Lesson 1: Organizing Things into Categories

Sorting groups things by shared features or purposes. This lesson covers categories, subcategories, and how different systems of organization can be useful for different jobs.

Key Ideas

  • When items share something in common, they can be grouped together. That group is called a category. Categories can be made more specific by dividing them into smaller groups, or broader by combining them with others.
  • There is no single correct way to organize. The system you choose depends on what you are trying to accomplish.
  • Grouping information mentally into categories helps us learn, remember, and understand new things more easily.

Vocabulary

  • Category: A group of two or more items that share a similarity or purpose.
  • Organize / Organization: Arranging things into a system so they are easier to find, use, and understand.
  • Subcategory: A smaller group within a larger category. For example, fruits is a subcategory of produce.

Discussion Questions

  1. If you organized your bedroom in a way that made perfect sense to you, would the same system work for someone else? Why or why not?
  2. Can something belong to two different categories at the same time? Give an example and explain whether that is a problem.
  3. Scientists use classification systems to organize living things. What problems might come up if two different scientists used completely different systems for the same group of animals?

Hands-On Activity: Organize the Junk Drawer

Supply List

  • A bag or box of 15 to 20 mixed items (rubber band, dead battery, pen cap, button, coin, small toy, paper clip, birthday candle, twist tie, sticker, binder clip, small rock, piece of string, crayon stub, safety pin)
  • Paper
  • Pencil or pen

Instructions

  • Dump everything out and look it over without sorting yet.
  • Start grouping things that feel like they belong together. You decide what 'together' means.
  • Name each group and write it down.
  • Look for outliers: items that do not clearly fit anywhere. Decide whether to make a new category, fold them into an existing one, or start an 'other' pile. Write down what you chose and why.
  • Scramble everything and sort it again using a completely different system.
  • Compare your two systems. Which one would help you find something faster?
  • Discuss: why does every good organizing system need a plan for outliers?

Slideshow


Video

Wordwall

Below is a simple categorizing game!