Class VI - Science

Chapter - 9 The Living Organisms and Their Surroundings

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  9. The Living Organisms and Their Surroundings

  • The presence of specific features or certain habits, which enable a plant or an animal to live in its surroundings, is called adaptation. Different animals are adapted to their surroundings in different ways.
  • The surroundings where organisms live are called a habitat. The organisms depend for their food, water, air, shelter and other needs on their habitat. Habitat means a dwelling place (a home). Several kinds of plants and animals may share the same habitat.
  • The plants and animals that live on land are said to live in terrestrial habitats. Some examples of terrestrial habitats are forests, grasslands, deserts, coastal and mountain regions.
  • The habitats of plants and animals that live in water are called aquatic habitats. Ponds, swamps, lakes, rivers and oceans are some examples of aquatic habitats. There are large variations in forests, grasslands, deserts, coastal and mountain regions located in different parts of the world.
  • The living things such as plants and animals, in a habitat, are its biotic components. Various non-living things such as rocks, soil, air and water in the habitat constitute its abiotic components. Sunlight and heat also form abiotic components of the habitat.
  • Plants make their own food through the process of photosynthesis. Animals depend on plants and other animals for their food. Food gives organisms the energy needed for them to grow. Organisms also need this energy for other life processes that go on inside them.
  • Breathing is part of a process called respiration. In respiration, some of the oxygen of the air we breathe in is used by the living body.
  • 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. For example, earthworms breathe through their skin.
  • Changes in our surroundings that make us respond to them are called stimuli.
  • Excretion is another characteristic common to all living things.
  • Animals reproduce their own kind. The mode of reproduction may be different, in different animals. Some animals produce their young ones through eggs. Some animals give birth to the young ones.
  • Living things have certain common characteristics — they need food, they respire and, excrete, respond to their environment, reproduce, grow and show movement.

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