1. Protists
Protists are a range of organisms that have many different features. This makes them really hard to classify.

2. Protists
While protists range significantly they do share common characteristics:
Most are unicellular
May be autotrophic or heterotrophic
Cells are eukaryotic and have membrane bound nucleus, vacuoles, and mitochondria
Cells reproduce asexually by binary fission (some through sexual reproduction)
Cells thrive in moist environments (such as fresh water, salt water, animal fluids)

3. Protists Examples
Top left: Volvox Bottom left: Amoeba Top right: Paramecium
Middle: Chlamydomonas
Bottom right: Trypanosoma (african sleeping sickness)

4. Organizing Protists 3 Categories: Animal-like Protists
Fungus-like Protists
Plant-like Protists

5. 1. Animal-like Protists (a.k.a. Protozoa)
Examples
amoeba, paramecium,
malaria
1. Animal-like Protists (a.k.a. Protozoa)
Are all heterotrophic
Capable of moving in order to feed
Uses pseudopod to grab food and move
Various methods of locomotion
Cilia
Flagella
Pseudopod
* Parasitic

6. E.g. 1 Amoeba (Phylum: Cercozoa)
Surface is a cell membrane (flexible)
Use temporary extensions known as pseudopodia (false feet) to feed and move
Live in moist environments
Intestinal parasite amoebas can be contracted through contaminated water

7. E.g. 2 Paramecium (Phylum: Ciliophora)
Contain many cilia (for feeding and locomotion)
Food in brought in through the oral groove

8. E.g. 3 Trypanosoma (Phylum: Zoomastigina)
This phylum has one or more flagella
Causes the sleeping sickness

9. E.g. 4 Plasmodium (Phylum: Sporozoa)
Plasmodium is the bacteria that causes malaria in humans
Infects both humans and mosquitos
When a human is infected with malaria, a mosquito that bites that human will also carry malaria.
When the malaria carrying mosquito bites another human, the human is now infected.

10. 2. Fungus-like Protists Known as slime moulds or water moulds
They like cool, shady, moist places
Are heterotrophic decomposers
Have cell walls
Can move at one point in their life

11. 3. Plant-like Protists
They contain chlorophyll (used in photosynthesis)
They are autotrophic when light is present (in darkness they are heterotrophic).
E.g. Euglena
Contains an eyespot (for detecting light) and a flagellum (for propelling through water)
Has a pellicle instead of a cell wall (is more flexible for movement)

12. 3. Plant-like Protists Other examples include: Dinoflagellate
Green Algae
Red Algae
Brown Algae

13. 3. Plant-like Protists Why are algae important?
They are primary producers (they make sugar and oxygen essential for aquatic organisms)
Without them all fish would die
Algae also produce oil and are used as fertilizer
Algae can also cause harm: Too much algae can block sunlight from water, and “sufficate” the lake.

14. Homework
Read pages
#19-21, 23 (p.76)
#2-4, 7-8, 10, 12 (p.78)