Classification of living things Kingdoms Monera, Protista

Subject:

Biology

 

Class:

SS 1

 

Term:

First Term / 1st Term

 

Week:

Week 3

 

Topic:

Classification of living things

Kingdoms Monera, Protista

 

 

 

Previous Knowledge: The pupils have previous knowledge of

 

RECOGNIZING LIVING THINGS 

 

that was taught in their previous lesson.

 

 

Behavioural  Objectives : At the end of the lesson, learners will be able to

• state the characteristics features of the kingdoms and give specific examples of representative organisms
• describe each of the representative organisms
• state complexity of organization in higher organizations
• recognize each of the representative organisms

 

 

Instructional Materials 

 

 

• Microscope, microscopic slides, cover slips and ditch water
• Culture of bacteria and blue-green algae
• Prepared slides of amoeba, Chlamydomonas etc.

 

Methods of Teaching 

• Role modelling
• Questions and Answers
• Explanation
• Discussion
• Recitation
• Imitation
• Story Telling
• Dramatization

 

Content: 

CLASSIFICATION (TAXONOMY) OF LIVING THINGS

CONTENT

1. Classification/Taxonomy of Living Things
2. Binomial System of Nomenclature
3. Classification and Evolution

Definition of Classification

To classify means to arrange or organize things into groups. Classification of living things involves placing living things that have certain important features in common into specific groups which distinguish them from other groups.

The largest group of organisms is the kingdom. The kingdom has the largest variety of organisms.

The kingdoms are further split into a large number of smaller groups called ‘phyla’ (singular phylum) for animals and ‘division’ for plants. All members of a phylum or division have certain features in common. Each phylum or division is broken down into classes. Classes are split into orders. Orders are split into families. Families are split into genera (singular genus) and genera into species.

The seven groups used in classification of living things in order of hierarchy are;

Kingdom

↓

Phylum (Animal) or

Division (Plant)

↓

Class

↓

Order

↓

Family

↓

Genus

↓

Species

The species is the basic (i.e. smallest) unit in biological classification. A species is a group of individuals which can interbreed to produce fertile offspring. Example, all human beings belong to one species and all monkeys belong to a different species, thus human beings and monkeys cannot interbreed.

	Classification	Human	Dog	Lion
	Kingdom	Animalia	Animalia	Animalia
	Phylum	Chordata	Chordata	Chordata
	Class	Mammalia	Mammalia	Mammalia
	Order	Primate	Carnivora	Carnivora
	Family	Hominidae	Canidae	Felidae
	Genus	Homo	Canis	Panthera
	Species	sapiens	familiaris	leo

 

Binomial System of Nomenclature

A Swiss scientist, Carl Von Linne (1707 – 1778) (Latin – Carolus Linnaeus) introduced the present system of classification of living things. He also introduced the binomial system of nomenclature in which an organism is given two names. The first name is the generic name and always begins with a capital letter while the second name is the specific name (species) and begins with a small letter. The generic name is common to all the species in a genus e.g. Equus cabellus (horse), Equus acinus (the donkey), Equus Burchell (common Zebra) are different species of the same genus.

Examples of Scientific names of some organisms

(i) Man – Homo sapiens

(ii) Housefly – Musca domestica

(iii) Maize – Zea mays

(iv) Orange – Citrus sinensis

(v) Pawpaw – Carica papaya

 

 

 

 

Classification and Evolution

As a result of advances in the field of science a five-kingdom system introduced by R.H Whittaker (1969) has been adopted by some biologists. Most biologist however, prefer to divide living things into prokaryotes (bacteria and blue-green algae) and eukaryotes (all other organisms) based on the complexity of cell structure and cell chemistry.

Prokaryotids – Monera: bacteria, blue-green algae

Eukaryotids – Protista: protozoa, unicellular algae

Fungi: yeasts inclusive

Plantae: multicellular plants and multicellular algae

Animalia: multicellular animals

The five-kingdom classification is as follows;

1. Kingdom Monera,
2. Kingdom Protista (Protoctista),
3. Kingdom Fungi,
4. Kingdom Plantae and
5. Kingdom animalia.

Viruses

These are not cells. They are particles made up of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) or RNA (ribonucleic acid) surrounded by a protein coat. The genetic material is composed of a few genes that code for the proteins that form the coat and other proteins that help it reproduce.

They are very harmful parasites that enter the cells of another organism (host) in order to multiply.

They do not respond to antibiotics and are constantly changing into new strains.

