Teacher Notes for “Levels of Organization in Biology”1

This activity uses the example of a flock of pelicans in flight to illustrate how analysis at
multiple levels of organization enhances our understanding of a biological phenomenon.
Through an interactive whole-class discussion of PowerPoint slides, students learn about the
multiple levels of organization in biology, as well as reductionism and emergent properties. To
reinforce these concepts, students answer the questions in a Student Handout and discuss their
answers in additional whole class discussions.

This activity is intended to follow our Characteristics of Life activity

(https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/bioactivities/lifecharacteristics).

These Teacher Notes include:

 Learning Goals, page 1
 Instructional Sequence and Suggestions, pages 1-5
 Biology Background, pages 5-8
 Additional Resources, pages 8-9

Learning Goals
In accord with the Next Generation Science Standards2:
 This activity helps students to prepare for Performance Expectation HS-LS1-2. “Develop and
use a model to illustrate the hierarchical organization of interacting systems that provide
specific functions within multicellular organisms.”
 Students learn the Disciplinary Core Idea LS1.A. “Systems of specialized cells within
organisms help them perform the essential functions of life. … Multicellular organisms have
a hierarchical structural organization, in which anyone system is made up of numerous parts
and is itself a component of the next level.”
 Students engage in the Scientific Practice, “Developing and Using Models. Develop, revise,
and/or use a model based on evidence to illustrate and/or predict the relationships between
systems or between components of the system.”
 This activity helps students to understand the Crosscutting Concept, “Systems and System
Models. Systems may interact with other systems; they may have subsystems and be part of
larger complex systems.”

Instructional Sequence and Suggestions

1. Whole class discussion of the Levels of Organization in Biology PowerPoint (available at
https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/bioactivities/LevelsOrganization).

Show slide 1. You may want to begin by asking your students, “What is biology?” Students
should remember from the “Characteristics of Life” activity that biology is the study of living
things.

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By Ingrid Waldron, Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, and Bradley String, Ridley High School, 2020. These
Teacher Notes and the Student Handout are available at https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/bioactivities/LevelsOrganization.

2
Quotations are from http://www.nextgenscience.org/sites/default/files/HS%20LS%20topics%20combined%206.13.13.pdf
Ask your students “What do you think is included in the biosphere?” The biosphere consists of
all the living things on earth and the parts of the earth they live in, including oceans and other
bodies of water, land (to a depth of several kilometers), and the atmosphere (to a height of
several kilometers).

Point out the distinction between ecosystem and community, and ask your students:
 “What other organisms are in this community?” Guide the discussion to include at least
fish (which the pelicans eat) and algae (which grow in the water and provide food for the
fish).
 “What aspects of the environment are important for the organisms that live in this
community?” Guide the discussion to include water (where the fish live), air (which the
pelicans breathe and use for flight), and sunshine (which provides the energy for
photosynthesis in the algae).

Ask your students “How does a bird fly?” Typically, the first answers to this question are
something about the birds flapping their wings. Point out that the bird can fly because of smaller
parts (e.g. wings). Then, dig deeper; ask “How do the wings work?”  Expect answers, and dig for
answers, about the brain, nerves, nerve cells, muscles, etc. Students may also mention feathers
and bones. (See figure below.)

(https://www.birdwatchingdaily.com/news/science/the-amazing-muscles-and-bones-that-make-birds-fly/)

Show slide 2. Ask your students “What is included in the nervous system?” Their answers should
include at least the brain, the spinal cord, and the nerves to muscles. Ask “How do you think that

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each part of the nervous system contributes to flight?” The brain generates the pattern of activity
that travels via the spinal cord and nerves to stimulate the wing muscles to contract in the cyclic
pattern required for flight.

Ask your students “What is an organ?” An organ is a body part that consists of multiple kinds of
cells and carries out a specific function or functions. A tissue is a group of cells that have a
similar structure and function.3 For example, nervous tissue is made up of nerve cells. Remind
students of the principle that form matches function, and ask students “Why would it be useful
for some nerve cells to have the long shape shown?” If needed, use the diagram of the nervous
system in the flying pelican to help students realize that long axons are needed to transmit signals
down the spinal cord and out to the muscles.

