UNIT OVERVIEW

South Africa is home to an incredible variety of living things. From the tiny bacteria in soil to the elephants of Kruger, from the unique fynbos plants of the Cape to the marine life along our coasts — life takes many different forms.

But how do scientists organise and study millions of different species? This unit teaches you how scientists sort living things into groups and give them names that work in any language.

What you will learn:

• What biodiversity means and why it matters
• How scientists name and classify organisms
• The difference between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells
• The five kingdoms of life and how to tell them apart
• How to use dichotomous keys to identify organisms

What you need to know already:

• Basic cell structure (from Term 1: Cells)
• What organelles are and what they do
• The difference between living and non-living things

Connections to other topics:

• Cell structure (Term 1) — prokaryote vs eukaryote
• Biosphere to Ecosystems (Term 3) — biodiversity in ecosystems
• History of Life on Earth (Term 4) — extinction and evolution

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