The Living Kingdoms: Basic Explanation, Quiz and Jigsaw

Living organisms are divided into five kingdoms:

•  Monera - the most simple living things.
•  Protista - eukaryotes with only one cell.
•  Fungi - mushrooms, mould and yeast.
•  Plantae - all plants, such as trees and grass.
•  Animalia - all animals, including people.

Sometimes, you will see a 6-kingdom classification, where monera is sub-divided into archaebacteria and eubacteria. For the purpose of this post, we will maintain the 5-kingdom classification.

How are living organisms classified?

They are classified according to:

•  cell type
•  number of cells and
•  type of nutrition

Monera (or prokaryotes) are the simplest living beings. They have only one cell, but which hasn't got a nucleus. Cells with a nucleus are called eukaryotes. Some monera are autotrophic meaning they are capable of manufacturing complex organic nutritive compounds from simple inorganic sources such as carbon dioxide, water, and nitrates, using light or chemical energy; and some are heterotrophic meaning they cannot synthesize their own food and are dependent on complex organic substances for nutrition.

Monera include all kinds of bacteria.

Protista are also very small. Most have only one cell, but some have a few. Unlike monera, they are eukaryotes. They can be autotrophic or heterotrophic.

Examples of protista are single-celled algae and amoebae (singular: amoeba).

Most fungi (singular: fungus) are multicellular, although yeast is unicellular. Their cells have nuclei (singular: nucleus), which means they are eukaryotes. Unlike plants, fungi do not have tissues, and they cannot make their own food, i.e. they are heterotrophic.

Mushrooms, mould and yeast are fungi.

The plantae kingdom is the second largest kingdom, with over 250,000 species. They are autotrophic eukaryotes, which means they have complex cells, and can make their own food.

Plants range from tiny mosses to enormous trees. There are flowering plants called angiosperms and non-flowering plants called gymnosperms. Without plants, there will probably be no life here on Earth! Almost all heterotrophs feed on plants.

The largest kingdom is animalia, consisting of over 1 million species. All animals are heterotrophic eukaryotes with many complex cells. The higher animals are vertebrates, such as birds and mammals;  and the lower animals are invertebrates. The simplest (least highly evolved) include the protozoa (singular: protozoan), sponges, jellyfish, and worms. Other invertebrates include arthropods, molluscs, and echinoderms.

Try this quiz to test/reinforce your knowledge. If you provide a valid email, you will receive your results (with the correct answers) automatically.

Click here to begin the quiz

Images sourced from Wiki Commons

Teachers, please take note: some of my quizzes, like this one, for example, ask for an email. If an email is provided, the results will be sent automatically to it. This allows you to grade/check your students' progress. If you haven't got an email for this purpose, I'd suggest creating one for this purpose, and ask the students to provide that email in the quiz.

JIGSAW PUZZLES

Click here for the 49-piece jigsaw puzzle.

If you think you're good, try this 150-piece!

Please provide feedback in the comments section below. It's what keep this blog going. :-)

Rugby Union: Quiz on rules and the World Cup

Click here to start this online crossword puzzle on the basic rules of rugby. Don't forget to come back here when you've finished to report your score in the comments section.


Thanks goes to Nestor, Nico, Pablo y Alejandra for their contribution.

Image by: Michel Béga

Click here for a 36-piece jigsaw puzzle

Click here for a 100-piece jigsaw puzzle

Adjectives of Emotions and Feelings: -ed vs -ing endings, quiz, crossword, jigsaw

Here are a few activities to help you learn adjectives which describe emotions and feelings. If you still get confused with the -ed and the -ing endings, remember that you are interested in something, but it's the thing itself that is interesting.

Examples:

The students were confused by his confusing explanation.

I'm excited about my new job. I think it will be exciting!

Click here to start the quiz. Provide a valid email and the results (along with the correct answers) will be automatically mailed to you.

Click here to start this online crossword puzzle. Don't forget to come back here when you've finished to report your score in the comments section.

Click here to play the 32-piece jigsaw puzzle.

Click here for the 64-piece jigsaw puzzle.

At the Airport: Putting Dialogue in Sequence, Matching, Jigsaw

My original posts on dialogue at the airport check-in and at the passport control have been rather popular, so I decided to improve them slightly here.

They have been combined into one quiz, and a matching vocabulary exercise has been added, too.

If you provide a valid email address, the results of the quiz along with the correct answers will be sent to it automatically.

