In that same time, lots of other tiny particles were doing the same sort of thing. One of the things that they did well was to eat! In fact, the tiny protozoa had such great thirst that they swallowed incredible quantities of water. Can you imagine what it would be like if a person would drink several gallons of water (2 cubic feet) per second for their whole life without any rest? That’s how these little begins drank all day long! They took the salts in the water and began to make homes like coral or shells for protection.