You may want to remind your students that cells are made up of molecules. You may want to ask
your students “Why does a cell need DNA?” Remind them that the DNA inside the nucleus
provides the instructions to make the proteins that cells need to function. Examples of needed
proteins include structural proteins that maintain the shape of nerve cells and protein enzymes
that produce the chemical messengers that nerve cells use to communicate with other nerve cells
or muscles.

Ask your students whether wings by themselves without the rest of the bird can fly. Guide your
students to understand that the characteristic of flight is a property of the larger system (a bird).
However, to understand how a bird flies we need to look at smaller components; for example,
scientists have analyzed how the wings move during flight, how the wing muscles’ activity
results in the wings’ movement, and how the brain generates a pattern of activity that the nerves
carry to the wing muscles to stimulate the pattern of wing muscle activity that produces flight.

Show slide 3 and discuss why biologists study all the multiple levels of organization introduced
in slides 1 and 2. You may want to explicitly introduce the concepts of emergent properties and
reductionism.

Emergent properties are properties that are only observable at a larger level of organization and
not in the component parts. Emergent properties are sometimes summarized as: The whole is
greater than the sum of its parts. (A useful analogy could be a comparison between a working
bicycle and a box with all the parts from the bicycle.)

Reductionism is the analysis of a complex system by studying its smaller, component parts, how
each part works, and how they work together. In other words, understanding how “X” works
means understanding the smaller components of “X”, how each component functions, and how
they cooperate. Reductionism has been a very important strategy for developing scientific
understanding. (A useful analogy could be figuring out how to fix a bicycle by checking out each
part and how it is working and interacting with the other parts.)

Scientific understanding requires both reductionism and the study of emergent processes.
Scientists can best understand a biological phenomenon by analyzing it at multiple levels.

3
Some tissues, such as blood, include substantial extracellular matrix.

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To extend our analysis of bird flight and levels of organization in biology, introduce the
observation that, during flight, both breathing rate and heart rate increase substantially. Ask your
students why a bird’s breathing rate and heart rate increase when it is flying. Students may not be
familiar with cellular respiration but they should know that oxygen is needed to provide the
energy needed for muscle contraction. Show slide 4 and ask students “How does oxygen get
from the air to a bird’s wing muscles?” Probe for answers at multiple levels: organ systems,
organs, tissues, cells, and molecules. Guide students to volunteer answers such as:
 respiratory system, circulatory system
 lungs, heart
 blood, muscle tissue
 muscle cells in the heart, red blood cells
 hemoglobin, DNA.

Show slide 5 and explain that each labeled part (other than the heart) shows the location of small
blood vessels where molecules like oxygen can move into or out of the blood. Ask your students
to use the figure as a basis for explaining how oxygen gets to the wing muscles. Blood is pumped
by the heart through blood vessels to all the organs in the body. Blood picks up oxygen as it
passes through the small blood vessels in the lungs and blood gives off oxygen as it passes
through the small blood vessels in the wing muscles, etc. Next, ask your students, “Can any of
the parts of the circulatory system acting alone bring oxygen to the wing muscles?” Once again,
point out how analyzing a biological system at multiple levels leads to a more complete
understanding of a biological phenomenon.

Show slide 6 and distribute the Student Handouts. Discuss the definitions and examples given in
slide 6 and question 1 of the Student Handout.

In discussing the plant column, you may want to ask your students to name other plant organs in
addition to leaves (stems and roots).
The plant tissue shown is found in
leaves (see figure on page 7). It
consists of a double layer of cells like
the one in this figure. The main
function of these cells/this tissue is
photosynthesis.
The cell components that are found in
both plant cells and animal cells
include the cell membrane, nucleus
and cytoplasm. The components that
are found in plant cells, but not animal
cells, are the cell wall, chloroplasts,
and the large vacuole. (https://images.slideplayer.com/22/6458644/slides/slide_5.jpg)

Point out that the cell is defined as the “Smallest unit that is alive”. Ask your students which
characteristics of life are present in the cell, but not in molecules. Guide them to answers such as
acquires and uses energy (e.g. photosynthesis), maintains homeostasis (e.g. water balance), and
reproduction (e.g. mitosis), in addition to the obvious “made of cells”.

