People that study biology
are known as biologists.
·
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is the largest living structure on
Earth. Reaching over 2000 kilometres (1240 miles) in length.
·
The first person to see a live cell with a microscope was Antonie
van Leeuwenhoek, in 1674.
·
Ecology is the study of ecosystems and how organisms interact with
their environment.
·
While some bacteria can make you sick, others have positive
benefits such as helping you digest food or even make yoghurt.
·
Moulds, yeasts and mushrooms are types of fungus.
·
The common cold is a type of virus.
·
Viruses can be treated with antiviral drugs.
·
Bacteria are extremely small and are made up of just one cell.
·
Bacterial infections can be treated with antibiotics.
·
Animals that eat plants as their primary food source are known as
herbivores.
·
Endangered species are those that are in danger of being
completely wiped out, they include blue whales, tigers and pandas. Without
protection these species may eventually become extinct.
·
Born on July 5th 1996, Dolly the sheep was the first mammal to be
cloned from an adult cell.
·
When the DNA of an organism changes and results in a new trait
(characteristic) it is known as mutation.
·
French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur was well known for inventing a process to
stop various foods and liquids making people sick. Called Pasteurization, it
reduces the amount of microorganisms that could lead to disease without having
a noticeable effect on taste and quality in a way which methods such as
sterilization might.
·
Charles Darwin developed the idea of natural selection,
sometimes called survival of the fittest. It is a process that involves living
things with favorable traits being more likely to reproduce, passing on their
favorable traits to future generations.
·
Tree resin which has been fossilized is known as amber, it sometimes
contains plant material or small animals that were trapped inside.
·
Some plants are carnivores, gaining nutrients by eating various
small insects and spiders. A well known example of a carnivorous plant is the
Venus Flytrap.
·
Bamboo can be a fast growing plant, some types can grow almost a
metre (3.28 feet) in just one day!
·
While using energy from sunlight, plants turn carbon dioxide
into food in a process called photosynthesis.
·
Onions might taste good but they can be painful to chop. A gas is
released when you cut onions that irritates you eyes, the tears you produce
while this happens are your body’s way of washing it from your eyes.
·
In the agricultural industry, to ensure crops of food grow well
water is often added to soil in the form of irrigation.
·
Plant matter found at the bottom of areas with water such as
swamps can eventually turn into coal due to a process called metamorphosis
(changing form).
·
There are over 200,000 identified plant species and the list is
growing all the time.
·
Poison ivy produces a skin irritant called urushiol. Touching
poison ivy will cause an allergic reaction, usually in the form of an itchy
rash on the skin.
·
Fertilizers are chemicals added to plants to help them grow.
Important elements in fertilizers include nitrogen,
phosphorus and potassium. Manure (animal waste) is also used as a fertilizer.