Global climate is the average climate over the entire planet. And the
reason scientists and folks like you are concerned is that Earth's
global climate is changing. The planet is warming up fast—faster than at
any time scientists know about from their studies of Earth's entire
history.
Living things are biological structures that respond to changes in the environment or within their own entities.
This includes animals, plants, fungi and the single-celled organisms
known as bacteria. Living things have complex biochemical organizations
that allow them to process substances and utilize energy in order to
respond to changes around them
These characteristics include the ability to grow, reproduce, take in
and use energy, excrete waste, respond to the environment, and possess
an organized structure more complex than that of non-living things.
Characteristics of living organisms
All living organisms exhibit certain characteristics of life.
Protists are a diverse collection of organisms. While exceptions exist,
they are primarily microscopic and unicellular, or made up of a single
cell. The cells of protists are highly organized with a nucleus and
specialized cellular machinery called organelles.
An Amoeba proteus, left, with a Paramecium bursaria. Amoeba can change shape and move around by extending their pseudopodia, or 'false feet.' Paramecium move by using the cilia.
Monera
The Monera Kingdom consists of unicellular lifeforms. Unicellular means
that they only have one cell. Moneran cells are far simpler and more
basic than the cells of other lifeforms. These cells have no nucleus,
and are also missing many of the organelles, or parts, commonly found in
other cells. For this reason, monerans are thought to be very distantly
related to other lifeforms.
Fungi are a
group of living organisms which are classified in their own kingdom. This means
they are not animals, plants, or bacteria. Unlike bacteria, which have simple
prokaryotic cells, fungi have complex eukaryotic cells like animals and plants.
Fungi are found throughout the Earth including on land, in the water, in the
air, and even in plants and animals. They vary widely in size from
microscopically small to the largest organisms on Earth at several square miles
large. There are more than 100,000 different identified species of fungi.
Plants
The Plantae Kingdom is made up of all the plants that you see each day.
Most plants are multi-cellular, meaning that they consist of many
cells. Different types of plants include trees, grass, flowers, and some
types of algae.
Plants use the light from the Sun to produce their own food. This allows
them to grow almost anywhere, as long as there is enough water.
Plants get their green color from the chlorophyll which is found inside
of their cells. Plants use chlorophyll to collect energy from the light
of the Sun. They then use this energy to create food. In this process,
they create the food we eat and the oxygen we need to breathe. Plants
are very important to the life of almost every other living thing.
Animals
Like many other lifeforms, animals are multi-cellular. These cells come
together, forming tissues, organs and organ systems, that help sustain
the life of the animal. From elephants to snails, animals come in many
shapes and sizes, and can be found all over the world.
Animals cannot make their own food. They must rely on other living
things, such as plants, fungi, and other animals to sustain them.
Without other food sources, animals could not survive.
There are more species of animals than in all the other kingdoms
combined. From worms, to blue whales, to bald eagles, animals have
evolved to fit a wide variety of niches.
