Learn about the snack classification system

What is the definition of snack? People around the world snack on a wide variety of foods, from potato fries to grub and beetles. Why not eat these? Why do you think there are so many types of snack foods?

Think of a bag of popcorn. How would you describe it? Maybe salty? Or crunchy?When we group items by their properties, we call them classificationFor example, if you group snacks by whether they are salty or sweet, or sticky or crunchy, you are classifying them.

Taxonomies help us group, organize, and make sense of the world around us. For example, our food is organized by type of grocery store, and our school days are organized by subject, class time, and student. Create a classification system to group and a periodic table used to organize and group elements. In this activity, you will develop your own system for classifying foods, and along the way develop the skills necessary to understand other classification systems.

Watch this video about snacks around the world. Do you like grub like the Australians, boiled peanuts like the Georgians, or street corn like the Mexicans?

Watch the video and discuss the following questions.

• In this video, I’ll show you some ways to group snacks from around the world by type.
• Was there a type of snack you wanted to try?
• What do those snacks have in common?
• Is there anything you absolutely want to avoid?

Even while watching this video, you’re probably starting to build a mental system of sorting which snacks you want to try and which you don’t. classifier.

Activity #1: Sort Snacks

Assemble and sort a collection of different snack foods with your friends, classmates or family. Are you a traditionalist who likes chips and popcorn, or bring snacks that raise eyebrows? What will your friends bring? Check it out! For this to work, all members of the class or group must bring their favorite snack foods in their original packaging. Adults: Be aware of food allergies and safety. This activity works even if food is left in the package. Alternatively, it can be done with the food provided.

Observe your snack:

1. Sit at a table with 4-5 people.
2. Put everyone’s treats on the table and observe different treats. As you observe, think about color, shape, texture, flavor, and other characteristics.
3. Together for 5 min, categorize the snacks based on the group’s observations. Then, if you have a large class with multiple groups and tables, rotate the group to another table to show and sort snacks from another group.

share:

1. Ask one person from each group to share how they sorted the snacks on the table. Learners can record themselves which categories they are presented with, but someone needs to make a large list of categories for the whole class to see.
2. After everyone has shared, discuss the similarities in how items are grouped. Were there any categories that were used by multiple groups? Are some snacks not applicable?
3. As a class, decide on a common list of no more than six categories to organize your snacks based on the ideas presented by your small group.

Classify Snacks:

1. Post the final category on different sides of the room and return each snack to the learner who brought it. Let’s think for a minute: Which final category does my snack belong in?Categorize your snack by putting it in her one of the categories you created in class.
2. When everyone is ready, each person should take their snack and move it to the side of the room in the category they think best represents their snack.
3. Someone in each category will be asked to defend why they think their snack belongs in their chosen category.
4. Following the activity, reflect your answers to the following prompts in your notebook or journal.“Think about the categories we created today. Now think about your daily life. How do we categorize the world around us? What kind of impact does it have?”

Biologists who study the diversity of life have a difficult task when it comes to classifying the Earth’s organisms into groups. There are billions of different types of organisms, from large ones like blue whales to tiny ones like bacteria and viruses. Much like the snack sorting activity, there are large categories called kingdoms that scientists use to organize living things. Even among biologists, there has been some debate about how organisms should be organized between kingdoms, and how many kingdoms there should be. is not.

Activity 2: Kingdom Classification

In this next activity, you will explore the Kingdoms of Life and summarize the characteristics of each. This activity uses a model of six kingdoms including Archaea, Bacteria, Protists, Fungi, Plants, and Animalia. This Google Slides kingdom taxonomy workbook can help. Make or download a copy and fill it out.

For each Kingdom:

1. research sources: Research reliable sources for the characteristics of each kingdom. Evaluate sources based on their currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, and purpose (more on these below).
2. gather allegations and evidence: For each source, identify a claim or central idea about the kingdom, and back up that claim with quotes or evidence from selected reputable sources.
3. summarize: Write an objective summary of each kingdom’s characteristics using the sources and core ideas you have gathered.

Help research the source:

• Start by searching the name of each kingdom using Galileo or Google. Using the word “kingdom” in your search may help. (Example: “Kingdom Plants”)
• Track your citations while collecting the website name and URL for each citation. You can print them out or download the digital worksheets below to track your progress.
• Try evaluating the source using the CRAAP test. The CRAAP test is a list of questions that help you evaluate information you find on the Internet. Each letter represents a different measure of quality.
  • Haurgency: When was the information published or posted? Has it been revised or updated? Is it up to date and is the link working?
  • R.elegance: Is the information relevant to your topic and answering your research question? Are you the intended audience and at a level of comprehension?
  • Ahauthority: Who are the authors or publishers, and have their credentials, roles and affiliations been provided? Are contact information provided? What is your site’s domain or URL?
  • Ahaccuracy: Where does the information come from and is it supported by evidence? Has anyone verified or referenced the information? Can you verify information from another source? Does the language appear impartial?
  • P.emergency: Is the source trying to inform, teach, sell, entertain, or persuade you? Is the information factual, opinion, or propaganda?
• Score each source on its recency, relevance, authority, accuracy, and purpose. Give 1 to those that don’t meet each criterion (e.g. “not quite up-to-date” or “not accurate”) and 5 to those that don’t. Get good grades in each category. Discard sources with low scores.

Assist in summarizing each kingdom’s claims, evidence, and objectives.

• Look for a central claim or idea that answers your research question: What are the characteristics that make this kingdom unique?
• From the text in the source, find quotes and evidence that support your identified central ideas and claims. Gather that evidence in your notebook or use the Kingdom Classification Workbook.
• Make sure the claims or core ideas you identify answer your research question and are well supported by evidence and citations. We recommend that you directly copy and paste the citations and evidence. You can use the Claims and Evidence worksheet in the Kingdom Classification Workbook to organize your work and keep your notebook organized.

Summary help:

• Use the claims and evidence you have collected to write an objective summary describing the kingdom and its characteristics.

Now that we have collected all the evidence, Create videos, podcasts, or other multimedia presentations to highlight the uniqueness of each kingdom. It serves as a guide for young taxonomists and biologists as they learn how to classify organisms. Information presentations should be short (only 2-4 minutes). So plan to spend only about 30 seconds explaining each kingdom. Start by reviewing the project’s rubric.

plan: Start by sketching video, podcast, or multimedia elements in your notebook.

• what should be included? What is the most important element you share with your audience?
• Keep time constraints in mind. How can you quickly share what you learn?
• What do you want your viewers and listeners to take home?
• How would you like your presentation to be? Do you want to create a presentation and record it? Why not take a picture of yourself and put up an image of the printout or illustration you want? Use text-to-speech software to read it or read it yourself What elements do you choose to decide whether you want to create a podcast, video, or other multimedia?

record: Review the multimedia plan with your teacher and then start recording! Edit and revise your presentation until you have clearly explained each kingdom within the allotted time. Remember: it’s only 2-4 minutes long.

Present and review: Play a presentation, video, or podcast for your colleagues and have them complete the peer review form for each presentation. You can view and copy this sample peer review form.

Reflection and improvement: Finish the design process by reflecting personal experiences and feedback from your colleagues in your notes. What went well? What would you like to improve for your next project?

credit:

Illustration: Gikatam
Digital Production + Revision: Ariel Zych
Copy editing: Lois Pashley