Class X science- our environment pdf chapter notes

1. GOALPARA PUBLIC SCHOOL
CH- OUR ENVIRONMENT
CLASS- X SUB- G SC
PREPARED BY- MOZIBOR RAHMAN
Our Environment
The physical and biological world where we live is called our environment. The environment includes our
physical surroundings like air (or atmosphere), water bodies, soil (land) and all the organisms such as
plants, animals, human beings and micro-organisms like bacteria and fungi (called decomposers).
Biodegradable and Non-Biodegradable Wastes
All the waste materials produced by the various activities of man and animals are poisonous to some extent
and can be divided into two main groups:
1. Biodegradable wastes, and 2. Non-biodegradable wastes.
Biodegradable wastes
Those waste materials which can be broken down to non-poisonous substances in nature in due course of
time by the action of micro-organisms like certain bacteria, are called biodegradable wastes. Cattle dung
and compost are common examples of biodegradable wastes. [Compost is the manure made from decayed
vegetable-stuff (plants)]. Other examples of biodegradable materials are: Animal bones; Leather;
Tealeaves; Wool; Paper; Wheat; Wood; Hay; Cotton; Jute; Grass; Fruit and Vegetable peels; Leaves,
Flowers, and Cake, etc.
Non-biodegradable wastes.
The waste materials which cannot be broken down into non-poisonous or harmless substances in nature
are called non-biodegradable wastes. The examples of non-biodegradable wastes are: D.D.T. (Dichloro
Diphenyl Trichloroethane); Plastics; Polythene bags; Ball-point pen refill; Synthetic fibres; Glass objects;
Metal articles like Aluminium cans; Iron nails; Silver foil and Radioactive wastes.
D.D.T. is a non-biodegradable waste so it can be passed along the food chain from crops to man or other
animals and birds and harm them.
Why some materials are biodegradable whereas others are non-biodegradable?
ANS: The micro-organisms like bacteria and other decomposer organisms (called saprophytes) present in
our environment are „specific‟ in their action. They break down the natural materials or products made from
natural materials (say, paper) but do not break down man-made materials such as plastics. So, it is due to
the property of decomposer organisms of being specific in their action that some waste materials are
biodegradable whereas others are non-biodegradable.
NCERT Book, Page 257
Q. 1. Why are some substances biodegradable and some non-biodegradable?
Ans.See in the above
Q. 2. Give any two ways in which biodegradable substances would affect the environment. HSLC2015
Ans. (i) The rotting biodegradable wastes (like rotting plant and animal wastes) act as breeding grounds for
flies and cockroaches. These flies and cockroaches carry germs and spread various diseases to people
living in that area.
(ii) The rotting biodegradable wastes emit foul smell in the environment which makes the life of people in
the area miserable.

2. iii) Dumping of industrial wastes reduce the soil fertility
Q. 3. Give any two ways in which non-biodegradable substances would affect the environment.
Ans. (i) Some of the non-biodegradable wastes (such as pesticides like DDT and metals like mercury) enter
the food chain of humans. These non-biodegradable wastes get concentrated in human beings and
damage their health in the long run.
(ii) The excessive use of non-biodegradable fertilisers in agriculture makes the soil either too much acidic or
too much alkaline. When the soil becomes too acidic or too alkaline, the crop yield is reduced.
(iii) The dumping of non-biodegradable wastes like plastic, glass and metal objects here and there acts as
an eyesore and spoils the environment.
ECOSYSTEM
Q. What is ecosystem and what are its components? HSLC 2015
Ans- An ecosystem is a self-contained unit of living things (plants, animals and decomposers), and their
non-living environment (soil, air and water). An ecosystem needs only the input of sunlight energy for its
functioning. The examples of ecosystems are: a grassland (meadow); a forest; a desert; a mountain; a
pond; a lake; a river; and sea.
The components of an ecosystem are – a) Abiotic components (e.g.-soil, water etc.) and b) Biotic
components (e.g.-plants and animals)
Q. Explain what are the components of an ecosystem? HSLC 2017
Ans- All the ecosystems are made up of two main components: Abiotic components, and Biotic
components. Abiotic components mean non-living components and biotic components mean living
components.
1. Abiotic Components of an Ecosystem. The abiotic components of an ecosystem (or the non-living
components of an ecosystem) include the physical environment like soil, water and air along with the
inorganic substances like carbon dioxide, nitrogen, oxygen, water, phosphorus, sulphur, sodium,
potassium, calcium and other elements present in them. The physical factors or climatic factors like light,
temperature, pressure and humidity are also considered abiotic components of the ecosystem.
2. Biotic Components of an Ecosystem. The biotic component of an ecosystem (or the living component
of an ecosystem) is a community of organisms (like plants and animals), which is made up of many
different inter-dependent populations. The biotic community (or living community) of an ecosystem includes
three types of organisms:
(i) Producer organisms (or Autotrophs) which synthesize their own food. All the green plants are producers.
(ii) Consumer organisms (or Heterotrophs) which are dependent on others for food. All the animals are
consumers.
(iii) Decomposer organisms (or Saprotrophs) which consume the dead remains of other organisms. Certain
bacteria and fungi.
Q. What is the role of decomposers in the ecosystem? NCERT PAGE NO 261, HSLC 2018
Ans. The role of decomposers in the ecosystem are-
i) The decomposers help in decomposing the dead bodies of plants and animals, and hence act
as cleansing agents of environment.
ii) it is only due to the presence of decomposers that the various nutrient elements which were
initially taken by plants from the soil, air and water are returned to the soil, air and water, after
the death of plants and animals.
iii) the decomposer organisms help in recycling the materials in the ecosystem so that the process
of life may go on and on like an unending chain.

