Five Kingdoms of Living Things The Amazing Diversity Of Living Systems

What are KINGDOMS? In the naming systems that biologists use, the broadest categories of life are kingdoms.

Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species. The organization of living things can be seen like a pyramid or tree with seven major levels or categories:

TAXONOMY: the branch of science that studies and names living things. Why do we classify things? Classification provides scientists and students a way to sort and group organisms for easier study. It helps us understand how organisms are related and connected. Classification helps scientists predict evolutionary tendencies.

Kingdom Monerans Most ancient forms of life One-celled organisms without a nucleus (prokaryotic) Can be animal like - must absorb food to survive Can be plant like – make their own food through photosynthesis

Kingdom Protists Single-celled organisms with a nucleus (Eurkaryotic) Larger than Bacteria cytoplasm is more complex Some are animal like Some are plant like

Monerans and Protist: similarities and differences microscopic Single-celled Some are plant like and can make their own food (autotrophic) some are animal like and must get food from the environment (heterotrophic) Differences Protists have a true nucleus (eukaryote) Monerans don’t have a true nucleus (prokaryote)

Kingdom Fungi Multi-cellular organisms Cannot make their own food – they absorb nutrients from the environment

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT FUNGI Kingdom Fungi contains single-celled organisms (yeast)as well as multicelled organisms. (mushrooms, mold) Mold are multi-cellular fungi. A well known example is Penicillium was originally used to produce antibiotic penicillin Fungi absorb food from their environment.

Additional Information about Fungi The mode of nutrition or the manner in which fungi "eat" is called absorption. Among eukaryotes, absorption is unique to the fungi. They excrete enzymes which digest food. Digested food is absorbed by fungus. Fungi are decomposers. Additional Information about Fungi How do they eat?

Kingdom of Plants complex muliti-cellular organisms can trap the energy of sunlight by photosynthesis (autotrophs) spend entire life in one place - no locomotion move their bodies to capture the most sunlight

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT PLANTS Photosynthesis is the process that allows plants to take energy from the Sun and create sugars. photosynthesis happens in the chloroplast, organelles in the cells.

PLANTS Plants also have cell walls. While cell membranes might be around every cell, cell walls made of cellulose are only found around plant cells. Cell walls help a plant keep its shape.

Animal Kingdom Complex organisms Cannot make their own food (heterotrophs) Very active A huge variety of body types and feeding styles

Some characteristics of living organisms. They have a nucleus (eukaryotes) They don’t have a nucleus (prokaryotes) They have chloroplasts They are single-celled They are multi-celled They are decomposers They are consumers They lack cell structure but they have genetic material They can be both single-celled and multi-celled They are microscopic   Add them to your mind map