Both the dialogues can be used as a guide for role-playing activities in the classroom. In role-playing activities, always encourage students to be adventurous in changing parts of the dialogue to suit their own circumstances.

Click here to begin the quiz.

And here's a fun 64-piece online jigsaw puzzle. Click here to begin.

Capitals of the World Online Quiz & Jigsaw Puzzles

Identify which country these 20 capitals belong to. Feedback is, as always, much appreciated. Click to begin!

My recent crossword puzzles have been rather popular, so here are some more!

30-piece beginners jigsaw puzzle

60-piece intermediate jigsaw puzzle

140-piece advanced jigsw puzzle

Line Symmetry: video, quizzes, and online jigsaw puzzle

Last updated: 22 March 2010

Symmetry is covered in different subjects, for example, mathematics, science, technology, and humanities, but for the majority of us, the most familar form of understanding symmetry is geometrical symmetry. Within geometrical symmetry, there are also different types, the most familiar being line symmetry and rotational symmetry.

This post will deal only with 2-dimensional line symmetry.

If we draw an imaginary line across an object, and one side of it is the mirror image of the other, the object is said to have line symmetry; this imaginary line is called the 'line of symmetry'. Line symmetry is also known as reflection symmetry, mirror symmetry, mirror-image symmetry and bilateral symmetry.

Some objects, such as a butterfly, have only one line of symmetry; others have more than one.

We can see many examples of symmetry around us every day, for example, animals, traffic signs, cars, buildings and, of course, the human form itself.

Watch this video on symmetry by clicking on the image below. Due to copyrights issues, I am unable to embed the video here, but when you click on the image you will be directed to the video on Youtube.

Put your knowledge of symmetry to the test with this activity on geometric shapes. Click here to begin.

And now, try this quiz. Your email is required; you will get the results together with the corrections sent to you. Click here to begin.

And if you enjoy a jigsaw puzzle challenge, try this 60-piece Taj Mahal puzzle. Click here to begin.

When you've done all the activities, please come back here to comment. Thanks. Have fun learning!

Practise axial and radial symmetrical drawing online on this site. It's in Spanish though.

Colour Wheel (ART) - Online Jigsaw Puzzle

This is especially for jigsaw puzzle fans. I've created two versions; a 36-piece and a 100-piece one. 

While you're playing, try to remember that if you add one primary colour to another, you'll get a secondary colour, e.g. blue + yellow = green; and if you add a secondary colour and a primary colour, you'll get a tertiary colour, e.g.  green + blue = green-blue.

As usual, feedback will be greatly appreciated! Have fun!

Click here for the 36-piece jigsaw.

Click here for the 100-piece jigsaw.

The jigsaws are pretty simple. All the pieces are already the right way up, so there isn't any need to rotate any of them.

Reptiles: can you tell the difference between an alligator and a crocodile?

There is a great variety of reptiles here on planet Earth, and they first started to evolve more than 300 million years ago. There are more than 8,000 species of reptiles, and they include crocodiles, lizards, snakes, and turtles.

The majority of reptiles are oviparous (egg-laying), have scales, and breathe air through their lungs. Apart from snakes, all other reptiles have legs. Their legs are short and are used for crawling. Reptiles are cold-blooded, which explains why they like to lie in the sun!

They range in size from the tiny gecko (1.6 cm) to the saltwater crocodile, which may reach up to 7m in length and weigh over 1,000 kg! The leatherback turtle has endured for 100 million years, and can easily weigh 400 kg. A python can reach 10m in length, and a tortoise can live to more than 200 years!

Among the most frequently asked questions are what the differences are between a gecko and a lizard, a crocodile and an alligator, and a tortoise and a turtle.

The most important difference between a tortoise and a turtle is that a tortoise live on land and a turtle live in water.

A gecko is a type of lizard. They are usually small and live in warm climates. There are, however, many kinds of lizards (almost 4,000 species) and they include iguanas, chameleons, and the largest living lizard, the Komodo Dragon.

The difference between an alligator and a crocodile lies in its snout. The snout of a crocodile is long and is almost V-shaped. On the other hand, an alligator has a wider, U-shaped snout. Also, when their mouths are closed, you can see the crocodile's teeth but the alligator's teeth are not as visible.

Now, try this reptile labelling game. Have fun learning and don't forget to comment!

Click here to play the quiz.

10x8 Jigsaw Puzzle

14x7 Jigsaw Puzzle

Sources: Wiki, eHow, Yahoo, Enchanted Learning and National Geographic.