Ch 9 The living organisms characteristics and Habitat

Q 1. Define Organisms and habitat.

Ans. Organism - It is defined as any living thing, ranging from microscopic bacteria
to large elephants and everything in between.
Habitat - The place (or surroundings) where a plant or animal lives is called its
habitat. A habitat provides food, water, air, light, shelter (protection), and a place
for breeding to the plants and animals living in it.

Q 2. What are different types of habitats?

Ans Types of Habitat:
1.Terrestrial Habitat - The plants and animals that live on land are said to live in
terrestrial habitats.Eg. Forests, Grasslands, Deserts, coastal and mountain regions.
2.Aquatic Habitat - The habitats of plants and animals that live in water Eg - Lakes,
rivers and oceans

Q 3 What are different components of habitat/ecosystem?

Ans. Abiotic Components
The various non-living things in a habitat are soil, rocks, air, water, sunlight and
temperature.
Biotic components
It include plants, animals, decomposers. All the living components in habitat are biotic
components.

Q 4. Enlist characteristics of desert habitat?

Ans. Animals like rats, snakes stay away from intense heat and stay in deep burrows
in sand.
● Desert animals come out at night, when it is cooler.
● Desert plants eg cactus have leaves modified into spines, this helps in reducing
loss of water by transpiration.
● Photosynthesis occurs in stems of these plants.
● Roots go very deep in soil.

Q 5. Enlist various characteristics of mountain habitat.

Ans. It is cold and windy in this habitat, sometimes snowfall also occurs in these areas.
● Trees in mountain region are cone shaped with sloping branches, this helps in
rain water and snow to slide off easily.The leaves of these trees are needle like.
● Animals have thick skin or fur to protect them from cold.
● Yaks have long hair to keep them warm.
 ● Snow leopards have thick fur on their body, feet and toes.
● Mountain goat has strong hooves for running on rocky slopes

Q 6. Enlist characteristics of predators such as lions.

Ans. Characteristics of lion:
● Long claws
● Eyes in front of the face allows them to have the correct idea about the location
of prey.
● Light brown colour helps to camouflage.

Q 7 Enlist the characteristics of animals of prey.

Ans.Characteristics of a deer:
● Strong teeth for chewing hard plants and stems in aforest.
● Long ears to hear even minute sounds.
● Eyes on the sides of the head helps to look in all directions.
● Runs very fast.

Q 8. What are characteristics of ocean habitat?

Ans. Streamlined body helps fishes and aquatic animals move easily in water.
● Squids, octopus do not have streamlined body.they survive by living near the
seabed and while moving in water they make their body shape streamlined.
● Fishes have gills to use dissolved oxygen in water.
● Whales have blowholes on the upper part of head to breathe air, they come to
surface from time to time to breathe in air.

Q 9 What are characteristics of aquatic plants and animals living in ponds and
lakes?
Ans. AQUATIC PLANTS
● Roots of aquatic plants are reduced in size and hold the plant in place.
● Stems are long and hollow, they grow upto the surface of water.
● Leaves and flowers float on water.
● For submerged aquatic plants leaves are thin and long ribbon-like.

AQUATIC ANIMALS

● Eg frogs,they can live both on land and water.

● They have strong back legs for leaping and catching their prey.
● They have webbed feet.

Q 10 What are characteristics of living organisms?

Ans. All living organisms need food as it gives them energy to grow and carry on life
processes.
 ● All living organisms grow in size and shape.
● All living organisms respire, During respiration oxygen and food we eat is used
by body to produce energy. Even plants respire by taking in oxygen from
stomata.
● All living organisms throw out waste from their body by the process of excretion.
● All living organisms reproduce their own kinds of organisms by laying eggs or
giving birth to young ones. Plants reproduce by seeds,buds in potatoes, cuttings
in rose etc.
● All living organisms respond to stimulus.

Q 11. Define stimulus and response.

Ans.
Stimulus: is a change in our surroundings which Response: It is the immediate action towards a
makes us respond to them change in our surroundings

NCERT QUESTIONS
1. What is a habitat?
Solution:
The place where organisms live is called habitat. Habitat means a dwelling place
(a home). The habitat provides food, water, air, shelter and other needs to
organisms.
2. How are cactus adapted to survive in a desert?
Solution:
Adaptation of cactus are as follows
● Leaf is replaced by spine to reduce transpiration
● Stems carry out photosynthesis
● A thick waxy layer surrounds leaf to retain water
● Roots of cactus are deeply rooted inside soil to absorb water

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 ————
habitat.
(c) The habitats of plants and animals that live in water are called ————habitat.
(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) The presence of specific features, which enable a plant or an animal to live in
a particular habitat, is called adaptation.
(b) The habitats of the plants and animals that live on land are called terrestrial
habitat.
(c) The habitats of plants and animals that live in water are called aquatic habitat.
(d) Soil, water and air are the abiotic factors of a habitat.
(e) Changes in our surroundings that make us respond to them, are called stimuli.
4. Which of the things in the following list are nonliving?
Plough, Mushroom, Sewing machine, Radio, Boat, Water hyacinth, Earthworm
Solution:
Plough, sewing machine, Radio and Boat are nonliving things
5. Give an example of a non-living thing, which shows any two characteristics of
living things.
Solution:
Example: car
Features
● It can move like living beings
● It needs oxygen

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 were once part of a living
thing.
7. List the common characteristics of the living things.
Solution: Common characteristics of living things are as follows
i) Living organisms Respire
ii) Food intake
iii) Response to stimuli
iv) Excretion
v) Movement
vi) Reproduction
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 grassland
habitats.)
Solution: Speed is important for survival in the grasslands for animals to avoid
predation from their predators. For example Tiger eats deer, to survive deer has
to run faster than the tiger.