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Protists
By Steve Parker
Compass Points Books, 2010
Kingdom Classification series
ISBN # 9780756542245
Grades 5-9
Nonfiction
“Although protists are almost everywhere you look, you cannot see them. They are mostly microscopic life-forms, each made of one living unit called a cell. Some protists are like tiny animals because they take in or eat food. Other protists, the protophytans, are like tiny plants because they use the sun’s light energy to grow. Some protists have traits of both plants and animals.”
Anyone who has ever looked at a pond water sample has seen these living organisms and experienced the thrill of the viewing such tiny life forms. The thrill can be repeated again and again in this book, Protists. An introduction and explanation of what protists are leads to the section about parts of a protist. From there, food intake and adaptations for survival are explained in the text, which is broken into small segments surrounded by clear photos and diagrams. Life cycles, examples of the variety of protists, and harmful protists complete the information. The book has a complete table of contents and back matter includes a table of life classification, a chart showing the groups of protists, a glossary, further reading, and an index.
For middle school students, the book fits right in to the life science standards and provides excellent details about the wide variety of life in this strange group of organisms. Up close in a dazzling array of images, readers can get a deep look into the life forms we can’t ordinarily see.
Activity 1
Develop an adaptations chart. Create a way to show a comparison of how the different protists get food.
This site has additional information.
Activity 2
Using your knowledge of genetics, name some reasons single-celled organisms developed both sexual and asexual reproduction. Relate these reasons to their survival.
These sites have information that helps explain this topic.
National Science Standards: structure and function in living systems; diversity and adaptations of organisms
Book provided by publisher.
