The Kingdoms of
Life
Diversity of the Earth
Characteristics of Life
 There are 7 Major Characteristics that all living
creatures have in common.
 1. Organisms must obtain Energy.
 2. Organisms must use Energy.
 3. Organisms must be able to reproduce.
 4. Organisms must respond to changes in
their environment. (Adapt)
 5. Organisms must get rid of waste.
 6. Organisms are made of cells.
 7. Organisms have a life span.
Theories of Life
 Spontaneous Generation – Life came
from non-living sources.
 Biogenesis – Life comes from life.
Life
 A living part of the natural environment is
called a biotic factor.
 A non-living, or once living, part of the
environment is called an abiotic factor.
Theories of Adaptation
 An adaptation is a change in a species
over a long period of time.
 Two scientists have contributed ideas
about adaptations.
Theories of Adaptation
 Sir Charles Darwin developed a theory
called natural selection. We know his
theory as survival of the fittest.
 Online Adaptation Tool
Theories of Adaptation
 Jean Baptiste Lemarck developed a
theory called acquired characteristics.
He believed that an organism could
change during its own lifetime and that
the change would pass to its offspring.
Ways to Obtain Energy
 An organism that can make its own
energy through the process of
photosynthesis is known as a producer or
an autotroph.
Ways to obtain energy
 An organism that must get its energy
from organisms is called a consumer or a
heterotroph.
Ways to obtain energy
 Something that obtains its energy by
feeding on dead or decaying matter is
called a decomposer. It also returns
nutrients to the soil.
 Decomposer Video
Monera
Now Split into 2 Kingdoms
Archaebacteria and Eubacteria
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About 10,000 Species
Prokaryotic and Unicellular
Bacteria are very adaptable to change
E. coli bacteria
Monera - Bacteria
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In one gram of
agricultural soil, there
can be as many as 2.5
billion bacteria.
Bacteria are so small, that
1000 of them can fit in a
space the size of one
millimeter.
Bacteria are the most
abundant organism on
the earth.
Monera - Bacteria
 Bacteria have been
very successful and
may be found in
every ecosystem on
the earth, including
many that live in or
on the bodies of
Homo sapiens.
That’s us!
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Monera - Bacteria
 Bacteria are the most
abundant organism
on the earth.
 Bacteria can
reproduce very
quickly, doubling
their population size
every 12.5 minutes.
Monera - Bacteria
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Bacteria have very high growth rates
There are about ten times more bacteria cells in your
body than there are human cells.
Some bacteria can perform photosynthesis while most
of them are considered decomposers.
What about Viruses? Are viruses and bacteria the
same?
Ebola Virus Video
Brain Pop Bacteria Video
2 Types of Bacteria
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Most scientists have now split
Kingdom Monera into two
Kingdoms. Those are Kingdom
Archaebacteria and Kingdom
Eubacteria.
Kingdom Eubacteria is a general type
of bacteria that you would find in your
everyday environments from
countertops, to soil, to even your skin
and body.
Examples of Eubacteria are:
Esherischia coli, Bacillus pneumonia,
Clostridium tetani, and Clostridium
botulinum.
2 Types of Bacteria
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The second type of bacteria is known
as archaebacteria. Archaebacteria are
found in extreme environments like
geysers, volcanoes, deep underground,
in the salt flats of Utah, or even the
Arctic tundra.
Examples of Archaebacteria would
include: Halobacterium,
Methanothermus, and Thermoproteus.
Archaebacteria are often known as
being Halophilic, Thermophilic, and
Methanogens (anaerobic and they die
in the presence of oxygen).
Archaebacteria are thought to be some
of the oldest species of organisms that
have ever lived on earth. We have
fossil remnants of them that go back
3.5 billion years.
Examples of Bacteria
Protista
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About 250,000 Species of Protists
Protists can be unicellular or multi-cellular and
Eukaryotic
1st Eukaryotic Protists appeared about 1.5 billion
year ago
Some protists have to get their energy from
other organisms and some have to make their
own food
Most protists are microscopic
Protists
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Three Types of Protists
 Protozoa
(Animal like protists)
 Algae (Plant like protists)
 Slime molds (Fungi like protists)
Brain Pop Protist Video
Protists - Protozoa
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Protozoans are
microscopic protists that
have several
characteristics that are
like animals.
This is a protozoan
called a Daphnia,
commonly referred to as
a water flea.
Protista - Protozoan
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This is a diagram of the
body structures of a
paramecium.
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As you can see, they are
pretty complex for such
little creatures.
Protozoan-Ameba
Ameba’s move and feed by
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forming pseudopods which are
temporary bulges of the cell
membrane that fill with cytoplasm.
A pseudopod is also known as a
“false foot.” It’s almost as if the
ameba is just sliding around as it
extends itself.
This is also how the ameba eats
because it can surround food
particles with its body and
consume them. This process is
called “phagocytosis.”
Ameba’s also have a contractile
vacuole that helps them move as
they can take in water and then
expel it
Ameba in Motion Video
Protozoan-Paramecium
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Paramecium have structures called
cilia which are hair-like projections
that move like tiny oars. The cilia
help the paramecium move.
Paramecium eat when they use
their cilia to sweep food particles
towards the area of their body
called an “oral groove.” This area
acts as a mouth as organisms are
able to consume small food
particles generally dissolved in
water.
Paramecium are some of the most
common protists found in water.
Algae-Euglenoids
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Euglenoids are green and
use a whip like structure
called a “flagellum” to
whip themselves through
aqueous solutions.
Euglena are photosynthetic
organisms that rely on the
sun for energy. They have a
structure in their body
called an “eye spot” that
helps them locate light.
