ALEX | Alabama Learning Exchange

Microbes Across the Tree of Life

Classroom Resource Information

Title:

Microbes Across the Tree of Life

URL:

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/activity/microbes-across-tree-life/

Content Source:

National Geographic

Type:

Lesson/Unit Plan

Overview:

In this lesson, students explore how scientists classify living organisms, then gather information about five of the main categories of microbes: bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa, and algae, and contrast the term microbes with systems of scientific classification to show how it is distinct and that microbes are found across the tree of life.

Content Standard(s):

Science
SC2015 (2015)
Grade: 9-12
Biology

13 ) Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to explain how organisms are classified by physical characteristics, organized into levels of taxonomy, and identified by binomial nomenclature (e.g., taxonomic classification, dichotomous keys).

a. Engage in argument to justify the grouping of viruses in a category separate from living things.

Unpacked Content

Scientific And Engineering Practices:

Engaging in Argument from Evidence; Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Crosscutting Concepts: Patterns

Disciplinary Core Idea: Unity and Diversity

Evidence Of Student Attainment:

Students:

Use major features to classify unfamiliar organisms using accepted classification schemes and justify classification.
Use binomial nomenclature and tools such as dichotomous keys to classify unfamiliar organisms and determine where they fit into accepted taxonomic schemes.
Identify characteristics of organisms within each of the six kingdoms of life.
Distinguish biotic from abiotic materials using the scientifically accepted characteristics of life.
Create a logical argument based on evidence and reasoning, to support the premise that viruses are not living things.

Teacher Vocabulary:

Classification
Taxonomy
Binomial nomenclature
Taxon
Genus
Family
Order
Class
Phylum
Division
Kingdom
Domain
Dichotomous key
Virus
Capsid
Lytic cycle
Lysogenic cycle
Retrovirus
Prion

Knowledge:

Students know:

Historical systems of classification (Aristotle, Linnaeus).
Taxa are organized into a hierarchal system—each taxa contained within another, arranged from broadest to most specific.(domain ← kingdom ← phylum ← class ← order ← family ← genus ← species)
Characteristics of living things: made of cells, obtain and use energy, grow and develop, reproduce, respond to their environment, adapt to their environment.
Viruses do not exhibit all the characteristics of life: they do not possess cells, nor are they cells, they have no organelles to take in nutrients or use energy, they cannot make proteins, they cannot move, and they cannot replicate on their own.

Skills:

Students are able to:

Organize items based on physical characteristics and/or DNA sequences, etc. and communicate reasoning to others.
Design a classification scheme (e.g., dichotomous key) for a collection of common but not necessarily related objects.
Correctly write an organism's name using binomial nomenclature.
Research viruses using a variety of sources—analysis should include viral life cycles, reproductive strategies and their structure and function.
Argue from evidence whether a virus is living or not.

Understanding:

Students understand that:

Biologists find it easier to communicate and retain information about organisms when organisms are organized into groups.
Though viruses exhibit several of the characteristics of life, they are not considered to be living things and are not included in the biological classification system.

AMSTI Resources:

ASIM Module:
Classification of Living Things; Observing Protist Locomotion; Animal Characteristics

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards

AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.B.HS.13- Classify organisms into similar groups based on physical characteristics.

Tags:

algae, bacteria, classification, classify, fungi, microbes, protozoa, viruses

License Type:

Custom Permission Type
See Terms: https://www.nationalgeographic.org/terms-of-service/
For full descriptions of license types and a guide to usage, visit :
https://creativecommons.org/licenses

Accessibility

Text Resources: Content is organized under headings and subheadings

Comments

National Geographic Education is free for educators.

This resource provided by:

Author:

Stephanie Carver

ALEX Classroom Resource

Microbes Across the Tree of Life