CHAPTER 9: THE LIVING ORGANISMS

Exercise Questions
1. What is a habitat?
The place where plants and animals live is called habitat. Habitat means a
dwelling place. The habitat provides food, water, air, shelter and other needs to
organisms. For example, the habitat of a frog is fresh water, while the habitat of
a camel is a desert.

2. How are cactus adapted to survive in a desert?

Adaptation of cactus to survive in a desert are as follows:
(i) No leaves or spiny leaves to prevent water loss through transpiration.
(ii) Stem is modified in such a way that it performs photosynthesis and
conserves water.
(iii) Its stem is covered with a thick waxy layer to retain water.
(iv) Their roots go very deep into the soil for absorbing water.

3. Fill up the blanks

(a) The presence of specific features, which enable a plant or an animal to live
in a particular habitat, is called adaptation.
(b) The habitats of the plants and animals that live on land are
called terrestrial habitat.
(c) The habitats of plants and animals that live in water are
called aquatic habitat.
(d) Soil, water and air are the abiotic factors of a habitat.
(e) Changes in our surroundings that make us respond to them, are
called stimuli.

4. Which of the things in the following list are non-living?

Plough, Mushroom, Sewing machine, Radio, Boat, Water Hyacinth,
Earthworm
 Plough, sewing machine, Radio and Boat are non-living things
5. Give an example of a non-living thing, which shows any two
characteristics of living things.
Example of non-living thing is cloud which shows following two
characteristics of living things:
(i) It grows in size
(ii) It shows movement.
6. Which of the non-living things listed below, were once part of a living
thing?
Butter, Leather, Soil, Wool, Electric bulb, Cooking oil, Salt, Apple,
Rubber.
Butter, Leather, Wool, Cooking oil, Apple and rubber are the non-living
things which were once part of a living thing.
 Butter is made from milk, which is obtained from dairy animals.
 Leather is obtained from skin of animals.
 Wool made from hair of sheep.
 Cooking oil is obtained from the seeds of the plants.
 Apple is a obtained from tree.
 Rubber is obtained from the latex of a tree.

7. List the common characteristics of the living things.

Common characteristics of living things are as follows
i) Respiration
ii) Food intake
iii) Response to stimuli
iv) Excretion
v) Movement
vi) Reproduction
vii) Growth
8. Explain, why speed is important for survival in the grasslands for
animals that live there. (Hint: There are few trees or places for animals to
hide in grasslands habitats.)
 In grasslands habitat, there are few trees or places to hide for animals from
predators like lion and tiger. In small grasses, predators can easily locate their
prey. So, these animals have to run fast to reach a safe place and escape from
their predators, if they fail they lose their life. Thus, speed is important for
survival in the grasslands for animals that live there.

ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS:
1. Give three main adaptive features in desert plant.

 Well-developed root systems.

 Leaves are either very small or converted to spines.
 Stem is green and fleshy in some plants.

2. What adaptation of desert animals protect themselves from deficiency of

water?

Animals living in hot places such as desert, for example, snakes, desert rats
and lizards are not able to get sufficient water. To stay away from the intense
heat during the day, they stay in burrows deep in sand. These animals have thick
skin, which prevents evaporation. Since they do not sweat, they can survive
without water for longer period.

3. How is a fish adapted to live in water?

Fish has the following adaptations to live in water:

 In all the fish, the head and tail portions are smaller than the middle
portion, that is, the body tapers at both the ends. This shape of the body
provides least resistance to the fish when they swim in water.
 Skin of fish is covered with scales. These scales are slippery, the slippery
scales help the fish in swimming.
 Fishes has gills for respiration. It utilises oxygen dissolved in water and
releases carbon dioxide into the water.

4. What kind of movement do we see in plants?

 Opening and closing of a flower.

 Growth of a stem and leaves.
  Movement of water, minerals, food from one part of the plant to another.
 Movement of stem towards sunlight and root towards water in soil.

5. “All living things respond to external stimuli.” Explain.

All living things respond to changes in their surroundings. These changes

which they respond to, are called stimuli. The living things show response to
stimuli such as heat, light, touch, sound, smell, taste, etc. The response of living
things is usually in the form of some movement of their body part. Plants also
perform movement, though at a slow rate. For example, Mimosa, show such
type of activity. So all living things (animals and plants) respond to external
stimuli.

6. How are camels adapted to live in desert?

 (i) The feet of the camels have thick, flat large soles which help them in the
movement on sand.
(ii) They can live without water for a long time. When water is available, it
drinks large amount of water at a time.
(iii) They release very little urine to prevent loss of water.
(iv) Their dung is also dry which also helps to prevent loss of water.
(v) The long legs of camel helps to keep the body away from the heat of the
sand.

7. Explain the adaptation of animals to live in mountain region.

(i) The animals have thick skin or fur to protect them from the cold.
(ii) Some animals have thick fur on their body, feet and toes which protect them
from cold on walking in the snow.
(iii) The goats have strong hooves for running up on rocky slopes.

8. Explain the adaptation of plants to live in water.

(i) Roots are reduced in size which hold the plant.

(ii) Stems are long, hollow and light.
(iii) Stems grow up to the surface of water.
(iv) Leaves and flowers float on the surface of water.
(v) The leaves are covered by the waxy layer which protects the leaves from
excessive water.