Living Organisms Characteristics And Habitats - Class 6 Biology - Extra Questions

List the common characteristics of living things.

The common characteristics of living things are:
(i) Movement
(ii) Reproduction
(iii) Respiration
(iv) Responsiveness
(v) Excretion
(vi) Adaptation
(vii) Growth and Death
(viii) Food intake
(ix) Metabolism



Name the types of components of habitat and how they interact with each other to support life.                                                                                                                                                  (5 marks)

$$\textbf{Solution:}$$

$$\bullet$$A place where an organism lives and that provides the organism suitable food, shelter, and climatic conditions so that it can easily survive, breed, and flourish is called a habitat. 

It consists of two main components:

1) Abiotic or physical components like temperature, light, rainfall, soil, minerals, etc. 
2) Biotic or living component includes all living forms like plants, animals, microorganisms.

$$\bullet$$In a habitat, both biotic and abiotic components live in close inter-relationship with each other.
$$\bullet$$Abiotic factors help living organisms to survive like sunlight is the energy source and air ($$CO_2$$) helps plants to grow (required for plants to prepare food). Rock, soil, and water interact with biotic factors to provide them nutrition. 

In short, without abiotic factors, living organisms wouldn’t be able to eat, grow, and reproduce.


How is a camel adapted to survive in a desert environment ?

A camel has the following adaptations to survive in a desert environment are as follows-
(1) Camel has long legs to escape from the heat of the sand.
(2) Camel can live without water for several days.
(3) Camel excretes dry dung and a small amount of urine.


Write few adaptions of aquatic plants. (5 marks)

  • The adaptions of hydrophytes (aquatic plants) to survive in aquatic habitat are as follows:
(1) In aquatic plants, roots are much reduced in size and their main function is just to hold the plant in place.
(2) In some submerged aquatic plants, leaves are often highly divided, through which the water can easily flow without damaging them.
(3) Some of these plants have narrow and thin ribbon-like leaves.
(4) The mucilaginous secretion of mucilage cells around the body of the hydrophytes provides protection against friction, desiccation, decaying, and microbial injuries.
(5) The stems of some aquatic plants are long, hollow, and light.


Which organisms are called primitive and how are they different from the so-called advanced organisms? 

  • Primitive organisms are those organisms that have simple ancient body designs with only basic characteristics of the group. There has been little change over a long period of time. Specializations are few. 
  • Advanced organisms are more recent organisms. They are also called higher organisms because they possess several specializations. They have more complex structures and some new characteristics along with the basic ones, which makes them different from the primitive organisms. 



What are blowholes?

$$\textbf{Solution:}$$

$$\bullet$$ Blowholes or spiracles are situated at the top of the head in cetaceans which are homologous to mammalian nostrils and play the role of breathing. The presence of blowholes at the top prevents the excessive loss of energy when breathing is at the water's surface.

$$\bullet$$ Blowholes have air sacs beneath them which produce sounds for communication by releasing air filled in those sacs to produce sound in a similar fashion to releasing air from a balloon. 




Explain the adaptations shown by kangaroo rats to survive in deserts? (5 marks)

  • The kangaroo rat is almost perfectly adapted to life in the desert because of the following adaptations;-
(i) They excrete very concentrated urine so that a minimal volume of water is used to remove excretory products.
(ii) They are active at night, i.e. nocturnal when the temperature is low.
(iii) They can survive without ever drinking any water, getting needed moisture from their seed diet.
(iv) They don't sweat. They also have very oily coats to reduce the loss of water from the skin.



Discuss briefly the terrestrial adaptation in plants. (5 marks)

  • It is necessary for a plant to adapt to change in conditions and the environment they live in.
  • The features or habits which enable the plant to survive in its surroundings are called adaptations.
  • The type of adaptations can be terrestrial or aquatic.
  • Terrestrial adaptations are found in animals and plants living in mountains, deserts, and grasslands, etc.
Adaptations of desert plants:-
  • Dessert plants have to adapt themselves to a shortage of water and high temperature.
  • Their leaves are modified into spines to reduce the loss of water through transpiration.
  • Stem is modified into fleshy green structures to perform photosynthesis.
  • The stem is covered in a thick waxy coating to reduce water loss.
  • The plants have long deep roots to absorb water from deeper layers below the ground.
Adaptations of trees in mountains:-
  • The most commonly seen trees in mountains are cone-shaped and branches are sloping so that snow can slide off easily.
  • Mountain trees have needle-shaped leaves to reduce transpiration.
  • There are specialized structures to prevent accumulation of rainwater and snow.


State how the constant internal environment is beneficial to organisms.

Organisms lives under variable environmental conditions and not always do they permit the biochemical reactions and physiological functions to proceed with maximum efficiency. Organisms show maximum efficiency when the temperature is optimum for them. If the temperature is not optimum then they need to maintain their body temperature by the expenditure of energy. So the constant internal environment will allow them to survive in unfavorable environmental conditions.


When you see different animals, do you have any questions about them? Make a list of ten such questions.

  • Yes. when I see different animals, many questions arise in my mind like: 
1. Can these animals talk with each other? 
2. Can these animals understand our language? 
3. Can these animals understand each-others language? 
4. Can these animals understand one another's feelings? 
5. How can these animals guess the imminent natural calamity much before it happens?
6. How much useful are these animals? 
7. If there were no animals on the earth, what would have happened? 
8. What will happen if all animals are killed? 
9. Why some animals are pets and some are wild? 
10. Why do different animals have different food habits? 


