The carbon cycle represents the ciruit of carbon through Earth's ecosystem. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the atmosphere is absorbed by plants through photosynthesis. Plants then die and release carbon back into the atmosphere during decomposition or are eaten by animals who breathe (respiration) the carbon into the atmosphere they exhale and produce waste which also releases carbon as it decays.

An ecosystem is a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment. This includes both the biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living).

In contrast to the Celsius scale (measured in degrees centigrade) that fixes 0° at the freezing point of water and the Fahrenheit scale that uses 32°, the Kelvin scale fixes 0° at absolute zero (-273°C) which is the lowest temperature possible in the universe.

The rows of the Periodic Table are called periods and contain elements that have the same number of electron shells ordered from lower to higher atomic number.

A population is a group of organisms of the same species who live in the same area at the same time. A community is a group of populations living and interacting with each other in an area.