SURE SHOTS OUR ENVIRONMENT

1.Why are some substances biodegradable and some non-

biodegradable?
Answer
Substances are classified as biodegradable and non-biodegradable
because some substances can be decomposed by microorganisms and
some cannot. Substances that are broken down into simple soluble
forms are called biodegradable substances and the substances that
are not decomposed by microorganisms into harmless substances are
called non biodegradable substances

2.Give any two ways in which non-biodegradable substances would

affect the environment.
Answer
Non-biodegradable substances affect the environment by:
→ They contaminate soil and water resources as they cannot be
decomposed by micro-organisms.
→ These substances, when accidentally eaten by stray animals, can
harm them and can even cause their death.

3.What are trophic levels? Give an example of a food chain and

state the different trophic levels in it.

Answer
The various links or steps in a food chain at which the transfer of
food and energy takes place are called trophic levels.
The producers form the first trophic level as they manufacture food.
The primary consumers form the second trophic level, the secondary
consumers form the third, and the tertiary consumers form the fourth
trophic level.

4. What is the role of decomposers in the ecosystem?

Answer
Various role played by decomposers in the ecosystem are:
→ They clean the environment.
→ They decompose biodegradable substances into useful substances.
→ They release nutrients into soil by decomposing dead and decaying
matter, thus making the soil fertile.
 → They maintain the nutrient pool by returning back the nutrients in
the pool.

5. What is ozone and how does it affect any ecosystem?

Answer
Ozone (O3) is a molecule, made up of three atoms of oxygen.
Ozone (O3) forms a layer in the upper atmosphere. It is very essential
for the life on this planet. It shields the surface of the earth from
ultra-violet radiation (UV) coming from sun as these radiations are
very harmful causing skin cancer and cataract in humans. It also
does harm to the crops.

6.How can you help in reducing the problem of waste disposal? Give
any two methods.

Answer
Any two methods of waste disposal

7.What will happen if we kill all the organisms in one trophic level?
Answer
If we kill all the organisms of one trophic level it will create an
imbalance in the ecosystem. As an Example, In a food chain Grass →
Dear → Lion, If we remove all lions then population of deer will
increase which will cause over-grazing. This will lead to deforestation.
It may even lead to soil erosion causing further conversion of fertile
land into barren desert.

8.Will the impact of removing all the organisms in a trophic level be

different for different trophic levels? Can the organisms of any
trophic level be removed without causing any damage to the
ecosystem?
Answer For example, if we remove producers from a food chain, no
organism will get food, if we remove herbivores from a food chain then
carnivores will die and producers will also die due to competition for
space and nutrients. No, we can't remove any trophic level without
causing damage to the ecosystem as one is dependent on other for
their survival. If we remove any one this will create imbalance in the
ecosystem.

9.What is biological magnification? Will the levels of this

magnification be different at different levels of the ecosystem?
Answer
Biological magnification is defined as the phenomena of accumulation
or increase in the concentration of some toxic substances at each
trophic level.
 The levels of biomagnification will be different at different trophic
levels. For example, in a pond of water, DDT was sprayed and the
producers were found to have 0.04 ppm concentration of DDT. Since
many types of planktons are eaten by some fishes and clams, their
body accumulates 0.23 ppm of DDT. Sea gull that feeds on clams
accumulates more DDT as one sea gull eats many clams. Hawk, the
top carnivore, has the highest concentration of DDT.

10.What are the problems caused by the non-biodegradable wastes

that we generate?
The problems caused by non-biodegradable wastes are:
→ The cause biomagnification.
→ They increase pollution.
→ They make environment unclean.
→ They kill useful microorganisms.

11.If all the waste we generate is biodegradable, will this have no

impact on the environment?
Answer
If all the waste generated would be biodegradable this will also create
problem. As the numbers of decomposers will be quite low so wastes
cannot be broken down into harmless simpler substance at right
time. It will became breeding ground for flies causing spread of
diseases. It will also emits foul smell which makes the life of people
miserable.

12.Why is damage to the ozone layer a cause for concern? What

steps are being taken to limit this damage?

It causes skin darkening, skin cancer, ageing, and corneal cataracts

in human beings.
→ It can result in the death of many phytoplanktons that leads to
increased global warming.

To limit the damage to the ozone layer, the release of CFCs into the
atmosphere must be reduced. CFCs used as refrigerants and in fire
extinguishers should be replaced with environmentally-safe
alternatives. Also, the release of CFCs through industrial activities
should be controlled.

