Living Things and the Six Kingdoms

Vocabulary terms regarding the classification of living things into six kingdoms and their distinguishing characteristics based on evolutionary descent.

Common Ancestor

A cell that lived billions of years ago from which all living things are descended.

Inheritance of Cells

The trait that all living things inherited from their common ancestor.

Kingdoms

The six divisions of life used by scientists based on differences such as cell count, how organisms get food, and how they live.

Animals

A kingdom of organisms that move freely, breathe oxygen, sense with eyes or ears, and eat food (e.g., humans, birds, insects).

Plants

A kingdom of organisms that grow toward light and make food with sunlight through photosynthesis (e.g., trees, grass, seaweed).

Fungi

A kingdom of organisms that absorb food from dead things and grow using spores (e.g., mushrooms, mould, yeast).

Protists

Tiny single cells that can move and eat using cell parts (e.g., amoeba, algae).

Eubacteria

Single cells that reproduce quickly and can be either helpful or harmful (e.g., E. coli, bacteria in yoghurt).

Archaebacteria

Bacteria that live in extreme places (heat-loving or salt-loving) and use other chemicals for respiration.

Photosynthesis

The process by which plants make food using sunlight.

MRS C GREN

An acronym representing processes that occur in many different ways across various life forms.

Spores

The structures used by fungi to grow.