Amoeba Power Pt

8/19/2019 Amoeba Power Pt.

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The Shape ShifterThe Amoeba


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Facts:

• The amoeba is a tiny, one-celled

organism. You need a microscope to see

most amoebas - the largest are only about

1 mm across.

• Amoebas live in fresh ater, salt ater, in

et soil, and in animals !including people".


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Anatomy

• An amoeba consists of a single cell surrounded

by a porous cell membrane. The amoeba

#breathes# using this membrane - o$ygen gas

from the ater passes in to the amoeba throughthe cell membrane and carbon dio$ide gas

leaves through it.

• %elly-li&e cytoplasm fills most of the cell. A large

nucleus ithin the amoeba controls its groth

and reproduction.


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Diet

• Amoebas eat algae, bacteria, plant cells,

and microscopic proto'oa. (ome

amoebas are parasites.

• They eat by surrounding tiny particles of

food ith pseudopods, forming a bubble-

li&e food vacuole. The food vacuole

digests the food.

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/bacterium/http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/bacterium/


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Locomotion

• Amoebas move by changing the

shape of their body, and oo'ing in

random directions. The oo'eforms a pseudopod. The ord

pseudopod means #false foot.#


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• Pelomyxa proteus is the largest

amoeba you can find in pondater. )t inhabits the often o$ygen

poor mud on the bottom of ponds.They can become truly huge for a

single celled organism. (ome of

them can be * millimeters.


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) e$amined

the sample

under the

microscope itloo&ed li&e

nothing more

than dirt but

beteen itere some

big

gelatinous

spheres.

Then )noticed that

they ere

sloly

moving+


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Amoeba roteus, the largest amoeba of them all.


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Feeding Strategies

• These to images of Amoeba proteus shos ho a ciliate is surrounded by uic&developing pseudopods. The ama'ing

thing is that the amoeba doesnt touch theciliate until it can/t escape. 0sually thepseudopods form a &ind of /dome/ thatma&es escaping impossible. They have tohave some sort of chemical detectionsince they notice a prey ithout having totouch it.


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These pictures sho

an amoeba eating.

2otice the pseudopods

that are used to

enclose a small ciliate.


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1.Nucleus

2.Contractile

vacuole

3.Food

vacuole

4. Pseudopod


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An Amoeba

is seen here

splitting by

cell division.3hen

complete

division is

complete,there ill be

to ne

amoebas.

This is hat a typical amoeba could loo& li&e under your

microscope. They appear as dirt until you notice they 4567+


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Things to identify on your amoeba:

• 2ucleus

• Food vacuole

• 8ontractile vacuole• 9escribe pseudopod

• 8ytoplasm

• 8ell 4embrane• 9escribe cytoplasmic streaming

Documents

Amoeba Power Pt