In this unit, our class learned about how different organisms are classified and organized into different sections. We were given 72 "fossils" (which were actually pieces of hardware), and we had to organize them into different areas of classification. This was called the taxonomy of the different species. We organized them by their traits and how we thought they lived and survived. We also gave these fossils, specific Latin names, based on their attributes. The taxonomic groups that we used were: Domain - Eukaria Kingdom - Animilia Phyllum - Curves Classes - Round Base, U-Shape, Rectangular Base Orders - No Hole Through Center, Hole Through Center Families - Metal/Sharp End/Smooth, Metal/No End, Metal/Flat End, Metal and Complete Circles, Metal and Broken Circle, Plastic, Metal/Sharp End/Threads
Concepts used in the Cladogram Project Evolution - The process that organisms go through to develop and diversify from each other. Adaptation- The process of change that organism go through to become better suited for their environment and surroundings. Taxonomy - The branched diagram that we created that shows the evolutionary relationships among species. Natural Selection - The process that organisms become better suited for their environment, leading to survival and the production of more offspring. Speciation - The formation of new species in the process of evolution.
Below is the document that has our background story behind how all of our newly found fossils evolved.
Below is the slideshow presentation we used while explaining our cladogram
Pits and Peaks of our Cladogram Project My first pit of this project is how much time we had. We had a lot of tasks that we needed to complete for this project, and we had less than 3 weeks to finish it. In addition to finishing all of the work, we also had to learn some of the work along the way, like how we would organize the hardware, and giving Latin names. My first peak of this project is our group. My group consisted of Jessica Stewart and Andre Ng. We're all very hard-working and brought different strengths to the group. This made it very easy to communicate and finish our cladogram, story, and presentation. My second pit this project is everything we had to do. Our group did something a little different than other groups. We also decided to create a poster that would show all of the taxonomy of the organisms. This took a little extra time in addition to everything else we needed to complete. My second peak of this project is our time management. Even though we didn't have that much time, our group was able to organize and manage what we needed to accomplish very effectively. This made it easier to focus more on individual tasks for each person.