There are two "levels of organization". The first is the Organization of Cellular Life, which is a brief examination of the levels of organization from atoms to organisms. The second level looks at the Heirarchy of Life, going from an organism to the biosphere.
All images, when you click on them, will open in a larger format.
All images, when you click on them, will open in a larger format.
Levels of Organization
A brief PowerPoint I created as a companion Pearson Education: Biology about the diversity of cellular life, from single cells to multicellular organisms. Worksheet (c) Pearson Education
The Biology In Motion website has a really nice Organize It feature, that allows students to test their understanding on how various concepts are organized. If students follow the link and then select *Open* on the top menu, they are given a list of options. Under Basic Concepts is a nice Levels of Organization self-quiz. It goes all the way from an atom to a ecosystem.
The Biology In Motion website has a really nice Organize It feature, that allows students to test their understanding on how various concepts are organized. If students follow the link and then select *Open* on the top menu, they are given a list of options. Under Basic Concepts is a nice Levels of Organization self-quiz. It goes all the way from an atom to a ecosystem.
Organization of Cellular Life
There are several different methods of depicting the diversity of cellular life, depending upon the number of steps the author/illustrator decides to use. With the five step graphics, generally things start with the cell go from there to tissues, then organs, organ systems, and finally the organism. Other diagrams have either seven, eight, nine, or even ten steps to them, depending on how specific they get.
The image to the right is a wonderful diagram of a five step approach to cellular life. It starts with a single cell and continues to an organism. This image is (c) McGraw-Hill Companies. What I really like about it, even though it only shows five steps, is the comparison between plants and animals, showing the different levels of organization.
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This next image is another fantastic representation of cellular organization. I am not certain who the copyright holder is.
This image shows a distinct contrast to the one before, because it takes things out to nine steps of organization. Only two issues I have with it are that: 1. some high school students (and their parents) might have issues with the 'full male nudity', and 2. it doesn't go all the way down to subatomic particles (ie electron, neutron, and proton) to start things off. Other than those small issues though, I think this is a good representation of cellular organization. |
This image (c) Benjamin/Cummings Publishing is a really nice teaser, if you are going to start things with atomic and then touch on ecological later in the year. Some teachers go the other way, and hit ecological first.
Since I prefer atomic first, this is a really nice image since it hints that after you get to the organism level there is more ... you are just not ready to go there yet. What I don't like is the vague "molecular level" for subatomic particle, atoms, molecules and macromolecules. It makes me wonder if this image is from a middle school textbook instead of a high school one. Either way, it is still a really nice image to hint at things to come. |
If you do decide to start out with ecology, and then move on down to atoms, this next image is a really good one. It starts out with the biosphere and breaks things down step by step until getting to the atom. The only thing I don't like is that the atomic level is so far out to the side, which means you have to put text over the white space on this image, (which might or might not look right when projected), or else loose a large chunk of a slide.
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If you are looking for an already put together PowerPoint, check out this one (source unknown). It has some decent graphics and is really very simple and direct. Not a lot of info to overwhelm anyone.
Hierarchy of Life
This wonderful image takes a look at the big picture, so it can be used at the beginning of class to show where you are going, or when you get to the section on ecology.
It is really nice in that it toes both concepts together - the molecular with the ecological, and how both branch off from the organism. I am uncertain of the (c) holder of the image. |
McGraw-Hill also has a really nice chart style depiction of the hierarchy of life. This image also starts out at the atom level and goes all of the way to the biosphere, and includes that little something extra - brief descriptions at each level. This is a really nice image; I just wish I could find it in a larger size file.
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Just for the sheer prettiness factor, this image wins. I love the colors, the composition, and the sheer simplicity of this image.
This is a great image for showing organization from the individual organism to the biosphere. I like that it also includes the biome level, which is often overlooked in graphical representations. (c) Holder unknown. |
I am not certain if the Raven/Berg is a reference to the copyright holder of the image or to a teacher that put this image in a presentation, especially since it says Hartcourt,Inc at the bottom. So I can't say for certain on who it is copyright to.
This is another really wonderful look at organization from the atom to the biosphere. Although organelles, macromolecules and biome are missing, the clean lines and pretty pictures make up for it. What I really like about this one is that the artist didn't take the human route with things, and instead showed another animal. A lot of images will go from individual to biosphere and show other animals, but when doing from atom to biosphere will go with humans. |