Big Idea 1-3

An adaption of a plant refers to how a plant alters its physical nature to aid it in the face of a new opposition. Here, a rose tree adapted to bird who laid its nest in its center by growing thorns in a bunched fashion.

Big Idea 1-14

Chordates are defined as animals with a notochord, or rod-shaped body, along with a hollow dorsal nerve chord and a tail at its end. Here, fish such as wild perch are known chordates.

Big Idea 4-13

A niche is a term that refers to a species's behavior while living under certain conditions in a specific environment. It takes into account the species's behavior to other organisms, the environment itself, its resources, and how the species reacts. A niche can also be considered a barometer for how well or how poorly an organism acts in a certain area. Here, a turtle lives in an aqueous environment by staying mostly in the water portion of the tank. It can stay moist and remain active in the larger portion of the habitat.

Big Idea 4-18

A population is a term used to take in account all of the organisms of the same species that live in the same geographical are able to breed with one another. A population of white mice reside in this cage.

Big Idea 4-17

A pioneer species is the first species to inhabit a previously destroyed ecosystem; they effectively begin a new one in its place. This new ecosystem will feature new symbiotic relationships among new organisms as well. Here, moss is steadily growing on cement that has not been touched for some time.

Big Idea 4-10

A keystone species is a species that serves a great importance to keeping its environment abundant. They directly and indirectly maintain the order of their ecosystem by affecting both the land and the organisms. Here, a small mouth bass supports its ecosytem by effectively eating krill while serving as food for ducks and humans.

Big Idea 4-9

An introduced species is a species living away from its native region, an action often dictated by humans. The introduced species may also interfere with an existing food chain in an ecosystem. It may nearly eliminate one level, leaving the other levels in disarray. When these species interfere in this way, they are known as invasive. The night blooming jasmine here is known to be an invasive species in New Zealand, where it is treated as a weed.

Big Idea 4-7

Detritivores are organisms that obtain their food through decomposing plants and animals as well as feces. Also known as decomposers, they effectively remove any waste in the environment to maintain space as well as on-going ecological cycles. Here, a pleco cattfish is sitting. Most species of pleco are known for consuming algae, detritus, or waste, and even wood.

Big Idea 2-15

An enzyme is a protein molecule that serves as a catalyst. The enzyme will break down molecules by increasing the rate of the reaction, but only to specific substrates. However, with the case of fibrous products such as potatoes, enzymes within the human small intestine and stomach will not be able to digest.

Big Idea 2-8

Cellulose is a strong, fibrous polysaccharide that forms the main cell walls for plant cells. Here, a Lily plant sports stem with healthy turgor pressure.

Big Idea 1-11

Artificial selection, or selective breeding, is a method in which humans deliberately breed different animals and plants to achieve particular traits in the offspring. A form of man-intervention in nature, artificial selection is performed to create unique organisms that often have a high value. Plants may be artificially bred to become larger, while animals may be bred as prized possessions. Koi are an example of these creatures.

Big Idea 3-19

A seed dispersal method is a way for the seeds of a plant to distance itself from the parent. Due to a plant's lack of motility, they must rely on the movement patterns of other organisms and factors in their ecosystem, such as the wind, water, and animals. Often, popular plants such as the willow tree as shown here host a number of small creatures such as ants, aphids, butterfly larvae and wasps, who will travel along with the seeds of the tree for dispersal.

Big Idea 3-16

A phenotype is the composite of an animal's traits that are physically expressed. Only dominant, co-dominant, or traits of incomplete dominance will be expressed. Here, two forms of goldfish are present: black and orange fish. The number of orange fish may indicate that orange is the dominant trait in body color. The black fish may indicate that it is homozygous, sporting two black alleles.

Big Idea 4-12

Mutualism is a symbiotic relationship between two organisms in which both benefit from each others' actions. Here, a clownfish is seen swimming near an anemone. The anemone protects and provides shelter for the clownfish, and provides it food from its scraps and own tentacles. The clownfish then defends the anemone from its predators and parastites.

Big Idea 3-9

Behavior is defined as the range of actions made by an organism in accordance with their understanding and their environment. It is often explicated by internal and external stimuli. Here, tadpole remains idle at the bottom of the aquarium. It may be resting or striving to stay still in the event of a predator encounter.

Big Idea 3-6

Haploid refers to a cell that has only one set of chromosomes. Cells such as the gametes for males and females are haploid. In the case of haplodiploidy, however, males develop from unfertilized eggs and are haploid. Ants are known to be haploid as adults.

Big Idea 3-8

A flock, herd or gathering is a congregated group of animals that live and move together. It is considered beneficial for a herd to exist rather than individuals living on their own because communication is increased due to the herd's close proximity of one another. Animals would be allowed to warn others of predators and inform others of food and water. Here, a flock of ducks are swimming together in a pond. They all face the same way, indicating that they are a flock with a leader.

Big Idea 3-3

A eukaryote is an organism whose cells contain a nucleus, which contains the organism's genetic material, and other organelles enclosed within the cell membrane. All multi-cellular organisms are eukaryotes, while many others are unicellular. Here, an angelfish is a member of animal kingdom, which contains only multi-cellular organisms.

Big Idea 3-1

"Diploid" refers to a cell or organism that has paired chromosome, each from one parent. Somatic cells are known to carry pairs of each chromosome because they are not need for reproduction of offspring. Here, parakeets are diploid because they are capable of physical growth by mitosis.

Big Idea 2-36

Transpiration is the movement of water through a plant and its evaporation from leaves, flowers, and stems. Leaves sport tiny pores known as stomata as an exit. This process is necessary to allow the diffusion of carbon dioxide from the air to photosynthesis. It is also known to cool plants, change osmotic pressure, and enable nutrients and water to flow from the plant's roots to its shoots. Here, a Japanese maple indicates a lack of transpiration due to a lack of leaves.