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2. Student Handout (available at https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/bioactivities/LevelsOrganization)
To reinforce and extend student learning, have your students complete the Student Handout
individually or in pairs. If your students are learning online, we recommend that they use the
Google Doc version of the Student Handout available at
https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/bioactivities/LevelsOrganization. If you are using the Word
version of the Student Handout to make revisions, please check the PDF version to make sure
that all figures and formatting are displayed properly in the Word version on your computer.

A key is available upon request to Ingrid Waldron (iwaldron@upenn.edu). The following

paragraphs provide additional instructional suggestions and background information – some for
inclusion in your class discussions and some to provide you with relevant background that may
be useful for your understanding and/or for responding to student questions.

To maximize student participation and learning, I suggest that you have your students work
individually or in pairs to complete each group of related questions (e.g. questions 1-6 and 7-8)
and then have a class discussion after each group of questions. In each discussion, you can probe
student thinking and help them develop a sound understanding of the concepts and information
covered before moving on to the next group of related questions.

Questions 2-3 will guide students in thinking about how the characteristics of life emerge at the
level of the cell. For example, the ability to maintain homeostasis or obtain and use energy
depends on the way molecules are organized and interact within a cell (as a cell membrane,
contractile vacuoles, pseudopods, food vacuole, or mitochondria). Scientists cannot predict how
cells function just by studying the individual molecules in a cell. The main reason is that the
molecules in a cell are highly organized and interact in specific ways that allow the
characteristics of life to emerge. Hence, being alive is an emergent property at the level of the
cell. You may want to ask your students, “If molecules are not alive, why do biologists study
DNA, proteins, etc.?”

The definitions of the various levels of organization in biology are somewhat different in
questions 1 and 7, but the meanings are similar. When students are answering question 8, they
should use the information in question 3 to realize that amoebae do not have tissues, organs or
organ systems.

Biology Background
The coastal ecosystem shown in slide 1 includes the water, sand, air and multiple organisms that
live in the water and in and on the sand. In the water and the sand, photosynthesis is carried out
primarily by microscopic cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) and single cell eukaryotes. Animals
found in and on the sand include worms (e.g. bristle worms), crustaceans (e.g. crabs), and
mollusks (e.g. clams). These animals feed on small particles (e.g. as filter feeders). They burrow
to escape predators and desiccation. Many shorebirds and some of the fish in the coastal
ecosystem are predators on the smaller animals. (https://php.radford.edu/~swoodwar/biomes/?
page_id=677; http://www.coastalwiki.org/wiki/Sandy_shore_habitat)

Brown pelicans live in flocks along the coasts of the southern United States and as far south as
northern South America. Brown pelicans dive from as high as 65 feet to catch fish in their large
elastic throat pouches. After a successful dive, a couple of gallons of water drain out of the

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pelican’s throat pouch and the pelican swallows the fish whole. Pelicans eat fish that eat small
organisms drifting in the ocean water (plankton, including cyanobacteria and small algae and
crustaceans (https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brown_Pelican/lifehistory,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plankton).

The figure below illustrates how the form of a nerve cell (neuron) matches the function of a
nerve cell. The dendrites receive input from multiple other nerve cells; this input determines
whether a signal is sent down the long axon. When signals reach the end of the axon, the
branching structures at the end of the axon release a chemical signal which stimulates other
neurons or, in some cases, muscle cells or glands.

(https://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/beginning-psychology/section_07/6a3f0732c22683476ea201ffc5e428ad.jpg)

This diagram shows some important aspects of the circulatory

system in birds. Blood shown in red has high levels of oxygen
and blood shown in blue has low levels of oxygen. The
capillaries are the tiny blood vessels where gas exchange takes
place.4

4
This figure is from https://www.brainkart.com/media/article/article-Double-circulation-Ixv.png.

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The figure in slide 6 and question 1 of the Student Handout shows a savanna ecosystem in
Africa. The predominant types of vegetation are grass and trees. The animals include zebras and
other grazers, giraffes (which are browsers), grasshoppers and caterpillars (which consume
understory foliage), and termites (which consume dead plant matter). A savanna ecosystem
typically occurs in warm to hot climates, with alternation between rainy and dry seasons. During
the dry seasons, fire is common. (https://www.britannica.com/science/savanna)

The plant tissue shown in slide 6 and

question 1 is a palisade mesophyll, which
has cells with chloroplasts that carry out
photosynthesis.5

