Revision Notes of Ch 9 The Living Organisms and their Surrounding Class 6th Science
- Habitat
- Adaptations
- Types of habitat
- Acclimatisation
- Components of a habitat
What is Habitat?
→ The surrounding where an organism lives, where it can find food, shelter and a favourable condition for breeding is known as its habitat.
Adaptations
→ The ability of living organisms to adjust themselves to the surroundings is called as adaptation.
→ Adaptations are the changes in structure or behaviour of an organism that will allow the organism to survive in that habitat.
Types of habitat
→ There are two types of habitat:
(i) Terrestrial habitat
ii. Aquatic habitat
Terrestrial habitat
→ It refers to the land where all plants and animals survive.
→ Animals and plants which live on land are called as terrestrial animals and terrestrial plants.
→ Terrestrial habitat is further classified into:
(i) Forests
(ii) Grasslands
(iii) Deserts
(iv) Mountains
(v) Polar Regions
(i) Forest
→ These are large areas covered with trees and plants.
→ Organisms living in the forest depend upon abiotic factors like air, availability of water, temperature, sunlight etc.
→ Three types of forests are tropical forests, temperate forests and boreal forests.
(ii) Grasslands
→ These are mainly covered by long and thick grasses.
→ Temperature ranges between -20℃ and 30℃.
→ Annual rainfall they receive varies between 50cm and 90cm.
(iii) Deserts
→ These are the areas that receive scanty rainfall.
→ These are dry with sand covering the whole region.
→ Deserts are mostly hot regions but some of them are even too cold regions.
(iv) Mountains
→ These regions are rocky and dry.
→ Sometimes water occurs as flowing streams.
→ Plants present on hills are xerophytes. These are conical and evergreen.
(v) Polar region
→ These regions are covered with high snowy peaks.
→ Animals found here are adapted by having thick furry coat on the skin.
Aquatic habitat
→ It refers to the region covered with water where plants and animals survive.
(a) Freshwater habitat: These are the water bodies filled with fresh water. These include rivers, lakes, ponds, streams etc.
(b) Marine habitat: Ocean and seas are termed to be marine habitat. These are full with life. Different varieties of organisms exist in marine habitat.
(c) Coastal habitat: This is the region represented by the place where land meets the sea.
Acclimatisation:
→ The ability of an organism to make small adjustments or changes in the body in a short period of time to adjust itself to the surrounding atmosphere is called acclimatisation.
→ There are two types of components of a habitat:
(i) Biotic components
(ii) Abiotic components
Biotic components
→ It include all the livings organisms in a habitat, i.e. plants, animals and microorganisms.
Abiotic components
→ It includes all the non-living things in a habitat, i.e. air, soil, water, sunlight and temperature.
→ The favourable conditions for survival of living organisms are provided by abiotic components.
Abiotic components
(i) Air
→ Air is essential for all the living organisms on earth.
→ Plants and animals take in oxygen from the air during respiration.
→ Air is required by organisms to cool their body.
(ii) Soil
→ Soil is the topmost layer of the earth.
→ Soil is rich in minerals and microorganisms which help in different ways for plant growth.
(iii) Water
→ Water forms a medium for many metabolic reactions taking place inside the body.
(iv) Sunlight
→ Sun is the ultimate source of energy for all the living organisms on earth.
→ Plants depend on sunlight for synthesising their food by the process of photosynthesis.
(v) Temperature
→ Temperature at a place depends on the sunlight available at the particular place.
→ Temperature also influences the humidity of that particular place.