DELHI PUBLIC SCHOOL- BOPAL, AHMEDABAD

PRACTICE QUESTIONS ASSIGNMENT

Q1.Explain the importance of producers in ecosystem. What will happen if the number of
producers decreases in an ecosystem.
Ans: Producers are the green plants .They are the only autotrophic organisms who can convert
the light energy to chemical energy which is consumed by all organisms in an ecosystem. Hence
they are very important. If the number of producers decreases then the entire ecosystem will be
affected as there will be less food and energy available for higher trophic levels.

Q2. Suggest one way in which the life on earth is protected by harmful radiations from
sun.
What efforts are being made to preserve such blanket.
Ans: Life on earth is protected by the blanket of the Ozone gas. The efforts being made to
preserve it are : the use of ozone depleting substances ,cfcs and hcfc in various appliances like
refrigrators anf Acs is being reduced.

Q3. Define a food web? Design one such food web and also explain why it is required.

Ans: 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. It is required to ensure that there is equal
distribution of availability of food without harming one set of organisms , hence the entire food
chain will not collapse even if one set of organisms will extinct.

Q4. What is biomagnification? Explain with a help of an example.

Ans: The increase in concentration of harmful chemicals in the bodies of organisms at higher
trophic levels is called biological magnification/ biomagnification . Give example of : Harmful
chemicals like insecticides and pesticides which are used to protect crops from insects and pests
are absorbed by plants and enter the food chain. Since these chemicals are non biodegradable,
they get accumulated at every trophic level and their concentration increases. Since human
beings occupy the highest trophic level, the concentration of these harmful chemicals is
maximum in our bodies.

Q5. Explain how does the transfer of energy occurs in in trophic level.

Ans:Green plants (producers) absorb about 1% of solar energy falling on the leaves and stores it
as food energy during photosynthesis. During the transfer of food energy from one trophic level
to the next, 90% of the energy is lost to the environment and only 10% is transferred to the next
trophic level. So there is a decrease in the amount of food energy transferred at every trophic
level by 10%. This is known as the 10% law.

Q6.“The flow of energy is unidirectional in trophic level” Explain.

Ans: In an ecosystem energy flows from one trophic level to the next.It can only start from the
producers and can be transferred to the consumers. It cannot be transferred in the other way
round and hence it is said that flow of energy is unidirectional in trophic level.
Q7. What are the steps in a food chain called? Explain each step.Why are there limited
number of steps in a food chain?

Ans: Each step in a food chain where transfer of food energy takes place is called trophic level.

The first trophic level consists of producers.

The second trophic level consists of primary consumers.

The third trophic level consists of secondary consumers.

The fourth trophic level consists of tertiary consumers.

Since the transfer of food energy decreases at every trophic level, the number of trophic
levels are limited and do not exceed four or five.

Q8.Distinguish between biodegradable and non biodegradable waste.

Ans: The waste materials produced are of two main types. They are biodegradable wastes and
non biodegradable wastes.

i) Biodegradable wastes :- are wastes which are decomposed into harmless substances by
microorganisms. Eg :- 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.

Eg :- polythene bags, plastics, synthetic fibres, glass, metals, synthetic rubber, insecticides,
pesticides etc.

Q9. Name two decomposers operating in our environment.

Ans: Bacteria and Fungi.

Q10. What happens when :

(a) High energy ultraviolet rays act on oxygen at higher altitude of atmosphere?

Ans: It results into the formation ozone gas.

UV radiation

O2 O + O

O2 + O O3
 (b) When cfcs reach the higher altitude of atmosphere?
Ans: The breakdown of ozone gas to oxygen occurs when cfcs reach the higher altitude
of atmosphere.

Q11. Why should biodegradable and non biodegradable waste be segrated in separate
dustbins?

Ans: biodegradable and non biodegradable waste should be segrated in separate dustbins
because the biodegradable waste gets decomposed by the decomposers and convert to simple
forms where if non biodegradable waste products may have substances which harm these
decomposers.

Q12. Mention two negative effects of our affluent life style on environment.

Ans: 1. Increase the ozone depleting substances.

Q13. What will be the amount of energy available to the third trophic level and first
trophic level if the second trophic level organism has 10 joules? Why?

Ans: Energy available to the second trophic level is = 10 joules

Hence 10% of this is = 1 So the third tropic level will have 1 joule due to the 10% law which
states that only 10% energy is available as we move higher in a trophic level in a food chain , so
energy decreases.

Now in the first trophic level will have 100 joule again due to the 10% law.

Q15. State one harmful effect each of discarding biodegradable and non biodegradable
waste in the environment and us .

Ans: Non- biodegradable waste lead to pollution of air, water and soiland may create diseases
.Biodegradable waste effect by occupying the land till they get decomposed, they will lead to
foul smell when the decomposition occurs, they will take a longer time to decompose if
generated in large quantities, they will lead to diseases and sanitation problems.

Q16. What is an ecosystem. List/ make flowchart of its components with some examples.

Ans: Ecosystem :- An ecosystem consists of all the living organisms in an area along 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.
b) Components of an ecosystem :- 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, carnivores which get
their food indirectly from plants and omnivores which get their food directly or indirectly from
plants.

Decomposers :- are microorganisms which 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.

Q17. We donot clean lakes or ponds but we have to regularly clean the aquarium. Why?

Ans: Ponds and lakes have presence of natural ecosystem which has the presence of
decomposers in it who decompose all the biodegradable waste generated. Aquariums are
artificial ecosystems hence lack the presence of these decomposers so the biodegradable waste is
not removed naturally.So we need to clean the aquariums.

Q18. Explain how the pesticides enter the food chain.

Ans: Harmful chemicals like insecticides and pesticides which are used to protect crops from
insects and pests are either absorbed by plants or they drain in the soil and reach the sources of
potable water. Hence they enter the food chain when these plants or aquatic animals are eaten.