Divine Forests

Divine Forests

·        Have youeverseen forestat least in movies like Bahubali,Jurassic park?

(yes/no)

·        ØHow different isa forest from a park or garden?

(it has very dense trees,usually at lower levels there is no or minimal light, whereas a park or garden has sparsely distributed trees and flowering plants)

·        ØWhy do you think it is dark at the ground level in the forest? (the tall trees do

not let enough light to reach the forest floor)

·        ØWhat different kind of trees do you expect to find in a dense forest? (sky

scrapping tall trees to tiny floor hugging shrubs and bushes, brightly coloured

flowering plants to wild berries everything)

·        ØWhy do you think the trees of canopy layer have large leaves? (to absorb the

maximum sunlight that reaches to this level)

·        ØWhat kind of trees are found in the understory layer? (orchids, palms, ferns,

etc

·        ØWhat peculiar characteristics can be observed in the plants shown in the

slide?

·         (most plants bear thorns/spikes)

·        Where do you think, such plants are found? (deserts)

·        Why?

(deserts have very dry climate, thus to avoid water loss through leaves,the surface area of leaf is reduced into a thorn,it is also an important mechanism to protect itself from the herbivore animals)

·        Name the plants that grow in swampy areas?

(mangroves)

·        How do you think, the roots of these plants breathe?

(they have roots that pop out of the moist soil and help the plant roots to breathe)

·        How different would be the normal temperature at ground level from that on a mountain? Why?

 (the temperature on the mountain will be lower than the ground level, because the temperature decreases as we go to the higher altitudes)

·        How different would the monsoon be on a mountain compared to a ground

level?

(while it only rains at ground level, it might also be hail or snow fall on

    the higher mountains)

·        Why do you think, mountain vegetation, majorly

Include conifers?

·        (the temperatures go really low, therefore to avoid water loss and freezing, the conifer trees form the major portion of the mountain vegetation)

·        Why do plants of the deserts bear thorns?

(desert plants have modified leaves that help them to avoid water loss by reducing the surface area to a thorn, also it protects the plants from the herbivore predators)

·        What are plants that prepare their own food called as? [producers]

·        What are the organisms that cannot prepare their own food called as?

·        [consumers]

Give an example of a consumer. [all animals]

·        What are animals that eat plants called as? [herbivores]

·        Give an example of an herbivore. [cow, deer]

·        What are animals that eat other animals called as? [carnivores]

·        Give an example of a carnivore. [lion, tiger]

·        What are animals that eat both plants and animals called as? [omnivores]

·        Give an example of an omnivore. [man]

·        What arescavengers? [animals that feed on dead and decayed animals]

·        Give an example. [dogs, vultures and crows]

·        If we want to add a grasshopper, where can we add it?

(along with rabbit)

·        Write the same on the board

·        What does the deer eat?

(grass/plants)

·        Where would you place it in the chain? (alongside grasshopper and rabbit)

·        How do animals help plants?

·        Animals release CO2 during respiration which is used by plants to prepare their food. Animals, birds and insects help in  pollination which is helpful in reproduction of plants, they help in dispersal of seeds of plants ensuring the wide dispersal of a species of plant.)

·        How do animals depend on plants? (All herbivorous animals depend on

plants for food, all carnivores feeding on herbivorous animals,indirectly

depend upon plants for food, plants release oxygen during photosynthesis

·        which is useful to all animals for respiration, plants provide shelter to many

arboreal animals.)

·        What are producers? (Green plants that make their own food and produce

food for other animals that depend on plants for their food,are called producers.)

·        ØWhat is a food chain? (The linkages of plants and animals, where each

organism is eaten in turn by another form the food chain.)

·        ØWhat is food web? (A large number of interconnected food chains form a

food web)

·        ØWhat are the different components in a forest?

(living components animals, plants, microorganisms and non

living components soil air, temperature,water)

·        ØAre we dependant on forest for any of our day to day needs? How?

(Yes,forest affects climatic factors like humidity, rainfall, fresh air, they provide us

with products like timber, food products like honey, nuts, spices, medicines etc.)

·        Where do the forest animals get food from?

(Plants that exists in forests and other animals.)

·        Where do animals and birds get shelter in the forest?

under or on the trees, in soil.

·        Where do the plants in forest get their nutrition from?

(They get their nutrition from the soil) Ø

·        What happens to the leaves and other dead matter in forest?

(The leaves decay to form organic fertilizer that is used up by the plants.)

·        In what ways are the forests useful?

(they provide shade, shelter and food to birds and animals, purify air by absorbing carbon dioxide, protects the animals and birds from predators, etc)

·        Productive:

Wood to make paper, furniture and buildings.

·Match industry, rubber industry fibre industry

·Medicinal plants such as neem, amla, eucalyptus, etc.

·Oils such as pine, khus,sandalwood

·Food items: fruits, seeds, spices, tea etc.

·Source of tourism and recreation

·        Protective:

·Provides shelter and protection

·Protects the top soil from erosion and floods

·Reduce air pollution

·Protects from harmful solar radiations

·Regulatory Maintain the balance of carbon dioxide and oxygen in air

·Increase humidity by transpiration

·Regulates temperature and watercycle

·Recharge ground water

       ·Prevents global warming

·Leaves form humus helps in making soil fertile

·        Trees take in CO2 and give out oxygen in the atmosphere.

·        Due to presence of more trees the transpiration

·        (loss of water from the surface of the leaves) is more as a result the water vapour concentration in the air is more. This helps to regulate temperature as well as helps to get more rainfall.

·        Rainfall in turn helps to recharge ground water.

·        Leaves falling from trees form humus, thus helping the soil to be fertile also soil

covered with humus can hold more water.

·        The dense part of forests acts as a shield for many organisms by slowing down

the speed of wind and thus protecting the topsoil from erosion.

·        Trees planted along roads and highways help to reduce air pollution caused

by vehicles

·        Name the living components of a forest? (animals,plants and microorganisms)

·        Name some non living components of the environment. (light, soil,temperature and water)

·        Present the following hypothetical situation:

·        What will happen if there are no plants or trees around us?

 (there will be no food, also the CO2 level in the air will increase resulting in the increase in temperature; in the absence of plants the whole environment shall become dull and barren.

·        What are the main reasons for the reducing number of trees and destruction

of forests?

·        (In order to fulfil the needs of increasing population, forests are

destroyed to build roads, for land, raw material for industries, etc.)

·        Is it right to cut down trees for fulfilling our ever increasing needs?

No

·        What are the consequences on plants and animals due to destruction of

forests?

(Once the plants and trees in the forest are destroyed it would lead to the decline of animal population as their habitat is destroyed. Soon the entire ecosystem will be destroyed.)

·        ØHow will it impact human population?

(There will be less rainfall, increase in pollution, decrease in forest products, soil erosion and many such problems.measures of forest conservation

:

·        reducing requirements: less demand for paper, clothes

·        cutting down on deforestation

·        encouraging afforestation

·        recycling of paper waste.

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