1. Study pages 36-77.
2. Study vocabulary flashcards (using quizlet – link on 6th grade website).
a. Lesson 1 – Viruses
 What are the characteristics of viruses?
o Are they living? Are they cells?
 THEY ARE NOT LIVING – THEY ARE NOT CELLS
o What shapes are viruses?
 ROUND, ROD-SHAPED, BRICKS, THREADS, BULLETS
o How are viruses named?
 NAMED AFTER THE DISEASE THEY CAUSE OR FOR WHERE THEY ARE
DISCOVERED
o How/where do viruses multiply?
 INSIDE OF CELLS
o Know the basic structure of viruses.
 OUTSIDE OF VIRUS = PROTEIN COAT – PROTECTS VIRUS
 INSIDE = GENETIC MATERIAL – INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE VIRUS
 How do viruses interact with the living world?
o Name some examples of diseases/illnesses caused by viruses.
 HIV, INFLUENZA, APPLE MOSAIC VIRUS, COLDS, RABIES
o How can viruses be useful?
 GENE THERAPY, VACCINES
o Be able to explain how vaccines work.
 DEAD OR WEAKENED VIRUS PUT INTO THE BODY
 BODY PREPARES DEFENSES (AN ARMY) AGAINST THE VIRUS
 BODY CAN NOW RESIST INFECTION
b. Lesson 2 – Bacteria
 What are bacteria?
o Describe the cell structure of bacteria.
 SINGLE CELLED ORGANISMS WITH NO NUCLEUS
o Be able to define and label the following on a diagram of a bacterium:
cytoplasm
 GEL LIKE FLUID INSIDE THE CELL
ribosomes
 MAKE PROTEIN
flagellum
 LONG, WHIPLIKE STRUCTURE THAT HELPS CELL MOVE
cell wall
 PROTECTS THE CELL
cell membrane
 CONTROLS WHAT MATERIALS PASS IN AND OUT OF THE
CELL
o What shapes do bacteria come in?
 SPERICAL, RODLIKE, SPIRAL
 How do bacteria get food, get energy, and reproduce?
o How do bacteria get food?
 SOME USE THE SUN’S ENERGY TO MAKE FOOD LIKE PLANTS
 SOME USE CHEMICALS AROUND THEM TO MAKE FOOD (UNDERGROUND)
 SOME CONSUME OTHER ORGANISMS
o How do bacteria reproduce?
 Describe asexual reproduction/binary fission.
WHEN 1 CELL SPLITS TO FORM 2 NEW IDENTICAL CELLS
 Describe sexual reproduction/conjugation.
ONE BACTERIUM TRANSFERS SOME GENETIC MATERIAL TO
ANOTHER BACTERIUM THROUGH A THREADLIKE BRIDGE
 Describe what an endospore is.
SMALL, ROUND, THICK-WALLED RESING CELL THAT FORMS INSIDE A
BACTERIAL CELL – IT ENCLOSES THE GENETIC MATERIAL AND SOME
CYTOPLASM.
THEY CAN RESIST HARSH CONDITIONS – SO THEY SURIVE UNTIL
CONDITIONS ARE MORE SUITABLE
 What is the role of bacteria in nature?
o Describe the following roles of bacteria:
 Oxygen production
WHEN SOME BACTERIA MAKE FOOD THEY ALSO PRODUCE OXYGEN
FOR THE EARTH




Food production
BUTTERMILK, YOGURT, SOUR CREAM, CHEESES
Health and medicine
SOME BACTERIA HELP DIGESTION
SOME MAKE MEDICINES INCLUDING INSULIN
Environmental cleanup
SOME BACTERIA CAN CONVERT POISONOUS CHEMICALS IN OIL
INTO HARMLESS SUBSTANCES
Environmental recycling
THEY ARE DECOMPOSERS
THEY BREAK DOWN CHEMICALS IN DEAD ORGANISMS
c. Lesson 3 – Protists
 What are the characteristics of animal-like protists?
o What’s another name for animal-like protists?
 PROTOZOANS
o Be able to describe the four groups of protozoans:
 Sarcodines - Protozoans with pseudopods
Describe how they move.
 USING PSEUDOPODS – MOVING CYTOPLASM
Explain a contractile vacuole.
 STRUCTURE THAT COLLECTS WATER AND EXPELS (SPITS IT
OUT) THE WATER FROM THE CELL
Give an example of a sarcodine.
