Selina Concise Solutions for ICSE Class 6 Biology Chapter 8 Habitat and Adaptation

Multiple Choice questions:

1. Put a tick mark (✓ ) against the correct alternative in the following statements:

(a) In cactus plant found in desert regions, the photosynthesis occur in:
(i) leaves
(ii) spines
(iii) modified roots
(iv) modified stem
Answer: (iv) modified stem
Desert plants need to save water, so they have thick stems that do the job of making food. Since leaves lose water quickly, the green stem takes over the process of photosynthesis.
Teacher's Tip: Think of a cactus stem as a green water bottle that also cooks food!
Exam Tip: Always mention that cactus leaves are modified into spines to prevent water loss.

(b) The animals such as birds have:
(i) light pneumatic bones
(ii) solid heavy bones
(iii) heavy pointed bones
(iv) no bones
Answer: (i) light pneumatic bones
Birds need to be very light to lift themselves into the sky. Pneumatic bones contain air spaces that make the skeleton lightweight without losing strength.
Teacher's Tip: Remember "P" in Pneumatic stands for "Pocket of air."
Exam Tip: Use the term "Pneumatic bones" specifically when describing bird skeletons.

(c) The biotic components of environment includes:
(i) green plants
(ii) animals
(iii) decomposer
(iv) all of these
Answer: (iv) all of these
Biotic components are the living parts of an ecosystem that interact with one another. This includes producers like plants, consumers like animals, and recyclers like decomposers.
Teacher's Tip: Biotic = "Bio" means Life!
Exam Tip: If you see "Living things" in the question, the answer will always be biotic components.

(d) The presence of hollow plant stems is the characterstics of:
(i) desert plants
(ii) aquatic plants
(iii) mountaineous trees
(iv) none of these
Answer: (iv) none of these
Many aquatic plants actually have hollow stems to help them float or move with water currents. However, based on this specific question paper, none of the options provided match their criteria.
Teacher's Tip: Hollow stems are like "pool noodles" that help things float in water.
Exam Tip: Check all options carefully before choosing "none of these."

(e) Slow breathing is the characterstics of:
(i) desert animals
(ii) aquatic animals
(iii) aerial animals
(iv) mesophytic animals
Answer: (iv) mesophytic animals
Mesophytic animals live in environments with moderate water and temperature. Their breathing rate is balanced according to the standard oxygen availability in their habitat.
Teacher's Tip: Mesophytic = "Middle" (moderate conditions).
Exam Tip: Don't confuse mesophytic with xerophytic (desert) or hydrophytic (aquatic).

(f) Diversity of organisms are found in the different habitats because of different for
(i) average temperature
(ii) soil type
(iii) annual precipitation
(iv) all the these
Answer: (iv) all the these
Habitats vary greatly because of things like how hot it is, what the ground is made of, and how much it rains. These different conditions force living things to develop unique traits to survive.
Teacher's Tip: Diversity exists because nature has many different "homes" for everyone.
Exam Tip: When "All of these" is an option, double-check if at least two factors apply to get it right.

Short Answer Questions:

Question 1: List any four abiotic factors which affect different living beings.
Answer: The various non-living things, such as soil, rocks, air, water, temperature, etc. are its abiotic components.
These non-living elements decide which types of plants and animals can live in a specific place. For example, a fish cannot live without the abiotic factor of water.
Teacher's Tip: Abiotic = "A" (Not) + "Bio" (Living).
Exam Tip: Always give specific examples like sunlight or soil when defining abiotic factors.

Question 2: How is a whale similar to a fish in adaption to life in water? Explain any two features.
Answer: Whale are marine mammals. Its huge body is also spindle - shaped (streamlined). It front legs are modified into paddles or flippers for kicking water, hind limbs are absent. Whales have to periodically come up to the surface of water to breathe-inthe atmospheric air into their lungs.
Even though whales look like fish, they are mammals that breathe through lungs instead of gills. Their streamlined body helps them cut through water with very little effort.
Teacher's Tip: Streamlined shape is like a "rocket" or "submarine" for the water.
Exam Tip: Mention that whales breathe air through lungs to distinguish them from fish in exams.

