Kingdom Scavenger Hunt
Use the following scavenger hunt
clues and pictures to figure out which
kingdom each organism comes from.
Escherichia coli
• Yikes! E. coli. Yes, I can be
a pathogen, but most strains
of me are harmless and one
even produces Vitamin K in
the large intestine.
• I’m a simple dude, with a
flagellum and simple circular
DNA not in a nucleus.
• Good news if you do get sick,
antibiotics will work to
destroy my peptidoglycan
cell wall.
Copepoda incertae
• As you can see, I have
specialized antennae in my
anterior (front) region.
• I might be tiny, but I have
many cells containing nuclei.
• I am able to move around
marine ecosystems eating
my phytoplankton cousins.
• You can call me a
zooplankton if you prefer.
Uh oh! I better swim away,
or I’ll be eaten by a predator
in the food chain!
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
• I am an essential ingredient in
both beer making and bread
making.
• I have a cell wall made of
chitin just like all the friends in
my group. I don’t like to move
around much, and
• I get my energy from the wheat
that I decompose.
• If you look at me, you can see
I’m reproducing
asexually…can you see two
nuclei forming?
Pyrococcus furiosus
• Don’t be fooled by the name,
I don’t start fires, I just hang
out in hot springs!
• I’m pretty extreme, but in
other ways, I’m pretty
simple. One cell, no
nucleus.
• Also I reproduce without
having sex! As I divide, I
must form a new layer of
cell wall made of a unique
type of latticed protein.
Dionaea muscipula
• I am an exception to the
rule…I am an autotroph with
some heterotrophic
tendencies. I “eat” bugs
because the soil I live in is
nutrient poor. However, I
use the sun’s energy to make
my own food and my cells
have chloroplasts.
• My cells also have nuclei and
cell walls made of cellulose!
• I also can produce flowers
for sexual reproduction.
Euglena viridis
• I admit it, I’m a weird dude
and I don’t really fit in.
• I’m unicellular, but those
green things are
chloroplasts…I
make my
chloroplasts
own food.
• But I don’t stand still, I
have a flagellum to propel
me through fresh water.
• You might not be able to
see my nucleus, but it’s
there to store my DNA!
Halobacterium salinarium
• I am one extreme bugger. I
love to hang out in the Dead
Sea.
• Besides being adapted to
extreme conditions, I have
pretty complex DNA.
• However, I don’t bother with
a nucleus and I’m singlecelled.
• I have cell walls, but I cannot
be killed by antibiotics
because my cell walls are not
made of peptidoglycan.
Tuber aestivum
• I am the king in my
kingdom…I am sold
commercially and called
“truffles.”
• I reproduce, very rarely,
through asexual spores.
• When pigs sniff me out,
I’m underground
decomposing organic
matter in the soil.
• My texture comes from
cell walls made of chitin.
Heteractis magnifica
• Don’t be putting me
down…I’m a predator. I
can move my tentacles
and trap prey inside my
cavity, which I then digest
and eat.
• I have no cell walls, but I
can produce poison for
protection, so who needs
a cell wall?
• Believe it or not, I can
also produce sperm and
eggs.
Staphyloccocus epidermidis
• Don’t hate me! I hang out on
your skin. I don’t usually cause
harm unless you are have a
problem with your immune
system.
• I am a simple one-celled bug
with no nucleus.
• When I am on your skin, I
compete for resources since I am
a heterotroph.
• I also protect you from my
cousin S. aureus. If you get him,
you’ll have to destroy his
peptidoglycan with some
antibiotics!
Amoeba proteus
• I am a member of a
diverse group of
organisms that live in
ponds.
• I prefer to eat nutrients
that I come across.
• You can see a nucleus
inside my one-celled body.
• I don’t do cell
specialization, but I like to
think my pseudopods are
pretty cool!
Dactyliosolen fragilissimus
• I am a type of
“phytoplankton”
• I am photosynthetic
and multicellular.
• I am protected by cell
walls made of
cellulose.
• I reproduce by sexual
reproduction.
The Linnaeus Awards
• The award for the “most diverse kingdom”
goes to…
• The award for the “most extreme kingdom”
goes to”…
• The award for the “most involved
decomposing others” goes to…
Linnaeus Awards Continued…
• The award for the “most affected by
antibiotics” goes to…
• The award for the “most likely to move,
eat and have sex” goes to…
• The award for the “most likely to take in
the sun’s energy” goes to…