School of Anthias over green algae
Click on image for full size
Image courtesy of Corel Photography
Related links:
A Matter of Scale - interactive showing the sizes of things, from very tiny to huge - from NSF
Microscopic Fossils Offer Big Clues to Earth's Climate
Kingdom Protista
Members of the Kingdom Protista are the simplest of the eukaryotes.
Protistans are an interesting assemblage of organisms classified for what
they are not. Protistans lack characteristics shared by
plants,
fungi, and
animals, but they're not
bacteria.
Essentially, this Kingdom is home for the "leftover" organisms that couldn't be classified elsewhere!
Protists can be unicellular, multicellular or colonial. Some move around and act like animals, others perform photosynthesis like plants, and still others seem to "think" they're fungi! You might not think a tiny one-celled amoeba has much in common with a giant sea kelp, but they're both members of the protist kingdoms.
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Science, Evolution, and Creationism", by the National Academies, provides fascinating background on these topics for all, and is particularly useful for the Earth and space science classroom. Check our other
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