Animals Dichotomous Key Instructions
1. Select 20 animals (4 fish, 4 amphibians, 4 reptiles, 4 birds, 4 mammals)…be specific…for example:
Alaskan husky not just dog, or American Alligator not just alligator
2. Build a dichotomous key for these animals….start with 1a. Dwells on land (go to #2)
1b. Dwells in the water (go to #3)
It’s easier early on to clump into groups such as Organism has fur or feathers or organism has scales or smooth skin or organism live in fresh water or organism lives in salt water. See me if you are still confused after the explanations in class.
It may take to #100 to finish but your key will lead to the identification of your 20 animals.
Reference site for examples: http://nerds.unl.edu/pages/preser/sec/skills/dkeys.html
3. Finally, draw an image for each of your animals or copy or cut an image out. These will be used by other
students to test your keys.
Rubric: Student selected 20 animals (4 per category) 20 pts
Students organized key to create groups 20 pts
Student created 20 images/ 1 per animal selected 20 pts
Student showed progression through their key 20 pts
Key successfully guided “peers” to correct identifications 20 pts.
100 pts.
Animals Dichotomous Key Instructions
1. Select 20 animals (4 fish, 4 amphibians, 4 reptiles, 4 birds, 4 mammals)…be specific…for example:
Alaskan husky not just dog, or American Alligator not just alligator
2. Build a dichotomous key for these animals….start with 1a. Dwells on land (go to #2)
1b. Dwells in the water (go to #3)
It’s easier early on to clump into groups such as Organism has fur or feathers or organism has scales or smooth skin or organism live in fresh water or organism lives in salt water. See me if you are still confused after the explanations in class.
It may take to #100 to finish but your key will lead to the identification of your 20 animals.
Reference site for examples: http://nerds.unl.edu/pages/preser/sec/skills/dkeys.html
3. Finally, draw an image for each of your animals or copy or cut an image out. These will be used by other
students to test your keys.
Rubric: Student selected 20 animals (4 per category) 20 pts
Students organized key to create groups 20 pts
Student created 20 images/ 1 per animal selected 20 pts
Student showed progression through their key 20 pts
Key successfully guided “peers” to correct identifications 20 pts.
100 pts.