Rice, Ilish, the Magpie-Robin and you yourself: each has a scientific name of two words. The book's table lists fifteen. Before you memorise them, split them into groups: six plants, two disease organisms, seven animals.
1. Fifteen names, three groups
Plants. Rice Oryza sativa, jute Corchorus capsularis, mango Mangifera indica, jackfruit Artocarpus heterophyllus, water lily Nymphaea nouchali, China rose Hibiscus rosa-sinensis.
Disease organisms. The causal organism of cholera is Vibrio cholerae; of malaria, Plasmodium vivax.
Animals. Cockroach Periplaneta americana, honey bee Apis indica, Ilish Tenualosa ilisha, Asian toad Duttaphrynus melanostictus, Oriental Magpie-Robin Copsychus saularis, tiger (Royal Bengal Tiger) Panthera tigris, human Homo sapiens. Beside the Asian toad's name the book prints Bufo melanostictus in brackets: that is the older name.
2. Match the names
Now match them by hand. Pick up a scientific name, then drop it in the box of the organism it belongs to.
match the namesPlants first, then microbes, then animals.
Match the scientific names
Pick up a name, then drop it in a box. Starting with the plants is easiest.
Right. Next one.
Not yet. That name belongs to a different organism. First ask: plant, disease organism or animal? Do not mix up the two insects.
All fifteen matched. The bracketed Bufo melanostictus for the Asian toad is the older name.
3. Which group?
Now the group instead of the organism. Recall which organism the name sat beside in the table, then drop it in that group's box. The code for plant names is ICBN, for animal names ICZN.
which group?ICBN plants, ICZN animals.
Plant, microbe or animal?
Pick up a name, then drop it in a group box.
Right group. Next one.
Not yet. Which organism sat beside this name in the table? Is it a plant, a disease organism or an animal?
Six plants (ICBN), two disease organisms, seven animals (ICZN). The bee, the fish, the toad, the bird, the tiger and the human are all in the animal group.
4. Check yourself
Three questions, starting with the first.
check yourselfpick one answer
Question 1
What is the scientific name of the honey bee?
Oryza sativa is rice, not the honey bee.
Artocarpus heterophyllus is jackfruit, not the honey bee.
Right. The honey bee is Apis indica.
Plasmodium vivax is the malaria organism, not the honey bee.
In the second, recall the names once more.
check yourselfpick one answer
Question 2
Which is the scientific name of the cockroach?
Vibrio cholerae is the cholera organism, not the cockroach.
Apis indica is the honey bee, another insect, which is why it is easy to mix up.
Right. No: the cockroach is Periplaneta americana, not Plasmodium.
Plasmodium vivax is the malaria organism, not the cockroach.
Read the last one carefully.
check yourselfpick one answer
Question 3
What is the scientific name of the cholera organism?
Plasmodium vivax is the malaria organism; the two disease organisms are often confused.
Homo sapiens is the human, not the cholera organism.
Apis indica is the honey bee, not the cholera organism.
Right. The cholera organism is Vibrio cholerae.
Say each answer aloud before you flip: these eight cards hold the trickiest names in the table.
cut from the notetap to turn over
Eight cards
QuestionWhat is the scientific name of rice?
AnswerOryza sativa
QuestionWhat is the scientific name of Causal organism of cholera?
AnswerVibrio cholerae
QuestionWhat is the scientific name of Causal organism of malaria?
AnswerPlasmodium vivax
QuestionWhat is the scientific name of cockroach?
AnswerPeriplaneta americana
QuestionWhat is the scientific name of honey bee?
AnswerApis indica
QuestionWhat is the scientific name of Ilish?
AnswerTenualosa ilisha
QuestionWhat is the scientific name of Asian toad?