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).

If no oxygen is present, cellular respiration is anaerobic and will result in fermentation where either lactic acid or alcohol is used instead of oxygen.

Heredity is the passing on of physical or mental characteristics genetically from one generation to another. Heredity is made possible via large strings of chromosomes which carry information encoded in genes.

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

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.