Protists - Algae
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Algae are protists that
have a few characteristics
in common with plants.
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Algae make their own
food using
photosynthesis.
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This is a Green Algae
Protista – Slime Molds
Slime and Water Molds have a few
characteristics in common with fungi
 This is a common slime mold that can grow on a
forest floor
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Macroscopic Protista
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Some Protista are actually
quite large and can be
seen easily with the
naked eye.
Kelp forests grow in the
ocean and are home to
many animals.
Protists under a
microscope
Bacteria and Protists
Crash Course Video
Kingdom Fungi
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250,000 Species
Eukaryotic and Multicellular
Fungi must obtain their food from other
organisms
Fungi are decomposers
Kingdom Fungi
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Fungi are decomposers,
this means that they
must break down dead
or decaying organisms
to get the nutrients and
energy that they need.
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This picture is a Starfish
fungi
Kingdom Fungi
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Fungi have root like
structures called
hyphae.
Fungi can form
symbiotic relationships
with plants.
Fungi that form this
relationship with plants
are called Mycorrhizae
Kingdom Fungi
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Some Fungi are very
harmful to humans, to
the right is a fungus
called Ringworm or
Tinea capitis
This is Athlete’s Foot,
scientifically known as
Tinea pedis
Kingdom Fungi
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Some fungi can be very
beneficial to humans
Some fungi are even
edible, some
mushrooms are valued
for their culinary use.
EXAMPLES OF
FUNGI SITE
World without Fungi
Video
Kingdom Plantae
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250,000 Species
Eukaryotic and Multicellular
Make their own food during
photosynthesis.
Include: Mosses, ferns, grasses,
gymnosperms and angiosperms.
Plants have a cell wall and are made of
cellulose
Kingdom Plantae
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During photosynthesis,
plants take in carbon
dioxide, water and use
energy from the sun to
form sugar and oxygen.
Plants are green because
of the pigment chlorophyll
that they use in
photosynthesis.
Kingdom Plantae
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Bryophytes or Mosses
Kingdom Plantae
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Ferns
Kingdom Plantae
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Grasses
Kingdom Plantae
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Gymnosperms or
Cone bearing trees
Kingdom Plantae
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Angiosperms or
flowering plants
Amazing Plants
Smithsonian Video
Kingdom Animalia
• 1,000,000 Species
• Animals are divided into two main groups
– Vertebrates: Animals having a backbone.
– Invertebrates: Animals without a backbone.
*Humans belong to the Kingdom Animalia!
Kingdom Animalia
• The animal Kingdom contains the
following different groups of animals:
– Amphibians
– Arthropods
– Birds
– Fishes
– Sharks
-Echinoderms
-Mammals
-Mollusks
-Reptiles
-Insects
Kingdom Animalia
• The phylum arthropoda is the largest
group of organisms in the animal kingdom.
• If we were able to identify and
classify all of the unknown insects
in the rain forests and elsewhere,
scientists estimate that there
would be 10 million different kinds
of arthropods!
Kingdom Animalia - Amphibia
• Amphibians
• The word amphibia in
greek means double
life.
• Amphibians spend at
least part of their lives
in water!
Kingdom Animalia - Arthropods
• Arthropoda
• Bilateral Symmetry
• There are five main
groups of arthropods:
horseshoe crabs,
arachnids,
crustaceans,
centipedes and
millipedes, and
insects.
Kingdom Animalia - Birds
• Birds
• Have feathers and lay
eggs.
Kingdom Animalia - Fishes
• Fishes
• Spend their lives
in water.
• Have gills
Kingdom Animalia - Echinodermata
• Spiny skin, 5 part
body, internal
skeleton, tube feet.
• Starfish, urchins,
sand dollars, sea
cucumbers, sea lillies.
Kingdom Animalia - Mammals
• Have hair and
mammary glands,
give birth to live
young.
• Nearly all are warm
blooded.
• We belong to this
group.
Kingdom Animalia – Mollusca
• Animals with soft
bodies.
• Have a toothed
tongue.
• Many mollusks have
shells.
• Mollusks include:
snails, octopi, squid,
clams, mussels and
others
Kingdom Animalia - Reptiles
• Reptiles are animals
that have scales,
breathe air and lay
eggs.
• Reptiles include:
Snakes, lizards,
alligators, crocodiles,
turtles,
Kingdom Animalia - Sharks
• Sharks have been on
the earth for a very
long time and they
have changed
relatively little over
the years.
• Shark can have as
many as 300 teeth!
Kingdom Animalia - Insects
• Insects are part of the
phylum arthropoda.
• This means that they are
invertebrates. They have
no backbone, but they do
have an exoskeleton and
3 pairs of jointed
appendages
• In Latin the word insect
means segmented.
• What Makes Us Animals
Crash Course Video
Domains of Life (Old
Classification System)
• There used to be an 8th
level of classification in
which there was a
classification group called
Domain that was up above
Kingdoms.
• The 3 Domains of Life were
Archae, Eukarya, and
Prokarya.
• Eukarya and Prokarya
were used to reference
whether or not cells had a
nucleus.
Organisms that like “interesting”
environments
• Philic is the Greek word for love and it is the
opposite word of phobic. Some organisms “love”
to live in certain environments.
• There are extremophiles, thermophiles, halophiles,
acidophiles, and methanogens.
• This is another way we can classify organisms
based upon the extreme environment they live in.
• Tardigrades (Water Bears) Video
• What kingdom of life do you think Water Bears
belong to?
VIDEO TIME!!!!!!!!!
• The Chordates Phylum Crash Course
Video
• Kingdoms of Life Video Review
• Protista Diversity Video (20 Minutes)