ICSE Class 6 Biology Chapter 1 The Living and The Non-Living

Unit: Life On Earth

The Living And The Non-Living

Syllabus

Characteristics of living things: Need nutrition, respire to convert food into energy, made up of cells, respond to stimuli, undergo definite changes during their life, live for a definite period of time, reproduce more of their kind.

Differences between living and non-living things. Differences between plants and animals.

Introduction

How wonderful is our world. The wide range of things found around us are amazing. The habitats in which we find living organisms, be it high mountains, dense forests, lakes or deserts, seem to be amazing. Do you know that water, air and soil together sustain life on the earth? In addition, we see a vast variety of things around us everyday.

At home, there are tables, chairs, books, utensils, clothes, mugs and so on.

Some of you may have pets such as a dog or a cat. And, of course, there may be some unwanted forms like flies, mosquitoes, cockroaches and perhaps a lizard, too in your home.

In our houses, we also have radios, T.V. sets, computers, telephones, etc.

Outside, there are trees, crows, kites, etc. You may also see lamp posts, cars, bicycles, and so on.

Away from your town, there may be hills and mountains. These in turn may have forests and rivers and lakes with fishes frogs, water plants, etc. Further away, there may be seas and oceans with whales and sharks, etc.

Like these, there are millions of different kinds of objects around us - some with life (living things) and some without life (non-living things).

Teacher's Note

Every morning, observe the world around your home - count how many living things (birds, insects, plants) and non-living things (stones, water, air) you can identify before breakfast.

Science - A Systematic Study Of Different Things

Humans have always been curious to know about things and their characteristics. But, how to study them has been a difficult question as they are very different from each other. Scientists have made this difficult task easy for us. They have grouped the study of different kinds of things under the broad discipline - Science.

Science is the study of nature. It includes the study of earth, space, living and non-living things i.e. all material things and their behaviour. To know the characteristics of these things systematically we study them under three branches of Science i.e., Biology, Physics and Chemistry.

Biology deals with the study of living-beings.

Physics explains solar system, the physical phenomena like gravitation, magnetism, electricity, etc.

Chemistry describes the composition and properties of the matter related to the substance that forms all the things whether living or non-living. Physics and chemistry will be taught to you separately in this class.

Biology

Biology (bios: life, logos: study) deals with the study of living beings, and that is why it is also called the 'Life Science'.

In biology you will study about living things i.e. the animals, the humans and the plants.

Branches Of Biology

For convenience biology is further divided into two branches:

1. Zoology - the study of animals including humans and their relationship with other organisms.

2. Botany - the study of plants and their relationship with other organisms.

Importance Of Biology

The knowledge of biology helps to:

Know about the living things - the structure and functioning of body parts of plants, animals, and humans.

Understand diseases - their causes and control. This helps us to take proper care of our health and long life.

Learn the importance of plants and animals and to conserve them as they are mutually dependent.

Grow better food crops by using better variety of seeds, fertilizers and to protect them from diseases.

Control the growing population of the world, especially in India, which would otherwise lead to the shortage of food, land and forest.

Control the pollution of water, air and soil. Pollution is the cause of many dreadful diseases among plants, animals and humans.

Choose a career, such as to be a doctor, a pathologist, a veterinary doctor, etc.

Teacher's Note

Biology helps us understand why we need to eat vegetables, why doctors check our health, and why we must protect animals and forests around us.

Living And Non-Living Things

The world in which we live is made of two categories of things - living and non-living. Let us know, how they differ from each other. It is necessary to know the characteristics of living things.

Activity 1

Examples of Living and Non-living.

In the table below, an example of a living and a non-living thing is given. From your common sense, complete the rest with the examples, which you have actually seen.

Characteristics Of Living Things

1. Body made of cells

2. Movement

3. Growth

4. Fixed life-span

5. Nutrition

6. Respiration

7. Excretion

8. Responsiveness

9. Reproduction

1. Body Made Of Cells

A cell is the basic unit of life. All living things are made up of cells.

The body of all plants and animals is made of cells. Your own body consists of billions and billions of cells. Each cell is like a compartment which contains a distinct round part called nucleus. The body of an elephant has several times more cells than a human who in turn has several times more cells than an ant or a lizard or a rose plant. These are called multicellular organisms. On the contrary, there are some organisms, such as Amoeba, Paramecium and Yeast which are made of just one single cell and are called unicellular organisms.

Living organism may either be many-celled (multicellular), or single-celled (unicellular).

Teacher's Note

Your body is made of trillions of tiny cells that work together - just like how a school is made of many classrooms that work as one team.

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