Classification of Living Things

Classification of Living Things: THE 5 KINGDOMS OK. So we have this really big group of living things that exist on earth. To divide them up, we first put them into one of five KINGDOMS. Here they are, with their defining characteristics & some examples. (you should memorize this) KINGDOM KEY CHARACTERISTICS EXAMPLES NAME UNICELLULAR BACTERIA MONERA PROKARYOTIC BLUE-GREEN ALGAE AMEBA MOSTLY UNICELLULAR PARAMECIUM PROTISTA EUKARYOTIC EUGLENA SOME COLONIAL ALGAE MOSTLY MULTICELLULAR MUSHROOMS EUKARYOTIC FUNGI MOLDS & MILDEWS HETEROTROPHIC YEAST (unicellular) SESSILE MULTICELLULAR MOSS EUKARYOTIC FERNS AUTOTROPHIC PLANT FLOWERING PLANTS SESSILE BUSHES CELL WALLS made of TREES CELLULOSE INSECTS MULTICELLULAR JELLYFISH, HYDRA EUKARYOTIC CRABS HETEROTROPHIC ANIMAL FISH MOTILE BIRDS SPECIALIZED SENSE LIONS,TIGERS,BEARS ORGANS (oh my !)

Yes, I know it looks like a lot to remember. But who said this wasn't going to require you to WORK ? Here are a couple generalizations that may help you keep some of that table straight :

A) only 1 Kingdom has organisms that are prokaryotic (the Moneran Kingdom) B) For the most part, any organism that is unicellular & eukaryotic is a Protist (one exception is YEAST, a unicellular fungus) C) Fungi have the same characteristics as Plants except that Fungi are heterotrophic & Plants are autotrophic, and their cell walls are different D) Animals are the only motile multicellular group E) Most of the autotrophic organism we study have chlorophyll which gives them a greenish appearance. So being "green" is an important clue --- it indicates they are autotrophic (ex: blue-green algae, algae, plants).

So, how are you doing ? Shall we try some questions to see how much of that 'Kingdom Table' has stuck to your brain ? WHAT KINGDOM IS IT ?! For each description or example, name the kingdom it belongs in. Your choices are : animal, plant, fungi, protist or moneran. Write down the answers to these 10 questions on a separate piece of paper.

1. one-celled organism, eukaryotic, has structures for moving 2. green, multicellular, sessile, cellulose cell walls 3. an Ameba 4. multicellular, eukaryotic cells, obtains food from its environment, flies 5. colony of eukaryotic cells, autotrophic 6. sessile, heterotrophic, multicellular 7. eukaryotic cells with cell walls composed of cellulose 8. unicellular, no nucleus visible 9. yeast 10. bacteria

If you got 7 or more of those right I'd say you're ready to go on. If not, study the table more & try the questions a second time (just a suggestion). In any case, we need to take a closer look inside each kingdom at some of the important "phyla". A phylum is the first subgroup within a kingdom. I've outlined the "more important" phyla of each kingdom in the next table & given some examples too.

KINGDOM PHYLUM CHARACTERISTICS EXAMPLE(S) blue-green algae autotrophic blue-green algae MONERA Streptococcus bacteria heterotrophic Staphylococcus "sea weeds" algae autotrophic diatoms (plant-like) PROTIST Spirogyra protozoa Ameba heterotrophic (animal-like) Paramecium the thing to remember about this kingdom is that most are multicellular FUNGI (mushrooms, molds, mildew) and a few are unicellular (yeast). don't worry about specific phyla names. :) mosses bryophyte nonvascular plants (small & simple) liverworts PLANTS trees tracheophyte vascular plants flowering plants ferns ANIMAL tentacles hydra coelenterates hollow body cavity jellyfish annelids worms with segmented bodies earthworm grasshoppers exoskeletons lobsters arthropods jointed legs spiders bees chordates have a notochord (nerve chord) & humans & other usually a backbone mammals birds reptiles amphibians fish Study the table a little & try these KINGDOM REVIEW QUESTIONS :

11) The presence of vascular tissue for transporting liquids is characteristic of : A. ferns B. mosses C. slime molds D. algae 12) Which protists contain chlorophyll (a green substance necessary for photosynthesis) ? A. Ameba B. algae C. moss D. Paramecium 13) The animal-like protists are : A. algae B. Annelids C. protozoa D. yeast 14) Euglena is a eukaryotic single-celled organism that possesses chlorophyll but has no cell wall. It also has a mouth & swims using a structure called a flagellum. It is most reasonable to classify Euglena as a : A. plant B. animal C. protist D. blue-green algae 15) Low growing plants without vascular tissues are classified as : A. bryophytes B. algae C. tracheophytes D. mushrooms 16) Two animals are the same species if they : A. live in the same environment B. show a very close resemblance C. can mate & produce fertile offspring D. eat the same foods 17) Bacteria & blue-green algae belong to which kingdom ? A. animal B. plant C. fungi D. monera 18) Which group are NOT invertebrates (animals without backbones) ? A. coelenterates B. chordates C. annelids D. arthropods 19) Which animal is correctly matched with its phylum ? A. whale - coelenterate B. honey bee - arthropods C. spider - chordate D. snake - annelid 20) Whales have hair, are warm-blooded, & nurse their young. Therefore, they are classified in the same class with : A. fish B. lobsters C. tigers D. turtles

The reading (pages 25-28) from your book also goes along with this assignment. After reading this packet and those pages, you will have answered all of the following on a separate piece of paper: Questions 1-20 from this packet and the four section review questions on page 28 in your book. The four questions from the book need to be answered using complete sentences and rephrasing.