Our Environment Chapter 13 PDF
Document Details
Uploaded by JudiciousTroll
Tags
Summary
This document discusses environments, ecosystems, and the components that interact within them, including living organisms and abiotic factors such as temperature, rainfall and soil. It provides examples of ecosystems like gardens and describes the components of a given ecosystem.
Full Transcript
CHAPTER 13 Our Environment W e have heard the word ‘environment’ often being used on the television, in newspapers and by people around us. Our elders tell us that the ‘environment’ is not what it used to be earlier; others say that...
CHAPTER 13 Our Environment W e have heard the word ‘environment’ often being used on the television, in newspapers and by people around us. Our elders tell us that the ‘environment’ is not what it used to be earlier; others say that we should work in a healthy ‘environment’; and global summits involving the developed and developing countries are regularly held to discuss ‘environmental’ issues. In this chapter, we shall be studying how various components in the environment interact with each other and how we impact the environment. -SYSTEM — WHA ECO-SYSTEM 13.1 ECO WHATT ARE ITS COMPONENTS? All organisms such as plants, animals, microorganisms and human beings as well as the physical surroundings interact with each other and maintain a balance in nature. All the interacting organisms in an area together with the non-living constituents of the environment form an ecosystem. Thus, an ecosystem consists of biotic components comprising living organisms and abiotic components comprising physical factors like temperature, rainfall, wind, soil and minerals. For example, if you visit a garden you will find different plants, such as grasses, trees; flower bearing plants like rose, jasmine, sunflower; and animals like frogs, insects and birds. All these living organisms interact with each other and their growth, reproduction and other activities are affected by the abiotic components of ecosystem. So a garden is an ecosystem. Other types of ecosystems are forests, ponds and lakes. These are natural ecosystems while gardens and crop-fields are human- made (artificial) ecosystems. Activity 13.1 n You might have seen an aquarium. Let us try to design one. n What are the things that we need to keep in mind when we create an aquarium? The fish would need a free space for swimming (it could be a large jar), water, oxygen and food. n We can provide oxygen through an oxygen pump (aerator) and fish food which is available in the market. 208 Science 2024-25
