Life Begins

Scientists believe that the Earth was formed 4,500 million years ago.
For the first 1,000,000,000 (1 billion) years there was no life here.
The first signs of life appeared about 3,500 million years ago.

Fossils
Fossils are the remains of __________ and
__________ that have been preserved in
__________. They can be used to find out how old the
rocks are. Fossil records show us the types of animals
and plants that lived long ago. There are various types
of fossils which include : b________, t_________,
hardened shells of animals and f_________.

Evolution

passed better horse completely changed evolved

Evolution is the slow process that changes

animals and plants over many years.

Evolution is a theory, which means an idea with

lots of proof. Evolution explains
why animals and plants are so
good at surviving in their environments (the places where they live).
The theory of evolution was developed by ____________
____________, an English naturalist, in the 1859.
Evolution happens because some individuals would have certain

qualities that help them survive better than others. These qualities are passed to their

children. This is called natural selection.

• Example : Rabbits live all over the world, and have dark fur. But in a place where

it snows a lot, a white furred rabbit will have an advantage over the brown one.

A white furred rabbit would be harder to see and is less likely to be eaten by

Unit 7 Living Things and the Environment 1

 another animal. It’s children will inherit it’s white fur and their children will also

have white fur. Eventually all the rabbits living in the cold place will have white

fur because the brown ones would have died out and been replaced by the white

furred ones.

Over time these differences (characteristics) change the individual

into a species __________________different from its ancestors.

(e.g. birds from reptiles, whales from bears, humans from apes, etc).

Most of the evidence for evolution comes from the fossil record.

Fossils show how much, or how little, organisms have ____________

over time. One of the few animals for which we have an almost complete

evolutionary record is the ____________. Over 60 million years, the

horse evolved from a dog-sized creature that lived in rainforests into

an animal adapted to living on the plains and standing up to 2 metres

high.

Extinction
Extinction refers to those species which do not exist anymore.

Some examples of species that have become extinct are :

____________, ____________ and ____________. Extinction throughout the

years was brought about mostly by environmental conditions. Nowadays species are in

danger of extinction because their habitats are being destroyed by humans to use the

land for buildings or agriculture and by climate change.

Living or non living things

Everything around us is either living or non living. Some examples of living things are :
bird, fly, humans, flower. Some examples of non living things are : shoes, water, cloud,
ball.
For things to be living they must do 7 life processes known as vital functions . Things
that only do 6 or less are considered as non living.

Unit 7 Living Things and the Environment 2

 The 7 Vital Functions
For things to be living they must do all of the vital functions which are :
Movement
Reproduction
Sensitivity
Growth
Respiration
Excretion
Nutrition

• Movement (Move) – This means that living things can go from

____________ place to another or move ____________ of their
body. For example, animals move to look for food or to escape danger.
Plants move only parts of their body for example they grow towards the
sun. Some flowers close when it is dark.

• Reproduction (Reproduce) – All living things can die, so to make sure that
there will be more like them (do not become extinct) they produce
____________. These babies grow into adults and then reproduce again
(have babies themselves).
Plants reproduce by making ____________.

• Sensitivity (Sense) – Living things must know what is happening

around them. Animals use their ____________, ____________,
____________, tongue and touch to know what is happening. For
example when an animal sees another animal coming to eat it, it runs
away to safety.
Plants do not have the five senses but they sense in other ways. For
example a plant needs light to grow, so when it senses the sun it grows towards it.

• Growth (Grow) – Living things get ____________ as time passes

(increase in size). Small plants also grow into bigger plants.

• Respiration (respire) – Living things need energy to live. They get this energy from food
and oxygen (when they breathe). This is called respiration and is shown as :
Food + oxygen Energy + carbon dioxide + water

Unit 7 Living Things and the Environment 3

 Food oxygen Energy

• Excretion (excrete: getting rid of waste) – This means that the body must
remove those things that it does not need. Animals (including humans) get
rid of waste in various ways like when they go to the toilet. We do not
need Carbon dioxide so we remove it by breathing it out.
Plants are different to animals because their waste is ____________.

• Nutrition (Feeding) – Animals and plants need food in order to grow.

Animals usually eat/drink their food, while plants make their own food.

Exercises :
1.Fill in the table.

