The Living World

A seed lies dry on a shelf for a year, and then it sprouts. A mule is strong and healthy, and it cannot have young. A crystal of salt grows bigger in a glass of water, and nobody calls it alive. So what does it mean to be alive? In this chapter we look for the answer, and then we meet the millions of kinds of living things on Earth. We learn how biologists give each one a name, how they sort them into groups, and which tools they use to find a name. Python helps us to count, to group and to check names.

Part of Biology · High School (11–12) (chapter 1)

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Courses in This Path (4)

What Is Living?

A dog is alive and a stone is not. That is easy. But a mule cannot reproduce, and a salt crystal does grow. In this course we study growth, reproduction, metabolism, cells and the response to the surroundings. We find which of them is true of every living thing, and which has exceptions.

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Diversity and the Naming of Organisms

Tulsi in one language is holy basil in another, and a silverfish is not a fish at all. With millions of kinds of organisms, common names cannot work. In this course we see how many kinds of life we know, we learn the rules of the scientific name, and we follow the four steps that a biologist takes from a new organism to its place in a group.

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More onDiversity of Living Organisms › Biodiversity and Nomenclature Diversity of Living Organisms › Characteristics of Life Diversity of Living Organisms › Taxonomic Hierarchy and Aids Diversity of Living Organisms › Species Concept and Naming Rules Diversity of Living Organisms › Classification of Living Organisms Diversity of Living Organisms › Keys and DNA Barcodes