SILO F.2 (DRAFT)Foundation, Term 2: ClassificationFocus: Criteria Scope and sequence: Sorting, Criteria |
|
Learning
intention: Students
compare features of living and non-living things to explore
classification systems and devise new ones.
|
|
Overview:
Although
classification is not officially a science inquiry skill, it
is strongly linked to observation and the science inquiry
skill of processing and analysing data and information. The
focus in this unit is on encouraging students to create their
own classification systems as this constitutes higher order
thinking.
|
|
NSW Syllabus
|
Australian Curriculum (version
9.0)
|
"A student compares features and
characteristics of living and non-living things." (ST2-4LW-S)
|
"Students learn to compare
characteristics of living and non-living things and examine the
differences between the life cycles of plants and animals."
(AC9S3U01)
|
'Attributes' and 'criteria' are words which are not commonly used in kindergarten, but these ideas can be readily understood if clear examples are given. Attributes help us describe things. For example, the feel of a toy could be soft or hard and the size could be big, medium or small. 'Criteria' is about sorting so we often look at this as 'selection criteria'. If children wanted to put their toys in groups, the selection criteria would help determine which group to put them in. For example, one pile could be for toys which don't get used anymore and another group could be for favourite toys.
![]() |
|
Discuss the word 'criteria' and then link it to
classification in terms of 'attributes'.
Taxonomy is the branch of science concerned with
classification. This video (4:11) shows how classification works using a
red fox as an example.
Classification systems continue to evolve so
there is some debate about the number of categories. The following
screenshot from the previous video is a reminder that there are
generally considered to be eight categories involved in biological
classification as follows:
The following saying was created to make it easier to remember the order of these eight categories.