The 5 taxa I found were Plants (pink and white flowers), Insects (Water Strider), Mammals (Fox squirrel), Mollusks (Barnacles) and Birds (brown bird).
The pink and white flowers represented flowering plants because it had the characteristics of flowers and leaves. The water striders represent insects as it has 3 main body parts and antenna, and belong to the Family Gerridae. The fox squirrel represents mammals as it is warm-blooded, has four legs and hair, and is a vertebrate. The barnacles are mollusks because it is soft-bodied and covered by the external hard shell . The brown bird represents birds as it has feathers and wings.
Together, these 5 observations represent 5 iconic taxa on the Tree of Life.
My observations represent flowering and leaf phenology as they are either bare (of both flowers and leaves) or with flowers and leaves.
I found Genus Vinca growing at the base of a tree on campus. Its purple and white flowers were framed by thick green leaves, indicating that it had started flowering and leafing and thus, was an example of flowering and leaf phenology.
In contrast, I found 2 plants that were bare of any leaves or flowers. One was found by the roadside (I think it is dry grass, with no flowers) and the other was found by Strawberry Creek and its branches were bare of both flowers and leaves. As such, these two plants represented a different type of flower and leaf phenology (bare/dry).