25. Keystone Species

A keystone species is an organism which has a heavy impact on the environment that it lives in. While this lionfish cannot have much impact in an aquarium, it can be considered a keystone species in its habitat in the Atlantic Ocean. Recently, lionfish have been invasive to the native fish and plants in the […]

24. Gymnosperm Leaf

A gymnosperm is a plant that has its seeds exposed. This includes coniferous plants, such as the pine tree. Shown here are the ‘leaves’ of that gymnosperm, more commonly known as pine needles.

23. Flower Ovary

The flower ovary is located directly underneath the flower in the pistil, and cannot be seen without splitting the flower open. The flower ovary is the female organ in a flower. For the above image, the ovary would be located in the yellow and green parts of the flower where it attaches to the stem.

22. Endotherm

An endotherm is an organism which relies on its own internal generation of heat for temperature regulation. Endotherms are more commonly known as warm-blooded animals. Of course, all mammals are warm-blooded, as is my cat, who is a mammal. Therefore my cat is an endotherm as she must produce the proper amount of heat within […]

21. Endergonic Reaction

An endergonic reaction is a reaction which cannot happen spontaneously and requires extra energy to occur. This penguin is swimming in the water and is using their wings to move through the water. As this is something that the penguin consciously does in order to move and requires energy or ATP from the penguin’s body […]

20. Ectotherm

An ectotherm is any organism that needs to pull heat from their surroundings to keep a proper body temperature and maintain homeostasis. Pictured is an octopus, a species which has been identified as ectotherms. This means that in order to regulate their body temperature they need to live in specific parts of the ocean, or, […]

19. Cuticle Layer of a Plant

The cuticle layer of a plant is a layer that helps to control water absorbency and usually feels very waxy. For corn, the husk is the primary protection for the corn as it grows, but there is also a cuticle layer found on these ‘leaves’. The husk of corn is characteristically waxy and, if you […]

18. Chordate

A chordate is any organism that belongs to the phylum chordata, which mostly consists of the well-known vertebrates. This is a spotted eagle ray. It belongs to the phylum chordata, making it a chordate. The five features that classify chordates are a notochord (a flexible rod), a tail, a dorsal nerve cord, pharyngeal slits (filter-feeding […]

17. Bilateral Symmetry

Bilateral symmetry is evident when an animal has the same body parts and markings on either side of itself when split down the middle (like a mirror image). This butterfly, and almost all butterflies, have bilateral symmetry, as the wing shape and pattern on the wings are the same on either side.

16. Animal that has a Segmented Body

An animal with a segmented body will have its body ‘divided’ into three distinct parts: the head, thorax, and abdomen. Animals with segmented bodies are most commonly insects. In the bottom left of this anthill, there is a very small ant which exhibits this body structure.