Q 1.

What is a habitat?

SOLUTION:

Habitat is the natural environment where an organism lives. Habitat provides food, shelter and favourable conditions for an organism to survive, reproduce and flourish. e.g., desert is the habitat of camel and cactus.

Q 2.

How are cactus adapted to survive in a desert?

SOLUTION:

Cactus plants are adapted to survive in a desert by means of following adaptations :
(i) Leaves are reduced to spines. This helps to reduce water loss (through transpiration).
(ii) Stem is green leaf-like structure which prepares food for the plant. Photosynthesis, thus, occurs in stem.
(iii) Stem is fleshy and stores water.
(iv) The stem is covered with a thick waxy layer which helps to retain water.
(v) Roots are very long and reach the deep layers of the soil for absorbing water.

Q 3.

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 _______ habitats.
(C) The habitats of plants and animals that live in water are called _______ habitats.
(D) Soil, water and air are the _______ factors of a habitat.
(E) Changes in our surroundings that make us respond to them, are called _______.

SOLUTION:

(A) adaptation
(B) terrestrial
(C) aquatic
(D) abiotic
(E) stimuli

Q 4.

Which of the things in the following list are non-living?
Plough, Mushroom, Sewing machine, Radio, Boat, Water hyacinth, Earthworm

SOLUTION:

Plough, sewing machine, radio and boat are non-living things.

Q 5.

Give an example of a non-living thing which shows any two characteristics of living things.

SOLUTION:

Cloud is an example of a non-living thing that shows the following characteristics of living things :
(i) Clouds move in the sky.
(ii) A cloud grows in size.

Q 6.

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

SOLUTION:

Butter, leather, wool, cooking oil, apple and rubber are the non-living things that were once part of living things.

Q 7.

List the common characteristics of the living things.

SOLUTION:

The common characteristics of the living things are :
(i) All living things need food. Food gives them energy to grow, to move and for other life processes that go on inside them. Therefore, food is essential for all living organisms.
(ii) All living things show growth. Growth is increase in the size of an organism. It is irreversible and permanent in living things. For example, little puppies grow to become dogs and small plants grow over a period of time to become huge trees.
(iii) All living things respire. Respiration is necessary for all living organisms as it helps the body to obtain energy from the food it takes.
(iv) All living things show response to stimuli such as temperature, touch, light, sound etc.
(v) All living organisms excrete wastes. The process of getting rid of wastes by the living organisms is called excretion.
(vi) All living things show movements. Animal move from one place to another and also show other body movements. Plants are generally anchored in soil so they do not move from one place to another. But they show movements of certain parts, such as leaves, stems, roots and flowers.

Q 8.

Explain, why speed is important for survival in the grasslands for animals that live there.
(Hint: There are few trees or places for animals to hide in grasslands habitats.)

SOLUTION:

Grasslands are big open spaces in which the vegetation is dominated by a nearly continuous cover of grasses. There are few trees or other places for animals to hide in grasslands. It is very easy for the predator animals such as lion, tiger, etc., to locate their prey in grass. Therefore, to protect themselves from these predators, prey animals such as deer adapt themselves by increasing their running speed. Thus, speed is important for survival of animals that live in grasslands.