3. FOOD CHAIN
The food (or energy) can be transferred from one organism to the other through food chains.
The sequence of living organisms in a community in which one organism consumes another organism to
transfer food energy, is called a food chain. In simple words, a list of organisms (living beings) showing
“who eats whom” is called a food chain.
Example of a simple food chain operating in a grassland or forest.
In this food chain the grass is eaten up by deer and the deer is then eaten up by a lion. In this food chain,
grass is the producer organism which uses sunlight energy to prepare food like carbohydrates by the
process of photosynthesis. This grass is then consumed by a herbivore called deer. And the deer is
consumed by a carnivore called lion.
More Examples of Food Chains
Let us take the example of a grassland food chain having four steps or four links. In a grassland
ecosystem, grass is eaten by insects; the insects are eaten by frog; and the frog is then eaten by birds.
This is a grassland food chain involving four organisms (or four steps) which can be represented as follows

4. Significance of food chain
i) Food chain involves the transfer of energy, materials and nutrients.
ii) The knowledge of food chain helps in understanding the feeding relationship as well as the
interaction between organisms and ecosystem.
iii) It also helps to understand the movement of toxic substances and the problem associated with
it.
FOOD WEB
The inter-connected food chains operating in an ecosystem which establish a network of relationships
between various species, is called a food web. In simple words, the network of a large number of food
chains existing in an ecosystem is called a food web.
Example-
1. In the 1st food chain, plants are eaten by rabbit and then rabbit is eaten by hawk:
Plants Rabbit Hawk
2. In the 2nd food chain, plants are eaten by mice (or rats) and the mice are eaten by hawks:
Plants Mice Hawk
3. In the 3rd food chain, plants are eaten by mice; mice are eaten by snakes and then snakes are
consumed by hawks:
Plants Mice Snake Hawk
4. In the 4th food chain, plants are eaten by seed-eating birds and the seed-eating birds are consumed
by hawks:
Plants Seed-eating Bird Hawk
5. In the 5th food chain, plants are eaten up by grasshopper and the grasshopper is consumed by
hawks:
Plants
Rabbit Mice Seed eating birds
Frog
Grasshopper
Snake
Hawk
1
2
3
4
5
6

5. Birds
(4th trophic
level
Frog(3rd
trophic level)
Insects(2nd trophic
level)
Grass(1st trophic level)
Plants Grasshopper Hawk
6. In the 6th food chain, plants are eaten by grasshopper, grasshopper is eaten by frog, frog is eaten
by snake and then snake is consumed by hawk:
Plants Grasshopper Frog Snake Hawk
TROPHIC LEVELS
The various steps in a food chain at which the transfer of food (or energy) takes place are called trophic
levels. In fact, in a food chain, each step representing an organism forms a trophic level.
(i) The plants are producers (or autotrophs) and constitute the first trophic level.
(ii) Herbivores (which feed upon plants) constitute the second trophic level.
(iii) Carnivores (that feed upon herbivores) constitute the third trophic level.
(iv) Large carnivores or Top carnivores (which feed upon small carnivores), constitute the fourth trophic
level.
What are trophic levels? Give an example of a food chain and state the different trophic levels in it.
NCERT page no-261, HSLC 2017
Ans. The various steps in a food chain at which the transfer of food (or energy) takes place are called
trophic levels. Consider a food chain operating in grassland which consists of four organisms:
Grass Insects Frog Birds
In this food chain, grass is the producer and represents
the first trophic level. Insects are the herbivores
(Which eat grass) and represent second trophic level.
Frog is the carnivore (which eats insects) and represents
third trophic level. And birds are the top carnivores
(Which eat frogs) and represent fourth trophic level.
Tertiary
consumer
Secondary
consumer
Primary consumer
Producer

