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DichotomousKeysSE

The document is an educational guide for students on using dichotomous keys to identify various organisms, including albatrosses, buttercups, and venomous snakes. It includes vocabulary definitions, prior knowledge questions, and step-by-step activities using a Gizmo tool to practice organism identification. The goal is to help students understand how physical and behavioral traits can aid in the classification of species.

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r2v77by4n8
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12 views5 pages

DichotomousKeysSE

The document is an educational guide for students on using dichotomous keys to identify various organisms, including albatrosses, buttercups, and venomous snakes. It includes vocabulary definitions, prior knowledge questions, and step-by-step activities using a Gizmo tool to practice organism identification. The goal is to help students understand how physical and behavioral traits can aid in the classification of species.

Uploaded by

r2v77by4n8
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 5

Name: _______ _______________________________ Date: ________________________

Student Exploration: Dichotomous Keys

Vocabulary: dichotomous key, genus, organism, scientific name, species, traits

Prior Knowledge Question (Do this BEFORE using the Gizmo.)

Jerome is walking through a park when he sees the spider shown at


left. How could Jerome find out what type of spider it is?

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Gizmo Warm-up
In the field, scientists often have to identify an unfamiliar
organism (living thing). A reliable way to identify organisms
is to use a dichotomous key. A dichotomous key is a
series of paired statements or questions that lead to the
identification of an organism.

The Dichotomous Keys Gizmo allows you to use five


different dichotomous keys to identify a variety of
organisms. To begin, make sure California Albatrosses
and Organism A are selected.

1. Read the two statements at lower right. Which of the two statements most closely matches
the characteristics of the bird pictured?

_________________________________________________________________________

2. Select that statement and click Next. Continue until you have correctly identified the
albatross. If you change your mind about a choice, you can click the Back button. If you
incorrectly identify the albatross, you can click the Start Over button and try again.

A. What is the name of the albatross? _______________________________________

B. The scientific name is shown in italics. Scientific names have two parts: the genus
name and the species name. What is the scientific name of this albatross?

2019
___________________________________________________________________

2019
Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity A:
● Make sure the California Albatrosses key is
Use a
selected.
dichotomous key
● Select Organism B.

Introduction: As you saw on the previous page, a dichotomous key can help you identify an
organism using its characteristics, or traits. The keys in this Gizmo use only physical traits,
such as feather color, to identify organisms. In some cases, behavioral traits are used in
dichotomous keys. For example, some frog species can be identified by their croaks.

Goal: Use a dichotomous key to identify albatross species found in California.

1. Compare: Take a close look at organism B.

A. How does organism B differ from organism A? Mainly


black______________________________

___________________________________________________________________

B. What physical traits do you think can be used to help identify organism B? Feet
color, beak color, and feather color________

___________________________________________________________________

2. Identify: Use the Gizmo to identify organism B. Then, identify the other albatrosses included
in the California Albatrosses key. Complete the table below.

California Albatrosses
Organism Common name Scientific name
A Short-tailed albatross Phoebastria albatrus
B
C
D
E
F

3. Think and discuss: What do you think are some limitations of dichotomous keys?

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

2019
_________________________________________________________________________

Activity B: Get the Gizmo ready:


Identification ● Select the Canadian Rockies Buttercups key.
practice ● Select Organism A.

Introduction: Dichotomous keys are written for small, specific groups of organisms. For
example, each dichotomous key in this Gizmo is used to identify six to eight related species
found within a geographic region.

Goal: Identify a variety of organisms using dichotomous keys.

1. Practice: Use the Gizmo’s dichotomous key to identify all the buttercups.

Canadian Rockies Buttercups


Organism Common name Scientific name
A
B
C
D
E
F

2. Analyze: Which traits were used to identify the flowers, and which of these traits did you

think were most useful? ______________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

3. Practice: Select the Texas Venomous Snakes key. Use the Gizmo’s dichotomous key to
identify all the snakes.

Texas Venomous Snakes


Organism Common name Scientific name
A
B
C
D
E
F
G

2019
2019

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