The biosphere is the global ecological system integrating all living beings and their relationships. This includes their interactions with the lithosphere (the rigid outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle), hydrosphere (all surface water), and atmosphere (the envelope of gases surrounding the planet).

Hard bones provide primary support for the endoskeleton while more flexible cartilage is found at the end of all bones, at the joints, and in the nose and ears. In addition to providing support and protecting bodily organs, bones also produce blood cells and store minerals like calcium.

An electron is a subatomic particle that orbits the nucleus of an atom. It carries a negative electric charge. Generally, an atom has the same number of negative electrons orbiting the nucleus as it does positive protons inside.

The gene is the base unit of inheritance and is contained within DNA. A gene may come in several varieties (alleles) and there are a pair of alleles for every gene. If the alleles are alike, a person is homozygous for that gene. If the alleles are different, heterozygous.

The narrowest classification of life, species, contains organisms that are so similar that they can only reproduce with others of the same species.