 AMOEBA
 Flagellates - Protozoans with flagella
Explain how they move.
 WHIP LIKE TAIL
Give an example of a flagellate.
 GIARDIA
 Ciliates - Protozoans with cilia
How do they move?
 HAIRLIKE PROJECTIONS
Give an example of a ciliate.
 PARAMECIUM
 Protozoans that are parasites
Describe two examples.
 PLASMODIUM – CAUSES MALARIA
 What are the characteristics of plant-like protists?
o What are these commonly called?
 ALGAE
o Are plant-like protists unicellular or multicellular?
 BOTH
o What are some “uses” of plant-like protists?
 DIATOMS MAKE GOOD SCRUBBING CLEANERS AND POLISH
 SUBSTANCES FROM RED ALGAE ARE IN ICE CREAM AND HAIR CONDITIONER
 RED ALGAE IS EATEN IS SOME COUNTRIES (SEAWEED)
 SUBSTANCES FROM BROWN ALGAE (SEAWEED) ARE USED AS THICKENERS
IN PUDDINGS AND OTHER FOODS

 What are the characteristics of fungi-like protists?
o How do fungi-like protists reproduce?
 THEY RELEASE SPORES WHICH DEVELOP INTO NEW ORGANISMS
o Describe slime-molds.
 LIVE IN MOIST SHADY PLACES LIKE FOREST FLOORS
 OOZE ALONG SURFACES OF DECAYING MATERIALS, FEED ON BACTERIA
o What are water molds and downy mildews?
 LIVE IN WATER OR OTHER MOIST PLACES
 ATTACK FOOD CROPS
d. Lesson 4 – Fungi
 What are the characteristics of fungi?
o Describe their cell structure.
 MADE OF HYPHAE (EXCEPT FOR YEAST)
o Know what hyphae are and what they do.
 BRANCHING, THREADLIKE TUBES THAT MAKE UP BODIES OF
MULTICELLULAR FUNGI
o How do fungi obtain food?
 THEY ABSORB FOOD THROUGH HYPHAE THAT GROW INTO THE FOOD
SOURCE
o How do fungi reproduce?
 Asexual reproduction (budding)
SMALL YEAST CELL GROWS FROM THE BODY OF A PARENT CELL
 Sexual reproduction
TWO HYPHAE JOIN AND EXCHANGE GENETIC MATERIAL
o How are fungi classified?
 BY THE SHAPE OF THEIR REPRODUCTIVE STRUCTURE
 What is the role of fungi in nature?
o Be able to describe/give an example of each:
 Environmental recycling
DECOMPOSERS – BREAK DOWN DEAD PLANTS AND ANIMALS
 Food and fungi
YEAST MAKES BREAD RISE
BLUE CHEESE
MUSHROOMS
 Disease-fighting fungi
PENNICILIN
 Disease-causing fungi
FUNGI CAN HARM PLANTS
IN HUMANS CAN CAUSE ATHLETE’S FOOT AND RINGWORM
 Fungus-plant root associations
FUNGI BRING WATER AND NUTRIENTS TO ROOTS, FUNGI GET FOOD
FROM THE PLANT’S ROOTS
 Lichens
FUNGI GETS FOOD FROM ALGAE OR BACTERIA, ALGAE OR BACTERIA
GET SHELTER, WATER, AND MINERALS FROM FUNGI
SUMMARY OF ORGANISMS
Organism
Prokaryote/
eukaryote
Cell Structure
Method of
obtaining Food
Not a cell/non-living
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Reproduction
bacteria
prokaryote
unicellular
autotrophs &
heterotrophs
Must be inside of another
cell to reproduce
asexual – binary fission
sexual - conjugation
animal-like protists
(protozoans)
eukaryote
unicellular
heterotrophs
asexual & sexual
plant-like protists
(algae)
eukaryote
unicellular (euglenoids,
dinoflagellates, diatoms)
or multicellular
(red/brown algae)
autotrophs
asexual & sexual
fungi-like protists
*can move at some
point in their life
eukaryote
unicellular or multicellular
heterotrophs
use spores to reproduce
Fungi
Do not move
eukaryote
Unicellular(yeasts) or
multicellular
heterotrophs
usually using spores
asexual (budding)
& sexual (2 hyphaes join)
virus
Neither/non-living