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Similarities
All living things are made up of cells and exhibit levels of organization. This means that unlike nonliving things, such as minerals, different parts of the organism have different vital functions. They also maintain themselves by converting outside energy into useful forms, and they use part of this energy to grow and reproduce. They also adapt and respond to their environments through nerve activity or natural processes.
Monera
Monerans are unicellular and prokaryotic, which means that unlike most other kingdoms, they consist of only one cell and have no nucleus or other membrane-bound organelles. They have only one strand of DNA, which is duplicated when the cell undergoes binary fission, where the cell reproduces by duplicating its contents and splitting into two distinct organisms. These organisms are commonly called bacteria and are further subdivided by scientists into eubacteria, which have animal-like qualities, and cyanobacteria, which are plant-like.
Archaea
Archaea, or archaeabacteria, are grouped with monerans under some old classification systems, but they are usually recognized today as a distinct group. Archaea have a different method of protein creation than monerans do, and they also differ in their lipid composition and flagella construction. They often live in extreme environments that cannot support any other form of life.
Protista
Protists are a diverse group. Some are mobile and digest food like animals; others conduct photosynthesis like plants. Still others create spores like fungi. However, protists are different from all of these kingdoms because they are usually unicellular. Unlike monerans and archaea, however, they contain a membrane-bound nucleus, which contains their DNA.
Fungi
Most fungi are multicellular organisms like plants and animals. However, unlike either kingdom, they obtain energy by absorbing nutrients through their rhizoids, or root-like structures. Most fungi store this energy as glycogen, like animals, but they have cell walls like plants. Unlike plants, however, these cell walls are made of chitin instead of cellulose.
Plantae
Plants are multicellular organisms composed of organs and tissues that obtain energy through photosynthesis. Unlike the members of any other kingdom, plants have cell walls made of cellulose, which makes them rigid and impermeable. Many of these cells contain chloroplasts, organelles that facilitate photosynthesis. Although many unicellular organisms also perform photosynthesis, only plants and some protists contain chloroplasts.
Animalia
Animals are multicellular creatures like fungi and plants, but unlike either they contain membrane-bound cells and obtain energy by ingesting food. Most animals are also mobile. The majority of these creatures adapt and respond to their environments in more complex ways than those of any other kingdom, but not all are as complex as the large land creatures many people think of as animals. Anemones, corals, earthworms, fish and elephants are all animals.