THE LIVING

ORGANISMS —
CHARACTERISTIC
S A N D H A B I TAT S
Paheli and Boojho went on vacation to many places of
interest.
Rishikesh -
trees on these
climatic the mountains
mountains of the mountains —
condition very had goats and
Himalayas. oaks, pines and
cold. yak.
deodar
Rajasthan
climatic Animals like
Plants -
mostly sandy condition camel, snake,
cactus
very hot scorpions
Puri (sea beach)
climatic Animals –
Casuarina
mostly sandy condition crabs and
trees.
Humid fishes
Habitat & Adaptation
Habitat
The place where organisms live is called habitat. Habitat means a dwelling
place (a home).
The habitat provides food, water, air, shelter and other needs to organisms.
Two components of habitat is – 1. Biotic component 2. Abiotic component
-includes plant and animal
Includes non-living
things such as rocks, soil,
air and water
2 major types of habitat - 1. Terrestrial habitat 2. Aquatic habitat
forests, grasslands, Lakes, rivers,
deserts, coastal and pond(fresh water) and
mountain regions oceans (salt water)
 Adaptation
• The presence of specific features or certain habits, which enable an organism to live
naturally in a place is called adaptation.
• Adaptation of organisms differ depending on their place of dwelling.
• Adaptation is a long-term permanent adjustment, because the abiotic factors of a
region also change very slowly.
• Those organisms which cannot adapt to these changes die, and only the adapted
ones survive.

Acclimatization
• A gradual change to the body of an organism to better suit to changes to the
environment.
• It is a short term rapid temporary adjustment of organism to a changing environment.
• It can be reversed once the pervious conditions are met.
They excrete small
amount of urine; their
dung is dry, and they
do not sweat.
 Fins - swimming Scales -slippery scales protect the
(locomotion), balance, fish and also help in easy movement
stability, and steering. through water.

Tail -allows the fish to

change its direction
Gills -Gills while swimming
present in the fish
help them to use
oxygen dissolved in
water
Streamlined shape - This
shape helps them move
inside water.
DESERT Hot and dry weather
- Sandy soil
Less rainfall
Less vegetation

Small animals like snake,

rats and scorpions stay in
burrows during daytime
and come out only at
night
PLANTS IN
DESERT

 The leaves are either absent, very small or are in the form of spines.
 The leaf like structure in cactus are its stems which do photosynthesis in these plants.
 Stem is covered with thick waxy layer ,which help to retain water in tissue. They
have sunken stomata. Because of this they lose very little water through
transpiration.
 They have deep roots in search of underground water.
 Plants of desert are called Xerophytes.
Mountain region – very cold
windy
snow

 Animal have thick skin or fur to

 trees are normally cone shaped and
protect them from cold.
have sloping branches.
 The mountain goat has strong
 The leaves of some of these trees are
hooves for running up the rocky
needle-like helps the rainwater and
slopes of the mountains
snow to slide off easily.
 Grassland – few trees for animal to hide

Due to this speed is important

for animals, so that they can
run away from their
predators.
Adaptation in deer –1. It has strong teeth
for chewing hard plant stems of the forest.
2.A deer needs to know about the presence of
Adaptation in lion – predators, It has long ears to hear movements
1.They have long, strong and sharp claws. of predators.
2.Color is light brown which helps it to hide 3. The eyes on the side of its head allow it to
in grass and hunt. look in all directions for danger.
3.Lion has its eye on front so that they can 4. The speed of the deer helps them to run
have a correct idea about the location of prey. away from the predators.
Some Aquatic Habitats
oceans (salt water)
Adaptation in fish – streamlined body, gills, slippery scales, strong tail and fins to
keep body balance.
 There are some sea animals like squids and octopus, which do not have this
streamlined shape. They stay deeper in the ocean, near the seabed and catch
any prey that moves towards them.
 There are some sea animals like dolphins and whales that do not have gills.
They breathe in air through nostrils or blowholes that are located on the upper
parts of their heads. This allows them to breathe in air when they swim near
the surface of water.
Pond, Lake and Rivers ( fresh water) – the plant which grow in water are called
aquatic plants.

1. Some plant float on the surface of the water. WATER

2. Some aquatic plant are completely LETTUCE
Submerged in water their roots are fixed in the
Soil at the bottom. ribbon-like leaves.
3. Some plant partly submerged in water. Roots are fixed at
bottom, stem grow on surface of water, leaves and flower are
above the surface of water.

WATER
hydrilla Water lily HYACINTH
Fresh water Fresh water
Adaptation in aquatic plant
1. the aquatic plant have very short root just to hold the plant in place.
2. The stems are long, Soft, hollow and light weight. The hollow space is
filled with air .
3. The leaves have waxy coating, which help the to sustain in water for long
time.
5.Submerged aquatic plant have narrow and thin ribbon like leaves which
bend in the flowing water and hence don’t obstruct the flow of water.

Sea grass
Frog - Can live both in water and on land . Known as
Amphibians.
Adaptation in frog - 1. while completely submerged in water the frog
respire through the skin.
(In Tadpoles gills are present)
while on land they breath through their lungs.
2. They have strong back legs to leap and catch its prey
3. Have webbed feet which help to swim in water.
How do we know that something is living?
Characteristics of organisms -
characteristic HUMAN, ANIMALS AND BUS, CAR,TABLE CHAIR etc
s
PLANTS
food
 no
respiration
 no
grow
 no
reproduce
movement
 no
excrete
 no
 no
8 Characteristics in organism
1. Food – all the living thing need food, water, air to stay alive .
2. Growth – they grow in size with time.
3. Respiration – it is a chemical process food taken in combines with oxygen to release
energy. Breathing is the first step.
• Some organism breath through skin like earthworm, frog etc.
• Plant respire through stomata.
4. Response to stimuli – Changes in our surroundings that makes us respond to them, are
called stimuli, all respond to change around them. E.g.- Mimosa (touch me not ).
5. Excretion – process of getting rid of waste by organisms.
6. Reproduction – birds lays egg, cow; cat; human produce their young ones, plant
produce seeds which give rise to new plant .
7. Movement – all organism show movement.
8. Fixed life span.
Que1. What is a habitat?
Que2. How are cactus adapted to survive in a desert?
Que3. 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 ————.
(b) The habitats of the plants and animals that live on land are called ———— habitat.
(c) The habitats of plants and animals that live in water are called ———— habitat.
(d) Soil, water and air are the ———— factors of a habitat.
(e) Changes in our surroundings that make us respond to them, are called ———— .
Que4. Which of the things in the following list are nonliving? Plough, Mushroom, Sewing
machine, Radio, Boat, Water hyacinth, Earthworm
Que5. Give an example of a non-living thing, which shows any two characteristics of living
things.
Que6. 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
Que7. List the common characteristics of the living things.
Que8. Explain, why speed is important for survival in the grasslands for animals that live
there.