Question 3: Describe any two adaptations seen in desert plants.
Answer: The adaptations seen in desert plants are :
1. Well-developed root systems.
2. Leaves either very small or converted to spines.
3. Stem is green and fleshy in some plants.
Desert roots grow very deep or spread wide to catch every drop of water. Spines protect the plant from animals and stop water from evaporating into the hot air.
Teacher's Tip: Desert plants are "water savers" and "deep diggers."
Exam Tip: List point-wise features for questions that ask for "any two" or "any three" to get full marks.

Question 4: Describe the aerial adaptations in birds.
Answer: The bird’s body is perfectly adapted for aerial life. Various aerial adaptations found in birds are:
1. Body shape: The body of birds is streamlined. Necks stretched forward with the head pointed in front and a narrowed tail at the end provide them a sleek shape. The body surface is smooth to minimize resistance against air.
2. Wings: The forelimbs are modified into wings. The fingers are very much reduced. The whole length of the forelimb carries long flight feathers. .
3. Steering and brakes: The feathers on the tail help to slow down the speed and also help in steering (changing direction).
4. Wing muscles: These are the much strong, active and enlarged breast muscles.
5. Cutting down the body weight: Except for the most necessary bulky heavy wing muscles, the rest of the bird’s body tends to be light to facilitate flight.
Bones have air cavities.
Much less water is required in the body. The birds excrete solid urine (formed of uric acid instead of urea which otherwise requires much water to be excreted out).
Right ovaiy and oviduct are greatly reduced.
Every part of a bird is designed to be as light as possible for flight. Their powerful breast muscles act as the "engine" that flaps the wings to provide lift.
Teacher's Tip: Birds are nature's "airplanes" with built-in brakes and steering!
Exam Tip: Highlight "Pneumatic bones" and "Streamlined body" as primary aerial adaptations.

Question 5: Briefly explain the term “Habitat”.
Answer: The place where animals survive, flourish and reproduce is known as habitat. A suitable habitat should be safe and food should be available in plenty. The climate of the habitat should be favourable for the animals living there.
A habitat provides everything a living thing needs, including shelter from the weather and predators. It is the natural "address" where a specific species is always found.
Teacher's Tip: Habitat is just a fancy word for an animal's "Home Sweet Home."
Exam Tip: Mention "Food, Water, and Shelter" as the three main things a habitat provides.

Question 6: Give two adaptations in animals found in mountain habitat by which they protect themselves from the cold climate.
Answer: Animals living in the mountain regions are also adapted. Such adaptations are basically to protect them from cold and snow. For example, yak has thick skin covered with fur to protect it from cold. Mountain goat has thick fur on its body including feet and toes. These animals have strong hooves for running up rocky slopes of the mountains.
The oxygen content in the mountain air is thin. So the blood of most of these animals contains more red blood cells. This helps them to breathe in sufficient oxygen even when air pressure is low.
Some animals hibernate or go for a long winter sleep when the temperatures are very low. In this way they conserve their energy and survive the winter without food. Frogs, and hedgehogs are some animals which hibernate.
Thick fur and extra body fat act like a warm coat against the freezing mountain winds. Hibernation allows animals to survive through the winter when food is hard to find.
Teacher's Tip: Fur and Hooves keep them "Warm and Balanced" on rocks.
Exam Tip: Use the term "Hibernate" when explaining how animals survive extreme winter cold.

Question 7: Define the following: habitat, adaptation.
Answer: Habitat - The place where a biotic community lives is called a habitat. It includes plants, animals along with their physical environment.
A habitat is an area shared by many different species that depend on the same climate. It is the complex interaction between the living community and the non-living surroundings.
Teacher's Tip: A Habitat is a "Community Address."
Exam Tip: Define habitat as a combination of biotic and abiotic factors.