Vital Function Car

Bird
Move
Reproduce
Sense
Grow
Respire
Excrete
Feed
2. Say whether the following are living or non living:

Sun-_________ Wind-_________ dog-_________ tulip- _________

Rock-_________ tree-_________ soil-_________ butterfly-________

3. Match the word with the correct meaning.

Vital Function Meaning

Move Increase in size
Reproduce Take in food
Grow Feel, see, hear
Eat Make energy
Sense Get rid of waste
Excrete Go from place to place
Respire Make more living things of the same kind

Unit 7 Living Things and the Environment 4

Grouping Living Things

There are a lot of living things or organisms as we call them in science. There are about
one million different species on Earth. To make things simpler, scientists divide living
things into groups called kingdoms . They put organisms that have similar features into
the same group. This grouping is called classification. Four major kingdoms are :

Living Things

Like : bacteria mushrooms flowers giraffe

Write the name of the kingdom to which each living thing belongs.

In the table below write down some examples for each group.

Small Microbes Fungi Plants Animals

Unit 7 Living Things and the Environment 5

 Animals
In the world around us we can find a lot of animals of different shapes and sizes.
Scientists divide this group into two smaller groups, the Invertebrates and the
Vertebrates. The difference between them is that vertebrates have a backbone while
the invertebrates do not.

Vertebrates : These are the animals that have a

skeleton as can be seen in the picture.
Examples of vertebrates are :
_______________________________________
_______________________________________.

Invertebrates : These are

animals that do not have a back
bone, this means that they
cannot grow very large in size.
However, there are a lot more
types of invertebrates and are
greater in number. Some
examples are :______________
________________________
________________________

Exercise : Underline the invertebrates in the pictures below.

Vertebrates

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Unit 7 Living Things and the Environment 10
 Vertebrates

Vertebrates are animals that have ___________________.

The vertebrates are divided into 5 groups. Animals in the same group has things which
are the same.

Vertebrate
Groups

Fish Amphibians Reptiles Birds Mammals

1 example

How body is
covered

Lay eggs or live

young

Warm or cold
blooded

Where they live

(land /water)

Gills or lungs

Unit 7 Living Things and the Environment 11

Write down the name of the animal in the box where it belongs.

FISH AMPHIBIAN REPTILE BIRD MAMMAL

Unit 7 Living Things and the Environment 12

Habitats

Habitat : the place where a living thing (animal or plant) prefers to live. For example,
the habitat of a camel is the desert while the habitat of a snail is under a stone.

A habitat gives : → shelter (where they can rest and be safe)

→ food
→ space

There are different habitats like forests, deserts, sea, field.

Name some other habitats that you know :

________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

Examples of living things

Habitat What it is like
found

Enough rain for trees to grow

Woodland
Deer, bears, birds, insects
Forest

Lots of different plants,

Rains everyday so there are alot
Rain forest many insects, birds,
of trees and plants
monkeys, snakes

Camel, very few plants,

Desert Hot and dry
scorpions, snakes

Very cold place with snow on the Polar bears,hares, caribou,

Arctic
ground all year birds, insects

Unit 7 Living Things and the Environment 13

Habitats in Malta :

In Malta there are different habitats that have many animals and plants living in them.
Some of these organisms are endemic to the Maltese islands. Endemic means that
they are found no where else in the world. Examples of endemic species are Widnet il-
Bahar (Maltese rock centaury), Filfla lizard and the freshwater crab (il-Qabru). The
following are habitats that are found in Malta :

1.Woodland : this is found in places like Buskett. There are tall trees like the pine
trees (prinjol) and holm oak trees (balluta). Various invertebrates and birds live here.

2.Maquis : here we find small trees and shrubs like the carob tree (harruba) the olive
tree (zebbuga) and the fig tree (tina)

3.Garigue (xaghari) : here we find lots of rocks with

patches of soil which is not very deep. We find small
bushes, like thyme (saghtar), and grasses. Animals like
insects, lizards and birds live here.

4.Steppe : this has rocks with very little grasses like maltese
fennel (buzbiez).

5.Cliffs: here we can find plants that are endemic to Malta like Maltese rock centaury
(Widnet il-Bahar). Endemic means that they are only found in Malta. There are birds
who build their nest in the cliffs like the blue rock thrush (Merill).

6.Sandy shores : most of the animals that live here burrow in the sand example the
sand hopper (Berghud tar-ramel).

7.Rocky shores : the waves make this a very harsh habitat to live in. Some animals we
find here are limpets and snails.

Habitat Animal or plant Animal or plant

Woodland
Maquis
Garigue
Steppe
Cliffs
Sandy shore
Rocky shore

Unit 7 Living Things and the Environment 14

 Adaptations

Living things are affected by the environment in which they live. In order for plants and
animals to survive, their body must have certain structures and characteristics that help
them live in their particular habitats. These are called adaptations. Here are some
examples how some living things are adapted to their habitats.

✓ Camels live in dry deserts.

Adaptations :
They have a __________ where they store water so they
can live many days without drinking.
Their eyelashes are very _____________ to protect the
eyes from sand.

✓ Ducks and seagulls live in water.

