CBSE Class 6 Science — The Living Organisms and Their Surroundings

Habitats and Adaptation

The place where an organism lives is called its habitat. A habitat provides food, water, air, shelter, and other needs to organisms.

The presence of specific features and habits that enable a plant or an animal to live in a particular habitat is called adaptation.

Types of Habitats

mindmap
  root((Habitats))
    Terrestrial (Land)
      Deserts
      Mountains
      Grasslands
      Forests
    Aquatic (Water)
      Oceans
      Ponds
      Lakes
      Rivers

1. Terrestrial Habitats (Land)

Deserts:

• Animals (Camel): Long legs to keep body away from hot sand, excretes little urine, dry dung, does not sweat.
• Animals (Rats & Snakes): Hide in deep burrows during the day to avoid heat, come out at night.
• Plants (Cactus): Have no leaves or spine-like leaves to reduce transpiration. Stem is fleshy to store water and carries out photosynthesis.

Mountain Regions:

• Trees: Cone-shaped with sloping branches and needle-like leaves so rain and snow can slide off easily.
• Animals (Snow Leopard, Yak): Thick skin or fur to protect against cold. Mountain goats have strong hooves for running on rocky slopes.

Grasslands:

• Predator (Lion): Light brown colour to hide in dry grass. Eyes in front of the face for a correct idea of prey location.
• Prey (Deer): Fast runners with eyes on the sides of the head to look in all directions.

2. Aquatic Habitats (Water)

Oceans:

• Most fish have streamlined bodies to move easily.
• Squids and octopus stay deep near the bottom and catch prey that moves towards them (they are not fully streamlined).
• Dolphins and whales have no gills; they breathe air through blowholes when they swim near the surface.

Ponds and Lakes:

• Aquatic Plants: Roots are much reduced. Stems are long, hollow, and light. Leaves either float, or are narrow and ribbon-like (in submerged plants).
• Frogs: Can live in ponds and on land. They have webbed feet to swim in water.

Biotic and Abiotic Components

• Biotic Components: Living things in a habitat (Plants, Animals, Microbes).
• Abiotic Components: Non-living things in a habitat (Rocks, Soil, Air, Water, Sunlight, Heat).

Adaptation is an extremely slow process. Changes in abiotic factors happen over thousands of years, and animals that cannot adapt, die out.

Characteristics of Living Organisms

How do we differentiate between living and non-living things? All living organisms share these common features:

1. Need for Food: Gives organisms energy to grow and perform life processes.
2. Growth: Young ones grow into adults (e.g., a seed into a plant, a puppy into a dog).
3. Respiration: Breathing is a part of respiration where energy is produced from food using oxygen.
4. Response to Stimuli: Changes in surroundings that make us respond are stimuli (e.g., closing eyes when flashed with bright light, dropping a hot pan).
5. Excretion: The process of getting rid of waste generated by body processes.
6. Reproduction: Producing more of their own kind. Animals give birth or lay eggs. Plants reproduce through seeds or cuttings.
7. Movement: Animals move from place to place. Plants show movement like opening of flowers or growing towards light.