Develop skills in using identification keys

Your first job is to sort out some fish.

Here are two groups of fish:

GROUP 1	GROUP 2

Like a ‘Spot the Difference’ game, there are several important differences between each fish.  Look for:

– shape of tail fin

– fins at top and bottom of fish

– skin pattern on fish

Looking at these two groups of fish, which of the features has been used to separate them into the two groups?

Here are those two groups of fish again:

GROUP 1	GROUP 2

Notice that there are two types of tail fin:

STRAIGHT TAIL FIN	NOTCHED TAIL FIN

If you were going to rearrange them to sort them into two groups according to the shape of their tail fin, which fish would fit into each group?

Once again, here are those two groups of fish:

GROUP 1	GROUP 2

Ruby has sorted the following fish into one group:

– Fish P
– Fish Y
– Fish Z

Which characteristic of the fish has Ruby used to sort them into this group?

Here are a selection of common shells that you might find on a British seashore:

Now look at these two groups of shells:

GROUP 1	GROUP 2

Which characteristic of the shells has been used to sort them into these two groups?

Here are those common shells once again:

Shell A	Shell B	Shell C
Shell D	Shell E	Shell F

Here is the start of a key to find out the name of each shell:

Use the key to match the letter of the three shells in the key with their correct name.

For a final time, here are those common shells once again:

Shell A	Shell B	Shell C
Shell D	Shell E	Shell F

Now we will finish the key:

Use the key to match the letter of the other three shells in the key with their correct name.

Here are two groups of flowers:

Looking at these two groups of flowers, what characteristic do you think has been used to divide them into these groups?

This time, each flower has been named:

Speedwell	Lilac	Buttercup	Forget-me-not
Mustard	Jasmine	Bittersweet	Primrose

If you sorted these flowers out by the colour of the petals, which flowers would you place in each group?