 Any
life form that consists of a
single cell.
 They can move, digest food,
and reproduce.
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Environment: Ponds or puddles with rich organic
matter.
Movement: By flagella
Important Structures:
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Cell Membrane
Nucleus: controls cell activities and contains DNA
Flagellum: helps to move
Chloroplast: helps with photosynthesis
Contractile Vacuole: removes excess water
Cytoplasm
Food: They make their own food or absorb food
from their environment.
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Chloroplasts help to make their own food by
photosynthesis.
Can absorb food from their environment.
This means they are considered heterotrophic
(consume food) and autotrophic (make food).
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Environment: Mud at the bottom of freshwater ponds.
Movement: They change shapes which allows them to
move (called shape shifters).
Important Structures:
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Cytoplasm: carries out chemical reactions
Nucleus: controls the cell
Cell Membrane: allows substances to enter and exit the cell
Food Vacuole: digests food
Contractile Vacuole: gets rid of excess water
Pseudopodium: what allows it to move over mud (false foot)
Capturing Prey: They surround their prey and engulf
it.
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Some are considered parasites.
They reproduce asexually by splitting into
two parts (fission).
They eat: algae, bacteria, plant cells, and
other unicellular organisms.
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Environment: ponds, ditches, shallow puddles
Movement: They beat flagella which allows it
to swim.
Important Structures:
◦ Daughter colonies
◦ Flagella: helps to move
◦ Chloroplast: contains chlorophyll
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Food: makes its own food by photosynthesis.
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Daughter colonies mature and the Volvox
bursts open to release them.
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Environment: Fresh water or stagnant water
Movement: Cilia bend and straighten helping
propel the paramecium through water
Important Structures:
◦ Contractile Vacuoles (2): removes excess water
◦ Cytoplasm: water absorption
◦ Cilia: hair-like projections that propel it through
water
◦ Nucleus: controls cell activities
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Food: uses cilia to sweep the food into the
cell.
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They fire trichocysts at predators to defend
themselves. Trichocysts sting the predator.
They can move backward when they bump
into something.
They feed on bacteria, algae, and yeast
through the cilia.
They reproduce by splitting in two (fission).
Algae live in the cytoplasm of a paramecium.
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Paramecium Pics:
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Amoeba Pics:
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Volvox Pics:
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Euglena Pics:
◦ infovisual.info
◦ goscienceseven.com
◦ microscope-microscope.org
◦ enchantedlearning.com
◦ microscopy-uk.org.uk
◦ leavingbio.net
◦ morning-earth.org
◦ rkm.com.au
◦ volvoxaureus.com
◦ infovisual.info
◦ fcps.edu
◦ schursastrophotography.com