Levels of Organization

First the levels within an organism

5 Levels of Organization Cells Tissues Organs Organ Systems Organism

Cells Cells are the smallest level of organization in living things.

Tissue Cells + Cells = Tissue There are 4 types of tissue in your body: Connective (bone, blood) Nerve Epithelial (skin, linings) Muscle

Organ Tissue + Tissue = Organ Organs are what we usually think about when we think about parts of the body

Organ System Organ + Organ = Organ System You have 11 organ systems in your body.

All the organ systems make up an organism! Now think on a big scale……

Big Scale! Biosphere Ecosystem Community Population Organism

Let’s Start at the Bottom… What is an organism? An organism is any one thing that is living (can be a plant, animal, insect, bacteria, etc) Every organism has a job in its ecosystem, this job is called a niche Example: an elephant

Populations… What is a population? A population is all of the same kind of organism living in a certain place Example: In the savanna, a herd of 20 elephants would make up one population

Communities… What is a community? All the different populations living together and reacting in the habitat make up a unique community Example: In the savanna, populations of elephants, populations of lions, and populations of zebras live and interact to form a community

Ecosystem and Biomes Therefore, all the COMMUNITIES AND THE ABIOTIC (non-living) FACTORS in a certain place make up an ecosystem * non-living-things like Water, pH, soil, temperature All the ecosystems in a bigger geographic location makes up a biome

What is a biome? A biome is a large geographical region characterized by distinctive types of plants and animals and a specific climate Sometimes people use the words “ecosystem” and “biome” interchangeably, meaning they can mean the same thing - However, technically an ecosystem can be much smaller than a biome (it can be as small as a puddle!)

Biosphere- all of the ecosystems (biomes) on Planet Earth Finally… Biosphere- all of the ecosystems (biomes) on Planet Earth