THINGS AROUND US

Class : 6th
Biology
By
Pratiksha Upadhyay
INTRODUCTION
 Things around us can be broadly divided into two
groups :
1. Living things
2. Non-living things

 There are certain characteristics that make living

things very different from non-living things.

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CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING THINGS
Structural Organization
 Living things have a definite structural organization.
 The bodies of living things are made of cells, which
are the building blocks of the body.
 A cell is the smallest living structure that is able to
function independently.

Fig. Structural organization in living things

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 A group of similar cells that perform a particular
function form a tissue.
 A group of tissue performing a particular function in
the body form an organ.
 A group of organs interacting with one another to
perform a particular life process, such as digestion
and respiration, form an organ system.

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 There are organisms made of just one cell.
 An organism whose body consists of a single cell is
called a unicellular organism, all life processes are
carried out by the single cell.
 An organism whose body consists of several cells is
called a multicellular organism, e.g., human beings
and a rose plant.

Fig. Unicellular Organisms

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MOVEMENT AND RESPONSE TO STIMULI
 Most living things are capable of moving on their
own.
 Animals move from place to place in search of food
and water, and to escape from danger.
 Plants do not move on their own. However, they
exhibit movement of their certain parts, such as
leaves and roots, in response to change in their
Immediate environment.
 A change in the immediate environment of an
organism to which the organisms respond are known
as stimuli (plural: stimuli).
 An organism’s reaction to a stimulus is called a
response.

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 Leaves of mimosa commonly
known as ‘touch-me-not’
plant curl up when touched.
 Here, touch is the stimulus
and curling up of leaves is the
response.
 Shoot of a plant grows
towards the light and the root
grows towards gravity.
 Here, light and gravity are the Fig. Plant Respond to Light
stimuli and plant growth is
the response.

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GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

 Living things grow.

 For example, a child grows
into an adult and a seedling
grows into a plant.
 Growth in living things is
irreversible.
 For example, we cannot get
the seedling back from the
plant.
Fig. A baby grows into an adult

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Fig. A Seed from a plant germinates Fig. A chicken grows
into a new plant into an adult

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EXCRETION
 Living things remove wastes from their body by the
process of excretion.
 Most animals excrete solid wastes in the form of
faeces, liquid wastes in the form of urine, and gaseous
wastes in the form of carbon dioxide.
 Gum, resins, and latex are wastes given out by plants.

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RESPIRATION
 The process by which living things utilize oxygen to
release energy stored in the food they eat is called
respiration.
 Plants and animals respire all the time.

 Breathing is a part of respiration.

 It is through respiration that this oxygen is used by

the body to obtain energy from food.
 Plants also respire to obtain energy from the food
they make by photosynthesis.
 Thus, respiration is a vital process for all living
organisms.

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REPRODUCTION

 Living things have the ability to

reproduce more of their kind
through reproduction.
 Different organisms have
different means of
reproduction.
 Plants reproduce mostly
through seeds.
 Animals reproduce by either Fig. Some animals which
laying eggs or giving birth to give birth to their young
young ones. ones.

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Fig. (a) Birds lay eggs which after hatching produce (b) young ones.

Fig. A new plant grows from a bud of potato

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NUTRITION
 All living things need food.
 Green plants manufacture their own food by
photosynthesis. Hence, they are called autotrophs
(auto, self ; trophe, food).
 Animals can not manufacture their own food. Hence,
they are called heterotrophs (hetero, different ;
trophe, food).
 They depend on plants and other animals for food.

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LIFE SPAN AND DEATH
 All living things follow a cycle of growth and
development in which an organism takes birth, grows
into an adult, grows old, and dies.
 This is known as the life cycle of the organism.

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Living things Non-living things
Living things are made up of Non-living things are not
cells. made up of cells.

They excrete and get rid of They do not produce wastes.

wastes.

They reproduce new They do not reproduce.

offspring.
They need food and air to They do not need food or air
stay alive. to stay alive.

Living things follow a cycle of Non-living things do not

growth and they finally die. grow or die.

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ENVIRONMENT
 All that surrounds living things and affects their
growth and development is called their
environment (environ; to surrounds).
 The environment is made up of two parts or
components
1. Biotic

2. Abiotic

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BIOTIC COMPONENTS
 The word ‘biotic’ means ‘living’.
 Biotic components are those that have life.

 Plants, animals, scavengers, and decomposers are

biotic components.

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Plants
 Most plants have green leaves.
 leaves are green because they contain a green pigments
called chlorophyll.
 Chlorophyll gives plants the special ability to make their
own food using light, water, and carbon dioxide.

