In a place, there are usually lots of different kinds of plants growing together.

This
collection of plants is known as plant community.

(Plants live in places where the climate is rightly suitable for them. They need right kind
of soil too. Different plants need different climatic conditions. Some plants grow in hot
deserts and some in very cold places. Some plants grow in water, some underwater, some
on hills and some even grow on other trees. The living or dwelling place of a plant or an
animal is known as its habitat.

Sometimes, the plants have to adjust to the surrounding environment by changing some
of their parts. These modifications in the structure and function of an organism to adjust
to various habitats are known as Let us study different habitats of plants.

AQUATIC PLANTS:

Plants that grow in water are called aquatic plants or hydrophytes. Some plants may grow
in rivers, lakes or ponds. They are fresh water plants. Some may grow only in sea (salt
water). They are known as marine plants.

SUBMERGED HYDROPHYTES:

Plants which grow completely underwater are called submerged plants, e.g., sea lettuce,
eel grass and corollina. These plants can only live in salty water of the ocean. These
plants live together in strange underwater forests. These plants also need sunlight. The
sunlight can filter through water and reaches these plants.

PARTIALLY SUBMERGED PLANTS.

Plants like water lily and lotus are fixed at the bottom by their roots but their leaves and
flowers etc. float on the surface of the water. They have soft and spongy stem. Their
leaves are usually broad and flat. Stomata are present on the upper surface of the leaf for
the exchange of gases, (unlike in land plants). Leaves also have waxy coating on their
lower surface.

FREE FLOATING PLANTS:

These plants float on the surface of the water. They are light in weight. They bear roots
which hang in water and help in balancing the plant in water. The leaves of water
hyacinth have bulbous base filled with air which helps the plant to float. In Duckweed,
the leaves lie flat on water which also help it to float.

TERRESTRIAL OR LAND PLANTS:

These plants require moderate amount of water and are also known as
mesophytes. The soil in which they are grown also have moderate moisture. We see these
plants in our surroundings, e.g., mango tree, Neem tree, Peepal tree, rose plant etc.

Some terrestrial plants grow. in very cold places as in hilly areas. Some of them
even form forests which are known as (Coniferous forests.

XEROPHYTIC PLANTS:

Plants which grow in dry sandy land are known as Desert Plants or xerophytic plants.
Here rainfall is poor. It is only in some parts of the desert where very less water is
available in the soil. Plants growing in these places have well developed roots which
spread in the ground search of water. The leaves are modified into spines to reduce the
loss of water through transpiration. The stem usually stores water and does the function
photosynthesis, e.g., opuntia (cactus) and acacia.
EPIPHYTIC PLANTS:

Some plants like orchids grow on other plants. They grow in places where the climate is
warm and humid. These orchids have special hanging roots which absorb water from the
hurmid atmosphere.

PARASITIC PLANTS:

Some plants grow on other plants and suck food and water from that plant. These plants
are known as PARASITIC plants. The plants on which these parasites depend are known
as host plants. A dodder plant (cuscuta) is one such parasitic plant.

INSECTIVOROUS PLANTS

Plants make their own food. But some plants can trap the insects. Why do they catch
insects? All plants need a salt called Nitrate

SAPROPHYTES:

Saprophytes like fungi do not have chlorophyll. So they get their food from the dead and
decaying organic matter, e.g., mushrooms.

CLASSIFICATION OF ANIMALS:

To make it easy to study the animals, scientists have arranged them in groups. The
animals in each group are alike in one or more important ways. This type of grouping is
known as classification. Animals are broadly classified as INVERTEBRATES and
VERTEBRATES
INVERTEBRATES Animals without backbones are known as invertebrates like
earthworm, tapeworm, ant, snail, etc.

VERTEBRATES Animals with backbone are known as vertebrates like cat, dog, bird,
snake, fish, human beings etc.

INSECTS. These are small creatures with six legs each (three pairs) and two pairs of
wings. All insects have two feelers called antennae on their heads. Some are useful to
mankind, like BUTTERFLY, which helps in pollination; silk moth helps in making
SILK HONEYBEES help in making HONEY etc. Insects take in all through small
openings present on the sides of their body during breathing. These openings are known
as SPIRACLES

Worms: There are different types of worms. Some are useful to us like earthworms.
Some are harmful and cause diseases like roundworm, tapeworm .

Fish: You might have seen fish in an aquarium. Did you notice the shape of its body? It
is wide in the middle and narrow at the ends. Its body is known as streamlined body
which helps it to swim easily in water. It has fins to swim and to change the direction.

AMPHIBIANS: An amphibian is an animal that lives in water when it is young and on

land when it grows up and adult.

Amphibians lay eggs which have no shell. After the fertilised eggs are hatched, baby
amphibians are born .These look like small fish and breathe through gills.

REPTILES: Reptiles are crawling creatures. There are two types of reptileslimbed
reptiles like lizards and limbless reptiles like snakes. Snakes have scales or plates on the
lower surface of the body which are attached to their muscles and ribs. So snakes move
with the help of these plates.
BRIDS: There are more than 10,000 different types of birds living all over the world.
You might have seen many kinds of birds. They are beautiful creatures to watch. They
are of different types and have different feeding habits. So their beaks and claws are
made to match their feeding habits. They have a pair of wings to fly, a pair of legs to
walk on the land. Their body is covered with feathers. They have a tail which is also
covered with feathers and it is used to change the direction while flying. They breathe
through lungs.

MAMMALS: Dogs, cats, cattle and we all bong to the group of mammals. Perhaps you
might have seen puppies or kitten feeding from its mother’s body. All mammal babies
drink milk from their mother's body as their first food. The body temperature of the
mammals is always constant either gay may be freezing, cold or very hot.

TYPES OF HABITAT:

There are following types of habitats which are the most common. Aquatic life. Animals
that live in water are known as aquatic animals and their habitat is known as aquatic
habitat. They may live in fresh water or salt water Salt water animals are known as
marine animals.
Aquatic animals

Fresh water animal Marie animals

Rivers sea

Ponds ocean

Lakes

Streams
Sea water (marine) animals. Fish, Sea snakes, Shards, Whales, Starfish, Octopus, etc.
are sea water animals.
Fresh water animals. Fish, Frog, Snail, Crabs, Turtle, Water birds, Ducks are fresh
water animals.

AMPHIBIOUS LIFE . Turtles, crocodiles etc. can live both on land and in water. They
have lungs for breathing. When they are in water, they bring their mouth out of water to
take in fresh air. Frog (an amphibian) leads two kinds of life. The baby frog (tadpole)
breathes through gills. An adult frog breathes through lungs on land and through moist
skin in water.

TERRESTRIAL LIFE. Animals that live on land are called terrestrial animals. Most
of the terrestrial animals breathe through lungs. But insects breathe. Through spiracles
and trachial system, earthworm breathes through moist skin. Some terrestrial animals live
in very cold places and some at very hot places like deserts.

Yak, Arctic fox, polar bear, musk deer, mountain goats adapt themselves To live
in snow cold regions. They have thick hairy coat to keep them warm. The goats on the
high mountains have well developed hooves to climb steep mountain slopes.
Polar bears are found in snow covered areas. Their bodies are covered with thick white
fur. They store fat under the skin to keep themselves warm.

Seals and walruses are marine animals found in snow covered seas. A thick layer
of fat present below their skin protects them from cold. Adaptations are also seen in
desert life. The common animals seen in these hot areas are sand insects, mongoose,
snakes, hares, rats, camels, lizards etc. Camel is the most important animal which is the
native of the desert. Its body is well adapted to live in desert regions because:
1. A camel can drink plenty of water in one gulp and store it in its tissues. So it can
live without water for several days.
2. Camel also stores fat in its hump so it can also stay without food for several days.
3. It has padded feet that help it to walk comfortably on the sand.
4. To minimize the wastage of water, camel loses very little water in its urine.

Some animals go in for long winter sleep to avoid cold weather. Frogs, snakes and
certain lizards burrow deep into the soil to find warmth and go to sleep for months
together. This sleep is known as hibernation.

Aerial Life. Birds are aerial animals that have adapted themselves to fly in the air due to
the following reasons:
1. They have streamlined bodies.
2. Light and hollow bones.
3. Air sacs attached to lungs.
4. Forelimbs are modified into wings.
5. Bodies are covered with feathers.
Kiwi and Ostrich are birds but they cannot fly.
Some animals like owls come out during the night in search of food. They are
known as nocturnal animals. The animals which are active during daytime are known as
diurnal animals.

Migratory animals. The movement of animals from one place to another at a particular
time is known as migration . They migrate to avoid some unfavourable conditions or in
search of food or to have safe place for breeding.

Many birds, fish, some insects and few mammal migrates. When the conditions
become favourable, they return to their original place.

Some other migratory animals are

1. Siberian crane also migrates in search of food which it finds in the warm regions
that are India.

2. Eel,/ a snake like fish, spends its life in fresh water. When it grows up, it goes to
sea to lay eggs. When the eggs hatch, the young ones return to their parents.

3. Monarch butterfly migrates from Canada to Mexico.

4. Elephants also migrate in groups (herds) in search of food.