Like the respiratory system, the circulatory system serves to transport oxygen throughout the body while removing carbon dioxide. In addition, the circulatory system transports nutrients from the digestive system.

Decomposers (saprotrophs) are organisms such as bacteria and fungi that break down the organic matter in the dead bodies of plants and animals into simple nutrients.

An exoskeleton (external skeleton) is common in arthropods like insects, spiders, and crustaceans.

Simple magnets have two poles, north and south, and opposite poles attract each other (N attracts S, S attracts N). Likewise, the same pole of two magnets repel (N repels N, S repels S). The Earth has a magnetic field and North and South Poles which enables the use of a magnetic compass to determine direction.

Veins carry blood back to the heart from the body. While arteries are thick-walled because they carry oxygenated blood at high pressure, veins are comparatively thin-walled as they carry low-pressure deoxygenated blood. Like the heart, veins contain valves to prevent blood backflow.