Our Environment – Notes CBSE Class 10

CBSE Class 10 Science Notes Chapter 13 Our Environment is an important part of Class 10 Science Notes for quick revision. They will benefit from having challenging study material to use in preparing for the exam. Students understand under this chapter CBSE Class 10 Science Notes Chapter 13 Our Environment, Biodegradable and Non-biodegradable Wastes, Ecosystem, Components of Ecosystem. The environment includes our physical surroundings such as air (or atmosphere), water bodies, soil (land), and all living organisms such as plants, animals, humans, and micro-organisms such as bacteria and fungi (called decomposers). Human activities that destroy the environment Questions and Answers for CBSE Class 10 Science Chapter 13 Our Environment helps to remember well.

Our Environment

The environment can generally be explained as the effects of all living and non-living components of the surroundings or conditions as well as the effects of human life. While all the living or biotic components such as animals, plants, forests, fish, and birds, the non-living or abiotic components such as water, land, sunlight, rocks, and air. This should make it must be relatively easy for someone to understand its significance in the popular cycle of life. There is an immediate requirement to stop pollution without stopping the process of development and prevent the degradation and depletion of our natural resources and control pollution.

Pollution is defined as any undue change in physical, chemical, or biological properties of air, land, water, or Soil. A molecule that is discharged into the environment due to natural or human activity which adversely impacts the environment is referred to as a pollutant.

What is Ecosystem?

An ecosystem is a group or community made of living and non-living things and their communication with each together and the surrounding environment. An ecosystem is a basic structural and functional unit of ecology. The term “ecosystem” was first established by an English botanist scientist A.G.Tansley in the year 1935. It is a dynamic complex that is made up of biotic components and abiotic components. These biotic and abiotic interactions organized equilibrium in the ecosystem. It includes humans as a crucial component. The numerous advantages we derived from the ecosystem are referred to as the term ecosystem services.

Modes Of Nutrition

The nutritional Approach is a type of process that consumes food and uses it to grow, maintain health and repair any damaged body parts. Plants generated their food by consuming raw materials from their surroundings, like minerals, carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight. There are two modes of nutrition present which are mentioned below:

• Autotrophic Nutrition: Plants exhibit autotrophic nutrition and are referred to as primary producers. Light, carbon dioxide, and water are used by plants to synthesize their sustenance.
• Heterotrophic Nutrition: Both animals and human beings are referred to as heterotrophs, as they depend on plants for their food.

Structure of the Ecosystem

The organization of biotic and abiotic components characterizes the structure of an ecosystem. This involves the circulation of energy in our environment. It also involved the environmental conditions present in that particular environment. There are two components of the ecosystem those are:

• Biotic Components
• Abiotic Components

Biotic Components

The living components of an ecosystem are referred to as the biotic components. Some of these components include plants, animals, as well as fungi and bacteria, and other living things. These biotic components can be divided and categorized based on the source of energy requirement The three main groups of biotic components are producers, consumers, and decomposes. Biotic elements can be divided into autotrophs, heterotrophs, and saprotrophs based on their nutritional needs.

• Producers are the plants in the ecosystem, which can produce their own energy requirement via photosynthesis, in the presence of sunlight and chlorophyll, which are referred to as Autotrophs. Consequently, all other organisms are dependent on plants for their energy needs of food as well as oxygen.
• Consumer components are referred to as heterotrophs because organisms depend on other organisms for food. Consumers such as- herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores. Herbivores are living organisms that feed on plants. Carnivores consumed other living organisms. Omnivores are animals that can consume both plant and animal tissue Consumers are usually categorized into primary consumers, secondary consumers, and tertiary consumers.
  • Primary consumers constantly serve as herbivores as they depend on producers for food.
  • Secondary consumers mostly depend on primary consumers for energy. It can either be carnivores or omnivores.
  • Tertiary consumers are organisms that mostly depend on secondary consumers for food.  It can also be carnivores or omnivores.
  • There are quaternary consumers present in some food chains. For energy, these organisms feed off tertiary consumers. Additionally, because they have natural predators, they are frequently at the top of a food chain.
• Decomposer components are the fungi and bacteria, which are the saprophytes. They are a breakdown of organic matter it consumes the decomposing organic material and transforms this matter into nitrogen and carbon dioxide. The saprophytes play a crucial role in recycling the nutrients so that the developed is that plants can use them once again.

Abiotic Components

The ecosystem’s non-living components are known as abiotic components. These are additionally referred to as ecological factors. The environment is characterized by its physical and chemical elements. The abiotic components of an ecosystem include things like light, air, soil, and nutrients.

