There are many examples of living systems throughout the SEED Web site and we have identified some of these for you. When you see this icon (left) on a page, roll your cursor over it for information that will help you understand how the article relates to a particular living system that is discussed in Connected Wisdom.

To explore the 12 principles of living systems on the SEED Web site, follow the links below.

Interdependence
A relationship in which each partner affects and often needs the other

• Chinese Traditions Find a Place in Modern Medicine

Systems Integrity
What a system has when all the parts and processes essential to its ability to function are present

• Immune system—The 20th Century And On: Understanding the Immune System
• Cardiovascular system—Health Benefits of Running
• Nervous system—The Beginnings of Modern Medicine: Greece
• Ecosystems—Alternative Energy Sources: Hydroelectric Power
• Antarctic ecosystem—A Cruise To Antarctica
• Mangrove ecosystem—SEED Project: Learning about Water while Having Fun

Biodiversity
The variety, complexity, and abundance of species that, if adequate, make ecosystems healthy and resilient

• Biodiversity and Habitat Complexity
• Biodiversity and Water Quality

Cooperation and Partnership
The continual process in which species exchange energy and resources

• Venezuelan Collaboration Creates SEED Computer Lab for the Blind
• Fruitful Cooperation in Mexico Between an Oilfield Company and a Region
• SEED News—SEEDLINK
• SEED student project, Mexico—Caleta Project: Rescuing a Stream

Rightness of Size
The proportions of living systems that influence a system's stability and sustainability

• Energy-efficient buildings—Design That Withstands the Test of Time
• Energy-efficient buildings—Designing an Energy-Efficient Building
• Engineering Challenge—Build a Solar Cooker

The Commons
Shared resources on which we depend and for which we are all responsible

• Tragedy of the Commons
• National culture—Venezuela Sprouts the 200th SEED Lab SEED
• A Project For Youth, By Youth—SEED Water Project

Living Cycles
Circular processes that repeat over and over, frequently returning to where they began

• The Carbon cycle
• Water cycle Drinking Water from the Sea
• Solar cycles—Sun and Earth and Temperature Change
• Nutrient cycle—Water Source: Watershed Investigations
• Sleep cycle—Adolescent Sleep Deficits Invite Innovative Research: The Study of Circadian Phase Preference Delay

Waste = Food
When waste from one system becomes food for another

• Alternative Energy Sources: Biomass

Balancing Feedback
Circular processes that create stability by counteracting or lessening change

• Self-regulating feedback—Global Climate Change and Energy: Feedback

Reinforcing Feedback
Circular processes that create growth or decay by amplifying or reinforcing change

• Snow reflecting the Sun’s rays—Sun and Earth and Temperature Change
• Reinforcing feedback and Albedo—Global Climate Change and Energy: Feedback

Nonlinearity
A type of behavior in which the effect is disproportionate to the cause

• Thermohaline circulation—The Impact of Global Warming
• Thixatropic property—Ketchup: Thick Or Thin?

Earth Time
The pace of the biosphere, that is, the pace at which life occurs for all living organisms

• The Milankovitch Cycle—Sun and Earth and Temperature Change