Life Science

What all living things share, how life scientists run fair tests, and the microscope that opened up the world of cells.

1. The Characteristics of Life
2. Fair Tests: Variables and Controls
3. Using a Microscope
4. Measuring with a Microscope

The cell theory, the parts of a cell and their jobs, plant and animal cells, why cells are small, diffusion and osmosis, and how cells build tissues, organs and systems.

1. The Cell Theory
2. One Cell or Many
3. Membrane, Cytoplasm and Nucleus
4. Organelles and Their Jobs
5. Plant Cells and Animal Cells
6. Why Cells Are Small
7. Diffusion and Osmosis
8. Cells, Tissues, Organs and Systems

Sorting living things by shared traits: ranks from domain to species, scientific names, dichotomous keys, and the domains and kingdoms.

1. From Domain to Species
2. Scientific Names
3. Dichotomous Keys
4. Three Domains and the Kingdoms

Bacteria, viruses, protists and fungi: what they are, how they multiply, and the ways they help and harm, in well-established terms.

1. Bacteria
2. How Bacteria Multiply
3. Viruses
4. Protists
5. Fungi
6. Helpful and Harmful Microbes

Photosynthesis and respiration, how water and food move through a plant, plant groups, flowers and seeds, and how plants respond and grow.

1. Photosynthesis
2. Cellular Respiration
3. Photosynthesis and Respiration Together
4. How Water and Food Move in a Plant
5. How Plants Respond
6. Mosses, Ferns, Conifers and Flowering Plants
7. Flowers, Pollination and Seeds
8. What Affects How a Plant Grows

Animals with and without backbones, the vertebrate groups, adaptations of body and behavior, and how animals handle heat and cold.

1. Animals With and Without Backbones
2. Invertebrate Groups
3. Vertebrate Groups
4. Body Adaptations
5. Behavior: Instinct and Learning
6. Endotherms and Ectotherms

Living and nonliving parts, food webs and energy pyramids, interactions between species, the cycles of matter, biomes, succession, and people's effects on ecosystems.

1. Living and Nonliving Parts
2. Organisms, Populations and Communities
3. Producers, Consumers and Decomposers
4. Food Chains and Food Webs
5. When One Population Changes
6. Energy Pyramids
7. Competition, Predation and Symbiosis
8. The Carbon Cycle
9. The Nitrogen Cycle
10. Biomes
11. Ecological Succession
12. Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
13. People and Ecosystems

How populations grow, what limits them, how predators and prey rise and fall together, and how ecologists count them.

1. How Populations Grow
2. Limiting Factors and Carrying Capacity
3. Predators and Prey
4. Counting a Population

Bones, muscles, digestion, the heart and blood, breathing, nerves and senses, the body's defenses and the removal of wastes, and how the systems work together.

1. Bones and the Skeleton
2. Muscles
3. Digestion
4. The Heart and Blood
5. Breathing and Gas Exchange
6. Nerves, Senses and the Brain
7. The Body's Defenses
8. Removing Wastes
9. Systems Working Together

Inherited and acquired traits, DNA and genes, alleles, Punnett squares and their probabilities, mutations, and how people have changed the traits of crops and animals.

1. Inherited and Acquired Traits
2. DNA, Genes and Chromosomes
3. Genes Make Proteins, Proteins Make Traits
4. One Parent or Two: Copies and Mixes
5. Alleles: Dominant and Recessive
6. Genotype and Phenotype
7. Punnett Squares
8. Chances from a Punnett Square
9. Mutations
10. Selective Breeding and Genetic Engineering

The fossil record, comparing body structures, natural selection, and changes in populations over time, measured with real data.

1. The Fossil Record
2. Comparing Body Structures
3. Natural Selection
4. Changes in Populations Over Time