Grouping plants and animals

The natural world contains millions of living things. Living organisms are sorted into groups which have features in common. This makes it easier to study the millions of species found on the earth. There are two main kingdoms - the plant kingdom and animal kingdom.

The plant kingdom can be sorted into flowering plants and non-flowering plants.

Animals are often divided into vertebrates (animals with a backbone) and invertebrates (animals without a backbone). There are five main groups of vertebrates - reptiles, fish, birds, mammals and amphibians.

The invertebrate group is very large. It has 90% of all the animals on the planet. Many of these, are animals that many of us never see, such as worms and sponges. Most of us know many of the creepy crawlies that we find in our gardens and homes. These are all invertebrates!