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This scene takes students onto an island with a variety of vertebrates: a mammal, bird, reptile, fish, and an amphibian, along with their eggs or offspring. Students will explore and observe the vertebrates to develop their knowledge of the characteristics that make these animals vertebrates as well as other differences that make them part of the groups stated above, such as: reproductive strategies.
The purpose is to use the gained knowledge, to design a working classification key of their own.
# Learning objectives
Be able to describe vertebrates as having a backbone and an internal skeleton{.info}
Be able to describe the characteristics of the various vertebrates{.info}
Be able to design a working classification key{.info}
# Organisms’ Physical Characteristics{.objective .objective1}
Thi section desxribes the physical characteristics the 5 gorups of vertebrates have, that are unique to their group. These characteristics are used to distinguish between the vertebrate groups, which students will use to identify the examples of animals they will explore and observe in the scene. The groups are mammals, fish, birds, reptiles and amphibians.
# Other Characteristics{.objective .objective2}
In this section, other characteristics of the vertebrates modelled in the scene will be outlined. These featres add to the identification process of the animals in the scene, and can be used to distinguish between them. Features such as whether they ley eggs or not, the type of eggs, or if they are terrestialor aquatic. By exploring the scene, students can discuss these features and identify the differences between the animals modelled.
# Classification Keys{.objective .objective3}
In this section, students will use their gained knowledge of the characteristics of the five vertebrates, and design a classification key that could be used to classify the animals in the scene. By developing a selection of ‘yes or no’ answer questions, they will organise them into a key and test it on the animals in the scene. If any anmal does not end up in the right category, students should review their questions and how they areorganised on the key, and edit it until it works.
# Teacher Resources
### Download Teacher Notes
[](https://data.avncloud.com/activities/790835/files/Classifying%20New+Species+Teacher+notes+Only.pdf?date=1675263290&size=1403690&md5=29ae35029927e0707da69bafca5f129d)
### Student Quiz Answers Document
[](https://data.avncloud.com/activities/790837/files/Classifying%20New+Species+Quiz+Answers.pdf?date=1675263377&size=1037758&md5=182158e7a49aecddf26576c9e246ccdb)
### Download Student Quiz Document
[](https://data.avncloud.com/activities/790839/files/Classifying%20New+Species+Quiz+Only.pdf?date=1675263405&size=95521&md5=427fe50b755c55673d357fc976c698ac)
