Life Science

Plants

There are many kinds of plants like flowers, trees, bushes, grasses, fruits, vegetables, ferns, and mosses. The parts of a plant are seeds, roots, stems, and leaves. A seed is like a baby plant protected by a covering. Plants need food, water, air, and sunlight to grow. Leaves make food by photosynthesis, a process that uses energy from sunlight to change water and carbon dioxide into food. Stems support plants and transport water around the plant. Roots hold plants in the soil and collect water and minerals from the soil. The Disney Fairy Rosetta is a garden fairy. Her talent is taking care of plants. Monster High Venus McFlytrap has a venus flytrap plant. This zelf playset is a venus flytrap plant. A venus flytrap is an insect-eating plant with toothed, jaw-like leaves that can quickly snap shut on any fly that lands on its leaves. These Shopkins are fruits and vegetables.

Animals

Animals are divided into invertebrates and vertebrates. Invertebrates do not have backbones and include spiders and insects. A vertebrate has a backbone. Mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish are vertebrates. Mammals drink milk when they are babies. Most mammals have hair or fur. Mice, dogs, cats, and dolphins are mammals. Birds have feathers and wings and are born out of hard-shelled eggs. Most birds can fly. Fish live in water and have gills, scales and fins. Amphibians begin their life in water with gills and tails. As they grow, amphibians develop lungs and legs for their life on land. Amphibians return to water to lay their eggs. Amphibians have moist, smooth skin. Frogs are amphibians. Reptiles breathe through lungs, are born on land, and have dry skin covered with scales to protect their bodies. Snakes and turtles are reptiles. The Disney Fairy Fawn is an animal fairy. Her talent is taking care of animals. Here is Barbie as a veterinarian, a doctor for animals. Here are some LPS animals and other toy animals.

Bacteria

Bacteria are the smallest forms of life on Earth. You can only see bacteria with a microscope. There are billions of bacteria that live on, around, and inside your body. Most bacteria are harmless, but some bacteria can make you sick. A vaccine is a substance usually given as a shot to prevent a specific disease. A bacterial vaccine has killed or weakened bacteria that stimulates the body to fight disease caused by that bacteria. Babies and children are usually given some vaccines to protect them against some bacterial diseases like diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, and pneumococcus. Antibiotics are drugs that kill or stop bacteria. Here is a toy microscope, some shots, and a bottle of antibiotics. Here is Barbie doctor and nurse. They can give Chelsea a vaccine.

Fungi

Fungi are not plants or animals. Instead fungi belong to their own kingdom of living things. A fungus starts as a small spore that you need a microscope to see. Then spores can form into small or big fungi. Many fungi are decomposers and help with decay. Some common types of fungi are mushrooms, yeast, and mold. Mushrooms stick up like a club. Some mushrooms you can eat and some are poisonous. Some fungi are useful in making food products and medicine. Baker’s yeast is used to make bread rise. Some mold is used to make certain cheeses. Some yeast and mold can make people sick. Mold can spoil food. Some mold spores can cause respiratory problems like asthma. Here is Barbie scientist. She uses a microscope to look at fungi. Here are some toy food mushrooms. Here is a mushroom house. Here are some Shopkins mushrooms called Miss Mushy-Moo.

The Human Body

The human body has cells, tissues, and organs. These parts form systems that work together. Some systems of the human body are the circulatory, skeletal, respiratory, digestive, muscular, nervous, urinary, and immune system. Anatomy is the study of the structure of the body parts. Physiology is the study of the function of the body parts.

Circulatory System

The circulatory system moves blood around the body. The circulatory system is made up of the heart, blood, and blood vessels. The heart is a pump in the chest. The heart is divided into 4 chambers called the right and left atrium on top and the right and left ventricle on the bottom. Blood comes into the right side of the heart, then goes to the lungs, and then to the left side of the heart. Next blood goes to all the parts of the body. The 3 types of blood vessels are arteries, veins, and capillaries. Arteries carry blood away from the heart. Veins carry blood back to the heart. Capillaries are very small and connect arteries to veins. A stethoscope is used to listen to heartbeats. The sound of a heartbeat is from the heart’s valves closing as blood flows through the chambers. Barbie doctor and Lalaloopsy Rosy and Stumble Bumps and Bruises have a stethoscope. Lalalopsy Queenie Heart, Ever After High Lizzie Hearts, and Tenderheart Care Bear have heart themes.

Skeletal system

The skeletal system is a framework of bones. It gives the body shape and supports and protects the organs. Humans have about 200 bones. There are bones that form the skull, backbone, shoulders, arms, hands, feet, hips, and legs. The skull protects the brain and includes the bones of the nose and jaw. The largest bone in the body is the femur or thigh bone. Monster High Skelita Calaveras has a skeleton body.

Eyes

The human eye is an organ that reacts to light and allows vision. The eyeball is made of different part including the lens, the white part called the sclera, the colored part called the iris, the black opening in the middle of the iris called the pupil, and a clear tissue in front of the iris called the cornea. The pupil lets light enter the eye. The pupil will get smaller when light shines near it and open wider when light goes away. The iris has muscles to control how much light goes through the pupil. The cornea helps the eye focus as light makes its way through the eye. The retina is in the back of the eye and it takes the light the eye receives and changes it into nerve signals so the brain can understand what the eye sees. Barbie is an eye doctor. She helps check eye health and correct vision problems due to refraction (bending light rays) with glasses or contacts that bend the light rays in a way that lets someone see more clearly.

Teeth

Humans have teeth to help break down food. The first set of teeth called baby teeth are gradually replaced by a second set of teeth called adult teeth when a child is about 6 to 12 years old. There are about 32 adult teeth including molars to help grind food, incisors to help bite food, and canines to help hold and tear food. Teeth are covered in enamel to protect teeth from decay. Gums are tissues that help hold teeth in place. A cavity is a tooth decay that forms a hole in a tooth. Barbie is a dentist and she helps treat, fix, and prevent problems with teeth and gums.

DNA

Inside the nucleus of a cell are chromosomes. Chromosomes are like coiled structures. Chromosomes are made of DNA which stands for deoxyribonucleic acid. DNA provides your cells with the information needed to make your body work and grow. DNA also determines many of your characteristics like hair color. DNA looks like a spiral staircase. This shape is called a double helix. It consists of two backbones that twist together. Between the backbones are nucleotides. There are four different types of nucleotides. These are adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine. DNA is unique to each person and contains all the information about that person. Genes are sections on DNA. Humans have about 30,000 genes. Families share genes. Children inherit genes from their parents. Siblings also have some genes that are similar. Genes may also be shared by other family members. This is why families often have similar physical characteristics. Here is the Monster High Wolf family. Here is Barbie and her sisters. Here is a Calico Critters rabbit family.