A. Kingdom Monera 

Monera is a classification of living things, most especially unicellular organism in the animal kingdom that is made up of prokaryotes. As such, it is composed of single-celled organisms that lack a nucleus. The taxon Monera was first proposed as a phylum by Ernst Haeckel in 1866. Subsequently, the phylum was elevated to the rank of kingdom in 1925 by Édouard Chatton

1. They are unicellular
2. The cells are prokaryotic with no organized nucleus and no nuclear membrane, just a loop of DNA within the cytoplasm.
3. They do not have complex chromosomes
4. Cells have no mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum and no chloroplasts.
5. Cell wall does not contain cellulose but polysaccharides and amino acids
6. No sexual reproduction.
7. They may be autotrophic or heterotrophic

Examples include bacteria and blue-green algae.

 

B. Kingdom Protista

The term ‘Protista’ is derived from the Greek word “protistos”, meaning “the very first“. These unicellular organisms are usually heterotrophic and the cells of these organisms contain a nucleus which is bound to the organelles. Some of them even possess structures that aid movement like flagella or cilia.

(i) The organisms are eukaryotic and unicellular.

(ii) Some are heterotrophic, some are autotrophic and some are both

(iii) Reproduction is usually asexual by mitosis but some have sexual reproduction by fusion of gametes.

(iv) Movement may be by cilia, flagella or maybe amoeboid

(v) The kingdom is divided into the following phyla;

(a). Phylum protozoa: Examples are Amoeba, Paramecium, Zooflagellates, Plasmodium, Trypanosoma

(b). Phylum Euglenophyta: Example Euglena

(c). Phylum Cryophyte: Example diatoms

(d). Phylum Pyrrophyta: Example dinoflagellates

 

C. Kingdom Fungi

fungus, the plural is plural fungi, is any of some144,000 known species of living things of the kingdom Fungi, which includes the yeasts, rusts, smuts, mildews, molds, and mushrooms. There are also numerous funguslike organisms, including slime molds and oomycetes (water molds), which do not belong to kingdom Fungi but are often referred to as Fung

(i) Some are unicellular e.g. yeast, many are multicellular e.g. Rhizopus, mushroom and toadstools.

(ii) The body of a fungi is composed of threads/filaments each called a hypha.

(iii) All the hyphae of a single organism are collectively called mycelium.

(iv) There are many nuclei in a cell.

(v) All fungi are heterotrophic – They lack chlorophyll. Some are saprophytic, some are parasitic and some are symbiotic.

(vi) Fungi together with bacteria are the principal decomposers in the biosphere

(vii) Fungi reproduces by asexual or sexual methods.

 

The brightly colored fly agaric mushroom is a deadly poisonous mushroom. Containing biogenic acid and a number of other organic poisons, fly agaric can cause severe damage to the central nervous system, blood vessels, kidneys, liver, and muscles. Symptoms, which may not become apparent for 8 to 12 hours or longer, include nausea, vomiting, and severe diarrhea and can lead to coma and death.

 

 

1. Kingdom fungi Eukaryotes): Mainly non-motile organisms composed of hyphae containing nuclei e.g. Moulds, mushrooms and Rhizopus.

2. Kingdom plantae Eukaryotes) mainly called non-motile organisms which contain chlorophyl II that enable them to photosynthesis e.g. perns pine soil palms and yam plants.

3. Kingdom Aniyaha (Eukaryotes) has many- celled, motile organisms that feed on another organism e.g. corals worms, frogs, snakes, monkeys and cows.

 

The topic is presented step by step

Step 1: The class teacher revises the old topic

Step 2: The class teacher introduces the new topic

Step 3: The class teacher allows the pupils to give their own contributions and gives room for pupils” participation

 

Class Teacher and Students Activities. Interaction or Participation 

This involves class teacher and pupils’ interaction, conversation, imitation or modeling through discussion, play method or just by recitation or asking and answering questions that are related to the topic that has just been taught.

 

Teacher Activities

1. Teacher to grow cultures of bacteria and blue-green algae
2. Teacher prepares slides of Chlamydomonas or amoeba
3. The teacher guides the students to collect ditch water and view samples under

 

 

Students Activities.

1. Students to observe the cultures, record and make inferences
2. Students view the slides and ditch water under the microscope, record their observations and make inferences

 

 

Evaluation

 

1. state the characteristics features of the kingdom of Monera and Protista
2. List five features of single celled organism
3. Draw a well labelled diagram of Chlamydomonas
4. With a well labelled diagram, draw the moss plant
5. state five examples of single celled organisms
6. Draw a well labelled diagram of paramecium and Amoeba
7. state how to grow Rhizopus.
8. Describe Rhizopus and mushrooms.
9. Describe structures, habitats and adaptive features of moss, Ferm, Lemna, pistia and flowering plants.
10. Describes structures, habitats and habitat adaptive features of earthworms, cockroach, snail, toad etc.

 

 

 

 

..