Ecology, Taxonomy, & Phylogeny

You can’t study animals, plants, fungi, or any other organism on the planet without understanding how we classify them. This week is dedicated to reviewing the system of binomial nomenclature and understanding how we view relatedness among organisms through phylogenetic trees.

BY THE END OF THIS WEEK, you should be able to:

  • use all appropriate terminology in your terms to know,

  • describe how to write a binomen (also known as a scientific or species name),

  • differentiate taxonomy and phylogeny,

  • build a phylogenetic trees based on synapomorphic characteristics,

  • analyze a phylogenetic tree and describe relatedness among organisms based on shared traits, and

  • describe the levels of taxonomic hierarchy.

Week 24 - Biology

Your Week Ahead

Day 1: Finish Keystone Species Discussion

  1. I’ll start with checking terrestrial and aquatic biomes, journal 6, and journal 7.

  2. We’ll finish the video describing keystone species and trophic cascades. Remember that your homework is beginning to shift from things like readings to more reviewing your notes. From this point on, you should feel comfortable discussing the content we reviewed the previous class. This will be more like your courses in grades 10-12 and college.

  3. AFTER CLASS, review your notes.

Day 2: Taxonomy

  1. We’ll go through the history of taxonomy, describe the parts of a binomen, review the major levels of taxonomic hierarchy, then set up for a lab on phylogenetics.

  2. After class, review your notes.

Day 3: Phylogenetics Activity

  1. We’ll use the day describing phylogenetics and how we study how organisms are related.

  2. After class, review your notes.

DOWNLOADED FILES

IMPORTANT DATES

Quiz in the beginning of Week 26 on terrestrial and Aquatic biomes.

Did you…?

  • … finish your phylogenetics activity from Day 3?

  • … review your terms to know for this week?