Identifying pupils’ misconceptions about classification of animals to invertebrates and vertebrates

Sistematika, taksonomija in ostale smeri biologije, ki se ukvarjajo s poimenovanjem in razvrščanjem živih bitij, so osrednjega pomena v biologiji. Sedanji sistem razvrščanja temelji na sistemu, ki ga je razvil in opisal švedski biolog Karl von Linnaeus. Uporabil je dvojni sistem poimenovanja organizmov, ki temelji na najožji pripadajoči skupini določenega organizma (rod in vrsta), ta pa se nato razvrsti v višje, širše skupine organizmov, ki temeljijo na sorodnosti organizmov. Sistem je hierarhično urejen in temelji na evolucijskih, morfoloških in ekoloških temeljih razvrščanja živih bitij. Osnovnošolci imajo težave s pravilnim razvrščanjem organizmov v sistem, zato smo v raziskavi ugotavljali napačne predstave učencev glede vretenčarjev in nevretenčarjev. Zanimalo nas je, ali učenci razumejo pojma »vretenčar« in »nevretenčar«, ali izgled živali vpliva na njeno razvrščanje, ali učenci iz slikovnega materiala prepoznajo primere vretenčarjev in nevretenčarjev in ali obstajajo razlike poznavanja živali glede na razred ki ga obiskujejo. Rezultati raziskave so pokazali, da učenci dobro poznajo pojma »vretenčar« in »nevretenčar«, saj so večino živali uvrstili pravilno. Imeli so težave s pojasnjevanjem svoje odločitve, saj so navajali predvsem vidne značilnosti živali, ki nimajo neposredne povezave z uvrstitvijo živali med vretenčarje ali nevretenčarje. Ugotovili smo, da učenci neznano žival uvrstijo na podlagi primerjave le te z živaljo, ki jo dobro poznajo.Systematics, taxonomy and other disciplines of biology, which deal with the naming and classification of living organisms, are the most important part in biology. The current classification system is based on a system developed and described by a Swedish biologist Karl von Linnaeus. He introduced a dual system of naming organisms, based on the closest group of a particular organism (genus and species), which is then classified into higher, broader groups, based on the relatedness. The system is hierarchically arranged and is based on the evolutionary, morphological and ecological foundations of the classification of living organisms. Pupils in elementary school encounter problems when attempting to properly classify organisms into the system, therefore, we decided to conduct a study, where we tried to identify pupils\u27 misconceptions regarding vertebrates and invertebrates. We were interested in whether there were any differences in knowledge among the pupils, depending on the class they were attending. The results of the research have shown that pupils are well aware of the concepts »vertebrate« and »invertebrate«, as they had classified most of the animals correctly. They encountered some difficulties while explaining their decision, as they were mainly talking about the visual characteristics of animals, which did not have a direct link with the classification of animals to vertebrates or invertebrates. We have found that pupils identify an unknown animal based on the comparison of it with an animal that they know well