Children are naturally keen on animals, and my child is no exception. Last night, my son quipped that the defining characteristic of fish is scales. “But reptiles also have scales,” I gently reminded him. Determined to seize this teachable moment, I logged on to my Mind Meister account today to make this mind map. Feeling darned proud of my creativity. Usually assessment books focus on the type of animal before discussing its defining characteristic. I took the opposite approach - I used characteristics as a starting point so that my son could remember the different types of animals deeply. So I went through this mind map with my boy. I uncovered another learning gap - he doesn’t remember that amphibians have moist skin. But well, I can just use the mind map again another day!