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Living things and keys

How can you name a living thing you have never seen before?

Put six mystery leaves behind a hand lens and name each one with a dichotomous key, one pair of statements at a time. Find out what a shared first part of a scientific name means, build a key of your own for four leaves you know, and (Supplement) compare short DNA strips to see which trees are most closely related.

A hand holding up a single leaf with five pointed, toothed lobes against the bark of a large tree trunk; a small folding hand lens hangs from the wrist.

Choose a module in the contents to start reading, or open a part below.

In this module

  1. Is it alive?

    The seven characteristics of living organisms, and how to test whether something is alive

  2. Naming with a key

    Dichotomous keys: naming organisms by features you can see, and building a key of your own

  3. Species and scientific names

    Species, two-part scientific names and, in the Supplement, what DNA shows about relationships

Syllabus statements for this topic · for teachers · 15 statements

Core for every pupil · Supplement also for Extended entry. Paraphrased from the Cambridge IGCSE Biology 0610 syllabus (2026–2028); check the official syllabus for exact wording.

1.1 Characteristics of living organisms

Covered in Living things and keys

  • 1.1.1Seven characteristics of living organismsC

1.2 Concept and uses of classification systems

Covered in Living things and keys

  • 1.2.1Classifying organisms by shared featuresC
  • 1.2.2Species: interbreed to give fertile offspringC
  • 1.2.3Binomial names: genus and speciesC
  • 1.2.4Construct and use dichotomous keysC
  • 1.2.5Classification reflects evolutionary relationshipsS
  • 1.2.6DNA base sequences used to classifyS
  • 1.2.7Closer relatives share more similar DNA sequencesS

1.3 Features of organisms

Covered in Kingdoms and animal groups

  • 1.3.1Features placing organisms in animal or plant kingdomsC
  • 1.3.2Features of vertebrate and arthropod groupsC
  • 1.3.3Classify animals and plants by their featuresC
  • 1.3.4Features of the five kingdomsS
  • 1.3.5Features of ferns, monocots and dicotsS
  • 1.3.6Classify organisms into kingdoms and plant groupsS
  • 1.3.7Virus features: protein coat, genetic materialS

Cambridge IGCSE 0610 · 28 of 52 modules ready