BIOLOGICAL

HIERARCHY OF LIFE
The biosphere includes all of the Earth's biomes and all

BIOSPHERE living organisms within. This includes areas on the

Earth's surface, below the Earth's surface, and in the
atmosphere.

Biomes encompass all of the Earth's ecosystems. They can

be divided into regions of similar climate, plant life, and
BIOME animal life. Biomes consist of both land biomes and
aquatic biomes.

Ecosystems involve interactions between living organisms and their

ECOSYSTEM environment. This includes both living and nonliving material in an
environment. An ecosystem contains many different types of communities.

Communities consist of different populations (groups of organisms of the same

COMMUNITY species) in a given geographic area. From people and plants to bacteria and fungi,
communities include the living organisms in an environment.

Populations are groups of organisms of the same species living in a specific

POPULATION community. Populations may increase in size or shrink depending on a
number of environmental factors.

A living organism is a single individual of a species that exhibits the basic characteristics of

ORGANISM life. Living organisms are highly ordered and have the ability to grow, develop, and
reproduce.

Organ systems are groups of organs within an organism. Some examples are the circulatory,
ORGAN SYSTEM digestive, nervous, skeletal, and reproductive systems, which work together to keep the body
functioning normally.

An organ is an independent part of the body of an organism that carries out specific functions.
ORGAN Organs include the heart, lungs, kidneys, skin, and ears. Organs are composed of different types of
tissue arranged together to perform specific tasks.
Tissues are groups of cells with both a shared structure and function. Animal tissue can be grouped
TISSUE into four subunits: epithelial tissue, connective tissues, muscle tissue, and nervous tissue. Tissues
are grouped together to form organs.

Cells are the simplest form of living units. Processes that occur within the body are carried out on a
CELL cellular level.

Cells contain tiny structures called organelles, which are responsible for everything from housing the cell's
ORGANELLE DNA to producing energy.

MOLECULE Molecules are composed of atoms and are the smallest units of a compound. Molecules can be arranged into
large molecular structures such as chromosomes, proteins, and lipids.

Finally, there is the ever so tiny atom. It takes extremely powerful microscopes to view these units of matter
ATOM
(anything that has mass and takes up space).

Earth & Life Science 11

Mary Faith C. Dalogdog
11-Aquila