1. Kingdoms of Life Characteristics
CSCOPE Unit 10 lesson 02
**Before showing the information on each slide, be sure to ask students what they think the characteristics of each kingdom might be, based on their background knowledge and their experience doing the investigation.

2. ARCHAE Major Characteristics
Formerly called “Archaebacteria”
Prokaryote
Unicellular (one celled)
Have cell wall (peptidoglycan)
Autotroph or heterotroph
Asexual reproduction
If you have not already, review with students the differences between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.
Graphic citation: By me, derivative work (based on wikipedia commons Image:Halobacteria.jpg) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
(Discuss with students that archae are often found in extreme environments.)

3. BACTERIA Major Characteristics
Prokaryote
Unicellular (one celled)
Have cell wall (peptidoglycan)
Autotroph or heterotroph
Asexual reproduction
Helpful and harmful
Discuss with students briefly about bacteria that are helpful (such as bacteria in the gut) and bacteria that are harmful (those that cause disease such as e. coli).
Photo citations:
By Credit: Rocky Mountain Laboratories, NIAID, NIH [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
By CDC [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

4. PROTISTA Major Characteristics
Eukaryote
Most unicellular
Some colonial, some multicellular
May have a cell wall (cellulose)
Autotroph or heterotroph
Asexual or sexual reproduction
Image citations:
By GreenBlueRed (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
By Jerry Kirkhart [CC-BY-2.0 ( via Wikimedia Commons (slime mold)

5. FUNGI Major Characteristics
Eukaryote
Most multicellular, some unicellular
Cell wall (chitin)
Heterotroph
Asexual or sexual reproduction
Image citations: By Przykuta (Own work) [GFDL ( CC-BY-SA-3.0 ( or CC-BY-SA ( via Wikimedia Commons
By Snežana Trifunović (Own work) [GFDL ( or CC-BY-SA-3.0 ( via Wikimedia Commons

6. PLANTAE Major Characteristics
Eukaryote
Multicellular
Cell wall (cellulose)
Autotroph
Asexual or sexual reproduction
Image citations:
By User:Newt (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 ( via Wikimedia Commons
By Crusier (Own work) [GFDL ( or CC-BY-3.0 ( via Wikimedia Commons

7. ANIMALIA Major Characteristics
Eukaryote
Multicellular
No cell wall
Heterotroph
Sexual reproduction
Image citations:
By Akio Tanikawa ( [CC-BY-SA-2.5 ( via Wikimedia Commons
I, ArtMechanic [GFDL ( or CC-BY-SA-3.0 ( via Wikimedia Commons
By Elma from Reykjavík (Gullfiskur) [CC-BY-2.0 ( via Wikimedia Commons