Give three example of the range of variations that you see in life forms around you.

Range of life span: Turtles live for hundreds of years, whereas, mosquitoes die within a few days.
Range of color: Life ranges from colourless worms to colorful birds.
Range of size: Some bacteria are microscopic and can be viewed through microscopes while blue whales are about 50 meters.


What is species habitat?

A species habitat is those places where it can find food shelter, protection and mates for reproduction.


Name the different types of Habitat?

The different types of Habitat are:-
$$(1)$$ Deserts
$$(2)$$ Forests
$$(3)$$ Grasslands
$$(4)$$ Islands
$$(5)$$ Mountains
$$(6)$$ Oceans
$$(7)$$ Wetlands.


Unscramble the word given below to get the correct word using the clues given against it.
 
SATPADAOINT - Specific features or certain habits that enable a living being to survive in its surroundings.

The word SATPADAOINT unscrambles as - Adaptations.
Adaptions are specific features or certain habits that enable the survival of an organism by adjusting to its surroundings. For example, polar bears have thick and fat deposition under their skin that helps them to survive the extreme cold temperatures of the polar regions.


Plants and animals that live on land are said to live in _______ habitats. 

Plants and animals that live on land are said to live in Terrestrial habitats. 


The habitat of plants and animals that live in ________ is called the aquatic habitat.

The habitat of plants and animals that live in water is called the aquatic habitat.


______ enables a plant or an animal to live in its surroundings. 

Adaptations enable a plant or an animal to live in its surroundings. 


Classify the following habitats into terrestrial and aquatic types. 
Grassland, Pond, Ocean, Rice field.

Grassland and rice field are terrestrial habitat. Pond and Oceans are aquatic habitats. 


Some desert plants have very small leaves whereas some others have only spines. How does this benefit the plants?

Desert plants have a good adaptability to insensitive conditions, like water scarcity, that's why they tend to conserve water. The small leaves and spiny plants help the plant in, preventing water loss due to transpiration. 


What is the advantages of having hair on the body of animals ?

Hair keeps the body of animals warm.


Give names of any four birds that could be seen in a forest.

Four birds that could be seen in the forest are Kingfisher, Hornbill, Owl, Eagle.


Name two animals each that live in polar regions and tropical rain forests. 

Animals that live in Polar regions: Polar bears, arctic fox, caribou, etc. 
Animals that live in Tropical rain forests: Okapi, Sumatran rhinoceros, western lowland Gorilla, Tapir, etc.



Mention one adaptation in dolphins and whales, to breathe in the air when they swim near the surface of the water.


Dolphins and whales have blow holes that help them breathe in air when they swim near the surface of water. 



What is the inter-relationship between the adaptations of organisms and their surrounding? (5 marks)

  • Adaptation is defined as the modification or change in the organism's body or behaviour that helps it to survive in a particular environment. 
  • The environment in which an animal survives consists of many different things and it must learn to adapt to each of these factors in order to survive. 
  • These factors can be in the form of climate, the kinds of food plants that grow in it, other animals that may be predators or competitors, etc. 
  • This fact is evident from the following examples:
(I) Cactus has thick cuticle on their leaf surface and their stomata are arranged in deep pits to minimize water loss by transpiration. They have a special photosynthetic pathway, CAM in which stomata remains closed during the daytime. Their leaves are reduced to spines to minimize water loss, and photosynthetic functions are performed by flattened stems.
(ii) Camels have very long legs that help it to walk in the sand and prevent the heat of the sand from reaching their bodies. The camel has a prominent back or hump. It stores food which helps it to survive without food in the deserts for several days. 


Write the adaptation found in aquatic animals?

Aquatic habitat is one of the most important habitats, where a large number of animals live. The aquatic habitats include, both freshwater and marine water animals. Aquatic adaptations develop due to an aquatic mode of life in animals, like those of fishes, mammals, like the seal, dolphin, whales, etc. 
The structural and functional adaptations of aquatic animals are: 
1. for movement. 
2. for protection of the body. 
3. for feeding. 
4. for obtaining dissolved oxygen. 
5. for remaining buoyant in water, 
6. for balancing the fluctuations, in pressure. 

The aquatic adaptations for aquatic animals to their aquatic life, are as follows: 
1. The body of most of the aquatic animals is streamlined or spindle-shaped. Their body is laterally compressed and offers the least resistance to motion, as the fish swims. 
2. The animals locomote in water by fins (in fishes), flippers (in whales) or, webbed feet (in frogs and ducks), for swimming in water. 
3. The body is covered with waterproof - scales, cuticle, shell and a slippery substance for reducing the surface tension. 
4. Aquatic animals possess the ability to feed in water. 
5. Swimbladder and gills are the main respiratory organs in aquatic animals. Gills have a large surface area, to extract oxygen dissolved in water. In mammals, lungs are the respiratory organ. 
6. Hair, skin glands and oil glands are absent, in aquatic animals. 
7. Aquatic animals are generally larger in size. 


What do you understand by habitat fragmentation? What is its impact on biodiversity? 

Answer: The natural habitat of wildlife was earlier spread over huge areas. But construction of roads, rail lines, gas pipeline, canals, electricity transmission lines. farms, etc. has fragmented the habitats. It has badly affected the life of wild animals and they are always at risk of some accident. Many wild animals often get hit by vehicles and trains. Sometimes. an animal may stray into human settlement and may get killed by people. About half a dozen tigers and many small animals become victims to accidents on the railway line which passes through Dudhwa National Park. 


Class 6 Biology Extra Questions