Lesson plan

Kingdoms of Life

Summary
Students collect samples from each of the kingdoms of life, then view them under microscopes.
Science content
Biology: Classification of Living Things, Biodiversity (1, 3)
Procedure

Hunt for specimens from each of the Kingdoms of Life, then use magnifiers and microscopes to view them closely.

Notes on each Kingdom and how to magnify:
Animals are best viewed under dissecting microscopes, to see body parts within the whole animal. You can also look at cheek cells under the transmission microscope, to see . Daphnia can be put under the transmission microscope, but too large and moving too much.
Plants under either microscope. Tear a leaf to make an edge with a thin layer, to see individual cells.
Fungi - best under dissecting microscope, to see individual filaments.
Protists - transmission microscope. Separate out a few pond algae filaments, to view the line of cells (with nuclei and chloroplasts). Also single celled protists swimming among the algae filaments (if the algae has not dried out).
Monera - hard to find in soil because of all the dirt particles, but look for moving dots under 100X and 400X. Also find bacteria in a scoop of yogurt - look at it right away before it dries up under the hot microscope lamp.

Grades taught
Gr 5
Gr 6
Gr 7