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Adaptation - Habitat and its Types

Grade 6ICSE

Review the key concepts, formulae, and examples before starting your quiz.

🔑Concepts

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A habitat is the natural environment or the dwelling place of an organism that provides food, water, air, shelter, and favorable conditions for its survival.

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Habitats are composed of two main components: Biotic components (living things like plants and animals) and Abiotic components (non-living things like soil, air, water, sunlight, and temperature).

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Adaptation is the presence of specific features or certain habits which enable a plant or an animal to live and survive in its surroundings.

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Acclimatization refers to small changes that take place in the body of a single organism over short periods to overcome small problems due to changes in the surroundings. This is different from adaptation, which occurs over thousands of years.

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Terrestrial habitats include land-based environments such as Deserts, Mountains, and Grasslands. In Deserts, plants like cacti have spines to reduce water loss via transpiration (H2OH_2O loss).

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Aquatic habitats include water-based environments. They are categorized into Marine (saltwater) and Freshwater (rivers, lakes, ponds).

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Marine organisms often have streamlined bodies and gills to use oxygen (O2O_2) dissolved in water.

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In Mountain regions, trees are often cone-shaped with sloping branches to allow rainwater and snow to slide off easily.

📐Formulae

Habitat=Biotic Components+Abiotic Components\text{Habitat} = \text{Biotic Components} + \text{Abiotic Components}

6CO2+6H2O→SunlightC6H12O6+6O26CO_2 + 6H_2O \xrightarrow{\text{Sunlight}} C_6H_{12}O_6 + 6O_2

Rate of Transpiration∝1Humidity\text{Rate of Transpiration} \propto \frac{1}{\text{Humidity}}

💡Examples

Problem 1:

Explain how a Camel is adapted to survive in the desert habitat with respect to water conservation.

Solution:

  1. It excretes a small amount of urine. 2. Its dung is dry and it does not sweat. 3. It can drink a large amount of water at once and stay without H2OH_2O for many days.

Explanation:

Since camels lose very little water (H2OH_2O) from their bodies through these biological adaptations, they are perfectly suited for the arid desert environment.

Problem 2:

Why do plants in aquatic habitats have hollow and light stems?

Solution:

The hollow and light stems help the plants to float on the surface of the water or stay upright within the water current.

Explanation:

Buoyancy is essential for aquatic plants to reach the surface for sunlight and to exchange gases like CO2CO_2 and O2O_2 effectively.

Problem 3:

Identify the adaptive features of animals living in extremely cold mountain regions.

Solution:

Animals like the snow leopard have thick fur on their bodies, including feet and toes. Yaks have long hair to keep them warm.

Explanation:

Thick fur acts as an insulator, trapping air and preventing the loss of body heat to the cold environment where temperatures can drop well below 0∘C0^{\circ}C.