Adaptations :
They have skin between the fingers (webbed feet) to help them
_____________________.

✓ Mammals that live in the sea, like the dolphin.

Adaptations :
They keep their _____________ for many minutes while they
are underwater.

✓ Plants that live in tropical rainforest where there is a lot of rain.

Adaptations :
Leaves are _____________ and flat, this helps them get enough sun
from between larger trees that cover them.

✓ Plants that live in deserts and very dry conditions.

Adaptations :

Succulents and cactus store ______________ in their leaves and

stems, so they have enough water when there is no rain.

Unit 7 Living Things and the Environment 15

Exercise : Match each number with the correct letter by choosing the correct
adaptation. Colour the corresponding number and letter with the same colour.

Unit 7 Living Things and the Environment 16

Photosynthesis

How do plants get their food?

Plants need food but they do not have to wait on people or animals to provide for
them. Most plants are able to make their own food whenever they need it. This is
done using light and the process is called ________________.

The word photosynthesis can be separated to make two smaller words:

“photo” which means light

“synthesis” which means putting together

Photosynthesis is the process by which plants make their own food.

To make food plants need:

• _________________

• _________________

• _________________

Let’s take a look at how these are collected by

plants.

• Carbon dioxide from the air passes through small pores (holes) in the leaves.

• Water is absorbed by the roots and passes through tiny tubes in the stem on its
way to the leaves.

• Sunlight is absorbed by a green chemical in the leaves. This chemical is called

chlorophyll.

The process of Photosynthesis can be shown by this word equation :

________________ + water Food (sugar) + ____________

Chlorophyll

Unit 7 Living Things and the Environment 17

Food Chains
A food chain shows the different organisms that live in a habitat, and which animal eats
what.
Producers and consumers
Producers food chains photosynthesis Energy consumers plants

Animals get ______________ and nutrients by eating other animals or plants. These
links between animals and plants are called ______________ _____________ .
Usually all food chains start with a green plant. Plants are called ______________
because they make their own food by ______________. Plants get the energy from
the sun to make their food. Animals are called ______________because they eat
______________ and other animals. A food chain ends with a consumer.

Here is an example of a simple food chain:

grass → cow → human

NOTE - the arrow points to the organism that is doing the eating. If you get the arrows
the wrong way round, instead of showing that humans eat cows, you are showing that
cows eat humans, and that grass eats cows.

Other words in a food chain

There are several words used to describe the organisms in a food chain. Study this
food chain:

Grass → Grasshopper → Frog → Hawk

Producer Consumer Consumer Consumer

Herbivore Carnivore Carnivore

An animal that eats plants is called a ______________, and an animal that eats
other animals is called a ______________. An ______________ is an animal that
eats both plants and animals.

Unit 7 Living Things and the Environment 18

 Predators and Prey

A predator is an animal that ______________ other animals. The prey is the animal
that ______________ ______________ by the predator. In the food chain above:

• the frog is a ______________ and the grasshopper is its ______________.

• the ______________ is a predator and the ______________ is its prey.

Exercise : food chain

Unit 7 Living Things and the Environment 19

Food Webs
In a habitat there is more than one food chain. When all the food chains in a habitat
are joined up together they form a food web. Here is an example of a food web:

Although it looks complex, it is just several food chains joined together. Here are some
of the food chains in this food web:

grass → insect → vole → hawk

grass → insect → frog → fox

grass → insect → vole → fox

Notice that the frogs, voles and insects have more than one _______________, but
the rabbits and slugs have just _______________,predator.

If an organism in the food chain decreases the organisms that eat it or are eaten by
it will be effected too.

Example 1 - the grass is the producer, so if it died the consumers that feed on it -
_______________,, _______________, - would have no food. They would starve
and die unless they could move to another habitat. All the other animals in the food
web would die too, because their food supplies would have died out. The populations
of the consumers would fall as the population of the producer fell.

Example 2 - if foxes decrease in number the number of rabbits will

_______________, because there is no one who eats them. In turn they will eat
more grass. On the other hand, if rabbits die (because they are sick) foxes will not
find rabbits to eat and will eat more frogs and voles.

Unit 7 Living Things and the Environment 20

Woodland Food Web

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 Questions

Unit 7 Living Things and the Environment 22

Unit 7 Living Things and the Environment 23
Fill in the table below, give an example of a plant or animal that lives in each habitat,
then match the habitat to the description

Animal or plant Habitat Description

found in habitat
1. Garigue Very tall trees

2. Maquis Many rocks with small pockets

of soil with grasses.
3. Woodland Waves and rocks makes this a
harsh habitat
4. Rocky shore Shrubs and small trees.

Unit 7 Living Things and the Environment 24