The Five Kingdoms of Life

In ancient times, living things were classified or grouped into two catagories, plants or animals. With the invention of the microscope, scientists started to realize that some organisms did not fit into either catagory.
an early microscope

Today scientists recognize six catagories of living things. We will learn about five of them.

One thing that all life forms have in common is DNA. DNA is found in every living cell and stores all the information to make and grow the organism.

Let's look at the five kingdoms, beginning with the simplest, monera.

Bacteria are part of the Kingdom of Monera.

Today scientists divide monera into two kingdoms - but we will consider them as one.

Monera are among the simplest life forms. They are unicellular which means they have one cell. They reproduce by dividing in half and splitting into two.

Protists are single celled organisms like these Protozoa.

Algae, like this pond scum are also protists.

Protists are more complex than monera. The cells are more organized and have organelles.

Protists can move using cilia or flagella to swim.

The third kingdom is the fungi. This kingdom includes mushrooms and other decomposers.

The kingdom of plants is huge and very diverse.

It includes flowering plants,

fruits and vegetables,

and trees.

Plants are multicellular (made of many cells) and make their own food through photosynthesis.

The last kingdom is probably our favorite, because we are a part of it. It is the kingdom of animals.

Animals are multicellular.

They are found on land, in the sea and in the air.

They are consumers. They get their energy by eating other living things.

We are part of this kingdom.

Credits:

Created with images by Photographs Hunter - "Life" • geralt - "koli bacteria escherichia coli bacteria" • stevepb - "mushroom fungi fungus" • Picturepest - "Oxytricha chlorelligera - 400x" • MichaelGaida - "fern nature green" • Dobi78 - "hirsch animal male" • steei - "microscope" • Caroline Davis2010 - "DNA" • Filter Forge - "Germatopia" • NIAID - "E. coli Bacteria" • kaibara87 - "Bacteria" • NIAID - "Staphylococcus epidermidis Bacteria" • NIAID - "Mycobacterium tuberculosis Bacteria" • NIAID - "Klebsiella pneumonia Bacterium" • Picturepest - "Paramecium caudatum & Stylonychia mytilus- 250x" • apium - "july 003 possibly algae" • BioDivLibrary - "n74_w1150" • kiwin - "mushroom nature forest" • bitonio - "Mushrooms" • beltz6 - "Mushroom" • Tobyotter - "Mushroom" • kevinlubin - "Plant" • GLady - "zinnia red flower" • bykst - "cactus plant plant rack" • MichaelGaida - "fern nature green" • LoggaWiggler - "mammoth sheet gunnera manicata blossom" • zorgum314 - "Strawberry plant" • cluczkow - "tree" • tpsdave - "squirrel animal close-up" • ARTchemist* (AWAY) - "pretty in blue" • Ben_Kerckx - "spin web nature" • 2554813 - "duck wild mallard" • Alexas_Fotos - "fuchs wildpark poing animal" • carterg5289 - "Tiger lick" • Peter23394 - "Animals (256)" • IrmaB - "mongoose meerkat wildlife" • Mbragion - "giraffe zoo animals" • Peter23394 - "Animals (197)" • gorankrejacic - "peacock bird animal" • Peter Kaminski - "Hi, There!" • hbieser - "botswana wild animal khudu" • Greyerbaby - "girl sitting flower"

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