Kingdoms and Domains Lab
Prelab questions:
What is a domain?
What is a kingdom?
Station 1: Bacteria types
Station 1: COMPUTER
1. Bacteria can be found EVERYWHERE on our planet. They are
a simple organism that divide rapidly and are well adapted to
live in a variety of habitats including ice cold, boiling hot, no
oxygen, even in toxic chemicals. While many people think all
bacteria are bad, 99% of bacterial species are helpful or
harmless.
a. Name one bacteria species that performs a helpful task
for humans as well as what is does for us.
b. Name one species that is very harmful to humans and
why it is harmful.
2. Look at the prokaryotes at this station (in the microscope).
a. Draw an example of the three main body forms of
prokaryotes.
b. Give the names of the two bacteria in the slides.
c. Draw an image of each
d. ID each body form with the help of the photo.
Station 2: Archaea video
Station 2: COMPUTER
1. There are two types of prokaryotes on our planet, archae and
eubacteria. These two organisms have a few major differences
that set them into separate domains of life.
a. Please tell me how the structure of the cell wall differs
between archae and eubacteria.
2. Watch the video at the station.
a. After watching the video, explain the interesting
characteristics organisms in the Domain Archaea possess.
b. Who was the scientist who played an important role in
their discovery?
Station 3:
Station 3:
1. Life can be split into two general categories, prokaryotes and
eukaryotes. An organism is placed into each category based on
the cell type that builds the organism. There are two main types
of cells, prokaryotes and eukaryotes.
a. List three differences between these two types of cells
and give an organism that falls into each category.
2. Look under the microscope at the two slides
a. Draw each organism
b. Determine which slide is a prokaryote and which is a
eukaryote. Defend your reasoning.
3. Eukaryotic organisms are more advanced because they exhibit a
characteristic called cell specialization. Eukaryotic organisms
are built of different types of cells that perform different tasks
to make the organism work. The most primitive animal with
cell specialization is the sponge. Sponges have 4 different cell
types that perform their own functions.
a. Determine one of these cell types in a sponge and tell me
the function that cell type serves.
Station 4: Plant vs animal kingdom
Station 4:
1. Draw each
2. What two kingdoms of life are shown at this station?
3. Tell me three reasons these organisms are placed into different
kingdoms.
Station 5: Animal vs fungi kingdom
Station 5:
1. Draw each
2. What two kingdoms of life are shown at this station?
3. Tell me one main reason these organisms are placed into
different kingdoms.
Station 6: Protist kingdom
Station 6:
1. Within this sample of pond water are a variety of organisms
that fall into multiple kingdoms. Your goal is to locate, draw
and describe an organism in this sample that would be in the
kingdom protista. Be patient and search carefully and they
should be easy to find.
i. Draw the protist and describe its behavior.
ii. What characteristics place on organism into the
kingdom protista?
iii. Why is it false to say a distinguishing
characteristic of the Domain Eukarya is
multicellularity?
Station 7: Fungi vs plant
Station 7
1. Draw each
2. What two kingdoms of life are shown at this station?
3. Tell me two main reasons these organisms are placed into
different kingdoms.
Station 8: What is a virus?
Station 8
1. Sort the images at this station into living and non-living organisms.
Tell me your groupings.
2. What characteristics helped you split these apart?
3. What type of object are the non-living structures at this station
4. What features make them non-living?
5. Even though they are not living, explain how they work to infect
someone.
Station 9
Bacteria can be found on nearly all surfaces of this school. Are certain
surfaces more prone to harboring bacteria? Are certain areas of the
school more bacteria-ful than other? Do cleaning procedures work to
eliminate bacteria? Are there parts of the body that have more bacteria
species than others?
1. Think of a quick research question you can test by taking two
bacteria samples fro within the school. Write your question.
2. Write out what your hypothesis is for this question. Explain
your reasoning.
3. Go throughout the school and collect the bacterial swabs for 2
locations.
4. BE CAREFUL…USE STERILE TECNIQUES!
Station 10: The kingdom Fungi
Because of limited time this semester, we will not be completing a
unit on the fungus kingdom. Basic information on this kingdom will
be covered during the classification unit.
1. Look at the organisms at this station and draw each.
2. Determine the phylum each of these fungus examples is in and
why it belongs there.
3. Explain the benefits fungi offer our ecosystems.