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Classification of Living Things - Phylum

How are these two animals the same? How are they different?

The next group that scientists have developed to further classify living things is the Phylum (plural: phyla). Life forms are grouped together based once again on how they are similar and how they are different. Let's look at a phyla found in the Animal Kingdom. Everything in the Animal Kingdom is similar to each other in important ways. Can you think of some ways that animals are similar to one another? How are they different?

One important way that animals are different is whether or not they have a backbone. Animals with a backbone belong to the Chordata Phylum. It is important for you to know that some members of this phylum do not have a backbone. However, they do have a strengthening rod similar to a backbone.

Animals are divided into phylia based on how they are the same, and how they are different.

How might you group your Halloween goodies into different phyla? In the previous example, we decided that we would break our treats into two kingdoms. The Edible Kingdom, and the Non-Edible Kingdom.

Under the Edible Kingdom, two possible Phyla might be The Good For Me Phylum, and The Bad For Me Phylum. Again, this is only one possible example. We encourage you to be creative in thinking of your own phyla.

How would you classify your halloween candy into phylia?