The word "classification" is a form of the word "classify," which means to arrange in classes according to a system. When it comes to living organisms, scientists have their own system of classification.

The hierarchy is as follows:

Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species

Starting with kingdom, the groups are very large. In fact, every living organism can be placed into one of five kingdoms. However, as you work your way down the list, the groups become narrower and narrower until you finally reach the exact species of a particular organism.

In our classroom, we are focusing primarily on the Animal Kingdom. The goal of this project is for each student to be aware of all the orders from the different classes of animals. Each day, students learn about 3 new orders of animals. They are then given specific information on a particular species from that order, and are required to classify it into the seven groups listed above. They also must draw a picture of the animal, state its common name, and keep it in a portfolio with all of the other animals they have done to date.