The Environment Living and Nonliving Things
In the environment we can see two types of things around us. They are living and nonliving things.
|
Living things in our environment |
Non – living things in our environment |
|---|---|
| People | Buildings |
| Animals | Vehicles |
| Plants | Land |
| Air | |
| Water etc. |
Examples of living things
Examples of nonliving things
Examples of nonliving things
What is the environment?
Our environment is our surroundings or all the living and nonliving things around us.
Different types of environments
- Home
- Forest
- Classroom
- River
- Playground
- Ocean
- Library
- Streets etc.
Each of these places has a different type of environment.
Example of forests
Blue Mountains Forests in NSW, Australia
Example of ocean
Cronulla Beaches in NSW, Australia
Example of a river
Macquarie River in NSW, Australia
Example of a playground
Example of a school environment
Environment of a rocky formation with valleys
Three Sisters in Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia
Example of valley environment
Hassans Walls Lookout in NSW, Australia
A few environments together in nature
Living and nonliving things
We know that an environment is all the living and nonliving things in a certain area.
E.g.- A Lake
Example of a lake
Lake Lyell in NSW, Australia
What are the living things in and around a lake?
All the plants and animals living in and around the lake.
What are the nonliving things in and around a lake?
Sunlight, water, and soil are some of the nonliving parts of a lake.
All the parts of an environment work together. Every living thing in an environment depends in some way upon other living and nonliving things in the environment. But how?
- Non – living things make up the physical environment. That means sunlight, water, soil, temperature, and rainfall help to form the environment.
- A wide variety of plants use sunlight, water, carbon dioxide, soil, temperature and rainfall to grow in this environment. Using these plants produce food and release a gas called oxygen into the environment.
- These plants, in turn, can feed many different types of insects, fish, birds, and mammals in and around the lake as well as these animals can breath the gas called oxygen released by these plants. Animals release a gas called carbon dioxide into the environment.
- Plants, in turn, absorb the gas called carbon dioxide released by the animals in and around the lake.
This is how plants and animals survive in an environment.
Interrelationships among plants, animals and the environment
Air is a mixture of gases. There are two important gases for plants and animals to live. They are;
- Oxygen
- Carbon dioxide
Oxygen
All animals need a gas called oxygen to breath. Without oxygen animals cannot survive in the environment. Animals breathe oxygen and breathe out (release) carbon dioxide.
Carbon dioxide
All plants need the energy of sunlight, water and a gas called carbon dioxide to live and grow. Plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen as a waste material.
How is oxygen made?
Plants release oxygen into the environment
How is carbon dioxide made?
Animals release carbon dioxide into the environment. When we burn coal, oil, gas, wood and other materials, carbon dioxide is released into the environment.