Biosphere

Areas of the Earth’s crust and its atmosphere that contains living things.  It is called the “zone of life” or as its other name, the sum of all ecosystems.  The biosphere integrates all living creatures and how they interact with the elements of the other parts of the ecosystem.

Ecosphere
The ecosphere is an invisible zone that keeps the air on Earth.  Many other planets have ecospheres.  Without our ecosphere, we and other animals would die.

Hydrosphere
The hydrosphere contains water and in it are fish and other aquatic life.  There are a greater area of water on Earth than there is on land.  The hydrosphere keeps things on land alive because it helps produce rain through evaporation of the sea.

Lithosphere
The lithosphere is the most important piece of the Earth.  ‘Lithos’ means Earth.  The lithosphere sustains the hydrosphere and the biosphere.  The lithosphere holds over 100,000 million creatures.

Atmosphere
‘Atmos’ in Greek stands for gas.  Gases surround all planets.  Earth’s atmosphere contains oxygen which humans and animals breath, and then breath out carbon dioxide, which plants use to grow.  The plants then give off oxygen, so the cycle continues.

Biotic
Things that are living or once lived such as plants, animals and microorganisms.

Abiotic
Non-living things – inanimate objects, that are physical or chemical in nature, and only work if they have source of energy.

Habitat
Is a place where creatures such as plants and animals usually live.

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Primary Consumer
A creature that eats plants and grass.  Its scientific name is herbivore.

Secondary Consumer
An animal that eats meat, including animals that eat grass.

Gravity
A force that pulls all mass in the area down towards earth.  It keeps the water and the air on the ground.

Temperature
How hot or cold something is.  It does not need a power source.  It measures the speed of molecules.

Orbit
The path that planets follow.  It is caused by one huge planets gravitational pull.

Planet
A planet is a giant rock that can either have life on it or no life.  It also has its own gravitational pull.

Energy
Energy is a power source such as oil, gas etc.  Energy powers many objects, including toasters, lights, computers, cars and phones.

Star
A star is like the sun, a giant fireball made of gas, fire and rock.  Stars come in many different shapes and forms.

Satellite
Is a giant space station placed around a planets orbit.  These satellites are used for communication with other nations and for television.  They can also be used as weapons.

Exploration
Exploring is searching any place that is unknown.

Animalcules
A tiny organism for example a mosquito.

Organisms
Are any type of living thing that can grow, such as animals, microorganisms, fungi or plants.

Flora
Is a plant life anywhere on planet Earth.

Fauna
Animal life in any specific area or section of time.

Classification
Puts animals and plants into specific classes according to certain characteristics.

Binomial Classifications system
Is a way of classing plants and animals by giving them two names.