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Biologist
Studies living organisms — from tiny bacteria to blue whales — and how life works.
Did you know?
Your body holds roughly as many bacteria as human cells: about 38 trillion bacteria to 30 trillion of your own cells, a 2016 study found.
How subjects help
- Biology: Observe how living things grow, feed and reproduce, from bacteria in a dish to whales at sea.
- Chemistry: Measure the proteins and sugars inside cells to see how an organism makes its energy.
- Mathematics: Count and compare populations to tell whether a species is growing or shrinking.
- Environmental Science: Study how pollution or a changing climate affects the plants and animals in a habitat.
A famous name
Charles Darwin: Explained evolution by natural selection in On the Origin of Species (1859).
Try it yourself: Invent a way to sort leaves
- Lay out your collection and look closely at every one. (Do not pick berries or mushrooms, and wash your hands afterwards.)
- Split them into two groups using one question, like "smooth edge or jagged edge?"
- Keep splitting each group with a new question until every item is on its own.
- Give your key to someone else. Can they use your questions to find the same item?
Scientists sort living things this way. A good key lets anyone identify a species just by answering questions.
Also try: Watch an animal for ten minutes.
Known for it in
USA, UK, Germany, Japan, Australia