In Science this week, Year 6 have been learning all about classification keys and how to group different animals based on their characteristics. We started by discussing the Animal Kingdom, and looking closely at the animals which have been grouped as vertebrates. We learnt how to classify animals into smaller groups (mammals, fish, birds, reptiles and amphibians) by answering questions such as:

• is the animal warm blooded or cold blooded?
• do they give birth to live young or lay eggs?
• do they feed their live young with milk?
• what are they covered with?
• what organ do they use to breathe?

We then moved on to looking at animals from the polar regions. We discussed their physical features and had a go at creating our own classification keys to identify each animal. We learnt that it was important to ask questions which were based on observable characteristics and that the questions needed to be factual (not ‘Is the animal cute?)! Once the classification keys were created, the pupils swapped their work around and tested each other’s out to check for any mistakes.

Well done Year 6!