A deciduous forest is an example of an ecosystem.
The community in our forest ecosystem includes many species of trees, animals, fungi, as well as countless microorganisms.
This forest may include populations of sugar maples.
There may also be populations of animals such as deer.
Each of the maple trees in this forest is an organism.
Levels of life exercise:
Human organs such as stomach and intestines can be organized into an organ system - the digestive system.
The mesophyll tissue in a maple leaf performs photosynthesis - producing carbohydrates (sugars) from light.
Chloroplasts are organelles and contains chlorophyll molecules that can convert light energy to food.
Another important organelle is the nucleus.
Atoms are the smallest chemical units of pure matter called elements such as oxygen and carbon.
A molecule whose atoms are of different elements is called a compound
Chemical nutrients produced by plants and other photosynthetic organisms cycle through other living and non-living components of the ecosystem.
Energy flows from a source (usually sunlight) through organisms in the ecosystem, eventually leaving in the form of heat.
A DNA molecule is made of two strands of polymers wrapped around each other in the three-dimensional form of a double helix.
Each of the two strands is composed of sequences of building blocks called nucleotides.
All cells are bound by a membrane that encloses a semi-fluid cytoplasm.
Eukaryotic cells contain membrane-enclosed organelles, including a DNA-containing nucleus.
Prokaryotic cells lack organelles; their DNA is not contained in a nucleus.
All living things are classified into 3 large domains.
Domains Bacteria and Archaea are unicellular prokaryotes and possess no nucleus.
Each of these two domains may comprise several kingdoms.
Domain Eukarya is split into 4 kingdoms of organisms with a nucleus.
Review:
Domain is the broadest taxon containing the most organisms.
Below domain are progressively smaller taxa with more narrowly related organisms:
Jane Goodall recorded her observations on chimpanzee behavior in field notebooks, often with sketches.
From these specific observations she can make generalized inductions about chimpanzee behavior.
Often this involves "if... then..." logic and can be used to make predictions that can be tested in a process called the scientific method.
A hypothesis that has sufficient support via many tests may be accepted as a theory.
Scientific method exercise