BIOLOGICAL LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION
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ATOM (Protons, neutrons, electrons) --- smallest part of an element
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MOLECULE --- Smallest part of a compound with unique properties
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MACROMOLECULE (Carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, nucleic acids) --polymers of biological molecules

CELL --- smallest unit of any living thing --- LIFE BEGINS!
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TISSUE --- group of similar cells performing a job or function
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ORGAN --- Tissues organized into brain, heart, lungs, stomach, etc.
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SYSTEM --- Organs working together (Circulatory, digestive, etc.)
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ORGANISM --- Individual living thing (person, dog, plant, etc.)

POPULATION --- group of one kind of organism (species) in an area that
can interbreed & make fertile offspring --- (cardinals at the bird feeder)
 COMMUNITY --- Several populations of organisms in an area --(animals in the zoo)
 ECOSYSTEM --- All the living (biotic) and nonliving (abiotic) parts of an
environment --- (Tropical rain forest, grassland, etc.)
 BIOME --- Large areas of the world with similar climates and organisms
 BIOSPHERE --- All the living and nonliving things on Earth
So what are living things made from and how are the parts put together?
As you can see from the list below, life on Earth is built from increasingly more complex
building blocks. At the widest view you have all living and non-living things - Earth. Soon
you learn that each building block seems to be made of smaller building blocks - until
you reach the smallest building blocks with the funny name - quarks.
The list below deals with living things and how each building block is made from yet a
smaller set of building blocks.
Biosphere - Our Earth is made up of all living and non-living things. The
interaction of all these building blocks make up the biosphere.
Ecosystem- Communities of living things interact with non-living things. The
air, earth and water play an important role in the building blocks of life.
Community- 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.
Population- Individuals become the building blocks for a spices. For
example, the human population is made of a various races, who interact with
each other to make up this world we live in.
Individual- Individual people make up the community. Each person has their
own individual characteristics that make up the diversity of the community.
Organs and Tissues- The human body, like most plants and animals is
made up of organs. These are the brain, heart, kidneys, liver etc. Each organ
is made of different tissues. These tissues have their own characteristics and
function. 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, for example- 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, 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 it not true. Scientists have found even
smaller building blocks than atoms. They have a funny name - quarks. There
are many "flavors" of quarks. Their names are - up, down, top, bottom, charm
and strange.