Plants

Plants are the primary producers of the ecosystem, meaning that they utilize light energy from the sun to convert carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates and oxygen; this process is called photosynthesis. Without the products of photosynthesis, humans could not exist. Plants are the first link in the food chain upon which all other organisms in the world rely. Natural selection, a process that allows for the proliferation of organisms with features that make them more likely to survive and reproduce, has resulted in the existence of over 400,000 species of plants throughout the world.

Mammals

Mammals are a diverse class of animals consisting of approximately 4,600 individual species. All mammals are verterbrates, have mammary glands for nourishing their young and have hair at some point in their lives. Like birds, they are warm-blooded. This means that they create and maintain their own body heat. When one pictures a mammal, a typical image that comes to mind is a fuzzy land-dwelling creature. Some non-stereotypical examples of mammals include an ocean-dwelling whale or an airborne bat.

Birds

Birds are the most well-known group of animals that have taken to the air, even though there are species that cannot fly. Birds are basically flying machines, designed for flight in every possible way. Highly complex feather arangements, hollow bones, and a very efficient circulatory and respiratory system are just three of the many amazing ways in which birds have adapted to life in the sky.

Arthropods: insects, arachnids, and more

This is the largest and most diverse assemblage of living animal on the planet, consisting of more than 6 million species! Arthropods can be found throughout the world and in many forms. Some of their characteristics include having an exoskeleton, a body composed of numerous segments, and jointed appendages.