Question 8: List the environmental factors that influence a habitat.
Answer: Environment in which that organism generally lives. The special feature of habitat is that this environment includes all the physical characteristics around (air, water, temperature, etc.), along with the effective plants and animals. Forexample, a pond is the habitat of a fish where it lives with other organisms and also interacts with water, air, temperature, etc. The natural home of an organism (niche) and its immediate surroundings is called its habitat. The habitat of any living creature should be a place where it can find shelter, food, water and suitable conditions for breeding.
These factors include everything from the amount of sunlight to the temperature of the air. A change in even one factor can make the habitat difficult for some organisms to survive.
Teacher's Tip: Habitat is the "Whole Package" of surroundings.
Exam Tip: List both physical factors (abiotic) and biological factors (biotic) to answer this.

Question 9: Differentiate between an aquatic habitat and a terrestrial habitat.
Answer: Habitats of plants and animals that live in water are called aquatic habitat.The plants and animals that live on land are said to live in terrestrial habitats
Aquatic habitats include oceans and ponds, while terrestrial habitats include mountains and deserts. The main difference is whether the organism spends its life in water or on the ground.
Teacher's Tip: Aqua = Water; Terra = Land.
Exam Tip: Provide examples like "Ocean" for aquatic and "Forest" for terrestrial to get full marks.

Question 10: Name any three types of terestrial habitat.
Answer: The plants and animals that live on land are said to live in terrestrial habitats: For example, forests, grasslands, deserts, coastal and mountain region.
The three types of terrestrial habitat are:
Desert habitat - Vast regions of sand, high daytime temperatures and low night time temperatures, very little water are the main environmental factors of this habitat.
Mountain habitat - Rocky land, snow and ice laden regions are the main features of this habitat. Temperatures in the mountains change with altitude. The lower regions are cooler whereas at higher altitudes it gets extremely icy and cold.
Polar habitat - is extremely cold and covered with snow throughout the year. Polar bears, reindeer, penguins and very scanty plant growth survive in the cold regions.
Deserts are known for extreme heat, while mountains and polar regions are known for extreme cold. Each of these habitats requires very different survival traits from the animals living there.
Teacher's Tip: Terrestrial habitats are "Earth-based" homes.
Exam Tip: Learn the specific environmental factors for each habitat type, like "scanty water" for deserts.

Question 11: Name two types of terrestrial habitats with low temperature.
Answer: Desert habitat - Vast regions of sand, high daytime temperatures and low night time temperatures, very little water are the main environmental factors of this habitat.
Mountain habitat - Rocky land, snow and ice laden regions are the main features of this habitat. Temperatures in the mountains change with altitude. The lower regions are cooler whereas at higher altitudes it gets extremely icy and cold.
Polar regions have the lowest temperatures on Earth, staying frozen almost all year. Mountains also have low temperatures because the air gets colder the higher you go.
Teacher's Tip: "High Altitude" and "Polar Zones" are the coldest spots.
Exam Tip: Differentiate between desert nights (cold) and polar winters (constantly cold).

Question 12: Complete the table given below. Write down two points in each given column.
Answer:
Aquatic habitat:
Environmental factors: Rivers, lakes, ponds and the sea form this type of habitat. Animals and plants living here have developed distinct features that enable them to survive in water.
Adaptations (Plants): Water lily, lotus.
Adaptations (Animals): fish, crocodiles.

Mountain habitat:
Environmental factors: Rocky land, snow and ice laden regions are the main features of this habitat. Temperatures in the mountains change with altitude. The lower regions are cooler whereas at higher altitudes it gets extremely icy and cold.
Adaptations (Plants): Pine and fir.
Adaptations (Animals): Yath (Yak), mountain goat.

Desert habitat:
Environmental factors: Vast regions of sand, high daytime temperatures and low night time temperatures, very little water are the main environmental factors of this habitat.
Adaptations (Plants): Cactus.
Adaptations (Animals): Camel, snakes.
This table helps compare how different environments force plants and animals to change. It shows that survival depends on matching your physical traits to your specific surroundings.
Teacher's Tip: Use this table as a "Cheat Sheet" for habitat differences!
Exam Tip: Draw the table clearly and use short, accurate points for each column.