A mushroom grows out of the soil, but it is not green. Is it a plant?
Your guess
Pick one before you read on. It is fine to be wrong.
By the end you can
Sort living things into plants, animals, fungi and microbes
Sort animals into vertebrates and invertebrates, with examples
All the living things in one place, and the way they depend on each other, make an ecosystem. A pond is one. A forest is another. To study an ecosystem, you first need names for what lives in it.
There are millions of kinds of living things. Nobody can learn them one by one. So we sort them into groups.
A group tells you what to expect. If you know a thing is in a group, you already know a lot about it. Watch the four big groups build up.
Draw it first
The four groups of living things
1 Plants stand in one place. Grass, ferns and trees are plants.
2 Animals move about to find food. An ant, a fish and a goat are animals.
3 Fungi are mushrooms, moulds and puffballs. They are not plants.
4 Microbes are living things too small to see without a microscope.
Plants make their own food from light. They have green leaves for this. Animals cannot make food, so they eat other living things.
A plant. The green leaves catch light to make food.
Fungi (one is a fungus) have no leaves and no green. They cannot make food from light. They soak up food from the things they grow on, such as dead wood or old bread.
See it three ways
As a picture
In words
Plants make food from light. Animals eat food. A mushroom does neither, so it fits in neither circle. It is a fungus.
Microbes are the smallest living things. They are all around you, in soil, water and air. One drop of pond water holds thousands. Some microbes help us and some make us ill. Some fungi, such as yeast, are microbes too. Algae, which grow in ponds and the sea, make food from light like plants.
How each group gets food.
Now look inside the animal group. Some animals have a backbone, a row of small bones down the back. We call them vertebrates. People, fish, frogs, snakes, birds and goats are vertebrates.
The spine is the backbone. A person is a vertebrate.
Animals with no backbone are invertebrates. Ants, spiders, snails, worms and crabs are invertebrates. Most animals on Earth are invertebrates.
Animals with a backbone, and animals without one.
Try it
Find and sort
You need: a pencil, a sheet of paper, a small place outside, such as a yard or a path edge.
Be safe: Do not touch or taste a mushroom. Stay away from nests and from animals that sting or bite. Wash your hands when you finish.
Draw three columns on the paper. Write plants, animals and fungi at the top.
Look around the place for ten minutes. Write the name or draw each living thing in its column.
Do not pick, dig or catch anything. Look, count, and leave it as you found it.
Count each column.
What you will see: Most of what you find is plants. You find fewer animals, because many hide or move away. You may find no fungi at all. Microbes are there too, but too small to see.
If you cannot try it, this is what happens.
A wrong idea many people have
A mushroom is a plant.
Why it feels right: It grows out of the soil and stays in one place.
The test that breaks it: Look for green leaves. A mushroom has none. It can grow in a dark, damp place where a plant would die for lack of light.
What is true: A mushroom is a fungus. Fungi are a group of their own. They cannot make food, so they soak it up from what they grow on.
Key words
ecosystem
all the living things in one place and the way they depend on each other.
fungi
living things such as mushrooms and moulds. They have no leaves and soak up food.
microbes
living things too small to see without a microscope.
backbone
the row of small bones down the back, also called the spine.
vertebrates
animals with a backbone.
invertebrates
animals with no backbone.
Back to your guess
The answer is A: No. It is a fungus, which is a group of its own.
A mushroom is a fungus. Fungi make no food from light and have no leaves, so they are not plants. They do not eat and move like animals either.
Check yourself
Try each one before you look. A wrong answer tells you where to go next.
A mushroom grows from the soil. It has no leaves and makes no food from light. Which group is it in?
See the answer
Fungi
A mushroom has no leaves, makes no food from light and does not eat. It soaks up food from what it grows on. That makes it a fungus.
If you chose B: You may be thinking that anything growing from soil is a plant. Plants make food from light with green leaves. A mushroom cannot. Go to S3.2.1.
If you chose C: You may be thinking that a thing that is not green must be an animal. Animals eat and move about. A mushroom stays put and soaks up its food. Go to S3.2.1.
Which living things are too small to see without a microscope?
See the answer
Microbes
Microbes are so small that you need a microscope to see one. A drop of pond water can hold thousands.
If you chose A: You can see and hold a mushroom. Size is what marks out microbes, and they are far smaller. Go to S3.2.1.
If you chose B: You can see an ant easily. Invertebrates are animals with no backbone, and many are big enough to see. Go to S3.2.1.
Which group is made of living things that make their own food from light?
See the answer
Plants
Green leaves catch light and plants use it to make food. No other group does this.
If you chose A: Animals cannot make food. They eat plants or other animals. Go to S3.2.1.
If you chose B: You may think a fungus is a kind of plant. Fungi have no leaves and cannot use light to make food. Go to S3.2.1.
Which of these animals is a vertebrate?
See the answer
A fish
A fish has a backbone, so it is a vertebrate. An ant and a spider have none.
If you chose A: An ant has no backbone. Its body is held up by a hard case on the outside. Go to S3.2.1.
If you chose C: A spider has eight legs but no backbone, so it is an invertebrate. Go to S3.2.1.
A worm has no backbone. What is it called?
See the answer
An invertebrate
An animal with no backbone is an invertebrate. A worm is one.
If you chose A: A vertebrate has a backbone. A worm has none, so it is not one. Go to S3.2.1.
If you chose C: A worm eats and moves about, so it is an animal. Plants stay in one place and make their own food. Go to S3.2.1.
In a yard, Ana found 8 plants, 3 animals and 1 fungus. How many living things did she find in all?
See the answer
12 living things
Add the three groups. 8 + 3 + 1 = 12.
Keep it
Copy this into your exercise book.
Living things go in four groups: plants, animals, fungi and microbes. A fungus is not a plant. Animals with a backbone are vertebrates. Animals with none are invertebrates.
Draw: Draw four boxes and write the groups. Put two living things in each. Write vertebrate or invertebrate by each animal.
