Aperture & Exposure
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Aperture is basically a hole in your lens. You can control how big or small this hole is. If the aperture is larger it allows more light to reach the sensor, and if it is small it allows less light to hit the sensor.
Aperture is referred to by F-numbers. Smaller F-numbers mean a larger aperture, larger F numbers means a smaller aperture. Usually the lens that is supplied with an entry level DSLR camera has a maximum aperture of F3.5, and a minimum aperture of around F22
The diagram above shows the relative size of different apertures. Each of the circles above shows what is known as a full F number. Each F number is twice as large or small as the one next to it and therefore allows twice or half as much light to hit the sensor.