Cross-Section of a Leaf

This figure shows some

of the large variety of
organisms that can be
found in a pond
ecosystem. A pond
ecosystem also has
microscopic plankton,
including algae,
cyanobacteria (blue-
green algae), and tiny
invertebrates. In the
detritus (dead organic
matter) at the bottom of
the pond are
decomposers, including
bacteria. Amoebae on
the bottom of the pond
(https://image.shutterstock.com/image-vector/ecosystem-pond-260nw-320963900.jpg)
eat dead organic matter
and bacteria. Abiotic components of the pond ecosystem include sunshine, water, and dissolved
oxygen and minerals
(https://www.caryinstitute.org/sites/default/files/public/downloads/curriculum-
project/1B3_pond_ecosystem_reading.pdf; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amoeba).

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The image is from https://encrypted-switch to Microsoft Outlook tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn
%3AANd9GcTGUyxxoIDXFbVeimLdG6r_WeHC7c62eZ0bqtDK3M83qH-Vu4sO.

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This figure shows
how a single cell
amoeba can capture
food (1), digest the
food with enzymes
inside a food
vacuole and absorb
nutrients from the
food vacuole (2-4),
and then expel
waste products (5).6

(https://cdn1.byjus.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/nutrition-in-amoeba1.png)

Related Activities
Structure and Function of Cells, Organs and Organ Systems
(https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/bioactivities/SFCellOrgan)
In this activity, students analyze multiple examples of the relationship between structure and
function in diverse eukaryotic cells, in the small intestine, and in the digestive system. Students
learn that cells are dynamic, with constant molecular activity. Students analyze examples that
illustrate how organelles work together to accomplish cellular functions and organs and organ
systems work together to accomplish functions needed by the organism. This activity is aligned
with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

Cell Membrane Structure and Function (https://serendipstudio.org/sci_edu/waldron/#diffusion)

This activity includes two hands-on experiments and numerous analysis and discussion questions
to help students understand how the molecular composition and organization of a cell membrane
result in its selective permeability. In the hands-on experiments, students test whether a synthetic
membrane is selectively permeable and students observe how a layer of oil can be a barrier to
diffusion of an aqueous solution. Then, students learn how the phospholipid bilayer and
membrane proteins play key roles in the cell membrane function of regulating what gets into and
out of the cell. Topics covered include ions, polar and nonpolar molecules; simple diffusion
through the phospholipid bilayer; facilitated diffusion through ion channels or carrier proteins;
and active transport. An optional final page introduces exocytosis and endocytosis. This activity
is aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

Card Sort Activity – From Coffee to Carbon available at

http://teach.genetics.utah.edu/content/cells/CoffeetoCarbon.pdf
This activity has students sort cards (each with a molecule, organelle or cell) according to size.
To use this activity to reinforce student understanding of different levels of organization, we
recommend that you begin by having your students sort the cards into four categories: molecules,
organelles, cells, and other. After you have discussed this initial card sort, then have your
students organize the cards from smallest to largest. (Depending on your students, you may want
to omit some cards such as adenine, influenza virus, baker's yeast.) After students have
completed the card sort by size, discuss the results and show the animation which illustrates the
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Amoebae are a diverse group of unicellular organisms with varied feeding mechanisms
(https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/amoebas-are-crafty-shape-shifting-engineers).

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relative sizes (available at http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/cells/scale/). The order of
magnitude differences in size can be used to help students realize that eukaryotic cells are made
up of many many organelles and each organelle is made up of many many molecules.

Sources of Figures
PowerPoint
Slides 1 and 2, modified from https://slideplayer.com/slide/7365306/
Slide 5, modified from
https://slideplayer.com/slide/8470819/26/images/17/Circulatory+System.jpg
Slide 6, modified from
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9b/60/1c/9b601c4aca761cd0c3e67e44e5c05670.jpg
Student Handout
Levels of organization figure, modified from
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9b/60/1c/9b601c4aca761cd0c3e67e44e5c05670.jpg
Amoeba figure, modified from
https://cdn.thinglink.me/api/image/718903370114400257/1240/10/scaletowidth
Bird circulation figure, modified from
https://slideplayer.com/slide/8470819/26/images/17/Circulatory+System.jpg