13.Give any two ways in which biodegradable substances would

affect the environment.

Answer

Biodegradable substances affect the environment by:

→ Their degradation may release certain gases in the atmosphere
 there by polluting the environment .They may become breeding place
for flies and many other pest ,thus causing diseases

14.What is ecosystem? Explain its types

An ecosystem is a self-contained unit of living things (plants, animals
and decomposers), and their non-living environment (soil, air and
water)

15.what are the components of the ecosystem?

Biotic components refer to all living components in an
ecosystem. Based on nutrition, biotic components can be categorised
into autotrophs, heterotrophs and saprotrophs (or decomposers).
Abiotic components are the non-living component of an ecosystem. It
includes air, water, soil, minerals, sunlight, temperature, nutrients,
wind, altitude, turbidity, etc.
16.What are producers consumers and decomposers?
Producers: All green plants, blue green algae can produce their food
(Sugar and starch) from inorganic substance using light energy
(Photosynthesis). Therefore, all green plants are called producers.
They are also called autotrophs.
The consumers depend upon producers for their food directly or
indirectly. They get their food by eating other organisms or their
products. For example, man, goat, deer, fish, lion, cow, buffalo, etc.,
are common consumers.

Decomposers: Fungi and bacteria which break down (decompose) the

dead plants, animals complex compounds into the simpler one. The
decomposers help in the replenishment of natural resources. These are
also known as microorganism or saprotrophs. These are also called
reducers.
 17.what are the Functions of an Ecosystem

• Ecosystem indicates available solar energy and the efficiency of an

ecosystem to trap the same.
• It gives information about the available essential minerals and their
recycling periods.
• It provides knowledge about the web of interactions and inter-
relationship among the various population as well as between the
population and the abiotic environment.
• It helps human beings to know about conservation of resources,
protection from pollution and inputs required for maximizing
productivity.
• In the ecosystem, two processes of energy flow and biogeochemical
cycles (nutrients movement) proceed side by side. The energy flow is
unidirectional while the movement of nutrients is cyclic.

18.What is food chain?

The sequence of living organisms in a community in which one
organism consumes another organism to transfer food energy, is
called a food chain.
A food chain is unidirectional where transfer of energy takes place in
only one direction.
Grass (Producers) → Insect(Herbivores) → Frog(Carnivores) →
Eagle(Secondary Carnivore)

19.What is food web?

The inter-connected food chains operating in an ecosystem which
establish a network of relationship between various species, are called
a food web.
In a food web, one organism may occupy a position in more than one
food chain. An organism can obtain its food from different sources and
in turn, may be eaten up by different types of organisms.

20.What is Trophic Levels

The various steps in the food chain at which the transfer of food (or
energy) takes place is called trophic levels.
There is a gradual decrease in the amount of energy transfer from one
trophic level to the next trophic level in a food chain.
21.What is Ten percent law: Ten percent law states that only 10
percent of the energy entering a particular trophic level of organisms
is available for transfer to the next higher trophic level.

Green plants capture about 1% of the solar energy incident on the

Earth through the biochemical process of photosynthesis.

22.What is biological magnification?

 Biological Magnification: The increase in concentration of harmful
chemical substances like pesticides in the body of living organisms at
each trophic level of a food chain is called biological magnification.
Example:

Maximum concentration of such chemicals gets accumulated in

human bodies.

23.How is ozone formed?

The high energy UV radiations break down the O2 molecules into free
oxygen (O) atoms.
O →(UV) O + O (atoms)
(ii) These oxygen atoms then combine with oxygen (O2) molecule to form
the ozone molecule.
O2 + O → O3 (ozone)

24.What are the methods of waste disposal?

(i) Biogas plant: Biodegradable waste can be used in biogas plant to
produce biogas and manure.
(ii) Sewage treatment plant: The drain water can be cleaned in sewage
treatment plant before adding it to rivers.
(iii) Land fillings: The wastes are buried in low lying areas and are
compacted by rolling with bulldozers.
(iv) Composting: Organic wastes are filled in a compost pit and covered
with a layer of soil, after about three months garbage changes to
manure.
(v) Recycling: Non-biodegradable wastes are recycled to make new
items.
(vi) Reuse: It is a conventional technique to use an item again. Example:
newspaper for making envelops.
(vii) Incineration: Burning of waste on high temperature to form ash is
called incineration. This process is carried out in an incinerator.
Incineration is used to destroy household, chemical and biological
wastes.