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Classifying Living Things: A Nature Sort with Hoot

Classifying Living Things: A Nature Sort with Hoot

Learn how to group living things and use classification keys to name them, by sorting animals and plants and building your own yes or no key.

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What you'll learn

  • Living things can be grouped in different ways using different rules
  • How to sort living things in a Venn diagram
  • Vertebrates have a backbone and invertebrates do not
  • The five vertebrate groups, including tricky ones like whales and bats
  • Flowering plants include grasses and trees; ferns and mosses never flower
  • How to build and follow a classification key with yes or no questions

Chapter by chapter

  1. Grouping living things in different ways

    Year 4 science · 1

  2. Vertebrates and invertebrates: animal groups

    Year 4 science · 1

  3. Flowering and non-flowering plants

    Year 4 science · 1

  4. Building a key with yes/no questions

    Year 4 science · 2

  5. Using branching keys and number keys

    Year 4 science · 2

  6. Making your own classification key

    Year 4 science · 1 Year 4 science · 2

  7. Classification Champion (10 questions)

What the chapters cover in the national curriculum in England:

  1. Year 4 science: Recognise that living things can be grouped in a variety of ways
  2. Year 4 science: Explore and use classification keys to help group, identify and name a variety of living things in their local and wider environment

About this adventure

Classifying Living Things is an interactive science game that teaches children aged 7–10 how to group animals and plants and use classification keys to identify and name them. It follows the Year 4 science curriculum for England.

Guided by Hoot the owl, players drag living things into groups and find that the same set can be sorted in many ways: by type, by whether they can fly, by number of legs, or in a Venn diagram. An X-ray scanner shows which animals are vertebrates (with a backbone) and which are invertebrates (without one). A magnifying glass reveals the tiny flowers on grasses and trees.

Players then choose good yes or no questions about things they can see or count. They use these questions to build a branching key, follow a number key and name a mystery animal. A final 10-question quiz checks what they have learned.

Questions and answers

What is a classification key, in simple words?

A classification key is a set of yes or no questions that helps you name a living thing. You start at the first question, follow the answer that fits, and keep going until only one name is left.

What is the difference between vertebrates and invertebrates?

Vertebrates are animals with a backbone, such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. Invertebrates have no backbone, such as insects, spiders, snails, slugs and worms. Most kinds of animal on Earth are invertebrates.

Is a whale a fish, and is a spider an insect?

No to both. A whale is a mammal because it breathes air and feeds its babies milk. A spider is not an insect because it has 8 legs and 2 body parts, while insects have 6 legs and 3 body parts.

What age is this classifying living things game for?

It is designed for children aged 7 to 10, and it matches the Year 4 science objectives on grouping living things and using classification keys. Younger children may like to play with an adult, and older children can use it for revision.

How long does the game take, and what does it include?

Playing everything takes about 50 minutes. The game has six short chapters, each with a spoken introduction and recap, quick optional warm-ups and a final 10-question quiz. Children can start any chapter from the trail map and come back later.

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