NCERT Class 6 Science Chapter 9 The Living Organisms - Characteristics and Habitats

Chapter 9 The Living Organisms - Characteristics and Habitats

Question 1: What is a habitat?
Answer: The place where organisms live is called habitat. Habitat means a dwelling place (a home).

Question 2: How are cactus adapted to survive in a desert?
Answer: Cactus are adapted to survive in a desert in following ways:
→ The leaves in cactus plant are either absent, very small, or they are in the form of spines. This helps in reducing loss of water from the leaves through transpiration.
→ The leaf-like structure in a cactus is its stem.
→ Photosynthesis in these plants is usually carried out by the stems.
→ The stem is also covered with a thick waxy layer, which helps to retain water in the tissues of cacti.
→ Most desert plants have roots that go very deep into the soil for absorbing water.

Question 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 _____________.
Answer:
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.

Question 4: Which of the things in the following list are non-living?
Plough, Mushroom, Sewing machine, Radio, Boat, Water hyacinth, Earthworm
Answer: The things which are non-living include Plough, Sewing machine, Radio, Boat.

Question 5: Give an example of a non-living thing, which shows any two characteristics of living things.
Answer: An example of a non-living thing, which shows any 2 characteristics of living things is cloud.
→ It grows in size.
→ It shows movement.

Question 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
Answer: The non-living things which were once part of a living thing is Butter, Leather, Wool, Cooking oil, Apple and Rubber.

Question 7: List the common characteristics of the living things.
Answer: Common characteristics of living things are as follows
→ Respiration
→ Food intake
→ Respond to stimuli
→ Excretion
→ Movement
→ Reproduction

Question 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 grasslands habitats.)
Answer: Speed is important for survival in the grasslands for animals to avoid predation from their predators. Example: Tiger eats deer, to survive deer has to run faster than the tiger.