Scribd
Upload
250 views4 pages

Class 10 Science Chapter 15 Revision Notes

This document provides an overview of ecosystems and the environment. It discusses how waste can disturb the ecological balance by being either biodegradable or non-biodegradable. It defines the components of an ecosystem as biotic factors like plants, animals and microorganisms, and abiotic factors like temperature, soil and minerals. Food chains and webs are explained as the transfer of energy from producers to consumers to decomposers. Human activities like the use of CFCs can deplete the ozone layer, but managing garbage through reducing, reusing and recycling can help the environment.

Uploaded by

Muzafar ahmad
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
250 views4 pages

Class 10 Science Chapter 15 Revision Notes

This document provides an overview of ecosystems and the environment. It discusses how waste can disturb the ecological balance by being either biodegradable or non-biodegradable. It defines the components of an ecosystem as biotic factors like plants, animals and microorganisms, and abiotic factors like temperature, soil and minerals. Food chains and webs are explained as the transfer of energy from producers to consumers to decomposers. Human activities like the use of CFCs can deplete the ozone layer, but managing garbage through reducing, reusing and recycling can help the environment.

Uploaded by

Muzafar ahmad
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

Revision Notes

Class – 10 Science
Chapter 15 - Our Environment

1. What happens to the environment when we add waste to it.


The environment of an organism refers to the physical and biological conditions in
which the organism lives. The physical conditions consist of various factors like soil,
temperature, light, etc. Whereas the biological conditions include the plants,
animals, and microorganisms around it. A slight change in any of these conditions
can affect the organism.

When the waste generated is added to the environment it disturbs the ecological
balance. The wastes are broadly classified into two categories:-
Substances that can be broken down by biological processes are known as
biodegradable. On the other hand, substances that can not be broken down by
biological processes are known as non-biodegradable. These substances can be inert
and remain in the environment for a very long time causing harm to the various
members of the ecosystem.

2. What are the components of the ecosystem?


All organisms including plants, animals, microorganisms, and human beings interact
with the physical surroundings as well as with each other to maintain balance in our
environment.

An ecosystem is a community of organisms with their physical environment


interacting with each other as an ecological unit, leading to the flow of energy. An
ecosystem is made up of biotic components which include living organisms and
abiotic components which include physical factors like temperature, rainfall, wind,
soil, and minerals.
An ecosystem can be of two types:
Natural :- Ponds, forests, and lakes are natural ecosystems

Class X Science www.vedantu.com 1


Artificial:- garden and crop fields are man-made
In both of the above ecosystems, all living organisms interact with each other and
their growth, reproduction, and some of the other activities are affected by the abiotic
components of the ecosystem.

Organisms present in the ecosystem can be further categorized into producers,


consumers, and decomposers in accordance with the manner in which they obtain
their nutrition from the environment.

Producers are organisms that are capable of producing their own food without the
help of any other organism. They are also called autotrophs. They synthesize their
food from inorganic substances by a process called photosynthesis. Autotrophs are
the green plants, phytoplankton, and blue-green algae.
Consumers are the organisms that do not produce food but depend directly or
indirectly on producers for their food needs. These are called heterotrophs.
Consumers can be further classified into herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, and
parasites. For example Humans, snakes. Decomposers are the organisms that feed
on dead and decaying matter and break down the complex organic substances into
the simple inorganic substances. These simpler substances go into the soil and are
used up again by the plants. Eg: Bacteria and fungi.

2.1 Food chains and Webs:


The series of organisms that are taking part at various biotic levels constitute a food
chain. Food chains signify the feeding relationship between the organisms in an
ecosystem. In the food chain, the flow of energy from one species to another occurs.
Every food chain always begins with producers.

The successive levels present in the food chains of a community are known as
trophic levels. From autotrophs, the energy is passed to the heterotrophs and
decomposers. When this energy is transferred from one level to the other level, some
of the energy is lost to the environment in forms that cannot be used again. A
common example of food chains are:-

Plants → Deer → Lion

Class X Science www.vedantu.com 2


The food chain consists of up to three or four trophic levels. Since the loss of energy
at every step is so huge that a very small amount of usable energy remains when it
reaches the fourth trophic level. The number of individuals at the lower trophic levels
of an ecosystem is generally more therefore the largest number is of the producers.

The length and complexity of food chains differ. Every organism is in general eaten
by two or more other kinds of organisms which in turn are eaten by several other
organisms belonging to a higher level. This relationship between organisms can be
shown by a series of branching lines known as food web. Many cross-linked food
chains constitute the food web.

The flow of energy between the trophic levels in any ecosystem is unidirectional.
The energy that is captured by the autotrophs is passed to the higher trophic levels
and energy does not revert back to the lower level. Some of the harmful chemicals
enter our bodies through the food chain. For example use of several pesticides and
other chemicals to protect the crops from diseases and pests runoff with water in the
field which are taken up by the fishes entering in the food chain.

Biological magnification is a phenomenon by which harmful substances or


chemicals accumulate from the lower trophic level to a higher one. As human beings
are at the top level in any food chain, so the maximum concentration of these harmful
chemicals gets accumulated in the body which can cause death of the person.

3. How does the environment affect our activities?

3.1 Ozone layer and its depletion.


Ozone molecule consists of three oxygen atoms. The ozone layer is present in the
upper layer of the atmosphere i.e. stratosphere. It is a very deadly poison. It is
responsible for causing skin cancer in human beings. Whereas, at the higher levels
of the atmosphere, it protects us from harmful UV radiations of the sun which is
dangerous to living organisms. Ozone depletion is the marked reduction of ozone
molecules in the stratosphere due to chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) used in refrigerants
and other coolants. Oxygen in the presence of ultraviolet rays gets broken down to
nascent oxygen molecules. This nascent oxygen further reacts with the oxygen
present in the atmosphere and forms ozone molecule.

Class X Science www.vedantu.com 3


In order to limit the damage to the ozone layer the release of CFC s into the
atmosphere needs to be reduced instead alternatives should be used.

3.2 Managing the garbage produced:


Improvements in the lifestyle have to lead to greater amounts of waste material
generation. Changes in the packaging of items have resulted in huge amount of waste
becoming non-biodegradable. Increased use of non-biodegradable items has left the
environment polluted with them. In order to manage this waste we can do following:-

1. Use of concept of 3R's (reduce, reuse and recycle).


2. Seperation of biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste.

Class X Science www.vedantu.com 4

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy