Age is like colors…

Classification: 

In today’s lessons our students discussed different types of classification.  Classification is an important tool in science and it helps us understand certain topics by studying their relationships.  We explored why and how scientists use classification, as well as how classification is used in everyday life.  We emphasized the many different ways to classify one set of objects; the classification scheme we choose depends on what we are interested in studying.

For today’s activity, the students were given sets of objects to classify.  The objects came in various shapes, sizes, colors, and functions.  We used our knowledge of dichotomous, categorical and continuous forms of classification and were able to apply these forms effectively to classify these objects using several different schemes, the most popular ones were classifying by placing objects in different color categories and classifying the objects by size.

We also investigated the biological order and class of animals in the animal kingdom. – a categorical heirarchy! The students even had a chance to classify themselves either catgorically, dichotomously, or continuously, and then let the other group guess the rules of their system, an activity they really enjoyed!

2015-03-16 08.25.15 2015-03-16 08.25.29

Author

Dr. Maureen Griffin

Maureen earned a Ph.D. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 2003. While at Penn, she developed a novel micro-mechanical technique called micropipette peeling to investigate the role of muscle cell adhesion in normal and diseased skeletal muscle cells. After graduating, Maureen worked full time as a post-doctoral researcher and then a staff scientist a SelectX Pharmaceuticals. She joined the teaching staff in 2008 and was excited to be made an executive staff member in 2009. Maureen also continued to consult part time for SelectX until her daughter's birth in 2009; now she is focused on Science from Scientists and, of course, her children. Maureen uses her spare time to read, blog, cook, and renovate her house.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Categories
Open 7 days INFO
Our Young Pre classroom is for ages. This age group is working
BELL SCHEDULE