1. Tell students that the first clue about the identity of the mystery creature is that it is in the animal kingdom.

Ask: Does this allow you to eliminate any of the living things from the list? (yes) Ask: What? (Dandelion) Why? It's a plant.

2. Tell students that their next clue is the phylum of the animal. Its phylum is Chordata, which includes all of the animals with backbones, vertebrates.

(Remind students that they should try to remember what some of these classification names indicate so that in round two of the game, they have an advantage.)

Ask: What animal does this allow you to cross off the list? (jellyfish)

3. After the classification of phylum, of which there are at least twenty within the animal kingdom, comes the next specific category of animal, the class. Members of a class have more in common with one another than do members of a phylum. The class of the mystery animal is Mammalia.

Ask: What word do you hear inside of the word "Mammalia" that gives you a clue about its meaning? (mammal) Indeed, the Mammalia class is mammals.

Ask: What does it mean to be a mammal? (Mammals feed their young on mother's milk, are warm blooded [endothermic], have fur or hair, and breathe through lungs.) Other classes include Reptilia (reptiles) and Aves (birds).

Ask: What animals can you now cross off the list, knowing that the mystery animal is a mammal? (parrot, alligator, ostrich)

4. Instruct students to look to the transparency of the classification system and ask: Considering that you were just told the class of the mystery animal, what is the next category you will hear? (the order of the mystery animal) Tell students that the order of the mystery animal is Carnivora.

Tell students that the order of Carnivora includes animals that eat flesh. An example of another order is the order of Insectivora.

Ask: What animals do you think are included in the order of Insectivora? (those that eat insects.)

Ask: What animals can you now cross off the list, knowing that the mystery animal is a carnivore? (anteater, bat)

At this point in the lesson, have students take note of the trend that is occurring as the list narrows. Point out that in the beginning, all of the animals were included in the animal kingdom. Then, one of the animals was crossed out once we knew the phylum of the mystery animal, because we knew that the mystery animal was in the Chordata phylum and therefore had a backbone. All of the animals on the list at that point had backbones, but some were mammals and some were not. Once we heard the class, though, they had a smaller group of animals left who all had backbones and were mammals.

Ask: Does this mean that all mammals have backbones? (yes)

Why? (because mammals are a class which is a part of the phylum of chordata) Currently, they have an even smaller group of animals left on the list.

Ask: What do all of these animals have in common? (All have backbones, are mammals and eat flesh; they all belong to the same kingdom, phylum, class, and order.)

Ask Do all mammals eat flesh? (no)

ASK What will happen as they continue to hear the family, genus and species of the mystery animal? (More and more animals will be crossed off the list.)

Ask As animals are crossed off the list, what can we say about the animals that are left? (They have more and more in common.)

5. Tell students that the next clue is that the mystery animal belongs to the Canidae family. (Write this on the board, and next to it, write "long snouts and long bushy tails.") Tell students that because the Canidae family is described this way, they need to look at the list and think about what each of the animals looks like.

Ask: Based on this description of the family, what animals can be crossed off the list? (tiger, lion and leopard)

Ask Can we assume, then, that the remainder of the animals on the list are in the Canidae family? (yes)

Why? (They all meet the description given.)

6. Next, tell students that the genus of the mystery animal is Canis. Tell students that no more information will be provided to them about the genus.

Ask: Can you cross out any of the animals? (no)

Ask Why not? (You don't know another factor that would allow you to do so.)

Ask Looking at the animals left, the German shepherd, timber wolf and coyote, do you think that they all belong to the genus Canis? (Answers will vary.)

Ask students to explain their predictions. It is expected that answers will be both in the affirmative, because the animals left are so similar, and in the negative, because students will expect the pattern of elimination to continue.
Tell students that genuses do consist of very similar groups, but that the groups within genuses don't generally breed with one another.

For example, the black-footed penguin and Galapagos penguin are both in the Spheniscus family, but don't generally interbreed. Tell students that in fact, all of the three animals left on the list do belong to the genus Canis.

7. Tell students their final clue is the species of the mystery animal. Members of the same species differ from all other forms of life in at least one way, and have many common characteristics with one another. Members of species breed with one another and their offspring grow up to resemble the parents. The species of the mystery animal is Lupus. This animal, like all other animals, is referred to scientifically using the genus and species names together. Therefore, the scientific name of the mystery animal is Canis lupus.

Make sure that students understand that the common name, such as the one they will select, is the same creature as that indicated by the scientific name. The two names are just different ways of referring to the same animal.

Instruct students to guess which of the three animals left is the mystery animal and circle its name. Once all students have done so, ask students to stand as you say the name of the animal they have circled.

First, ask for those who circled the German shepherd to stand.

Then those who circled the coyote.

Finally, tell students that those left in their seats, who circled the timber wolf, selected the correct mystery animal.

Tell students that selecting the correct mystery animal this time was a combination of luck and skill, but that next time, it will be much more skill as the names of the classification categories given will contain more clues and will test their ability to remember information told to them during round one of the game.

List Number Two. (Leave the transparency on display for student reference.) Remind students to work with one another and listen to what everyone has to say before they cross any animal off the list and before they select the mystery animal. Tell them that sometimes clues will allow them to cross off one, two, three or even four animals, but that other times, clues will not allow them to cross out any animals.

1. First, ask: What kingdom does the mystery animal belong to? (animal)

Are there any organisms on the list that don't belong to the animal kingdom? (yes)

Does knowing the kingdom then allow you to cross anything out? (yes)
Can you name a living thing that doesn't belong in the animal kingdom? (Rose Bush.)

2. Next, tell students that the phylum of the mystery animal is Chordata.

Encourage them to try to remember, and discuss with one another, what you said about this phylum, and then to cross out any animals that don't belong to it. (Students should cross out the snail.)

3. Tell students that the class of the mystery animal is Mammalia.

Again, they should recall what they were told in round one of the game and cross out any animals that don't belong to this class. (Students should cross out python, turtle, penguin and parrot.)

4. Then, inform students that just like the mystery animal in round one, the mystery animal in this round is a carnivore and belongs to the order of Carnivora. (Students should cross out the buffalo, anteater and horse.)

Ask: What will the next clue reveal? (the family of the mystery animal)

5. Tell students that the mystery animal is a member of the Felidae family. (Students should recall, or if you have left the information on the board, should think to use it, that the Canidae family consisted of animals that had long snouts and long, bushy tails. Based on this information, they should cross out the fox and gray wolf, which clearly belong to the Canidae family and therefore cannot be a part of the Felidae family. You may want to cue them to think about what animals on the list don't belong to the Felidae family.)

6. Tell students that the genus of the mystery animal is Panthera. (This clue does not allow students to cross out either of the animals left on the list. Both the tiger and lion, as well as animals such as the panther and leopard, all belong to this group.)

7. Tell students that if they really think about the species name, the final clue, they should be able to discover the identity of the mystery animal. Its species is Leo, making its scientific name Panthera leo. (It is hoped that at least one student within each group will make the connection, based either on story names or astrology, between leo and lion.)

Ask groups to discuss the identity of the mystery animal and circle it.

On the count of three, have all groups hold up their lists, and congratulate the students who selected lion.

Ask them to explain how they came to the conclusion that the lion was the mystery animal.

Make sure that students understand that the other kingdoms are divided the same way. For example, within the plant kingdom, the grapefruit tree's scientific name is Citrus paradisi, and the orange tree's scientific name is Citrus sinensis. The grapefruit and orange belong to the same genus, but not the same species.
Ask: What so you think are other members of this genus? (Answers will vary, but should include other citrus fruit trees.)

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