Our Environment

Chapter Summary

Environment

Our surrounding is called environment.

Ecosystem

It is the system of interdependency of living beings and non-living things in the environment.

Components of Ecosystem

Biotic Components: All living beings in an ecosystem are biotic components.

Abiotic Component: The non-living things in an ecosystem are abiotic components. Examples: soil, air and water.

Biotic Components

Producer: Green plants are producers because they make food.

Consumer: Animals are consumers because they take food from green plants.

Decomposers: Fungi and some other microbes are decomposers because they decompose organic materials.

Food Chain

The chain of producers and consumers in an ecosystem is called food chain.

Grass → Grasshopper → Frog → Snake

Food Web: In real life there is a complex network of many food chains. This is called food web.

Trophic Levels

Different levels in the food chain are called trophic levels. There is a loss of energy from one trophic level to the next trophic level.

Ozone Layer

Ozone layer protects us from harmful ultraviolet radiations from the Sun.

CFCs (Chlorofluorocarbons) have damaged the ozone layer.

Waste Disposal

We generate two types of waste: biodegradable and non-biodegradable.

Generation of huge amount of waste is a concern for the environment.

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