10th

OUR
ENVIRONMENT
 10th

Ques.

(A) What is an ecosystem ? List

its two main components.
(B) We do not clean ponds or
lakes but an acquarium needs
to be cleaned regularly.
Explain.

CBSE 2013
 10th

ECOSYSTEM
WHAT ARE ITS COMPONENTS?
 10th
All organisms such as plants, animals,
microorganisms & human beings as well as the
physical surroundings interact with each other
&maintain a balance in nature.

AllAll the
together
interacting organisms in an area
with the non-living constituents of the
environment form an ecosystem.

Sunlight and heat

Termite mounds

Insects Fungi
w

Rotting log9
Protozoans
Bacteria
Plankton
Algae
 10th
TYPES OF ECOSYSTEM

NATURAL ARTIFICIAL
Forests,
Gardens &
ponds & crop-fields
lakes
 10th
COMPONENTS OF ECOSYSTEM

BIOTIC ABIOTICc

BIOTIC
V
bio-ife" ABIOTIC
a=
without blO=life"
 10th
BIOTIC
Components consisting of living
y
organisms.

ABIOTIC
Components cosisting of
non-living organisms.
 An ecosystem includes

A. All living organisms

|B. Non-living objects

(C. Both living organisms and

non-iiving objects
(D.
D. Sometimes living organisms
& sometimes non-living objects
 10th
Organisms can be grouped according to
the manner in which they obtain their
sustenance from the environment.

Producers or Autotrophs

Consumers

Decomposers
 10th
PRODUCERS OR AUTOTROPHS

Those organisms which can produce

their Own food.

All green plants & certain blue-green

algae fall under this category.
 10th
CONSUMERS

OThose organisms which are unable to

synthesise their own food & consume the
food produced by producers or eat other
organisms as food.

They can be classified variously as:

Herbivores;
Carnivores;
Omnivores;
Parasites.
 10th
DECOMPOSERSS

Micro-organisms which break down

the complex organic compounds
into simple inorganic substances.

Examples: Bacteria & Fungi.

 Organisms which synthesise
carbohydrates from inorganic
compounds using radiant energy
are called

A. Decomposers

B Consumers

C. Herbivores

|D. Producers
 10th

Ques.

What is food chain? Why is the

flow of energy in an ecosystem
unidirectional. Explain briefly.

CBSE 2019
 10th

FOOD CHAIN
 10th
A food chain is the flow of food
energy from one organism to the
next and to the next and so on.

They usually start with a producer

(plants) and end with a carnivore.

In a food chain an organism gets

food from one group of
organisms.
 10th

--
Grass
Sun

Grasshopper Frog Snake

 10th
TROPHIC LEVEL

Each step or level of the food chain forms

a trophic level.

First Trophic level- The autotrophs or the

producers. They fix up the solar energy & make
it available for heterotrophs or the consumers.

Second Trophic level- The herbivores or the primary

consumers.

Third Trophic level- Small carnivores or the secondary

consumers.

Fourth Trophic level- Larger carnivores or the tertiary

consumers.
 10th

Hawk
Fourth Tertiary
trop Aconsumer Snake
evi Carnive Secondary
Third consumer W
trophic Carnivore
level
Primary
Second consumer
Decomposer trophic
level Herbivore
Mouse

Grass

First
trophic Producer
level
 Which of the two sets belong to
the same trophic level?

A. Rabbit: Tiger

B Vulture: Rat

C. Grasshopper: Hawk

|D. Frog : Lizard

 10th
Flow of energy in an ecosystem:

The interactions among

various components of the
environment involves flow of
energy from one component
of the system to another.

From autotrophs, the Autotrophs capture the

energy goes to thee energy present in
heterotrophs and sunlight and convert it
decomposers. into chemical energy.

This energy supports all the

activities of the living world.
 10th
Loss of energy in an ecosystem: The
10 % Law
When one form of energy is changed to
another, some energy is lost to the
environment in forms which cannot be
used again.

The green plants in a terrestrial

ecosystem capture about 1% of the energy
of sunlight that falls on their leaves and
Convert it into food energy.

When green plants are eaten by primary

consumers, a great deal of energy is lost
as heat to the environment, some amount
goes into digestion and in doing work and
the rest goes towards growth and
reproduction.
 10th
Loss of energy in an ecosystem: The
10% Law
An average of 10% of the food eaten is turned
into its own body and made available for the
next level of consumers.

Therefore, 10% can be taken as the average

value for the amount of organic matter that is
present at each step and reaches the next
level of consumers.
Joules
energy lost to
environment
9 Joules 0.9 Joule
energy lost to energy lost to
environment environment

10 Joules 1 Joules
Energy Energy

10Joules energy Joule energy

1 O.1 Joule energy
available as food available as food available as food
(Producer) (Herbivore) (Carnivore)
Progressive Loss of Energy in Food Chain
 10th
|Why are food chains made
up of three to four trophic
levels?

90% energy is lost in the form of heat, only

10% energy is transferred to the successive
trophic levels.

Since so little energy is available for the next

level of consumers, food chains generally
consist of only three or four steps.

The loss of energy at each step is so great

that very little usable energy remains after
four trophic levels.
 10th
At which trophic level would you
find a greater number of
organisms?

Since there is a progressive loss of

energy at the successive trophic
levels, there are generally a greater
number of individuals at the lower
trophic levels of an ecosystem, the
greatest number is of the
producers.
 In a given food chain if the amount
of energy at the fourth trophic level
is 6 kJ, what will be the energy
available at the producer level?

