Page 79 - Viva ICSE Science 5 : E-book

7 Interdependence of Living

Beings—Plants and Animals

Our surrounding is also known as our KEY CONCEPTS

environment. Our environment includes all the
living and non-living things surrounding us. • Interdependence in living beings
They all depend on each other for existence. • Food chain
• Balance in nature
Non-living things like air, water, land, rainfall, • Causes of imbalance in nature

wind and sunlight aff ect the survival of living • Protecting the balance of nature
things. At the same time, all the living things also

depend on each other for survival.

Interdependence in Living Beings

Living beings like plants, animals and microorganisms (like bacteria and fungi) depend
on each other for their existence. Plants take carbon dioxide from air, and water and

nutrients from soil. In the presence of sunlight they prepare food. This process of
preparing food is called photosynthesis. In this process, they release oxygen in the air.

Oxygen is very essential for animals to breathe in and stay alive. Animals breathe in

oxygen and give out carbon dioxide, which is needed by the plants.

Plants and their products are eaten by animals for survival. Plants also provide shelter
to many animals. Animals also help in the survival of plants by facilitating dispersal of

seeds.

When animals die, their fl esh is eaten by other animals. The leftover is eaten or
decomposed by microorganism, thus keeping the environment clean.

Living beings can be broadly divided into three categories—producers, consumers and
decomposers.

Plants as producers

All living things that can prepare their food are referred to as producers or autotrophs
(auto = self and troph = nourishment). Green plants are the producers. They make their

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