 The process by which green plants make their food

using carbon dioxide and water in the form of light and
chlorophyll is called photosynthesis.

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Animals
 Animals cannot make their own food, as green plants
do, thus they are called heterotrophs.
 Plants absorbs nutrients such as nitrogen,
phosphorus, and calcium from the soil.
 These nutrients enter the bodies of animals when
they eat plants or the flesh of other animals.
 After these plants and animals die, their bodies
decompose and nutrients are returned to the soil.

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Scavengers and decomposers
 Some organisms feed on the bodies of dead plants
and animals, and release the nutrients trapped inside
them.
TINY ORGANISMS THAT FEED ON THE
ANIMALS THAT FEED ON THE DEAD REMAINS OF DEAD PLANTS AND
BODIES OF OTHER ANIMALS ARE CALLED ANIMALS TO BREAK THEM DOWN INTO
SCAVENGERS. SIMPLER SUBSTANCES ARE CALLED
FOR EXAMPLE, HYENA AND VULTURE. DECOMPOSERS.
BACTERIA AND FUNGI ARE COMMON
DECOMPOSERS.

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 The nutrients released from the bodies by the
action of scavengers and decomposers get mixed
with the soil and are again absorbed by the plants.
This process is called recycling of nutrients.

 Scavengers and decomposers play two important

roles in the environment :
1. They keep the environment clean by removing the
bodies of dead plants and animals.
2. They keep in the recycling of nutrients in the
environment.

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INTERACTIONS AMONG BIOTIC COMPONENTS
 Plants and animals depend on each other for various
needs.
 Animals mainly depend on plants for food and shelter.

 Animals in turn help plants by pollinating flowers,

dispersing seeds, etc.

A BEE POLLINATES FLOWERS WHILE COLLECTING

NECTAR.

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ABIOTIC COMPONENTS
 The word ‘abiotic’ means ‘non-living’.
 Light, air, water, soil, and temperature are examples of
abiotic components of the environment.
 Even though these components are themselves non-
living, they have an effect on the living organisms,
that is, the biotic components of the environment.

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Light
 Plants use light to prepare their food.
 The growth of plants and flowering are also
dependent on the availability and duration of
exposure to light.
 For example, kharif crops such as maize and cotton
flourish in summer when day length or exposure to
light is more.

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Temperature :
 Temperature is a measure that tells us how hot or
cold something is.
 The earth is the only known planet that has a
temperature suitable for light to exist.
 Even on the earth, the temperature is not uniform all
around.
 Very hot near the equator, whereas places near the
poles are very cold.
 Temperature affects the distribution of plants and
animals around the planet.

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 Animals whose body temperature changes with
the outside temperature are called cold-blooded
animals.
 Most reptiles, insects, and amphibians are cold-
blooded.
 Animals whose body temperature does not
change with the outside temperature are called
warm-blooded animals.
 Most mammals and birds are warm-blooded.

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 Warm-blooded animals can survive in areas, such as
desert and the arctic region, having extreme
temperatures.
 Here, cold-blooded animals would have difficulty in
surviving.
 Polar bear is adapted to survive in the harsh
temperatures of the Arctic.

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Air
 Oxygen and carbon dioxide present in air are very important for
the survival of organisms.
 Animals and human beings release carbon dioxide during
respiration, which is used by green plants for photosynthesis.
 Carbon dioxide is also released by the burning of fuels in vehicles
and factories.
 Moving air or wind also helps in the reproduction of plants
through pollination and dispersal of certain fruits and seeds.

THE BALANCE OF OXYGEN AND

CARBON DIOXIDE IN THE
ATMOSPHERE

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Water
 Water is very important for living organisms.
 Plants absorb water through their roots, which is
then transported to different plant parts.
 Water is essential for carrying out photosynthesis in
plants.
 Blood, which transports substances within the human
body, is largely composed of water.
 70% of the human body consists of water.

 water dissolves vital gases such as oxygen and

carbon dioxide.
 This enables living beings to survive in water.

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Soil
 Soil is the uppermost layer of the
earth’s crust.
 It has four sub-layers : topsoil,
subsoil, parent material, and
the bedrock.
 It is in the topsoil that plants
grow.
 Soil is usually very rich in
minerals such as magnecium,
potassium, and phosphorus.
SUB-LAYERS OF SOIL

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 Thus in nature, biotic and abiotic components are
closely interrelated.
 A group of interdependent organisms that live in
the same region and interact with one another
form a biotic community.

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