What is a Food Chain?

A food chain is a chronological pathway or an order that represents the transformation of energy from one organism to another organism. The sequence of events in an ecosystem is called a “food chain”, where one living organism consumed another organism, and after that organism is eaten by another larger organism. The transformation of nutrients and energy from one living thing to another living thing at various trophic levels forms a food chain. In an organization that has producers, consumers, and decomposers, the energy moves in a specific pathway. Energy is not created or destroyed. But it moves from one level to the other, through different organisms.

How Do Our Activities Affect The Environment

Human beings are the most specific part of our society and have the most significant impact on our environment. They have affected every aspect of life on earth with resources. It supports the shape of the evolution of humans, From the earliest human ancestors to our modern times. And we really have come to a long pathway- almost 2 million years of evolution. From improvements in human social behavior to regular accomplishments in the regions of science, technology, and medicine, we have extensively investigated and are continuously paving the path to find better solutions to cope with current problems so that society as a whole can live to higher standards.

Human Activities That Destroy The Environment

While we may have contributed a lot to the well-being of our society, we have ignored or neglected the fact that ultimately, we are messing with the environment we live in. This has been expressed in recent times in the form of worldwide warming, floods, cyclones, tsunamis, etc which are a few consequences of different activities of people. Some activities are described below:

Deforestation

Everyone knows that trees absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the climate, which we use for our survival. Recently it has been observed that due to the increase in population, almost trees are being cut for the availability of land and the establishment of new industries has caused an imbalance in the ecosystem, resulting in a lowering of oxygen levels in the air.

Water Pollution

This type of pollution has resulted in large-scale water pollution due to contaminated water from large-scale industries, lack of proper sewage systems, and various human activities close to the water bodies. Additionally, sometimes seas and oceans face oil spillages, which have a long-term influence on the water, making it unavailable for human consumption.

Air Pollution

Air pollution is caused by overpopulation and has in many ways, one of which is the discharge of toxic emissions from moving automobiles. Harmful gases are come from large industries are left in the air, causing us to breathe air that has toxic chemicals leading to new medical ailments.

Global Warming

The effects of greenhouse gases and other related human activities are believed to cause global warming. As a result, it caused icecaps to melt and which developed in sea levels and caused cyclones, tsunamis, and other natural calamities.

Habitat Destruction

Habitat Destruction: Survival of wildlife is becoming destruction as their natural habitat is being cut down. Deforestation may result in increased land availability but leaves animals homeless.

Ozone Layer And Its Depletion

One molecule of ozone is made up of three components of oxygen atoms. Whereas oxygen gives life to human beings, ozone is a harmful gas as well as harmful on earth, but it is necessary for high environmental levels. Ozone plays an important role. UV rays emanate from the sun and harm living beings and human beings, and precisely also cause skin cancer in humans, therefore dangerous. These UV rays are prevented from reaching the earth by the ozone layer.

How is Ozone formed?

The level of atmospheric, ozone is a product of UV rays reacting with an oxygen molecule (O₂), which causes the oxygen molecules to split apart into free oxygen atoms (O). The free oxygen atoms then combine with the oxygen molecules to form ozone (O3) molecules, the equation is given below

O+O₂→O₃

This earth’s protecting atmosphere has been eroding over time. The 1980s saw the discovery of a significant depletion brought on by the use of CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) in fire extinguishers and freezers. Due to this, manufacturers are now required to produce CFC-free appliances everywhere in the world.

Managing Garbage We Produce

Waste management is the process of collection, transportation, and disposal of solid waste. Waste can be of two types which are biodegradable or non-biodegradable.

Biodegradable wastes are reacted by biological processes that support their breakdown but non-biodegradable components are not broken down by these biological processes. They have been around for a while in nature and eventually become dangerous, thus it is important to address them.

FAQs on Our Environment

Q1: What is the definition of an Ecosystem?

Answer:

An ecosystem is a cooperative group of both living and non-living things. An ecosystem can be highly impacted by any environmental changes, such as increasing temperatures or protracted periods of rain.

Q2: Why is the environment so important?

Answer:

The food we eat, the air we breathe, and the water we use to irrigate our crops are all present in our woods, rivers, oceans, and soils. They provide us with a wide range of additional products and services that are essential to our well-being, happiness, and prosperity. These natural resources are frequently referred to as the world’s “natural capital.”

Q3: What are the biotic components?

Answer:

The living components of an ecosystem are referred to as the biotic components. Some of these components include plants, animals, as well as fungi and bacteria, and other living things