SIMPLIFIED BIOLOGICAL KEYS

Sa？etak Simplified identification keys for organisms are important for many reasons. Using such keys and observing the details, we could learn how to find similarities and differences between organisms. We thus improve our powers of observation, which is nowadays quite often replaced by slipshod neglect. Furthermore, we can familiarise ourselves with the exceptional diversity of species and actually learn a few names. We also learn the basic structure of a key. Professional identification keys for plants and animals, used by biologists, are very complex and practically useless for laymen. They include numerous technical terms and too much information – they demand a great deal of prior knowledge from the reader. Using simplified identification keys, we can learn to classify plants and animals, which is one of the basic activities of natural sciences. And this encourages our thirst for knowledge, since we often want to find out more interesting facts about the various organisms, which we could look up later in other books or on the internet. If we find the right solution – the name of the animal or plant – we’re usually delighted and encouraged to research further. The knowledge obtained by observation with a simplified key thus becomes more permanent. However, we must keep in mind that this simple key will not help us identify all organisms but only a limited number of them. Using simplified key, we learn how keys are structured and how to properly read them, while we familiarise ourselves with characteristics of animals and plants and their adaptations to the environment in which they live