Exploratour - Life on Earth

Bee on flower
Click on image for full size
Image courtesy of Corel Photography

Link to our section on life where you can read more about Animalia, Fungi, Monera, Protista, and Plantae.

Between 2 and 3 million species are currently known on Earth and new species are being discovered every year. From tiny yeasts to starfish to blue whales, the diversity of life is pretty awesome! With so many kinds of living things, how can we ever make sense of it all?

Scientists organize living things into groups according to how closely they are related. The smallest groups are called "species" which represent one kind of living thing. The largest groups are called "kingdoms". All living things are classified into five Kingdoms:
Kingdom Monera -- the bacteria
Kingdom Protista -- the protists
Kingdom Fungi -- the fungi
Kingdom Plantae -- the plants
Kingdom Animalia -- the animals

To see an example of how living things are classified, compare the classification schemes of humans with that of some other species.

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Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA