Habitat and Adaptation
ICSE Class 6 · Biology · Chapter 8
What this chapter covers
- Habitat and adaptation: what the words mean
- Life in water: aquatic plants and fish
- Life in the desert: cactus and camel
- Life on mountains: pine, fir and the mountain goat
- Life in the air: birds and aerial plants
- Plants and animals of different habitats
Key definitions
Floating plants are aquatic plants that float freely on the surface of the water without being fixed to the soil at the bottom.
Fixed plants are aquatic plants whose roots are fixed in the mud at the bottom of the pond while their leaves and flowers float on the surface.
Submerged plants are aquatic plants that grow completely under the surface of the water.
Flight is the movement of an animal through the air using its wings.
Aerial plants are plants that grow on the branches or trunks of other trees, high above the ground, with their roots hanging in the air.
Key points
- A habitat is the natural home of a plant or an animal.
- An adaptation is a special feature that helps a living thing to survive and reproduce in its habitat.
- Aquatic plants are floating (water hyacinth), fixed (lotus, water lily) or submerged (hydrilla).
- Floating and fixed plants have air spaces; fixed plants have broad, waxy leaves; submerged plants have thin, soft leaves and stems.
- A fish has a streamlined body, scales, fins, gills and often an air bladder.
- A cactus has spines, a green fleshy stem that stores water, a waxy coat and spreading roots; babul has deep roots and tiny leaves.
- A camel has long legs, padded feet, a fat-storing hump, long eyelashes and closable nostrils, and it saves water.
- Pine and fir trees are cone-shaped with needle-like leaves; a mountain goat has a thick coat and gripping hooves.
- A bird has wings, feathers, a streamlined body, hollow bones and strong flight muscles.
- Aerial plants such as orchids grow on trees and take in moisture from the air through hanging roots.
Questions answered
What is a habitat?
A habitat is the natural home of a plant or an animal, where it finds food, water, shelter and a place to raise its young.
What is an adaptation?
An adaptation is a special feature of a plant or an animal that helps it to survive and reproduce in its habitat.
Name one floating, one fixed and one submerged aquatic plant.
Floating: water hyacinth. Fixed: lotus or water lily. Submerged: hydrilla.
Why are the leaf stalks of the water hyacinth swollen and spongy?
They are full of air spaces, which help the plant to float on the surface of the water.
Give two adaptations that help a fish to live in water.
Any two: a streamlined body, gills for breathing, fins for swimming and steering, scales with a slimy coat, an air bladder.
Why are the leaves of a cactus changed into spines?
Spines lose much less water than broad leaves, and they protect the plant from animals.
Why does a camel not sink in the sand?
Its feet are broad with thick, soft pads that spread out on the sand.
How does the shape of a pine tree help it in a snowy place?
The cone shape and downward-sloping branches let snow slide off, so the branches do not break.