Assignment: Distinguishing Phyla Exploration In this exploration, you will look carefully at pictures of animals and consider some physical
characteristics that scientists use to classify each organism. For each characteristic, it may be
difficult to reach an accurate conclusion using only a picture. Actual classification relies on far
more characteristics than are considered in this exploration, but by comparing your results, you
can begin to get an idea of how each kind of organism is similar to and different from the others.
Examine the pictures of the organisms in the lesson. Then fill in the Observations Table using the
pictures as references. In each case, use your best judgment based on what you can see in the
picture.