[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-605353-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":80,"doc-detail-605353-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":73,"head_meta":75,"extra_data":77,"updated_unix":79},105,"en","understanding-cladistics-activity-for-grades-58","Understanding Cladistics - Activity for Grades 5–8","","Cladistics explains how scientists group organisms by shared unique features and use cladograms to show evolutionary relationships over long, complex histories. This activity for grades 5–8 guides students to explore how scientists identify traits, compare features across organisms, and translate those shared characteristics into a constructed cladogram. Students also apply the method to coins and dinosaurs, then discuss classification reasoning and differences between groups’ conclusions.",{"@graph":14,"@context":72},[15,34,55],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/exam/","Exam",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/understanding-cladistics-activity-for-grades-58/605353/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/understanding-cladistics-activity-for-grades-58/605353.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Noah","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-03","2026-10-16",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":26},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",{"@type":56,"mainEntity":57},"FAQPage",[58,64,68],{"name":59,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":61},"What is cladistics and what do scientists do with it?","Question",{"text":62,"@type":63},"Cladistics groups animals (organisms) by unique features they share. Scientists use these shared traits to reconstruct evolutionary and genealogical relationships and represent them with a cladogram.","Answer",{"name":65,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":66},"What materials are needed for the students’ activity?",{"text":67,"@type":63},"Students use penny, nickel, dime, and quarter (one set per pair), and they also examine 6–8 duplicated dinosaur pictures for each group.",{"name":69,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":70},"How should students complete the cladogram using features?",{"text":71,"@type":63},"Students begin by marking coins with plus signs for features that all coins share (first node). Then they add other features by marking plus or minus depending on presence, and label nodes B and C accordingly, ensuring each later node includes all features from earlier nodes.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":74,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":76,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":78,"site_id":7},605353,1792132054,{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":82},"success",[83,87,91,94,99,104,109,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":84,"show_sort_weight":85,"slug":86},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":88,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":90},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":92,"slug":93},70,"exam",{"id":95,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":96,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":98},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":100,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":101,"show_sort_weight":102,"slug":103},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":105,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":106,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":95,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":131},{"doc_id":78,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":33,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":26,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":26,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":79,"read_time":95},8796095462418,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/80000253c1241d02b47?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1778826106357471780","Understanding Cladistics  \nActivity for Grades 5–8  \nIntroduction  \nAt the American Museum of Natural History, scientists use a method called cladistics to group animals. They look for unique features, such as a hole in the hip socket, that the animals share. Animals with like features are grouped together. A chart, called a cladogram, shows these relationships. Using cladistics, scientists can reconstruct genealogical relationships and can show how animals are linked to one another through a long and complex history of evolutionary changes.  \nDinosauria  \nDepression formnga hole in the hip  \nObjective  \nIn this activity, students will explore cladistics and create a cladogram of their own.  \nMaterials  \n• Understanding Cladistics  \n• A penny, nickel, dime, and quarter for each pair of students  \n• 6-8 pictures of dinosaurs duplicated for each group  \nProcedure  \n1. Write lion, elephant, zebra, kangaroo, koala, buffalo, raccoon, and alligator. Ask students how the animals are related and what might be a good way of grouping them into sets and subsets. Discuss students responses.  \n2. Explain to students that scientists use a method called cladistics to determine evolutionary relationships among animals. They look for features that animals share, such as four limbs, hooves, or a hole in the hip socket. Animals with like features are grouped together. Scientists make a chart called a cladogram to show these relationships.  \n3. Tell students that they will examine the features of various coins to determine how they are related. Remind students that cladistics is used to determine relationships among organisms, and not necessarily objects. The exercise they are about todo will introduce them to how cladistics works. Have students work in pairs. Distribute Understanding Cladistics to students. Have them complete the activity and compare their cladograms. Discuss how they arrived at their conclusions and any differences among the cladograms.  \nAnswers: The first feature (round) has been identified for students. Possible other features are silver-colored and rib-edged. However, students may choose other features to classify the coins that are equally correct. What is important to note is that a coin at any node must have the features of all previous nodes.  \n4. Duplicate and distribute six to eight dinosaurs found in the appendix. Ask students to work in groups to classify the dinosaurs according to features they identify. Have groups share their findings.  \nUnderstanding Cladistics  \nName   Date    \nYou and your partner will examine the features found in a penny, a dime, a nickel, and quarter and construct a cladogram of your own.  \n1. Before constructing a cladogram, scientists look for features in animals and note whether the feature is present or absent. They have special computer programs to help them do this. You will use the chart. Begin by looking atthe coins. What feature do all the coins have in common? They are all round. Put a plus sign on the column marked round under each coin.  \n\n| FEATURES | Penny | Nickel | Dime | Quarter |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| A. Round |  |  |  |  |\n| B. |  |  |  |  |\n| C. |  |  |  |  |\n\n2. What other feature do most of the coins share? Identify these feature and write it in the column marked features. Put a minus sign, if the coin does not have this feature. Put a plus sign if the coin has this feature.  \n3. What other feature do most of the remaining coins share? Identify this feature and write it in the last space in the column marked features. Put a minus sign if the coin does not have this feature. Put a plus sign if the coin has this feature.  \n4.  \n1.  \nA. Round  \n__________________  \n4. Use the chart to complete the cladogram. The first node (branch in the tree) A is labeled Round. All the coins at this node and beyond share this feature. Label the other two nodes (letters B and C) .  \n5. What coin is round, but does not share any more features with the other coins? Write the na","cbCaiiE3IGzNEIiI","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiiE3IGzNEIiI","pdf",99925,"English","# Introduction\n# Dinosauria\n# Objective\n# Materials\n# Procedure\n## Coins cladogram activity\n## Dinosaur classification activity\n# Answers","[{\"question\":\"What is cladistics and what do scientists do with it?\",\"answer\":\"Cladistics groups animals (organisms) by unique features they share. Scientists use these shared traits to reconstruct evolutionary and genealogical relationships and represent them with a cladogram.\"},{\"question\":\"What materials are needed for the students’ activity?\",\"answer\":\"Students use penny, nickel, dime, and quarter (one set per pair), and they also examine 6–8 duplicated dinosaur pictures for each group.\"},{\"question\":\"How should students complete the cladogram using features?\",\"answer\":\"Students begin by marking coins with plus signs for features that all coins share (first node). Then they add other features by marking plus or minus depending on presence, and label nodes B and C accordingly, ensuring each later node includes all features from earlier nodes.\"}]","Understanding Cladistics - Activity for Grades 5–8 | PDF"]