Echinodermata: This group includes starfish, sea urchins, and sea cucumbers.
Key Characteristics
While invertebrates vary greatly in size, shape, and habitat, they share certain key characteristics:
No Backbone: The absence of a spinal column is the defining feature of invertebrates.
Diverse Body Plans: From simple radial symmetry in jellyfish to complex segmented bodies in arthropods, invertebrates display a wide range of body plans.
Exoskeleton: Many invertebrates have an external skeleton, or exoskeleton, for support and protection.
Invertebrates play crucial roles in ecosystems as pollinators, decomposers, predators, and prey. They are also important indicators of environmental health and serve as sources of food and medicine for humans.
Study Tips
When studying invertebrates, consider the following tips:
Use flashcards to memorize the different groups of invertebrates and their key characteristics.
Study the ecological roles of invertebrates and their importance in different ecosystems.
Practice identifying invertebrates using pictures or specimens to familiarize yourself with their diverse body plans.
Understand the evolutionary adaptations that have allowed invertebrates to thrive in various environments.
Energy - A. Energy is involved in all physical and chemical processes. It is conserved, and can be transformed from one form to another and into work. At the atomic and nuclear levels energy is not continuous but exists in discrete amounts. Energy and mass are related through Einstein's equation E=mc 2 . B. The properties of atomic nuclei are responsible for energy-related phenomena such as radioactivity, fission and fusion. C. Changes in entropy and energy that accompany chemical reactions influence reaction paths. Chemical reactions result in the release or absorption of energy. D. The theory of electromagnetism explains that electricity and magnetism are closely related. Electric charges are the source of electric fields. Moving charges generate magnetic fields. E. Waves are the propagation of a disturbance. They transport energy and momentum but do not transport matter.
Relate temperature to the average molecular kinetic energy.