Curated OER
Taxonomy and the Tree of Life
Mr. Khan explains with pictures and diagrams Carl Linneaus' taxonomy system and the biological tree of life. He mentions that the debate still continues regarding how to classify organisms and that newer technology that examines DNA is...
Curated OER
Identifying Birds
How do you identify a bird? Daniel explains how to look for field marks such as, behavior, song, and distinguishing characteristics. Once you've documented what you've observed you can use a field guide or website to identify the bird....
Curated OER
STEMbite: Species and Breeds
Species are categories of living things. The teacher uses a box of different-flavored jellybeans to represent species, but the analogy breaks down as he defines species as two organisms that cannot produce viable offspring. He then...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Taxonomy and the Tree of Life
Dicover the science of taxonomy and where humans fit into the tree of life. [12:41]
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Biology: Taxonomy and the Tree of Life
An explanation of the biological classification of organisms. [12:41]
Science Friday Initiative
Science Friday: Behold the Beauty of the Ant
The founder of AntWeb, an online repository of high-resolution shots of ants, discusses the taxonomy of these insects.
Sea Studios Foundation
Shape of Life: Taxonomy
Taxonomists organize the diversity of life. Aristotle was the first to attempt to do this. Then in the 1700s Linnaeus introduced the idea of genus and species. Later Darwin revolutionized science with the idea that species can change...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Understanding and Building Phylogenetic Trees
Learn how to read and draw phylogenetic trees, or cladograms. [10:57]
Crash Course
Crash Course Kids 1.2: Feed Me: Classifying Organisms
FEED ME! In this episode of Crash Course Kids, Sabrina has a chat with us about what living things eat to get energy. What makes something an omnivore, or a carnivore, or an herbivore? And just exactly how do plants fit in to all of...
Crash Course
Crash Course Biology #19: Taxonomy Life's Filing System
Hank tells us the background story and explains the importance of the science of classifying living things, also known as taxonomy. [12:16]
Crash Course
Crash Course Biology #19: Taxonomy: Life's Filing System
Hank tells us the background story and explains the importance of the science of classifying living things, also known as taxonomy. [12:15]
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Characteristics and Classification of Organisms
A narrated presentation introducing the characteristics of organisms, and how living things are structured and classified. [7:08]
Crash Course
Crash Course History of Science #3: Plato and Aristotle
In this episode of Crash Course, you are introduced to Socrates and his two important students, Plato and Aristotle. Learn about their different philosophies and the contributions they made to science. Are you a Platonist or...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Species
Sal Khan explains the definition of a species and looks at some hybrid species such as ligers and tiglons. [8:48]
Bozeman Science
Bozeman Science: Classification of Life
Paul Andersen explains the current classification system that we use in Biology. He starts with a brief history of taxonomy. He explains how the goal of classification is to reflect evolutionary relationships. He then explains how each...