Levels of Organization and Basic Life Processes

Vocabulary flashcards covering the structural levels of organization in the human body and an introduction to basic life processes.

Cellular level

The level of organization where molecules combine to form cells, which are the basic structural and functional units of an organism and the smallest living units in the human body.

Cells

The basic structural and functional units of an organism and the smallest living units in the human body, such as muscle cells, nerve cells, and epithelial cells.

Tissue level

The level of organization consisting of groups of cells and the materials surrounding them that work together to perform a particular function.

Four basic types of tissue

Epithelial tissue, connective tissue, muscular tissue, and nervous tissue.

Organ level

The level of organization where different types of tissues are joined together to form structures with specific functions and usually recognizable shapes.

Organs

Structures composed of two or more different types of tissues that have specific functions and usually have recognizable shapes (such as the stomach, skin, bones, heart, liver, lungs, and brain).

System level (Organ-system level)

The level of organization that consists of related organs with a common function.

Digestive system

An organ system that breaks down and absorbs food, composed of organs including the mouth, salivary glands, pharynx (throat), oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, liver, gallbladder, and pancreas.

Pancreas

An organ that is part of more than one system: both the digestive system and the hormone-producing endocrine system.

Organismal level

The level of organization where all the parts of the human body functioning together constitute the total organism.

Basic life processes

Certain processes that distinguish organisms, or living things, from nonliving things.