6 Kingdoms of Life

Once upon a time there was a Greek philosopher that lived in Greece named Aristotle. Aristotle tried to divide every living thing into two main groups called kingdoms. The two kingdoms were the animals and the plants  and that system lasted for 2,000 years, until scientists proved Aristotle wrong and said that there are 6 kingdoms not 2. Scientist looked at the organism's cell structure, how it moved about, how it got its food and how it reproduced.  The 6 kingdoms are animal, plant, fungi, protist, archaebacteria and eubacteria.

I will now explain in what way the 6 kingdoms are alike and different.  I will also give examples of organisms in each kingdom.

The animal kingdom organisms have many cells with a nucleus.  They get food by eating other organisms and some have backbones and some don't.  They reproduce by live births and laying eggs.  Examples of organisms in the animal kingdom are mammals, reptiles, fish, insects, birds, whales, sea urchins coral, jelly fish and sponges.  Below is a picture of some of these organisms.  It's the Lion King!

The plant kingdom organisms have many cells with a cell wall.  They make their own food by photosynthesis.  They reproduce by spores or seeds.  Examples of organisms in the plants kingdom are dogwood, maple, pineapple tree, apple tree, magnolia, cedar and orange tree.  Below is a picture of some herbs.  This looks like my grandma's garden.

The fungi kingdom organisms have single cell or many cells with a cell wall.  They get food by feeding on living or dead organisms.  Many fungi are decomposers.  They reproduce by spores.  Examples of organisms in the fungi kingdom are mushrooms, yeasts, some molds and puffballs. Below is a picture of some mushrooms. I don't want these mushrooms on my pizza.

The protist kingdom organisms have single cell or many cells with a nucleus.  They get food by feeding on living organisms or making their own food or both.  They produce by mitosis, meiosis and fertilization.  Examples of organisms in the protist kingdom are amoeba, plankton, algae, paramecium euglena. Below is a picture of amoeba under a microscope.  This looks like barf.

The archaebacteria kingdom organisms have single cell without a nucleus. They get their food by feeding on living organisms or making its own food or both.  They produce by binary fusion which is where one cell divides itself into two new cells. Examples of organisms in the archaebacteria kingdom are halophiles, methanogens and thermophiles. Below is a picture of halophiles under a microscope.  Ths looks cherries in milk.

The eubacteria kingdom organisms are single cell without a nucleus.  They get food by feeding on living organisms or making their own food.  They reproduce by spores.  Examples of organisms in the eubacteria kingdom are bacillius anthracis, escherichia coli, clostridium perfringens and clostridium tetani.  Below is a picture of escherichia coli under a microscope.  Oh, this looks gross.

It has been a lot of fun learning about the 6 kingdoms.  I hope you enjoyed reading my blog and learned a lot.