In science today, we started a new unit! We opened up the conversation by talking about what all living things have in common.
Afterwards, we pivoted to talk about how scientists study the diversity of life – by classifying living things based on similarities and differences. Giving each student a sticky note with an animal on it, I challenged them to place the animal on the whiteboard – grouping similar animals closer together and animals that were more different farther away. In this way, the students used what they knew about the animals to create their own version of animal classification system.
After many rounds, the students were allowed to move animals on the board if they disagreed with their placement. Students practiced their comparison skills and skills on developing and defending arguments. We even discussed how such disagreements about how to classify animals happen within the scientific community!