The Living Organisms — Characteristics and Habitats

Organisms and Their Surroundings

Paheli and Boojho’s Adventures

• Rishikesh: Visited the river Ganga, saw oaks, pines, and deodars in the cold Himalayas.
• Rajasthan: Rode camels in the hot desert, collected cactus plants.
• Puri: Visited the sea beach with casuarina trees, saw crabs and fish.

Realization

• Different places: cold, hot, dry, humid.
• All had different kinds of living organisms.
• Found living creatures everywhere, even in cupboards and volcanoes.

Organisms and Their Surroundings

• Deserts: camels.
• Mountains: goats and yaks.
• Beaches: crabs and fish.
• Common creatures: ants found in many places.
• Different plants in different regions.

Examples

• Forest: Trees, deer, birds, dried leaves.
• Desert: Cactus, camels, sand.
• Mountains: Pine trees, yaks, rocks.
• Beach: Casuarina trees, crabs, shells.

Habitat and Adaptation

Exploring Different Habitats

• Deserts and Sea:
  • Desert: Hot during the day, cold at night, little water.
  • Sea: Salty water, organisms use air dissolved in water.

Example Organisms

• Camel (Desert):
  • Long legs to stay away from hot sand.
  • Produces little urine, dry dung, doesn’t sweat.
  • Can survive many days without water.
• Fish (Sea):
  • Streamlined shape for easy movement in water.
  • Slippery scales for protection and movement.
  • Fins and tails for direction and balance.
  • Gills to use oxygen dissolved in water.

Key Concepts

• Adaptation:
  • Special features or habits help organisms live in their specific surroundings.
  • Example: Fish can’t live out of water, camels can’t live in the sea.
• Habitat:
  • A place where organisms live and get their food, water, air, and shelter.
  • Terrestrial Habitats: Forests, grasslands, deserts, coastal areas, mountains.
  • Aquatic Habitats: Lakes, rivers, oceans.

Summary

• Adaptations: Help organisms survive in their specific habitats.
• Habitats: Provide all the needs for organisms to live.

Biotic and Abiotic Components

• Biotic Components: All living things in a habitat (plants and animals).
• Abiotic Components: Non-living things like rocks, soil, air, and water.

Question: Are sunlight and heat biotic or abiotic?

• Answer: They are abiotic components.

Effect of Abiotic Factors on Seeds

Seed Germination Experiment

1. Collect dry moong seeds:
   • Soak most in water for a day.
   • Keep 20-30 seeds dry as a control.
2. Divide soaked seeds into four parts:
   • Submerge one part in water for 3-4 days.
   • Place one part in a sunny room.
   • Keep one part in complete darkness (cupboard).
   • Store one part in a very cold place (fridge).
3. Observe the seeds:
   • Do all seeds germinate the same way?
   • Notice any slower or no germination?

Conclusion:

• Abiotic factors like air, water, light, and heat are crucial for plant growth.
• They are important for all living organisms.

Adaptation to Environment and Survival

• Organisms live in extreme climates (very cold or very hot).
• Adaptation helps them survive by adjusting to the climate.
• Adaptation takes a long time because abiotic factors change slowly.
• Organisms that cannot adapt, die.
• Different adaptations lead to a variety of organisms in different habitats.

Acclimatisation

• Example: Moving from plains to high mountains:
  • Initial difficulty in breathing and exercise.
  • Breathing faster initially.
  • Body adjusts in a few days.

Acclimatisation vs. Adaptation

• Acclimatisation: Short-term changes in an organism to adjust to immediate surroundings.
• Adaptation: Long-term changes over generations to survive in specific habitats.

Journey Through Different Habitats

A. Terrestrial Habitats :

1. Deserts

• Adaptations in Camels:
  • Long legs to avoid heat from the ground.
• Other Desert Animals:
  • Rats and snakes stay in burrows during the day.
  • They come out at night when it’s cooler.

Findings:

• Desert plants lose very little water through transpiration.
• Adaptations in desert plants:
  • Leaves are absent, small, or spiny to reduce water loss.
  • Stems are leaf-like and do photosynthesis.
  • Stems have a thick, waxy layer to retain water.
  • Roots are deep to absorb water from the soil.

b. Mountain Regions

• Climate: Cold and windy, with possible snowfall in winters.
• Plants:
  • Cone-shaped with sloping branches.
  • Needle-like leaves to help rain and snow slide off.
  • Other trees may have different shapes and adaptations.
• Animals:
  • Thick skin or fur to stay warm.
  • Examples:
    • Yak: Long hair for warmth.
    • Snow Leopard: Thick fur on body, feet, and toes.
    • Mountain Goat: Strong hooves for rocky slopes.
• Adaptations Change with Height: Different adaptations at different altitudes.

c. Grasslands

• Lion:
  • Strong and can hunt deer.
  • Light brown color to hide in dry grass.
  • Eyes in front to locate prey.
  • Long claws in front legs.
• Deer:
  • Strong teeth for chewing plant stems.
  • Needs to detect predators to run away.
  • Long ears to hear predators.
  • Eyes on the side for a wide view.
  • Fast runners to escape predators.

B. Aquatic Habitats

1. Oceans

• Fish: Streamlined bodies for easy movement in water.
• Squids and Octopus:
  • Not streamlined.
  • Live near seabed and catch prey.
  • Can make body streamlined when moving.
  • Use gills for oxygen.
• Dolphins and Whales:
  • Breathe air through blowholes.
  • Swim near the surface to breathe.
  • Can stay underwater for long periods.

