Waddling the Way

RCCKR, African Penguin, (2015)

In my STEAM class Population, we are learning about living things and how they are classified. We learned about how organisms are grouped by many different ways, such as if they make their own energy, how many cell(s) they have, their binomial nomenclature, physical traits, and behavioral traits. Living things are then placed in a taxonomic system based on those traits. The different levels of the taxonomic system are kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and then species. We also learned about Set Theory, which is the mathematical language of grouping figures. This helps us compare and contrast different sets with each other in an easy and simple way to read.

For this project, I had to learn in depth about African Penguins and see where they are classified in the taxonomic system. The class and I went to Lincoln Park Zoo to study our animals up close.They were very friendly and happy! African penguins are the only species in their genus, meaning that they are not very related to other animals.They enjoy being moist and swimming in water. They can swim up to 22 miles per hour! Their meals consist of sardines and other small fish. They are usually very friendly animals, unless another penguin tries to take its food. They are only native to south-western Africa. Their species is the only species of penguins in Africa. There are about 141,000 African penguins left in the world, which means that they are classified as an endangered animal.

    JMP, African Penguin, (2017)

This chart shows the African Penguin’s place in the taxonomic system, and proof that they belong in a specific group. 

TAXONOMY LEVEL	CLASSIFICATION OF AFRICAN PENGUIN	PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION OF THIS CLASSIFICATION
Kingdom	Animalia	Multicellular, heterotrophic,
Phylum	Chordata	Spinal chord, tail
Class	Aves	Feathers, lay eggs, warm-blooded
Orde	Sphenisciformes	Aquatic flightless birds
Family	Spheniscidae	Webbed feet
Genus	Spheniscus	Black and white, lives in South Africa, loves sandy beaches
Species	demersus	Eats fish,  has two flippers, waddles

I made a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting the African Penguin, Black Ant, and Fennec Fox. They all cant fly, have at least two legs, heterotrophs, sexual, and walk around in groups. The african penguin in the only one that swims, eats fish, beaked, and has wings. Both the african penguin and the black ant have kings and queens in their groups. Both the african penguin and the fennec fox have fur and live in a hot habitat. The only thing that the black ant and the fennec fox had alike was that they are both omnivores. The ant has a stinger, is harmless, and is part of the insecta category. The fox has claws that is good for catching prey.

JMP. (2017) Venn Diagram.

In class, we learned a new mathematical language to describe what things are in sets. This is called set theory. I used this language to describe African Penguins.

U= (wings, eyes, fur, claws, swims)
P= (traits of a penguin)
F= ( traits of a fox)

P=(wings, eyes, fur, swims)
F=(eyes, fur, claws)

wings ∈ P
Wings are an element of a penguin’s traits.

claws ∉ P
Claws are not an element of a penguin.

P ⋂ F = (wings, eyes, fur)
Both penguins and foxes have wings, eyes, and fur.

P ∪ F = (wings, eyes, fur, claws, swims)
Either penguins or foxes have wings, eyes, fur, claws, or swim.

P’ = (claws)

I thought that studying the African Penguin up close was super cool. Discovering where it belongs in the taxonomic system was pretty straightforward and easy. It was easier than I thought it would be since I set up a schedule on finishing my work on time.