Animal Classification

Plan a visit for the Animal Classification facilitated primary school program and develop your student’s science inquiry skills through exploration of the animal kingdom using visuals, challenges, and real museum specimens.

Program overview

During this facilitated program, students will explore the biodiversity of Australian animals and use science inquiry skills to recognise patterns and systems used in the classification process. During the session your students will compare physical characteristics of a selection of familiar animals and will examine real museum specimens to consider how and why scientists organise animals into groups and how classifying objects benefits our daily lives.

Animal Classification complements the Science strands of the Australian Curriculum: Animal Classification for Years 3 - 6 Australian Curriculum links

Learning outcomes

Students will:

• compare physical characteristics of a selection of familiar and mostly Australian animals
• examine real museum specimens to identify and classify them
• consider how and why scientists organise animals into groups, with guided discussion
• discover the benefits of classification in our daily lives
• explore the biodiversity of the animal kingdom
• investigate observable features of living things
• identify animal adaptations and their purpose
• recognise and apply scientific language to findings
• experience museum practices such as collecting, identifying and studying animals.

School visit information

See our Visit as a school page for information on visiting the museum and booking a group into a program.

We recommend coordinating this session with your own self-guided exploration of museum exhibitions which complement this learning experience. Groups are encouraged to explore:

• the systematic arrangement of animal collections in the Discovery Centre (Level 4)
• the schematic arrangement by different habitats in Wild State (Level 4).

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Learning Resources

Explore additional learning resources related to this program on our Learning Resources platform.

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