OUR

1. Effect of adding waste to the

environment :-
Human activities produce a lot of waste
materials which are thrown away into the
environment. These wastes cause pollution of
air, water and soil.

The waste materials produced are of two main

types. They are biodegradable wastes and non
biodegradable wastes.

1
1. Effect of adding waste to
the environment
1) Biodegradable
wastes :- are wastes which are
decomposed into harmless
substances by microorganisms.
Ex :- vegetables, fruits, pulses,
cereals, cotton, jute, wool,
wood, leather, paper,
animal dung, animal bones etc.
ii) Non biodegradable wastes :- are
wastes which are not decomposed by
microorganisms.
Ex metals, synthetic
:- polythene bags,rubber, insecticides,
plastics, pesticides
synthetic fibers, etc.
glass,

EXAMPLE OF
BIODEGRADEABLE EXAMPLE OF
WASTE NONBIODEGRADEABLE
WASTE
 2. Ecosystem and its
components :-
a) An ecosystem consists of all
Ecosyst the living organisms in an
area along
em :- with the non living components and their
interaction.
There are different types of ecosystems. They
are :-
i)Natural ecosystems :- like forests, deserts,
grass lands,
mountains, ponds, lakes, rivers, oceans etc.
ii)Artificial ecosystems :- like gardens, parks,
crop fields, aquarium, zoo etc.
 2. Ecosystem and its
Components of:-an ecosystem :-
b) components
An ecosystem consists of two main components. They
are biotic and abiotic components.
i) Biotic components :- are the living components
like plants, animals and microorganisms. They
consist of producers, consumers and decomposers.
Producers :- are green plants which produce food
by
photosynthesis.
Consumers :- are herbivores which get their
food directly from plants,
ii)carnivores which get their food indirectly from plants
Decomposers – These decompose dead plants and
animals. They decompose complex organic substances
into simple inorganic substances in the soil which are
again used by plants.

ii)Abiotic components :- are the non living

components like air, water, soil, minerals, sunlight
, temperature, wind etc.
A FOOD CHAIN
 Food chain
A food chain is the flow of food energy from one organism
to the next and to the next and so on. They usually start
with a producer (plants) and end with a carnivore.
In a food chain an organism gets food from one group of
organisms.
 Food chain :-

eaten by eaten by
Eg:- Grass Deer Lion
(producer) (primary consumer) (secondary consumer)
eaten by eaten eaten by
by
Grass Insects Frog Snake
(producer) (primary consumer) (secondary consumer) (tertiary consumer)
eaten by eaten by eaten by eaten by
Grass Moth Frog Snake Hawk
(producer) (primary (secondary consumer) (tertiary consumer) (quarternary
consumer) consumer)
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 Food web :-
Food web is a group of several interconnected food chains. In a food web
an organism gets food from more than one group of organisms.

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 Food web :-

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 4) Tropic levels :-
Each step in a food chain where transfer of food energy takes
place is called tropic level.
The first tropic level consists of
producers.
The second tropic level consists
of primary consumers. The
third tropic level consists of
secondary consumers. The
fourth tropic level consists of
tertiary consumers.
 4) Tropic levels :-
Since the transfer of food
energy decreases at every tropic
level, the number of tropic levels
are limited and do not exceed
four or five.
 Energy flow in
tropic levels :-
Green plants (producers) absorb about 1% of solar energy falling on the leaves and stores it as foo
during photosynthesis.
During the transfer of food energy from one tropic level to the next, 90% of the energy is lost to
environment and only 10% is transferred to the next tropic level. So there is a decrease in the
amou energy transferred at every tropic level by 10%. This is known as the 10% law.
 Biological magnification
chemicals like insecticides and pesticides which are used to
protect crops from insects are absorbed by plants and enter
the food chain. Since these chemicals are non biodegradable
, they get accumulated at every tropic level and their
concentration increases. Since human beings occupy the
highest tropic level, the concentration of these harmful
chemicals is maximum in our bodies.
Increase in concentration of harmful chemicals in the
bodies of organisms at higher tropic is called biological
magnification.
 Human activities affect the
environment
a) Depletion :- in the atmosphere :-
of ozone layer
Ozone molecule contains three oxygen atoms (O3).
At higher levels in the atmosphere the UV radiation splits some
O2 UV radiation O +
O2 + O O
O3

oxygen molecules (O2) into free oxygen atoms which combines

with oxygen molecules (O2) to form ozone. It is highly poisonous.

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 Human activities affect the
environment :-
The ozone layer present in the higher layer of the
atmosphere protects the earth from the harmful UV
radiation from the sun. UV radiation causes skin cancer in
humans.
The ozone layer is being damaged by the use of chemicals
like chloro fluoro carbons (CFCs) used in refrigerators and
fire extinguishers. So the use of CFCs is now being reduced to
protect the ozone layer.

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