A. 6000 kJ

|B. 60 kJ

|C. 600 kJ

|D. 20 kJ
 10th

FACTS RELATED TO THE

FLOW OF ENERGY IN THE
ECOSYSTEM:
 10th
Firstly, the flow of energy is unidirectional.

The energy that is captured by the autotrophs

does not revert back to the solar input and the
energy which passes to the herbivores does not
come back to autotrophs.

As it moves progressively through the various trophic

levels it is no longer available to the previous level.
 10th
FOOD WEB

Food web is a group of several interconnected

food chains. In a food web an organism gets
food from more than one group of organisms.

Each organism is generally eaten by two or

more other kinds of organisms which in turn
are eaten by several other organisms.

So instead of a straight line food chain, the

relationship can be shown as a series of
branching lines called a food web.
 10th
Food Web

Secondary Tertiary
carnivores consumers

Primary Secondary
carnivores consumers

Primary
Herbivores consumers

Producer
 The transfer of energy in a food
chain is always:

A. Methane

|B. Bi-directional

C. Random

|D. Unidirectional
 10th

BIOMAGNIFICATION
 10th
An interesting aspect of the food chain is how
unknowingly some harmful chemicals enter
our bodies through the food chain.

This is called biomagnification, and it means

that higher-level predators-fish, birds, & marine
mammals-build up greater and more
dangerous amounts of toxic materials than
animals lower on the food chain.
 10th
Water bodies are polluted by industrial,
agricultural, and human wastes.

These chemicals are either washed down into

the soil or into the water bodies.

From the soil, these are absorbed by the plants along

with water and minerals, and from the water bodies
these are taken up by aquatic plants and animals

As these chemicals are not degradable, these get

accumulated progressively at each trophic level.
Magnification of
DDT concentration

Fish-eating
birds 10,000,000

Large
fish 1,000,000

Small
fish
100,000

Zooplankton 10,000

Producer
1000
(Phytoplankton)

Water
 10th
As human beings occupy the top level in any food chain,
the maximum concentration of these chemicals get
accumulated in our bodies

This is the reason why our food grains such as wheat

and rice, vegetables and fruits, and even meat, contain
varying amounts of pesticide residues.

They cannot always be removed by washing or

other means.

Concentration of Chemical/ Pollutant

MAYFLY BLUEGILL BASS HUMAN

UL IID
 Accumulation of non-biodegradable
pesticides in the food chain in
increasing amount at each higher
trophic Ilevel is known as

A. Biomagnification

B Pollution

C. Accumulation

D. Eutrophication
 10th

Ques.

(a) What is ozone? How is it formed

in the atmosphere? Explain with
equation.
(b) How is ozone layer useful?
(c) Name the substances
responsible for the depletion of
ozone layer.
CBSE 2013
 10th

EFFECTS OF HUMAN
ACTIVITIES ON
ENVIRONMENT
 10th
1. Depletion of ozone layer in the atmosphere

Ozone
molecules
contain three
oxygen atoms
(03).

The higher energy

UVradiations split Ozone is formed as
apart some a product of UV
molecular oxygen radiation acting on
(02) into free Oxygen (02)
oxygen (O) atoms. molecules.
 10th
oo
o(o
Sun UV

O+O2Os
 10th
In the troposphere, ozone is a deadly poison.

However, at the higher levels of the atmosphere,that is,

in the stratosphere, ozone performs an essential
function.

It shields the surface of the earth from ultraviolet (Uv)

radiation from the Sun.
This radiation is highly damaging to organisms, for
example, it is known to cause skin cancer in human
beings.

STRATOSPHERE
10 to 50 km
ozONE LAYER

km TROPOSPHERE
0 to 10

EARTH
 10th
Ozone Hole and Ozone Depleting
Substances:
Ozone hole is a region of exceptionally depleted ozone
in the stratosphere over the Antarctic that happens at
the beginning of the Southern Hemisphere spring
(August-October).

The amount of ozone in the atmosphere began to drop

sharply in the 1980s.
Ozone Hole and Ozone Depleting 10th
Substances:
This decrease has been linked to synthetic chemicals
like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) which are used as
refrigerants and in fire extinguishers.

These chemicals are called ozone depleting

substances.

In 1987, the United Nations Environment Programme

(UNEP) succeeded in forging an agreement to freeze
CFC production at 1986 levels. It is now mandatory for
all the manufacturing companies to make CFC-free
refrigerators throughout the world.

UN environment
programme
 10th
2. Managing the Garbage we Produce

The household waste is called garbage.

Some of the garbage is biodegradable and some are

non biodegradable.

Biodegradable- Substances that are broken down by

biological processes.

Non-Biodegradable- Substances that are not broken

down by biological processes.
 10th
2. Managing the Garbage we Produce

These substances may be inert & simply persist in the

environment for a long time or may harm the various
members of the ecosystem.

Garbage causes pollution of air, water and soil. So it

should be disposed of properly.
 Which of the following is the
best way for disposal of
vegetable and fruit peels?

A. Landfill

B Recycling

C. Composting

|D. Burning
 10th
DISPOSAL OF GARBAGE

Landfill Incineration Waste Compaction

Biogas Generation Composting Vermicomposting

 Which of the following is the
best way for disposal of
vegetable and fruit peels?

A. Landfill

B Recycling

C. Composting

|D. Burning
 9th|10th

hane
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