Welcome to the Kingdoms of Creation

A long time ago in land not so far away, the Creator made a world. This world was big and beautiful, wild and wonderful, fantastic and frightening. And the good news is it's ours.

A long time ago in land not so far away, the Creator made a world. This world was big and beautiful, wild and wonderful, fantastic and frightening. It was full of amazing creatures like the ping-pong tree sponge (an immobile creature that looks just like its name sounds but eats shrimp in the deep dark of the sea) and the dragon mantis (a large brown bug that appears to be covered in green leaves so that it can stalk its prey). It was covered with oceans and grasslands, forests and deserts, tundra and jungle, each with its own plants and animals, not to mention to the teeming mass of life that you cannot even see.

It was a busy world and a sight to behold.

And the good news is: you can see it. Just open your front door (unless you happen to be on a space station). Walk outside. See what you can see. Then come back here and we’ll explore it some more together.

Because here at the Kingdoms of Creation we explore the magical world that is our own - the wonderful world the Creator has given us through fiction and non-fiction and the line in between. Welcome aboard!

Table of Contents

Unit 1: A Tour of the Kingdom

• Chapter 1: The Organization of the Kingdoms

  • Part 1: A Bird’s Eye View of the Kingdom podcast

  • Part 2: What’s in a Name? A Map of the Kingdom podcast

• Chapter 2: What is a Creature?

  • Part 1: Living or Not Living - That is the Question podcast

  • Part 2: There’s a Certain Chemistry to All This Biology podcast

• Chapter 3: The Kingdoms of Archaea and Bacteria

  • Part 1: A Visit to the Tiny Kingdoms podcast

  • Part 2: Terra Incognita and More Familiar Lands podcast

  • Bonus: Let’s Play - Are You Alive? Virus Edition podcast

• Chapter 4: The Kingdoms of the Protists and the Fungi

  • Part 1: I See Something! podcast

  • Part 2: These are Fun Guys: Fungi and Fungus-Like Protists podcast

• Chapter 5: The Kingdom of Plants

  • Part 1: Tiptoe Through the Tulips (and the Liverworts) podcast

  • Part 2: Growing Tall and Staying Small - A Map of the Kingdom podcast

• Chapter 6: The Kingdom of Animals - Invertebrates

  • Part 1: Wriggly and Wonderful

  • Part 2: What Is an Animal? Invertebrates Show Us the Way

• Chapter 7: The Kingdom of Animals - Fish and Amphibians

  • Part 1: Animals of Water, Animals of Land

  • Part 2: The Cutthroat and the Hellbender

• Chapter 8: Kingdom of Animals - Reptiles and Birds

  • Part 1: Reptile or Bird? Easy to Tell, Even in the Shell

  • Part 2: Wings Do Not a Bird Make

• Chapter 9: Kingdom of Animals - Mammals

  • Part 1: Mammals - The Warm and Fluffy Icing on the Cake

  • Part 2: Don’t Judge a Mammal By Its Stripes - Cladistics

Unit 2: Inside a Creature House

• Chapter 10: Types of Cells

  • Part 1: The Sensational Cell Circus

  • Part 2: What’s Shape Got to Do with It? - Cell Form and Function

• Chapter 11: What’s Inside Cells?

  • Part 1: The Cell - A Castle in Disguise

  • Part 2: From a Castle to a Tank

• Chapter 12: Cells, Tissues, and Organs *coming soon*

  • Part 1: From a Skin Cell to a Skink

  • Part 2: The Sum is More than the Parts: Emergent Properties

• Chapter 13: Genetics *coming soon*

  • Part 1: The Wrestling Match of Your Genes

  • Part 2: Give the Lord What He Wants: Protein Synthesis

• Chapter 14: Cell Division *coming soon*

  • Part 1: The Puzzle of Cell Division

  • Part 2: The Genetic Diversity Card Game

• Chapter 15: Life Cycles *coming soon*

  • Part 1: Two Are Better Than One - A Bacteria Reproduces

  • Part 2: If You Try to Squash a Sponge…A Tale of Asexual Reproduction

• Chapter 16: Seed and Spore Reproduction *coming soon*

  • Part 1: From a Flower to a Seed - How Plants Reproduce

  • Part 2: Morning and Night - The Alternation of Generations

• Chapter 17: Animal Reproduction *coming soon*

  • Part 1: Which Came First, the Chicken or the Egg? - the Life Cycle of Egg-Laying Creatures

  • Part 2: When in Florida, Do as the Flamingos Do? - Types of Animals Families

• Chapter 18: Mammal Reproduction *coming soon*

  • Part 1: The Puppy (and Human) Life Cycle

  • Part 2: The Endocrine and Reproductive Systems

Unit 3: Daily Life in the Kingdom

• Coming soon!

Unit 4: The Creature Commons

• Coming soon!