RIZAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

College of Arts and Sciences

ACTIVITY 2
Dichotomous Key
INTRODUCTION
Classification is a system used by scientists to group and sort organisms based on the characteristic they share.
Sorting things help us better understand the world we live in. Here are few ways scientists classify things.

Earth Science

Chemistry

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World Geographic

Biology

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Taxonomy
Taxonomy is the branch of science concerned with classification. Carolus Linnaeus, a scientist born in 1707,
is known as the father of taxonomy. He divided all things into groups called Kingdoms. These Kingdoms have smaller
subunits called Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species. This idea has been used until now, which is called
the Linnaean classification system.
Binomial nomenclature is another type of classifying organisms according to the genus and species they
belong. This name is often referred to as a scientific name.

Dichotomous Key
It is a system of classifying organisms according to specific characteristics. The word originates from Greek
words “dicha” means “two” and “temnein” means “to cut”. It implies the use of characters, each of which has two
different expressions to produce repeated branches or groupings into two. The system can be used in two ways: (1) to
determine the relationship of a group organism, through the use of contrasting expressions of characters in
classification, that is, grouping those that are similar and separating those that are different, and (2) to use these readily
visible characters of an organism or group of organisms to help in its proper identification.

A. Table of comparison
CLASSES of PHYLUM ANTHROPODA
BASIS FOR
Insecta Arachnida Crustacea
COMPARISON
Head
Cephalothorax Cephalothorax
Body Division Thorax
Abdomen Abdomen
Abdomen
Number of Legs 3 Pairs 4 Pairs 5 Pairs
Antennae 1 Pair Absent 2 Pairs

B. How to make Dichotomous Key

1. Body divisions 3, made of head, thorax, and abdomen........................................................Insecta
2. Body divisions 2, made of cephalothorax and abdomen......................................................2
2. Absence of antenna.................................................................................................Arachnida
2. Presence of antenna................................................................................................Crustacea

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ALIENS DICHOTOMOUS KEY

1 2 3 4 5 6

1. Identify the names of the aliens based on the characteristics it possesses, guided by the dichotomous keys.

2. Dichotomous keys:
1 Mouth open ……………………………………………………… go to 2
Mouth not open ……………………………………………………… go to 4

2 Arms No ……………………………………………………… go to 3
arms ……………………………………………………… Alienus quadlegicus

3 Hairy ……………………………………………………… Alienus hairicus

Not hair ……………………………………………………… Alienus tritoothicus

4 No horns ……………………………………………………… go to 5
With horns ……………………………………………………… Alienus stripicus

5 No legs ……………………………………………………… Alienus blobicus

With legs ……………………………………………………… Alienus fuzzicus

3. Give the Alien’s name (6 Points). 1)

2)
3)
4)
5)
6)

4. Each of these aliens belongs to the same genus. What is their genus? (2 Points)
5. Look at the species name for each alien. How do you think these names were chosen? (2 Points)

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MAKE YOUR OWN DICHOTOMOUS KEY

1. Base on the information of these different species of sharks, make a dichotomous key (15 Points).

Example only:
1 ………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………

2 ………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………

3 ………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………

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College of Arts and Sciences

References:
 https://sockmonkeyscience.com/2019/11/14/dichotomous-key-worksheets-and-activities/
 https://www.sciencefacts.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Types-of-Rocks.png
 https://cdn.britannica.com/65/63065-050-72A41AAC/States-matter.jpg
 https://www.whereig.com/images/world-continents-map.jpg
 https://study.com/cimages/multimages/16/230px-biological_classification_l_pengo_vflip.svg.png
 https://www.desertbruchid.net/Scanned_download_f_Fall2010_f/Biol_Org_Mad_ed10_90.jpg
 https://www.saltstrong.com/wp-content/uploads/shark-fishing.jpg

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