The Five Kingdoms of Life

There are millions of living things on this planet A) Can you name these living things? 1) 2) 3)

4)

5)

6)

mushroom

bacteria

frog

seaweed

paramecium

fern

If you cannot do it now, try it again at the end.

CEIP ANTONIO MACHADO

PILAR HERVS CASAS

All living things can be classified into five different kingdoms.

B) Can you name the first two kingdoms? P A

Yes!

They are Plant and Animal Kingdoms

CEIP ANTONIO MACHADO

PILAR HERVS CASAS

1.- THE PLANT KINGDOM

moss

fern

pine tree

madrone

narcissus

They all make their own food from sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide, by means of chlorophyll (what makes plants green). This process is called photosynthesis, and may be one of the most important chemical reactions on the earth. They dont move around and they reproduce by seeds or spores.

C) Look at the plants above. Can you guess? Which two plants reproduce by spores? Which three ones reproduce by seeds?
CEIP ANTONIO MACHADO PILAR HERVS CASAS

2.- THE ANIMAL KINGDOM

St...

Bu..

Sn..

Bi..

Je..

D) Can you name all these animals?

Animals, either eat plants (such as cows) or they eat other animals (such as lions). They can move around to look for food.

The classification system works well: bees belong to the Animal kingdom and olive trees to the Plant Kingdom.
This system works well until...

...until you try to classify a mushroom!

CEIP ANTONIO MACHADO PILAR HERVS CASAS

3.- THE FUNGI KINGDOM

Hmmm. Let's see. It's not green,so no chlorophyll. It doesn't make its own food, so it can't be a plant. But it doesn't eat: mushrooms don't have mouths! and they cannot move around.So it can't be an animal. Mushrooms are a type of fungus, and all fungi (the plural of "fungus") dont make food: they absorb food. The body of a mushroom is underground, and made up of tiny little cells (hyphae). When they find food (mostly dead plants and animals), they absorb its nutrients directly. So we need to add the Fungi Kingdom to the Plant Kingdom and the Animal Kingdom. Now we have three kingdoms. This system works well until ... ...you try to classify bacteria! We all know the name, but where are they? I cant see any bacteria, can you?

CEIP ANTONIO MACHADO

PILAR HERVS CASAS

4.- THE BACTERIA (MONERA) KINGDOM

Actually, there are millions of bacteria around us but you can't see them because they are very small. Millions of them are in a single drop of water. Bacteria are very different from the rest of living things. All of the other living things (plants, animals, fungi) has a nucleus in their cells. Bacteria have only one cell, with no nucleus. E) Which one is a bacteria cell, the first or the second?

This system works pretty well until...

... you try to decide where to classify a seaweed!

CEIP ANTONIO MACHADO PILAR HERVS CASAS

It is not an animal, because it does not eat things. It is not a plant, because it does not reproduce by seeds or spores.. It is not a fungus, because it is green, and has chlorophyll, so can make its own food.

5.- THE PROTISTA KINGDOM

And it is not a bacteria, because is has a cell nucleus. What is it?

They need their own kingdom, the Kingdom Prostista. This group is also the home of other living things that don't fit into the other kingdoms, including one-celled organisms like paramecia.

Paramecium, a single-celled organism

Single-celled algae from a pond

F) Why a paramecium is not a bacteria?

CEIP ANTONIO MACHADO

PILAR HERVS CASAS

So we nee to add the Kingdom Protista to Plant Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Fungi Kingdom, and Kingdom Monera. This five kingdom can be diagrammed, as we think it was the origin of life:

CEIP ANTONIO MACHADO

PILAR HERVS CASAS

A) Can you name these living things?

Review the questions and check the answers

mushroom bacteria frog seaweed paramecium fern

B) Can you name the first two kingdoms? C) Look at the plants above. Can you guess?

moss
- Which two plants reproduce by spores? - Which three ones reproduce by seeds?

fern

pine tre

madrone

narcissus

D) Can you name all these animals? St... Bu.. Sn.. Bi. Je..

E) Which one is a bacteria cell, the first or the second one? F) Why a paramecium is not a bacteria? Because its got.. G) Can you classify the six living things into the different kingdoms?

mushroom

bacteria

frog

seaweed

paramecium

fern

CEIP ANTONIO MACHADO

PILAR HERVS CASAS

KEY ANSWERS
A) 1.- seaweed 2.- bacteria 3.- fern 4.- frog 5.- paramecium 6.- mushroom B) Plant and Animal Kingdoms C) Reproduce by spores? moss and fern Reproduce by seeds? pine tree, madrone and narcissus D) Starfish, Butterfly, Snail, Bird and Jellyfish E) Its number two. It has not a nucleus F) Because its got a nucleus G) Mushroom: Fungi Kingdom Bacteria: Monera Kingdom Frog: Animal Kingdom Seaweed: Protista Kingdom Paramecium: Protista Kingdom Fern: Plant Kingdom

CEIP ANTONIO MACHADO

PILAR HERVS CASAS