Protists
By Nayab Yasin
Amoeba
How do they move?
The Amoeba move by changing the shape of their body, by forming a pseudopod. A pseudopod is a "false foot." They extend their pseudopod and then go to direction they want to go in.How do they eat?
The amoeba eats by moving its clear endoplasm toward their food. The pseudopod extends out and wraps around a food particle. This process is called phagocytosis. Then the food that the amoeba takes in is digested in the food vacuole.
How do they reproduce?
Amoebas reproduce asexually by binary fission. The parent cell divides, the nucleus also divides in a process called fission, and produces two smaller copies of the amoeba.
How do they respond to their environment?
They respond to their enviroment by letting out the water when there is too much in cell. When the water flows into the amoeba's ectoplasm by a process called osmosis.
Euglena
The euglena move by whipping their long flagella.
How do they eat?
The euglena eat by making their own food by photosynthesis. When the conditions are harsh however, the euglena absorbs nutrients from its surroundings. The eyespot of the euglena helps detect light. Light is what the euglena needs to make food because it makes its food using photosynthesis.
How do they reproduce?
In order for the euglena to make more euglenas it will complete a process called mitosis. That means it will split itself in half and become two. It can only do this if it has eaten the right amount of food and the temperature is right. The euglena reproduces better in warm temperatures.
How do they respond to their environment?
They eyespot helps the euglena find light to make food. If the euglena does not have light to make food, it will swim around to prey on other tiny organisms like the amoeba and paramecium.
Paramecium
The paramecium moves by using its cilia.
How do they eat?
The paramecium uses its cilia to sweep the food and some water into the cell after it falls into the oral groove. The paramecium feeds on microorganisms like bacteria, algae, yeasts.
How do they reproduce?
The paramecium is capable of both asexual and sexual reproduction. The paramecium reproduces asexually about two or three times a day. The paramecium usually reproduces sexually in harsh conditions. That is when two paramecium come together and exchange DNA to make another paramecium with the DNA from both.
How do they respond to their environment?
Paramecium can respond to different things like temperature, food, oxygen, and toxins. They have a very simple defense mechanism. This is called the trichocysts. This defense mechanism makes the paramecium look bigger to predators.
Volvox
The volvox has two flagella's. The flagella's help the volvox move.
How do they eat?
The volvox makes its own food by photosynthesis. The volvox contains an eyespot which helps it detect light and chlorophyll to help with photosynthesis. The volvox may consume other organisms as well.
How do they reproduce?
Each volvox colony has daughter colonies as well. When the colonies mature, the volvox bursts and releases the daughter colonies.
How do they respond to the environment?
The volvox moves in colonies. The colonies are composed of 500-50,000 cells arranged.