Sorting Living Things into Groups

Lab Brief #7

🎯 Your mission

Set it up. Test it. Be amazed.

⚡ The twist

Nature loves to surprise the careful watcher.

What you'll learn

Scientists put animals into groups by what they have in common. Mammals have fur and feed their babies milk, birds have feathers, fish have gills and scales, and insects have six legs and three body parts.

Key words

group
A set of living things that share the same important features.
feature
Something about a living thing you can see or measure, like fur or six legs.

Make a hypothesis first

Before you start: write down what you think will happen, and why.

Say your guess out loud — then find out if you were right.

Get ready

🧰 What you need

animal picture cards
paper

⚠️ Safety first

Have an adult check your set-up before you start, and tidy everything away afterwards.

Step 1 of 4 · Read

Think about what you just learned: say what "group" and "feature" mean in your own words before you start.

Step 2 of 4 · Do

Sort twelve animal cards into mammals, birds, fish and insects. For each pile, write the one feature that every animal in it shares.

Step 3 of 4 · Observe

Record what actually happened, including anything that did not match what you expected.

Step 4 of 4 · Record

Write a conclusion that answers the question this lesson opened with, and state your uncertainty.

Question 1 of 2

Which group has six legs and three body parts?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 2 of 2

Mammals are the group that:

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Mind = blown

🔬 The more you look, the more nature shows you.

Nice work!

You got 0 of 2 right.

All lessons

🎯

Next Smart Experiment

We'll pick an experiment that matches exactly how you're thinking right now.

✨ More to explore

🌍 Where you see this in real life: This shows up in your everyday life more than you'd think.

🏆 Stretch challenge (try it this week): Try one experiment in real life this week — even a tiny one.

👨‍👩‍👧 For the dinner table: “What's the most surprising thing you learned today?”

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Sorting Living Things into Groups

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