The Biosphere

In this section we examine the Biosphere, by first asking the question what is life? We then look at one of the most fundamental life processes, metabolism, which determines how energy and carbon flow through the individual organisms. A following section looks at ecology, the study of how energy flows through whole living communities and ecosystems. We then examine the biochemical make-up of organisms, and finally summarize the principles of natural selection and evolution that have allowed living things to adapt and change over the history of our planet.