Life and the Living Universe
Like Duolingo, but for Life and the Living Universe. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
For the part of you with thirty open tabs that never became anything.
A deep dive: 36 levels across 5 sections, about 72 minutes end to end, roughly 14 days at five minutes a day. It moves through Earth as a Living System, The Animal Kingdom, The Power of Plants, Nature's Interconnected Web, and The Cosmic Perspective. It starts from scratch.
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Key ideas in Life and the Living Universe
- Earth is a closed system for matter
- Sunlight provides the external energy needed for life
- New resources like water and minerals do not arrive from space
- Heat radiates back out into space
- Life depends on recycling existing atoms
- Matter stays inside while energy flows through
- The atmosphere acts as a physical barrier to meteors
- Gravity holds gases and liquids to the planet's surface
- Specific layers filter out dangerous solar rays
- Smaller planets with weak gravity often lose their atmospheres
- Distinguishing the protective roles of the atmosphere
- The atmosphere regulates temperature like a blanket
- The 'void' of space would otherwise suck away unanchored matter
- Identifying energy as the only external input/output
- Recognizing gravity's role in retaining the atmosphere and hydrosphere
- Distance from the sun determines surface temperature
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives Life and the Living Universe the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
What is the primary source of external energy that enters Earth's system to keep life running?
Get it right to open this lesson and 35 more in the app.
Where Life and the Living Universe takes you
Explore how our planet breathes, how animals thrive, and how the laws of life on Earth connect us to the vast mysteries of deep space.
- 1
Earth as a Living System
- The Spaceship Earth Concept
- The Basic Ingredients for Life
- 2
The Animal Kingdom
- How Animals Solve Survival Problems
- The Language of Animal Behavior
- The Tree of Life
- 3
The Power of Plants
- Turning Sunlight into Food
- The Hidden World of Roots and Seeds
- 4
Nature's Interconnected Web
- The Flow of Energy
- Cycles of Renewal
- 5
The Cosmic Perspective
- The Neighborhood
- Searching for Other Earths
- The Future of Life in Space
5 sections · 12 units · 36 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
You pick the voice
Life and the Living Universe is taught in the The Professor style: clear, structured, thorough. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
More Science on Tomo
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The Living Factory: Biotech Basics
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The Universe Above Us
Journey from your own backyard to the edge of the observable universe. Discover how stars are born, why time slows down near black holes, and how we are searching for life among the billions of galaxies.
Biology in Your Daily Life
Discover how the invisible machinery of life explains everything from why you get hungry to how your body fights off a cold.
Environmental Science: Our Changing Planet
Explore how Earth's natural systems function and how human activity reshapes our world. From biodiversity to renewable energy, learn to analyze the complex interactions that sustain life.
The Animal Mind in Action
Move beyond basic instincts to discover how animal brains solve problems, form social bonds, and navigate their worlds. Explore the fascinating mechanics of cognition and emotion across the animal kingdom.
Start Life and the Living Universe today.
Download Tomo, search Life and the Living Universe, and play your first lesson in under a minute.