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Carl Linnaeus KS2

Teach your KS2 class about Carl Linnaeus and the classification system with this ready-to-teach lesson. It starts by exploring why it is important to be able to classify organisms before finding out who Carl Linnaeus was and how he developed a classification system. It then goes on to explore how scientists use the classification system today, looking at how organisms are sorted by their kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus and species.

This Carl Linnaeus KS2 classification system lesson includes:

  • a detailed lesson plan with differentiated activities
  • a slideshow for the teaching input
  • a range of printable resources for independent learning activities

This lesson is part of a Classifying Organisms Science scheme of work for Year 6.

Carl Linnaeus KS2 Classification System Lesson Pack

£2.99

Scroll through the pictures for a preview of the lessons' resources:

Carl Linnaeus KS2 lesson pack - slideshow example 1
Carl Linnaeus KS2 lesson pack - slideshow example 2
Carl Linnaeus KS2 lesson pack - slideshow example 3
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Carl Linnaeus KS2 lesson pack - slideshow example 9
Carl Linnaeus KS2 lesson pack - worksheet example 1
Carl Linnaeus KS2 lesson pack - worksheet example 2
Carl Linnaeus KS2 lesson pack - worksheet example 3
Carl Linnaeus KS2 lesson pack - lesson plan example 1

Carl Linnaeus Facts for KS2 Children and Teachers

Carl Linnaeus was a Swedish naturalist and explorer who developed a system for classifying organisms. He is known as the father of taxonomy (the branch of science concerned with ordering organisms into groups). Read on to find out more about his life and work...

Portrait of Carl Linnaeus

A portrait of Carl Linnaeus

Who was Carl Linnaeus?

Carl Linnaeus was born in Sweden on May 23rd 1707. He was the son of a curate and he grew up in a poor part of rural Sweden. He was the eldest of five children. He grew up to be a professor, scientist and doctor, and is known for creating the classification system that we use today to identify organisms.

Early life, education and career

As a young boy, Linnaeus loved to go into the garden with his father, who was a keen gardener. He learnt the names of the plants but, at that time, the names were long Latin names that were complicated and difficult to remember.

After attending school, he went to university to study medicine. His interest in plants continued and he began to study the use of plants, minerals and animals in medicine. Soon, some of the university professors noticed how knowledgeable he was about plants and invited him to become a teaching assistant. As well as studying himself, he spent his time travelling around to different places around Europe to collect as many plant samples as he could.

In 1735, he published his 'Systema Natura' which was an 11-page booklet outlining his new system for classifying organisms. During his career, he added more and more organisms to his system until he had created two large books.

During his career, he was a medical doctor before becoming a professor of botany at Uppsala University in 1741. Later, in 1747, Linneaus was appointed chief royal physician. He was then knighted in 1758, taking the name Carl von Linné.

Carl Linnaeus Systema Naturae

Linnaeus published his 'Systema Naturae' in 1735

What is the Linnaeus classification system?  

The Linnaeus classification system involves splitting organisms into groups according to the features Linnaeus observed.

  • The first step was splitting them into kingdoms: plants, animals and minerals  
  • Next, he split them into orders
  • Then into genera (genus)
  • And finally into species

He also came up with a new way of naming organisms. He still named them in Latin so that there was a common name that could be understood by scientists all over the world, but he limited the name to two words. The first part of the name was the genus the organism belonged to. The second part was the species. This system is known as binominal nomenclature.  

  • For example, the Latin name for a tomato was "solanum caule inermi herbceo, foliis pinnatis incisis, racemis simplicibus". With Linnaeus' system, the name became "solanum lycopersicum". 'Solanum' is the genus and 'lycopersicum' is the species.

Other scientists started using Linnaeus' system until it became a universal way of classifying and naming organisms. Thanks to him, scientists all over the world have a common name for animals, plants and minerals, no matter what language they speak.

The modern classification system  

There are now seven levels on the classification system. The levels start off with very broad groupings, known as kingdomns, such as 'animals' and 'plants'. They then get more specific until you reach the species.

  • Kingdom
  • Phylum
  • Class
  • Order
  • Family
  • Genus
  • Species

An example of the classification system:

'Testudo graeca' - Spur-thighed tortoise  

Kingdom - Animalia (all animals)

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Phylum - Chordata (vertebrates)

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Class - Reptilia (reptiles)

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Order - Testudines (turtles and tortoises)

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Family - Testudinidae (tortoises)

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Genus - Testudo (a type of tortoise)

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Species - Testudo graeca (spur-thighed tortoise)

Example. ofthe classification system - testudo graeca

The legacy of Carl Linnaeus  

Thanks to Linnaeus, we now have a system to name and identify all living organisms. His work has been built on, and some of his work adapted because we know more about different species and organisms now than in Linnaeus' lifetime, but he will always be remembered as the father of taxonomy. His impressive work and career still affects the way scientists work today. Carl Linnaeus died on 10th January 1778, just a few years after retiring from his work.