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9 Living Organisms and their Surroundings ( Part 1 notes)

* Environment: The non living things and other living things that affect a particular living organism
are referred to as its environment. It consists of two main components.

Environment

Biotic Abiotic

*Biotic Components: All living organisms, plants and animals present in an environment are known
as Biotic components.

*Abiotic Components: All non- living.things referred in the environment like soil,water, air, etc. are
known as Abiotic components.

Habitat

Terrestrial Aquatic

Grassland Forest Desert Mountain Fresh Marine

* Terrestrial Habitat: The surface of land serves as a terrestrial habitat. It includes desert, grassland,
forest and mountain region.

* Aquatic Habitat: Aquatic habitat also known as water habitat. They are further sub-divided into
fresh and marine water.

* Adaptation : Plants and animals usually have features that helps to survive in a particular type of
habitat. These features are known as Adaptations.
* Acclimatization: Small changes that take place in the body of an organism over short periods, to
adjust to the changes in the surroundings are called acclimatization.

Ex. If we live in the plains and suddenly go to high mountain regions we may experience difficulty in
breathing for some days. After some days our body adjusts to the changed conditions.

* Living and Non-living things:

1. Living Things: Things that have life are called living things. Ex. Grass

2. Non – living Things: Things that don’t have life are called non-living things. Ex. Ball

* Characteristics of Living Organisms

Let’s explore the important characteristics of living organisms one by one.

Nutrition

 The process by which animals obtain food and utilize it for all the activities is called as
nutrition.
 Every organism requires nutrition for obtaining energy.

Growth

 All living organisms grow and exhibit growth in different ways.

 Their body cells divide and grow and thus overall growth is attained.

Respiration

 Respiration is necessary for all living organisms.

 It is through respiration that the body finally obtains energy from the food it takes.
 Some animals may have different mechanisms for the exchange of gases, which is a part of
the respiration process.
 E.g. earthworms breathe through their skin and fish have gills for using oxygen dissolved in
water.
 In humans, we respire by breathing in oxygen breathing out the carbon dioxide.

Response to Stimulus

 Changes in our surroundings that makes us respond to them are called stimuli.
 All living beings react to changes in their surroundings.
 E.g. In response to increased temperature in summer, we use fans to cool our homes.

Excretion

 All living things take food.

 Not all the food that is eaten is really used, only a part of it is utilized by the body.
 Unused/remaining food becomes waste and needs to be excreted.
  Our body also produces some wastes, like urea, in other life processes.
 Living organisms get rid of all this waste material and the process is known as excretion.

Reproduction

 All living organisms give rise to a new organism of their own kind, by a process called
reproduction.
 The mode of reproduction may be different, in different animals and plants.
 Some animals produce their young ones through eggs.
 Some animals give birth to the young ones.
 Plants produce seeds which germinate into new plants.
 Some plants also reproduce through parts other than seeds.
 E.g.: a part of a potato with a bud, grows into a new plant
 Plants also reproduce by cutting.

Movement

 Animals move from one place to another and also show other body movements.
 Plants are generally anchored in the soil so they do not move from one place to another.
 However, various substances like water, minerals and the food synthesized by the plants move
from one part to other.
 Plants also show other kinds of movement like the opening and closing of flower buds.

Definite Life span

 The time taken to complete a life cycle is called a life span.

 Living things have a definite life span. They are born, they grow and they die.
 Different living things have different life span.
HOTS

1. Why does the population of animals living in jungle not increase as human population
does?

Ans: The prey- predator relationships among animals in jungle keep a check on their population. Also
animals do not have health facilities as they are available to human population.

2. Do all aquatic animals breathe oxygen dissolved in water?

Ans: No, because dolphins and whales do not have gills to breathe underwater. They have to come
up to the water surface.

3. A car ‘eats’ fuels, ‘breathe’ air, ‘excrete’ smoke and ‘moves’ place to place. Why is it not
considered to be living?

Ans: A car is not considered to be living because it does not grow or reproduce.

4. Plants take in oxygen and given out carbon dioxide during respiration all times. Why do we
then say that plants supply oxygen to air?

Ans: Respiration in plants take place day and night, whereas photosynthesis takes place only during
day time. During the day time the amount of oxygen given out by them in photosynthesis is more than
the amount of oxygen used up in respiration. So, during day time plants supply oxygen to air.