Kingdom Protista - Amoeba

• amoeba are single celled organisms that live in freshwater streams, rivers, ponds and lakes as well as seas and oceans
• they are heterotrophic in nutrition feeding on other protists, bacteria and single-celled fungi
• amoeba contain a nucleus which controls all the cell activities
• they cytoplasm is made up of a thin outer layer called ectoplasm and a fluid inner layer called endoplasm
• amoeba do not have a definite shape as its cytoplasm is constantly flowing - the cytoplasm can push out at any point on its surface to form pseudopodia
• its cell membrane allows diffusion of oxygen into its cell and carbon dioxide out
• pseudopodia allows for movement and is also used in the feed of prey
• prey is surround by two pseudopdia and get pulled into the cytoplams
• fat droplets store fact - an energy reserve
• food vacuoles secrete acids and digestive enzymes to kill and digest prey
• a contractile vacuole is a special structure which allows for osmoregulation - collects excess water
• the contractile vacuole expands, move to the cell surface and squeezes out water
• amoeba reproduce by mitosis