Kingdom Protista Concept Questions

1. What are some important differences between bacteria and protists?

2. Why do protists live in aqueous environments?

3. What is the evolutionary significance of the three groups of protists?

4. What characteristics distinguish plant-like protists from animal-like protists?

5. Kingdom Protista contains organisms which do not seem to fit in any other kingdom. Do they actually have any characteristics in common?

6. Would you expect all students to observe exactly the same shape when observing a live amoeba under the microscope? Explain.

7. Unlike the higher plants, plant-like protists do not have roots, stems, or leaves. Explain why they do not require these structures?

8. Why are multicellular algae not classified as plants?

9. All protists are eukaryotic. Why, then, is this not considered a trait that defines the group?

10. You have a sample of pond water in which you want to look for protists. The jar has some mud at the bottom and some plant bits as well. Where would you look to find sarcodines? Ciliates?

11. Explain why plant-like protists are so important in aquatic food chains.