6. DEPLETION OF OZONE LAYER
Ozone molecule is made up of 3 atoms of oxygen combined together
Formation of Ozone
Ozone is formed high up in the atmosphere by the action of ultraviolet radiation on oxygen gas. This
happens as follows: The high energy ultraviolet radiation (UV radiation) coming from the sun splits
oxygen gas into free oxygen atoms. The free oxygen atoms thus produced are very reactive. One
oxygen atom reacts with an oxygen molecule to form an ozone molecule (O3) :
At a height between 15 kilometres and 60 kilometres, there is a layer of ozone gas (O3) in the upper
atmosphere.
This ozone layer is very important for the existence of life on earth because it absorbs most of the
harmful ultraviolet radiations coming from the sun and prevents them from reaching the earth.
The ultraviolet radiations have extremely harmful effects on human beings, other animals as well as
plants.
For example, ultraviolet rays can cause skin cancer.
They also damage the eyes by causing an eye disease called cataract. Ultraviolet rays damage
immune system by lowering the body‟s resistance to diseases.
Thus, it is the ozone layer in the upper atmosphere which protects us from these diseases by
absorbing ultraviolet rays coming from the sun.
It has now been found that the amount of ozone is getting depleted (or reduced) due to which the
ozone layer in the upper atmosphere is becoming thinner and thinner day by day.
The depletion of ozone layer is due to the use of chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons.
Due to this, the ozone layer in the upper atmosphere has become thinner, allowing more ultraviolet
rays to pass through it to the earth.
Thus, due to the depletion of ozone layer caused by chlorofluorocarbons, more ultraviolet radiations
reach the earth.
These ultraviolet radiations would cause skin cancer and other ailments in men and animals, and
also damage the plants. All the life on the earth would be destroyed gradually.
In 1987, in an attempt to protect ozone layer, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
forged an agreement among its member countries to freeze CFC production at 1986 levels.
MANAGING THE GARBAGE WE PRODUCE
The household wastes (or rubbish) are called garbage. Every household produces a lot of garbage (or
wastes) daily. Improvements in our lifestyle have resulted in greater amounts of waste material
generation.
METHODS OF WASTE DISPOSAL
Garbage management practices include method of disposing garbage with least effect on the
environment.
There are various methods of waste disposal. Some of them are as given below-
i) Recycling: It is a processing of waste materials to form new products. Materials like tin, cans,
metallic articles, paper, glass, polyethene etc. are recyclable.
ii) Composting: Biodegradable domestic waste are buried in a pit, dug into ground.They are converted
into compost and used as manure.

7. iii) Incineration: It is burning of a substance at a high temperature to form ash. It is commonly used to
dispose hospital waste.
iv) Landfills: Solids waste is dumped into a low lying area and covered with soil. A big landfill site can
be used to dispose of waste materials for a considerable time.
v) Sewage Treatment: Sewage is carried over a Sewage Treatment Plants. Here the sewage is
filtered, organic materials in the sewage is allowed to settle down and decompose in the large tanks.
The water from these tanks is cleaned and released into water bodies.
vi) Biogas Production: In some places, sewage is decomposed anaerobically to yield biogas and
manure.
NCERT PAGE NO 264
Q. 1. What is ozone and how does it affect any ecosystem?
Ans: Ozone is a gas made up of three atoms of oxygen joined together. The molecular formula of
ozone is O3.
Ozone affects any ecosystem by the following ways-
a) It protects all forms of life on earth by absorbing harmful ultraviolet radiations coming from the sun.
b) These ultraviolet rays can cause skin cancer, cataract in the eyes and damage immune system of
human beings. They also harm animals and plants.
Q. 2. How can you help in reducing the problem of waste disposal? Give any two methods.
Ans. The two methods which can help in reducing the problem of waste disposal are:
i) Recycling,
ii) Preparation of compost.
i) Recycling: It is a processing of waste materials to form new products. Materials like tin, cans,
metallic articles, paper, glass, polyethene etc. are recyclable.
ii) Composting: Biodegradable domestic waste are buried in a pit, dug into ground. They are converted
into compost and used as manure.
NCERT Book, Pages 264 and 265
Q. 4. What will happen if we kill all the organisms in one trophic level?
Ans. If we kill all the organisms in one trophic level, then transfer of food (and energy) to the next
trophic level will stop due to which the organisms of next trophic level will starve and die or migrate to
other areas. The killing of all the organisms in one trophic level will also lead to the overpopulation of
organisms in the previous trophic level. These effects will cause an imbalance in the ecosystem.
Q. 5. 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?
Ans. (a) Yes, the impact of removing all the organisms in a trophic level will be different for different
trophic levels.The lower trophic level of an ecosystem has a greater number of individuals than higher
trophic levels. Removal of producer will affect all the organisms of successive trophic levels and the
wont survive. The removal of higher trophic level will lead to increase in organisms of lower trophic
level.
b) No, removal of all the organisms of a trophic level will disturb the ecosystem. Killing of
higher trophic level organisms will cause explosion in population of lower level organisms.This
will adversely affect the ecosystem.

