One of the goals for including a unit on classification is for students to understand the principles of classification as used by the scientific community. The benefit in creating a system, where large amounts of information about living things are organized by similarities, is to have a system that facilitates study of those organisms.

Since early times, scientists have attempted to classify organisms to better understand the relationship and similarities between them. Swedish botanist Carolas Linnaeus (1707-1778) used structural similarity as the basis of his system. Binomial nomenclature, the naming of all living things according to a hierarchy of shared characteristics, and the associated dichotomous keys used for identifying species, stem from his original work and is the worldwide language used by scientists today.

Traditional classification systems are a part of all school’s science curricula, explicitly described as an essential skill in the National Science Education Standards (NSES) and most state education standards. The first few activities of Aliens In Your Neighborhood include introductory and practice activities to familiarize students with the standard classification system. These activities may be used to replace or supplement a school’s unit on classification. Once the foundation of typical classification systems has been introduced, the students will have the necessary vocabulary and understanding of how scientists group organisms by similar characteristics. With this foundation, students are ready to be introduced to the XID Identification System.

The XID authoring system allows students to create their own system for the identification of any group of species or objects. Similar to the file trees that manage computer files (ex. Windows Explorer^®), students create their own multi-layered menus of attributes that can be described and identified.

A dichotomous key, which contains rigid steps and requires the user to have an in-depth knowledge of physical characteristics at all levels, limits our ability to think of plants and animals as anything more than scientific binomial names. The XID System allows students to determine the initial physical attributes by which they will classify the species under study. Additionally, one of the most powerful features of the system allows students to consider attributes that normally would be outside the boundaries of dichotomous keys. Attributes such as location (GIS mapping), plant zones, soil types, aspect, associations with other living things, or any relevant environmental factors, can be used as part of the student’s classification system.

The XID System feature that allows students to use relevant environmental factors, and associations with species that share the same environment, is especially important in helping them search for a deeper understanding of the complexity of their world. This deeper understanding comes from knowledge of the interconnectedness of all living things.

“Once we begin exploring below the species level, the really exciting botanical explorations will begin. When you get involved in ecotype study and ecological restoration, you get a deep look at life and its relationship to its environment. You get an opportunity to read the fascinating and ancient stories that the environment has written into the genes and structures of the native plants and animals. You begin to discover how the plants and animals function with and have evolved with their environment.”

Craig Dremann, 1996

This feature contains a step-by-step outline to implementing classification and the XID Identification System in the National Parks and your own community.

Last updated 03/24/03