The Five

Kingdoms

5.5a-d The student will investigate and understand that organisms are made of cells and have distinguishing characteristics.

Biologist today have classified and divided all living things into five groups

they call kingdoms. These kingdoms are based on how living things are the same and how they are different. It is important that you understand, that biologist are still learning about our

world, and are making new discoveries every single day. As our knowledge

about the world around us improves, scientists might find a better way to organize and classify life. As a result, these five kingdoms may someday

change.

The first classification system was developed

2,500 years ago by a Greek philosopher named Aristotle included only two groups,

Plants and Animals. He further placed animals into three groups, those that fly, those that walk, and those

that swim.

The five kingdoms currently accepted by most (but not all) scientists are the

Moneran Kingdom, the Protist Kingdom, the Fungi Kingdom, the Plant Kingdom,

and the Animal Kingdom.

The Moneran Kingdom consists of single cell life forms. Moneran cells are far simpler and more basic than the cells of other life forms. These cells have

no nucleus, and are also missing many of the organelles, or parts, commonly found in other cells.

For this reason, Monerans are thought to be very distantly related to other life forms.

Moneran Kingdom

Bacteria are commonly placed in the Moneran Kingdom. Monerans are

considered by many scientists to be the oldest life forms on Earth, and the ancestors of all the other types of life

that have since evolved.

The Protista Kingdom consists of unicellular life forms (life forms with

only one cell) who have a nucleus. The primary difference between protists and

monerans is that protists are more complex, having a nucleus.

Protista Kingdom

Many protists appear to be both plant and animal. Like plants, they are green, and can create their own

food. However, like animals, they have moving body parts, and are

able to move around their environments.

The Fungi Kingdom is made up of a variety of different funguses. For many years, it was believed that fungi were plants. Today we know that fungi are

different from plants in some very important ways.

Fungi Kingdom

Unlike plants, fungi cannot make their own food. They must rely on

other food sources to support them.

One common type of fungi are the mushrooms you find on your pizza.

Other fungi include microscopic fungus, truffles, and more.

The Plantae Kingdom is made up of all the plants that you see each day. Most plants are multi-cellular, meaning that they consist of many cells. Different types of plants include trees, grass, flowers, and some types of algae.

Plantae Kingdom

Plants use the light from the sun to produce their own food. This allows them to grow almost anywhere, as long as there is enough water. This process is called photosynthesis.

Plants get their green color from the chlorophyll which is found inside of their cells. Plants use

chlorophyll to collect energy from the light of the Sun. They then use this energy to create food. In this process, they create the food we eat, and the

oxygen we need to breath. Plants are very important to the life of almost every other living

thing.

Like many other life forms, animals are multi-cellular. These cells come

together, forming tissues, organs, and organ systems, that help sustain the life of the animal. From elephants to snails, animals come in many shapes and sizes, and can be found all over

the world.

Animal Kingdom

Animals cannot make their own food. They must rely on other living things, such as plants, fungi, and other animals to

sustain them. Without other food sources, animals could not

survive.

There are more species of animals, then in all the other kingdoms combined. From

worms, to blue whales, to bald eagles, animals have evolved to fit a wide variety of niches.