2. Ponds and Lakes

• Aquatic Plants:
  • Roots: Fixed in soil below water, smaller in size.
  • Stems: Long, hollow, and light; reach the surface.
  • Leaves and Flowers: Float on the water.
  • Submerged Plants: Entirely underwater with narrow, thin, or divided leaves.
• Frogs:
  • Live in water and on land.
  • Strong back legs for leaping.
  • Webbed feet for swimming.

Conclusion

• Variety of Life: Many plants and animals have unique adaptations for their habitats.
• Wide Variety: Observing different plants and animals shows the diversity of life on Earth.

Characteristics of Organisms

Living vs. Non-Living

• Examples from a forest: trees, animals, birds, snakes, insects (living); rocks, soil, water, air, dry leaves, dead animals, mushrooms, moss (living and non-living).
• Chairs, tables, stones, and coins are non-living.
• People, dogs, cats, monkeys, squirrels, insects are living.

Key Characteristics of Living Things

• 1. Need for Food: All living things need food for energy and growth.
  • Plants make food through photosynthesis.
  • Animals depend on plants or other animals for food.
• 2. Growth: All living things grow.
  • Humans grow from children to adults.
  • Animals like pups grow into adult dogs.
  • Plants grow from small to larger over time.
• 3. Respiration: All living things respire.
  • Humans and animals breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide.
  • Animals like cows, buffaloes, dogs, and cats have similar breathing patterns to humans.
  • Different animals have different respiration mechanisms:
    • Earthworms: Breathe through skin.
    • Fish: Use gills to extract oxygen from water.
  • Plants also respire through tiny pores in their leaves, taking in oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide.
  • During the day, plants release more oxygen than they use.

4. Responding to Stimuli

• Examples of Stimuli:
  • Stepping on a thorn: immediate movement.
  • Seeing favorite food: feeling happy.
  • Moving from dark to bright light: eyes shut momentarily.
• Animal Responses:
  • Animals become active when food is served.
  • Birds fly away when approached.
  • Wild animals run from bright lights.
  • Cockroaches hide when lights are turned on.
• Plant Responses:
  • Some flowers bloom only at night.
  • Touch-me-not plants fold leaves when touched.
  • Plants bend towards sunlight.

5. Excretion in Living Organisms

• Need for Excretion:
  • Only part of the food consumed is used by the body.
  • Waste needs to be removed.
• Excretion in Animals:
  • Removing waste products produced during life processes.
• Excretion in Plants:
  • Store waste in parts of the plant.
  • Remove waste as secretions.

6. Reproduction in Living Organisms

• Animal Reproduction:
  • Birds lay eggs, which hatch into young birds.
  • Some animals give birth to live young ones.
• Plant Reproduction:
  • Many plants reproduce through seeds.
  • New plants can grow from parts like buds in potatoes.
  • Plants can also reproduce through cuttings.

Activity Examples

Key Points

• Living things respond to their environment.
• All living organisms excrete waste.
• Living organisms reproduce their own kind in various ways.

These characteristics help differentiate living things from non-living things and highlight the diversity in how different organisms function and reproduce.

Do All Organisms Move?

Movement in Animals

• Animals move from place to place.
• They also show other body movements.

Movement in Plants

• Plants do not move from one place to another because they are anchored in soil.
• Water, minerals, and food move within the plant.
• Examples of plant movements:
  • Opening and closing of flowers.
  • Movement in response to stimuli (like the touch-me-not plant).

Non-Living Things and Movement

• Non-living things like buses, cars, clouds, and pieces of paper can move.
• However, their movement is different from that of living beings.

Common Characteristics of Living Organisms

• Need for Food: All living things need food.
• Respiration: All living things respire.
• Response to Stimuli: All living things respond to changes in their environment.
• Reproduction: Living things reproduce to ensure their species survive.
• Movement: All living things show some form of movement.
• Growth: All living things grow.
• Death: All living things eventually die.

Comparing Living and Non-Living Things

• Non-living things can show some characteristics of living things (e.g., movement and growth).
• However, they do not show all characteristics at the same time.

Example to Understand Life

• Seed Example:
  • A moong seed in a shop does not grow or reproduce.
  • When planted, it grows into a plant.
  • Even in storage, seeds respire, producing heat.

Conclusion: What is Life?

• Defining life can be complex.
• Respiration can occur even when other life processes are not active.
• Observing the diversity of living beings, we can conclude that “life is beautiful”!

Chapter Summary:

• The surroundings where plants and animals live are called their habitat.
• Several kinds of plants and animals may share the same habitat.
• The presence of specific features and habits that enable a plant or animal to live in a particular habitat is called adaptation.
• There are many types of habitats, broadly grouped as terrestrial (on land) and aquatic (in water).
• There is a wide variety of organisms present in different habitats.
• Plants, animals, and microorganisms together constitute biotic components.
• Rocks, soil, air, water, light, and temperature are some of the abiotic components of our surroundings.
• Living things have certain common characteristics: they need food, respire, excrete, respond to their environment, reproduce, grow, and show movement.

Keywords

Serial No.	Keyword	Serial No.	Keyword
1	Adaptation	6	Habitat
2	Aquatic habitat	7	Living
3	Biotic component	8	Reproduction
4	Excretion	9	Respiration
5	Growth	10	Stimulus