5.05 Taxonomy: Getting Things Organized

Wasn't the trip on the Beagle yesterday great? Today our activity will be something quite different. We're going shopping. We will visit two very different kinds of shopping venues: the open-air markets and a very nice, upscale duty free mall. A few things to remember: one, stay with your shopping buddy; two, at the open-air market the clothes are in piles and typically are not well labeled so you should try on anything you are interested in; three, never pay asking price at the open-air market. If you have to go through all of those piles to find something that fits, you deserve a cheaper price than you would pay at the stores in the duty free mall.

In this activity, you will: define taxonomy evaluate the history and purpose of taxonomy

Wouldn't it be aggravating if the cabins on a ship weren't numbered? What if the buttons on an elevator weren't labeled, or if we didn't name roads? What would we do if phone books and lists weren't alphabetized?

Just as organizing in our physical world is important, organization is also very important in the study of living things. It would be frustrating for scientists, and anyone for that matter, to study living things without some type of universal organization system. Over the years, scientists have developed a classification system that can help you understand the relationships between species. This organization system not only helps us when trying to learn new things. It also helps scientists refer to things that have already been studied, so that work isn't unnecessarily duplicated.

Shove off, now. I can't wait to see the bargains that you bring back. I'm heading back to the ship to plan the next few activities. I'll see you later.

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