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From 1804 to 1806, Meriwether Lewis,
William Clark, and their team described hundreds of plants and animals
so these could be classified.
To classify organisms, the skills of observation and comparison are
used. |
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Lewis and Clark’s Mission
of Discovery |
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Lewis and Clark led their team
to find a route between the
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and to investigate the organisms
that lived in the West. The team described hundreds of animals
and plants. They also collected many samples of plants and animals.
Later, biologists used the samples and descriptions to classify the
organisms. To classify means to put things into groups. |
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To classify an organism, these biologists
used skills of
observation and comparison that most scientists use in their
work. First, they observed each organism carefully. Then they
compared and contrasted their observations with known plants
and animals. They tried to place similar organisms in one group.
A plant or animal that was very different from others would be put
in a new group. |
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Reasons to Classify |
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A classification system makes it easier to communicate
clearly by having just one name for each organism. Without
a classification system, scientists might call one organism by
different names. Or they might use one name for more than
one organism. That could be confusing! |
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A system can also help to organize
information about
organisms. By just knowing what category an organism is
in, much can be known about it. For example, an organism
classified as a plant most likely needs light to live. |
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1. How do scientists classify organisms? |
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2. Research the animals that Lewis and Clark
observed. Draw a picture of two of them and label ways they are
different and ways they are the same. |
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