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Unicellular Organisms. What is a unicellular organism?. Any life form that consists of a single cell. They can move, digest food, and reproduce. Euglena. Environment: Ponds or puddles with rich organic matter. Movement: By flagella Important Structures: Cell Membrane
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What is a unicellular organism? • Any life form that consists of a single cell. • They can move, digest food, and reproduce.
Euglena • Environment: Ponds or puddles with rich organic matter. • Movement: By flagella • Important Structures: • Cell Membrane • Nucleus: controls cell activities and contains DNA • Flagellum: helps to move • Chloroplast: helps with photosynthesis • Contractile Vacuole: removes excess water • Cytoplasm • Food: They make their own food or absorb food from their environment.
Euglena • Chloroplasts help to make their own food by photosynthesis. • Can absorb food from their environment. • This means they are considered heterotrophic (consume food) and autotrophic (make food).
Amoeba • Environment: Mud at the bottom of freshwater ponds. • Movement: They change shapes which allows them to move (called shape shifters). • Important Structures: • Cytoplasm: carries out chemical reactions • Nucleus: controls the cell • Cell Membrane: allows substances to enter and exit the cell • Food Vacuole: digests food • Contractile Vacuole: gets rid of excess water • Pseudopodium: what allows it to move over mud (false foot) • Capturing Prey: They surround their prey and engulf it.
Amoeba • Some are considered parasites. • They reproduce asexually by splitting into two parts (fission). • They eat: algae, bacteria, plant cells, and other unicellular organisms.
Volvox • Environment: ponds, ditches, shallow puddles • Movement: They beat flagella which allows it to swim. • Important Structures: • Daughter colonies • Flagella: helps to move • Chloroplast: contains chlorophyll • Food: makes its own food by photosynthesis.
Volvox • Daughter colonies mature and the Volvox bursts open to release them.
Paramecium • Environment: Fresh water or stagnant water • Movement: Cilia bend and straighten helping propel the paramecium through water • Important Structures: • Contractile Vacuoles (2): removes excess water • Cytoplasm: water absorption • Cilia: hair-like projections that propel it through water • Nucleus: controls cell activities • Food: uses cilia to sweep the food into the cell.
Paramecium • They fire trichocysts at predators to defend themselves. Trichocysts sting the predator. • They can move backward when they bump into something. • They feed on bacteria, algae, and yeast through the cilia. • They reproduce by splitting in two (fission). • Algae live in the cytoplasm of a paramecium.
Citations • Paramecium Pics: • infovisual.info • goscienceseven.com • microscope-microscope.org • Amoeba Pics: • enchantedlearning.com • microscopy-uk.org.uk • leavingbio.net • VolvoxPics: • morning-earth.org • rkm.com.au • volvoxaureus.com • Euglena Pics: • infovisual.info • fcps.edu • schursastrophotography.com