5th Grade Science Unit 7: Classification of Animals and Plants

On a recent field trip to the zoo, Mr. Lee asked his students to take pictures of different animals. He asked his students to sort the animals into further groups. How could the students below develop a model to classify their animals?

• Students A, B, and D have reptiles because they have dry scaly skin and breathe with lungs. Student C has a fish because it has scales and breathes with gills.

• Students A and B have reptiles because they have dry scaly skin and breathe with lungs. Students C and D have fish because they have scales and breathe with gills.

• Students A and B have reptiles because they have dry scaly skin and breathe with lungs. Student C has a fish because it has scales and breathes with gills. Student D has an amphibian since it starts with gills and develops lungs.

• Student B has a reptile because it has dry scaly skin and breathes with lungs. Student C has a fish because it has scales and breathes with gills. Students A and D have an amphibian since it starts with gills and develops lungs.

A fifth grade student was asked by the teacher to sort animal pictures into categories based upon their characteristics. This is how the student sorted the pictures. Which explanation BEST describes the feedback the teacher would provide to the student to refine the model?

• The model accurately represents how scientists classify animals based upon their characteristics.

• The model is mostly correct. The only error is an alligator should be in a separate category since it is a reptile, not an amphibian.

• The model is incorrect because a whale should be in the mammal subgroup since it has lungs, and another error is there needs to be another category under vertebrate for reptiles since frogs are not amphibians.

• The model is incorrect because a whale should be in the mammal subgroup since it has lungs, and another error is there needs to be another category under vertebrate for reptiles since alligators are not amphibians.

Which of the following models best illustrates how the animals are classified?

• 
• 
• 
• 

A fifth grade student was asked by the teacher to sort plant pictures into categories based upon their characteristics. This is how the student sorted the pictures. Which explanation BEST describes the feedback the teacher would provide to the student to refine the model?

• The top categories vascular and nonvascular need to swap locations on the chart to correctly represent the plants below it.

• Moss and mushroom should move to seeded nonvascular plant because all plants reproduce with seeds.

• Fern should move to seeded vascular plants because all vascular plants reproduce with seeds.

• Mushrooms should be taken out of the chart because a mushroom is not a plant.

Which two plants in the table could be grouped together based upon its characteristics?

• Rose and algae could be grouped together as a vascular plant since they have roots, stems, and leaves.

• Pine tree and rose could be grouped together as a vascular plant since they have roots, stems, and leaves.

• Fern and pine tree could be grouped together as seeded vascular plants since they both reproduce with seeds.

• Fern and algae could be grouped together as non-seeded vascular plants since they both do not reproduce with seeds.

Using the following chart, which plant or plants could this low growing plant be classified with?

• The low growing plant can be classified with the pine tree because this low growing plant can be found near the bottom of this tree.

• The low growing plant can be classified with algae because they both do not produce seeds nor do they have roots, leaves, and stems.

• The low growing plant can be classified with an apple tree because they both produce seeds from flowers.

• The low growing plant can be classified with fern because they both do not produce seeds.

Based upon the data above, how should the student develop a model that shows how plants are classified?

• Plant 1, 2, and 3 should all be classified into three different categories of seeded, flowers, and roots.

• Plants 2 and 3 should be classified together since they do not have flowers and plant 1 should be separate since it does have flowers.

• Plants 1 and 2 should be classified together since they both have seeds and roots. Plant 3 will be separate since it doesn’t have roots.

• Plants 1 and 2 should be classified together since they are both plants. Plant 3 should be classified as not a plant.

Which statement best explains why the snail is a vertebrate or invertebrate?

• The snail is a vertebrate because it has scaly skin.

• The snail is a vertebrate because it has a hard shell.

• The snail is an invertebrate because it does not have a backbone.

• The snail is an invertebrate because it can breathe through its skin.

A snake has an internal skeleton, cannot breathe under water, and relies on outside sources of heat to keep its body temperature constant. A snake is which type of animal?

• Fish

• Bird

• Reptile

• Amphibian

Which of the following describes a mammal?

• an animal with an exoskeleton that reproduces very quickly

• a warm-blooded animal that supplies its young with milk

• cold-blooded animal that lives on land

• a feathered animal that lays eggs