CBSE Class 10 Chapter 13 Our Environment Notes

The environment includes all living and non-living factors that interact in a particular area. The class 10 CBSE ‘Our Environment’ notes show that the environment consists of both biotic and abiotic factors. The biotic factors include living components including plants, animals, etc whereas the abiotic factors include non-living components like air and sunlight. These ‘our environment’ class 10 NCERT notes clearly explain how these components help sustain life on Earth.

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. It contains the living or biotic components such as animals, plants, and birds and 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 need to stop pollution without stopping the process of development and prevent the depletion or degradation 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 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. 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 decomposers. 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 through photosynthesis, in the presence of sunlight and chlorophyll, and are referred to as autotrophs. Consequently, all other organisms are dependent on plants for their energy needs of food as well as oxygen.
• Consumer are referred to as heterotrophs because organisms depend on other organisms for food. Consumers are – 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 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.

Food Chain and Food Web

It is a series of pathway that represents the transfer of energy from one organism to another organism. The sequence of events in an ecosystem is called a “food chain“, where one living organism consume other organism, and gets eatern by another 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.

Food web is a complex web of various interconnected food chains in the ecosystem. This shows multiple feeding relationships among various organisms. In a food web, a single organism can be a part of multiple pathways, as they may consume or be consumed by different species.

Difference Between Food Chain and Food Web

The major difference between food chain and food web are:

Aspect	Food Chain	Food Web
Definition	Linear sequence of organisms showing	Complex network of interrelated
	who eats whom in an ecosystem.	food chains within an ecosystem.
Representation	Simple and linear.	Complex and interconnected.
Relationship	Represents a single path of energy flow from producer to top consumer.	Represents multiple paths of energy flow, showing various interactions among organisms at different trophic levels.
Complexity	Less complex, with fewer interactions between organisms	More complex, with numerous interactions and connections.
Stability	More vulnerable to disturbances due to reliance on a single pathway.	More resilient to disturbances as energy can flow through multiple pathways, providing redundancy.

Trophic Levels

Trophic levels are the various levels in a food web where the among which energy flow from one level to another. The different trophic levels are –

• Producers (Trophic 1)
• Primary consumers (herbivores-Trophic 2)
• Secondary consumers (primary carnivores -Trophic 2)
• Tertiary consumers (Secondary carnivores – Trophic 3)
• Quaternary consumers (Tertiary carnivores Trophic 4)
• Decomposers

10% Energy Rule

The 10% energy rule is a fundamental concept in ecology that explains how energy is transferred between trophic levels in a food chain or web. It states that only about 10% of the energy available at one trophic level is transferred to the next higher trophic level. This means that as energy moves up the food chain, there is a significant loss of energy at each transfer. The remaining energy is used by organisms for metabolism, growth, and reproduction, or it is lost as heat.

This rule helps to understand why food chains are typically limited to a few trophic levels and why ecosystems must be large to support top predators. It also explains the importance of conserving energy and resources in ecosystems to maintain ecological balance and sustainability.

How Human Activities Affect 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 destroying the environment we live in. We have warned by various warining in recent times including global warming, floods, cyclones, tsunamis, etc which are a few consequences of different activities of people. Some activities are described below:

Deforestation

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

Water Pollution

Large-scale water pollution is caused 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 unfit for human consumption.

Air Pollution

Air pollution refers to the presence of harmful or excessive quantities of substances in the air that can adversely affect human health, the environment, and the quality of life. These pollutants include gases, particulate matter, and biological molecules that can originate from natural sources or human activities such as industrial emissions, vehicle exhaust, and agricultural activities. Air pollution can lead to respiratory diseases, cardiovascular problems, and environmental degradation, making it a significant global concern.

Global Warming

Global warming is the long-term rise in Earth’s average surface temperature due to human activities, mainly the emission of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, which trap heat in the atmosphere. 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 refers to the process whereby natural habitats are destroyed, often due to human activities such as urbanization, deforestation, and industrial development. This disruption leads to the loss of biodiversity, as native species lose their homes and may struggle to survive or adapt to new environments. Habitat destruction is a significant driver of species extinction, and affect ecosystem functioning and stability.

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 depleting 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.

Garbage Disposal

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.

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FAQs on Our Environment Notes CBSE Class 10

What is the Definition of an Ecosystem?

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.

Why is the Environment so Important?

The environment is crucial because it provides essential resources like air, water, and food, supporting life on Earth. Additionally, it maintains ecological balance, regulates climate, and sustains biodiversity, influencing human health and well-being.

What are the 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.

Where can I Find Our Environment Class 10 Notes NCRET?

You can find expert created notes at the top of this article.