8. Q. 6. What is biological magnification? Will the level of this magnification be different at different
levels of the ecosystem?
Ans: (a) 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.
(b) Yes, the level of biological magnification is different for different trophic levels of an ecosystem. The
level or concentration of the harmful chemicals increases with increasing trophic level.
Q. 7. What are the problems caused by the non-biodegradable wastes that we generate?
Ans. The non-biodegradable wastes cannot be made less toxic easily, so they cause a lot of problems
for us as well as the environment. For example :
(i) Some of the non-biodegradable wastes (such as pesticides like DDT and metals like mercury) enter
the food chain of humans. These non-biodegradable wastes get concentrated in human beings and
damage their health in the long run.
(ii) The excessive use of non-biodegradable fertilisers in agriculture makes the soil either too much
acidic or too much alkaline. When the soil becomes too acidic or too alkaline, the crop yield is reduced.
Q. 8. If all the waste we generate is biodegradable, will this have no impact on the environment?
Ans. Even if all the waste we generate is biodegradable, it will have an impact on the environment. This
is because too much biodegradable waste cannot be broken down into harmless simpler substances by
the decomposers like micro-organisms at the right time. Due to this, the biodegradable wastes will go
on accumulating in the environment and act as pollutants resulting in harmful effects on the
environment. For example, the rotting biodegradable wastes act as breeding grounds for flies and
cockroaches, etc., which spread diseases? Moreover, the rotting biodegradable wastes emit foul smell
in the environment which makes the life of people miserable.
Q. 9. Why is the damage to the ozone layer a cause for concern? What steps are being taken to
limit this damage?
Ans. The damage to the ozone layer is a cause for concern because damage to ozone layer will make
it thinner which will allow much more harmful ultraviolet radiations (coming from the sun) to reach the
earth. These ultraviolet radiations can then cause skin cancer in humans. They can also damage the
eyes by causing an eye disease called cataract. Ultraviolet rays damage immune system by lowering
the body‟s resistance to diseases. They also damage crop plants. In fact, if too much damage occurs to
the ozone layer and it disappears completely, then all the life on the earth would be destroyed
gradually.
So, in 1987, in an attempt to protect ozone layer, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
forged an agreement among its member countries to freeze CFC production at 1986 levels. The
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are now being replaced by hydroflurorocarbons (HFCs) which do not
damage the ozone layer.
What is ozone layer? How it is getting depleted? HSLC2015, 2018
Ans: At a height between 15 kilometres and 60 kilometres, there is a layer of ozone gas (O3) in the
upper atmosphere. This is called ozone layer.
CAUSE OF OZONE DEPLETION
The depletion of ozone layer is due to the use of chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
in refrigeration, fire extinguishers and aerosol sprayers.

9. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) are the chemicals which are widely used in refrigeration (refrigerators
and air conditioners) as a coolant; in fire extinguishers and in aerosol sprayers. Chlorofluorocarbons
released into the air react with ozone gas present in the ozone layer and destroy it gradually. Due to
this, the ozone layer in the upper atmosphere has become thinner, allowing more ultraviolet rays to
pass through it to the earth.
Q. Write how flow of energy occurs in an ecosystem? HSLC 2016
Draw a diagram showing the flow of energy in an ecosystem? HSLC 2018
Ans: Energy is accumulated by the primary producers and is transferred through food chain to different
trophic level.This phenomenon is called energy flow. It is unidirectional.The flow of energy from
producer to different trophic level occurs as follows-
i) The green plants capture about 1% solar energy and convert into food energy. The plants utilise the
energy stored in them for their metabolic activities like respiration and growth (tissue building). Some of
the energy is, however, not utilized and it is released as unusable heat into the community environment
ii) The plants (or producers) are eaten up by herbivores. The chemical energy stored in plant food is
transferred with food to herbivores. The herbivores utilize this energy for their various metabolic
activities like respiration and also for their growth. Some of the energy, however, remains unutilized
which is released by the herbivores as heat energy to the environment.
iii) The herbivores are eaten up or consumed by carnivores. The chemical energy stored in the flesh of
herbivores is transferred with food (or flesh) to the carnivores. The carnivores utilize this energy for their
various metabolic activities like respiration and also for their growth. Some of the energy, however,
remains unutilized by the carnivores and it is released as heat energy into the environment. This
process of the transfer of energy is repeated with large carnivores or top carnivores (who eat small
carnivores), and so on.