?" to "which domain?".
The chapter on one page
| Question | What you should be able to say | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| Why classify? | To identify organisms, communicate with one name worldwide, show similarities and relationships, and understand the history of life. | 2A |
| Is it alive? | MRN GREWW plus cells. Dead = was once alive; non-living = never was. | 2B |
| How is it suited to where it lives? | Structural, behavioural and physiological adaptations, arising by natural selection. | 2C |
| What is its scientific name? | KPCOFGS; Genus species in italics, genus capitalised. | 2D |
| How do I identify it? | Dichotomous keys (branched or tabular) using observable, permanent, clear-cut features. | 2E |
| Which kingdom? | Cells, nucleus, cell wall, nutrition. Animals, plants, fungi, protists, bacteria. | 2F |
| Which animal group? | Vertebrate classes by covering, breathing, young and temperature; invertebrate phyla; monotremes, marsupials, placentals. | 2G |
| Which plant group? | Vascular or not; spores or seeds; cones or fruit. | 2H |
| Why does it keep changing? | New evidence: microscopes, gene sequencing, new discoveries. Three domains: Bacteria, Archaea, Eukarya. | 2I |
Key words
adaptation · autotroph / heterotroph · binomial name · cell · classification · dichotomous key · domain · ectotherm / endotherm · endoskeleton / exoskeleton · eukaryote / prokaryote · genus · holotype · invertebrate / vertebrate · kingdom · marsupial / monotreme / placental · natural selection · organism · phylum · species · taxonomist · vascular · xylem / phloem
Test yourself
Which list is in the correct order, from largest group to smallest?
KPCOFGS.
A leather belt is best described as
Leather comes from an animal's skin, which was once alive.
An organism is multicellular, has cells with a nucleus and a cellulose cell wall, and makes its own food. Its kingdom is
Cellulose walls and photosynthesis, multicellular.
Which is a physiological adaptation?
An internal body process.
Which statement about the platypus is correct?
Hair and milk define mammals; it's a monotreme.
Ferns differ from conifers because ferns
Both are vascular, but ferns use spores.
Which organisms do NOT have a nucleus in their cells?
Prokaryotes.
Why is "has a wingspan over 30 cm" a better key statement than "is large"?
"Large" depends on who's looking.
The domestic cat is Felis catus. The word Felis is its
The first, capitalised word is the genus.
About what fraction of known animal species are invertebrates?
Insects alone are more than half of all named species.
Classify each vertebrate.
is the process of grouping organisms based on similarities and differences in features. Australia has three types of mammals: placentals, and monotremes, classified by how they . The system groups life into levels from kingdom to species. keys give two choices at each step. Organisms in the kingdom do not store their DNA in a nucleus, and plant cells have a while animal cells do not.
The water-holding frog survives for years buried underground in the desert. Explain how it shows FOUR characteristics of living things.
The frog responds to stimuli: it digs out of the ground when heavy rain soaks the soil. It moves by itself when it burrows and when it emerges. It needs water, storing it in its bladder and under its skin to survive the drought. It reproduces, mating and laying eggs in the temporary pools after rain.
Scientists find a new animal in a rainforest. It has six jointed legs, a hard outer skeleton, wings and a body in three parts. Explain how scientists would classify and name this organism. In your answer refer to kingdom and phylum, keys, the binomial system and how it would be recorded for other scientists.
The organism is multicellular and gets its food from other organisms, so it belongs to kingdom Animalia. Its exoskeleton, jointed legs and segmented body place it in phylum Arthropoda, and six legs, three body parts and wings mean it is an insect. Scientists would run it through identification keys for insects and compare it with museum specimens and DNA databases. If no match is found, it is a new species. It would be given a binomial name, for example placing it in the closest genus and adding a new species word, written in italics with the genus capitalised. One specimen would be preserved as the holotype in a museum, and a description with photos (and often DNA) would be published so scientists everywhere can recognise it.