Guam - Living Kingdom

  • The proud komodo dragon on the soft lime green grass is waiting quietly in the grassy plane like a spy on a mission. The komodo dragon is more than 10 feet (3 meters) long and weighs up to 350 pounds. The komodo dragon is a giant among lizards. This monster is a fierce predator. The dragonÍs spit contains a poison. The poison gets into the blood of the prey. The poison weakens it so it canÍt run far. This is just one way animals protect them selves from their other relatives of the animal kingdom. I want to learn more about animal kingdom which includes animals, plants, fungi, protests and monera.
  • Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. and in this kingdom, photosynthisis is king! Plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. Plants obtain most of their energy from sunlight and we call this royal process photosynthesis. This use of chlorophyll contained in chloroplasts, gives plants their green color. There are at least three hundred thousand species of plants in the plant kingdom. The scientific study of plants is known as botany. And I want ot become a botinist.
  • The rust red bark on the tall redwoods take over the beauty of the forest. But don't just think of them as just another pretty face. Trees provide nourishment for our bodies and souls. With the help of protists and fungi, trees provide the oxygen we breathe and the food to help us live. Trees provide shade over our heads and cool carpets under our feet while surrounding us with beautiful colors and marking the change of seasons. Trees are an important component of the natural landscape because of their prevention of erosion and the provision of a weather-sheltered ecosystem. Wood from trees is a building material, as well as a primary energy source in many developing countries.
  • Have your parents ever asked you to go wash the germs off your hands? Well, those germs are actually very tiny living things called bacteria. There are many different kinds of bacteria, but all of them belong to the Kingdom Monera. Bacteria are very, very tiny. So tiny, that millions of them can fit on the tip of your finger! Because they are so small, you can't see the billions of them in the air, on your skin, and even inside your body! Bacteria may be small, but many of them are quite tough and can live just about anywhere. Bacteria often get a bad reputation because some of them cause disease. But many others are completely harmless. Some bacteria even do good things for us, such as turn milk into cheese! Bacteria were among the first life forms on Earth.
  • Insects lack a back bone. Its not that they can't stand up for themselves. In fact just try to get rid of one. They just keep coming back and they support each others survival like a close knit family. Insects are arthropods, they literally lack a backbone. All insects have a hard exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax, and abdomen), three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae. Their legs and wings are attached to the thorax. Insects breathe through holes called spiracles. Insects hatch from eggs. The biggest insect that ever lived was the ancient dragonfly called Meganeura. This predatory flying insect lived about 250 million years ago and had a wingspan of about 2 feet. Back bone or not, I do not want to ever meet this guy in a dark alley!
  • Have your parents ever asked you to go wash the
  • Protists are can be good or evil. Protists live in almost any environment that contains liquid water. Many protists, such as the algae, are photosynthetic and are vital producers in ecosystems, especially in the ocean plankton. Other protists, such as the Kinetoplastids and Apicomplexa, are responsible for a range of serious human diseases, such as malaria and sleeping sickness. The protists have a simple organization being unicellular or multi-cellular without specialized tissues. This simple cellular organization distinguishes the protists from other eukaryotes, such as fungi, animals and plants. Lets just say you gotta love em or hate em.