Create your own Dichotomous Key

CHOOSE ONE of the groups below to create a dichotomous key:

·  Types of Cars- 8 different cars

·  Types of writing utensils-8 different types

·  House Pets (dogs, hamster, etc.)- 8 different animals

·  Athletic equipment-10 types

·  Eating utensils (chopsticks, straw, fork, etc.)- 8 types

·  Science Lab Equipment- 8 types

·  Board Games- 8 games

·  Ocean Animals- 8 animals

1.  Make a list of all the objects in your group that the key will identify

Ex:

Cars- Ferrari, Honda Fit, Mustang, Taxi Cab, Jeep Wrangler, Porche, Hummer, Mercedes

2. Be sure to have two questions per step

Ex: 1a. Does the animal walk on 4 legs…….. go to 3

1b. Does the animal walk on two legs …..go to 4

3.  Make sure there are no dead ends in your dichotomous key! Remember: Each step should have 2 parts (a and b).

4.  Make sure it is possible to get to each step

5.  HAVE A PARTNER WORK IT OUT BEFORE YOU TURN IT IN! This will insure that you made NO mistakes.

6.  Check the rubric below and make sure you will get maximum points on this activity.

1 / 2 / 3 / 4
Neatness/ Effort Organization / Unable to read key. Very unorganized and sloppy. / Can read the key but is organized in a confusing manner, may have several dead ends or missing steps. / Key is neat but is missing 1 component that makes utilization hard for the reader / Key is very neat and can be utilized appropriately and easily.
Followed Directions / Missing 4 or more items that was required to identify using the developed key. / Missing 2-3 items that was required to identify / Missing 1 item that was required to identify / Listed objects and identified the correct number of items
Content / Key was not developed using physical appearances of items. / All but 2-3 items were described and identified according to physical appearance / All items but 1 were described and identified according to physical appearance / All items were described and identified according to physical appearance
Mechanics / Many grammatical, spelling, punctuation errors / A few grammatical, spelling, punctuation errors / Almost no grammatical, spelling, punctuation errors / No grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors
Understanding/Accuracy / Product shows very little understanding of the concepts needed to create and use a dichotomous key / Product shows some understanding of the concepts needed to create and use a dichotomous key / Product shows understanding of the concepts needed to create and use a dichotomous key / Product shows exemplary level of understanding the concepts needed to create and use a dichotomous key

Total is out of 16 total points