Biosphere - Our Earth is made up of all living and non-living things. The interaction of all these building blocks make up the biosphere.

Biomes - The different environments on Earth are all unique, but there is a way for us to group areas by habitat type, such as tropical rainforest, desert, or marine environment. These are called biomes. You can think of biomes as specific areas on Earth that are defined by the plants and animals that live in that geographic region. Within a biome it is possible to have many ecosystems.

Ecosystems - All living things interact with non-living things around them. All the animals and plants in an area, plus the non-living things around them (air, earth, water, etc.) make up an ecosystem. Ecosystems can be various sizes, from an entire desert to a small pond.

Communities - All animals and plants that live in one place are considered a community. This can be tricky when you include humans, because they can move from community to community. There are also other animals, such as birds and butterflies that migrate from community to community. Communities do not include the non-living things in that place or area.

Populations - All the individuals of one species that live in an area are called a population. In this way, individuals become the building blocks for a species. For example, the entire human population is made of billions of people, who interact with each other to make up this world we live in. We can also specifically talk about the human population of one country, one city, or one neighborhood.

Individuals - Individual people make up the population. Each person has their own individual characteristics that cause diversity within a population.

Organs and Tissues - The human body, like all plants and animals, is made up of organs. In humans, these are the brain, heart, kidneys, liver, etc. Each organ is made of different tissues. These tissues have their own characteristics and functions. Did you know the largest organ in the body is the skin and that you are not wearing the same skin that you were born with?

Cells - Tissues are made of cells. The cell is the smallest unit of life. What does that mean? It means that the cell is the smallest living thing capable of replicating.

Organelles - Cells are also made up of individual parts. The interior of any cell has many types of little organs called organelles, such as the nucleus, mitochondria, Golgi complex, etc. All these organelles have their own functions to perform within the cell.

Proteins - Fats - Carbohydrates - Nucleic Acids- What are organelles made of? All the cellular organelles are made of macromolecules like carbohydrates, Lipids, Proteins, and Nucleic acids (DNA, RNA).

Atoms - To make macromolecules involves even smaller building blocks. You may have heard of atoms before and their parts: neutrons, protons, and electrons. There are 92 naturally occurring atoms (also called elements) but only 11 of these atoms are found in a significant amount in living things. It takes only two atoms to make a molecule.

Quarks - For many years it was thought that the smallest building blocks were atoms, but now we know that is not true. Scientists have found even smaller building blocks than atoms. These subatomic particles have a funny name - quarks. There are many "flavors" of quarks. Their names are up, down, top, bottom, charm, and strange.