Geography ch- 1 Our Environment (Extra Questions)

Ch- 1 Our Environment (Extra Questions)

1. What is an environment? 
 The place, people, things andnature that surround any living organism iscalled environment.

2.  Differentiate between food chain and food web?

Food chain                                                                         

1. Food chain consists of a single series of food relations.

2. It has maximum 4-6 tropic levels of different species.

3. Each organism uses a particular food.

4. Starvation is observed whenever the members of lower trophic level decrease in number.

Food web

1. Food web is a complex network of several series of food chains or food relations.

2. It has a number of trophic levels or populations of different species.

3. Each organism can use different types of type of food.

4. Food webs do not allow starvation and help in increasing the population of endangered species. 
3. What are the characteristics of energy transfer in the biosphere?

The following are the characteristics of energy transfer in the biosphere:

(i) Energy is supplied by the sun and it is not created in the biosphere. Energy is only converted from one form to another in the biosphere.

(ii) There is a continuous transfer of energy from one trophic level to the next in a food chain.

(iii)At each trophic level, some of the energy is utilized by the organisms for their metabolic activities.

(iv)  At each trophic level, some amount of energy is utilized for the composition of decomposers.

(v) At each trophic level, there is loss of energy, which goes into the environment and remains un-utilized.

(vi) At each trophic level, the amount of energy available is less than that available at the previous level.
4.  Which are the major components of environment?
 The major components of environment are natural environment (consists of all objects created by nature), human environment (consists of human beings) and human-made environment (consists of objects created by human beings).

5. Why is atmosphere considered as the most important domain of the Earth?
Possible answers: Because of Oxygen, because of weather, because it gives us rainfall. It protects us from harmful sun’s rays.

6. What is the difference between a natural and human environment?
Whilethe natural environment refers to both biotic and a-biotic conditions existing on the earth. Living organisms form biological or biotic components while components such as water, soil rocks, humidity etc are a-biotic in nature. Human environment reveals the activities, creations andinteractions among human beings.

7. What is biotic and what is a-biotic components of the environment?
Living organisms form biological or biotic component while physical component like air water soil rock form a-biotic component.

8. What is the difference between food chain and food web?
A food web consists of many food chains. A food chain only follows just one path as animals find food. eg: A hawk eats a snake, which has eaten a frog, which has eaten a grasshopper, which has eaten grass. A food web shows the many different paths plants and animals are connected.

9. Name two fossil fuels that harm environment.
 Coal and petroleum

10. Name two causes of environmental degradation.
 Deforestation and Industries

11. What is the role of atmosphere in our lives?
Atmosphere protects us from the harmful rays and the scorching heat of the sun. Any change in it causes changes in the weather and climate.

12. What do you mean by lithosphere? Describe its characteristics and uses.

The word lithosphere is derived from the Greek word ‘lithos’ meaning ‘rocky’ and ‘sphaeros’ meaning sphere. Lithosphere consists of the solid crust or the hard top layer of the earth. It is made up of rocks and minerals and covered by a thin layer of soil. It is an irregular surface with landforms such as plateaus, mountains, valleys etc. It is found on continents as well as ocean floors. Its uses include land for agriculture, grasslands for grazing, forests, and land for human settlements. It is also a source of mineral wealth.

13. Write a short note on ecosystem.
The relationship between the organisms (plants, animals & human beings) as well as the relation between the organisms and their surroundings forms the ecosystem. There could be an ecosystem of a large rainforest, grassland or even a small pond. In other words, it is the system formed by the interaction of all living organisms with each other and with the physical and chemical factors of the environment in which they live, all linked by the transfer of energy and material.