King Protista

Here is a fun skit that a fellow tutor put together to introduce the lesser known of the five kingdoms -- Protista.
Enjoy!!

Protozoa & Algae Skit:

King Protista: Hi! I am King Protista! All: Hi! What do you mean by King Protista? King Protista: Well I’m in charge of the kingdom called Protista and I have 2 groups I supervise that I just love! All: What are they? King Protista: They are Protozoa and Algae. Let me introduce you to protozoa.

All: Hi protozoa! Protozoa 1: Hi! Let me tell you a little about ourselves. We are single celled and can only be seen with a microscope. We have eukaryotic cells. All: What is that? Protozoa 2: That means we have a true kernel. All: You mean like Colonel Sanders Chicken or popcorn kernels. Protozoa 3: Well, neither actually. It just means we have a nucleus, also known as a kernel! All: Oh, ok! Protozoa 1: We live in fresh water such as ponds and also in the oceans. Some of us are parasites! All: Yuk! Protozoa 2: Yes we actually live inside humans. We get around by using our organelles or little feet. Humans can hold up to 25 different kinds of protozoa at one time! All: Oh, know. I hope I don’t get sick thinking about this! King Protista: Well, let’s hear about 4 different types of protozoa. Amoeba: Hi I’m amoeba and I am in the shape of a blob. My body constantly changes shape! I have arms called pseudopods that help me move. Euglena: I’m euglena! I’m a little smaller than my friend the amoeba. I have a tail called a flagellum that allows me to move. I also have a red circle called an eye spot that God made for me so that I can see light. Paramecium: I’m Paramecium and I’m one of the largest protozoa! We have hairs known as cilia to move back and forth so we can get around! Plasmodium: And I am Plasmodium. I like mosquitos! All: We don’t like mosquitos! Plasmodium: We live in the mosquito’s mouth among the salvia! If we happen to be in the mouth of the mosquito that bites you we can transfer the disease called Malaria. All: Wow! I guess that’s why we have shots to help prevent Malaria, especially when going overseas where infections can be more likely. Protozoa 3: That’s correct. Some protozoans also cause death. This usually happens in other countries where the water is not clean. If you see a sign that says don’t drink the water, please do what it says! King Protista: Now I’d like to introduce you to the other group under me that I love. They are called Algae. Algae 1: We display many beautiful colors, sort of like a rainbow. Our colors though are made of browns, greens and yellows. We look similar to a bracelet of beads! Algae 2: We can look like tiny stars too. Algae 1: We grow to the size of 1/25,000 of an inch! All: Wow, no wonder we need a microscope to see you guys. Algae 2: Actually some of us are quite large and grouped together, like seaweed. Algae 1: Seaweed contains many cells gathered up to 30 meters long or about 98.4 feet. All: Wow that’s some good math skills! Algae 2: We live in fresh water and the oceans too as well as on ice! We also live in hot springs. Algae 1: Can anyone tell me where a hot spring is located? __________________________ . All: Great job! Well I think that’s all for now. Let’s have them look at examples of us under the micro viewer! Have fun!