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5th Grade - Demo

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Last edited 51 days ago by Learn LoopHQ.

Introduction to the Environment

The environment is made up of living things and non-living things.

Living things include plants and animals.

Non-living things include air, water, light, heat, and soil.

Plants and animals depend on each other and on non-living things for their survival.

This interdependence of living and non-living components helps maintain the balance in nature.

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Producers and Consumers

All living beings need food to stay alive.

Plants produce their own food through the process of photosynthesis.

In photosynthesis, plants use carbon dioxide from the air and water from the soil to make food. This process occurs in the presence of sunlight and chlorophyll.

Since plants can make their own food, they are called producers.

Animals cannot make their own food, so they eat plants or other animals that eat plants. Animals are called consumers.

There are three types of consumers:

Herbivores: Eat only plants.

Examples include cows, deer, giraffes, zebras, elephants, and camels.

Carnivores: Eat other plant-eating animals.

Examples include tigers, cheetahs, lions, and crocodiles, which hunt and kill their prey.

Some carnivores, such as hyenas and vultures, feed on the flesh of dead animals and are called scavengers.

Omnivores: Get their food from both plants and animals.

Examples include bears, pigs, crows, sparrows, squirrels, and peacocks.

Decomposers eat decaying matter of dead plants and animals.

They break down nutrients in the bodies of dead organisms into simpler substances.

These substances return to the soil, where plants use them to grow.

Examples of decomposers include bacteria, fungi, worms, and insects.

Science Buzz! Earthworms feed on decaying matter in the soil and then enrich the soil with their faeces. They are widely used in vermicomposting, a method of converting wet garbage into manure.

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Food Chain

Plants and animals depend on each other for food.

They are linked together in a chain that determines the order in which organisms get food in their environment. This chain of eating and being eaten is called the food chain.

The food chain shows the flow of food energy between different living things.

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Example of a food chain:

A plant makes its own food in the presence of sunlight and chlorophyll.

A herbivore, such as a deer or horse, eats the leaves of the plant.

The herbivore is eaten by a carnivore, such as a lion.

When the animals die, scavengers, such as vultures, feed on their flesh.

When plants and animals die, their bodies decompose.

Bacteria break down the nutrients in their bodies, which return to the soil.

The nutrients are used by plants to grow, and thus the food chain continues.

Most plants and animals are part of more than one food chain.

Many food chains interconnect to make a food web.

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Interdependence of Plants and Animals

Food is not the only thing that links plants and animals.

Plants and animals depend on each other in several ways:

During photosynthesis, plants take in carbon dioxide from the air and release oxygen. Animals need oxygen to breathe and depend on plants for a constant supply of oxygen in the environment. Animals breathe out carbon dioxide, which is needed by plants for photosynthesis.

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Animals depend on plants for shelter. Example: birds, squirrels, and monkeys lives on trees.

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Plants depend on animals for pollination. Without pollinators, such as bees and butterflies, plants would not be able to produce fruits.

Animals help in the dispersal of seeds.

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Balance of Nature

All species of plants and animals play an important role in nature.

Plants and animals co-exist in food chains and food webs.

The balance of nature is maintained when there is a stable balance in the numbers of each species in an environment.

If there is a change in even one part of the food chain, the balance of nature gets disturbed.

Example: If all grass dries up during a drought, deer will have no food and will die. This will lead to a decrease in the number of foxes and leopards, which eat deer.

Example: If foxes and leopards are hunted in large numbers, there will be an increase in the number of deer. This can lead to overgrazing of grass and plants, causing the destruction of the forest.

Causes of Imbalance in Nature

The food chain can be affected by natural or human-made factors.

Natural causes of imbalance in nature:

Sudden death of a species.

Natural disasters, such as forest fires, floods, or diseases.

Human-made factors causing imbalance in nature:

Deforestation, Land development and Pollution lead to the destruction of habitats, affecting the population of various species.

Introduction of new species.

Hunting.

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Summary of Plants and Animals Depend on Each Other

The environment consists of living things (plants and animals) and non-living things (air, water, light, heat, soil), with interdependence maintaining the balance in nature.

Plants are producers, making their own food via photosynthesis, while animals are consumers, eating plants or other animals.

Consumers include herbivores (plant-eaters), carnivores (meat-eaters, including scavengers), and omnivores (eat both plants and animals).

Decomposers, such as bacteria and fungi, break down dead matter, returning nutrients to the soil for plant growth.

Plants and animals are linked in food chains, showing the flow of food energy, with many food chains forming a food web.

Plants and animals depend on each other for food, oxygen-carbon dioxide exchange, shelter, pollination, and seed dispersal.

The balance of nature is maintained by stable species numbers in food chains, but can be disturbed by natural causes (e.g., disasters) or human-made factors (e.g., deforestation, pollution).

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