LIVING THINGS (HABITAT) Lesson note

PROPOSED LESSON PLAN/NOTE FOR THE FIRST WEEK ENDING 13th SEPTEMBER, 2022/2023 ACADEMIC SESSION

SUBJECT: BASIC SCIENCE

TOPIC: LIVING THINGS (HABITAT)

CLASS: GRADE 8

NUMBER OF STUDENTS: 15

AVERAGE AGE: 11+ YEARS

GENDER: MIXED


PERIOD: 3RD&4TH PERIOD ON MONDAY AND WEDNESDAY RESPECTIVELY

DURATION: 40 MINUTES

DATE: 12/09/2022

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES: By the end of the lesson the students should be able to;

(i) define habitat, states the various types of habitat and give examples;

(ii) explain adaptation of living things to their habitat;

(ii) discuss the relationship between living things in the same habitat;

(iv) describe population and population density;

ENTRY BEHAVIOUR: The students are familiar with trees, land and water.

INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS/TECHNIC: Questions, simulation, quiz.

INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS: Charts, diagrams of water, land and trees.

INTRODUCTION: Questions post to the students include;

Question 1: Where do you live in?

Expected Answer: Home, house, hostel.

Ecology is the study of interrelationships between living organisms and their environment. An ecologist is a scientist that studies habitat.

Question 2: How is a father related to a mother and children.

Expected Answer: Father to mother by marriage, father to children by blood.

An ecosystem is the whole biotic (living) community in a given area (habitat) plus its abiotic (non-living) environment. It is a geographic area where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well as weather and landscape, work together to form a bubble of life.  

Question 3: Mention the kinds of species that exist in our environment.

Expected Answer: Goats, dogs, chickens.

A group of several species living together with mutual tolerance in a natural area is known as a community.

Question 4: Human being lives where?

Expected Answers: house

STEP1: MEANING OF HABITATS

The place where an organism lives in nature is called a habitat. The habitat of an organism actually represents a particular set of environmental conditions suitable for its successful growth. For example, camel and cactus are found in desert habitat. Many different natural habitats are found in Nigeria like savannas, tropical forests, wetlands, lakes, rivers and coastal areas. Highland areas like Yoruba in the West, Jos plateau in North Central and mountains in the East are also found. The diversity of landscape and climate results in diversity of flora and fauna in Nigeria.

Question 5 Mention three types of habitat you know.

Types of habitat

There are three types habitat prevailing in nature;

1. Terrestrial 2.Aquatic 3. Arboreal

Terrestrial habitat:

All the habitats on land are included in this type of habitat. Terrestrial habitat is a land habitat. Examples of terrestrial habitats are forest, desert, grass land, farmland, mountains, etc. Animals found in terrestrial habitats are men, cow, dog, goat, lion, monkey, lizard, etc.

Plants found in terrestrial habitats are oil palms, acacia, baobab, tamarind, locust, beans, etc. All the terrestrial habitats are different from one another due to variations in a-biotic factors like temperature, rainfall, soil, climate, etc.

 Aquatic habitat:

All the water bodies like pond, river, lake, stream, sea and ocean are included in aquatic habitat. Many organisms are found in water bodies.  Examples of animals found in aquatic habitat are frog, toad, snail, fish, whale, crab, etc. Plants found in aquatic habitat are water lily, lotus, water hyacinth, hydrilla, etc.

When considering aquatic habitats, many variables come to mind. Obviously, there is a continuum of salinity ranging from essentially distilled water at glacier faces and high mountain streams, to other freshwaters, to estuaries where fresh and salt waters mix to oceans, to hyper-saline environments such as the Great Salt Lake. Aquatic habitats are classified chiefly into three categories: the freshwater habitat, brackish water habitat (estuaries) and marine habitat.

(1) Freshwater habitat: Freshwater habitats are a subset of earth's aquatic ecosystems. They include lakes and ponds, rivers, streams and springs and wetlands. They can be contrasted with marine ecosystems, which have a larger salt content. Freshwater habitats can be classified by different factors, which include temperature, light penetration, and vegetation. In freshwater habitat, the salt content of water ranges from 0.0 ppm to 0.5 ppm (ppm = part per million). Examples of freshwater organisms are crab, mud fish, pistia, spirogyra, tadpole, fairy shrimp, etc.

(ii) Brackish water habitat (Estuarine): In this case, salt content in water ranges from 0.5 ppm to 30 ppm. Brackish water is the water that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as sea water. It may result from mixing of sea water with freshwater, as in estuaries. Salmon, eels, and mangroves are examples of organisms found in brackish water habitat.

(iii) Marine habitat: Marine habitats can be divided into coastal and open ocean habitats. In this habitat, salt content of water ranges from 30 ppm to 52 ppm. Examples of organisms found in marine habitat include whales, sharks, crabs, mangroves, seaweeds (red and brown algae), angelfish, etc.

Factors affecting aquatic habitat: salinity, temperature, turbidity.

Arboreal habitat:

Arboreal habitat is a habitat or location of animals on trees. In every habitat where trees are present, animals have evolved to move on them.

Animals of arboreal habitat include squirrel, monkeys, butterflies, leopards, etc. Plants like epiphytes and dodder are the best examples of arboreal habitat.

STEP II: ADAPTATION OF LIVING THINGS TO THEIR HABITAT

   Adaptations are features which help plants and animals to survive in their habitats.

Adaptation is the evolutionary process whereby a population becomes better suited to its habitat. The term adaptation may also refer to a feature which is especially important for an organism's survival and reproduction. Organisms which can live and reproduce in water cannot live or reproduce on land and vice-versa. Why does this happen? Because those organisms that live or reproduce in water have some adaptive characteristics which make them suitable to live in water. Similar things happen with those organisms which live on dry land or in the deserts. All organisms need to adapt to their habitat to be able to survive. This means adapting to be able to survive the climatic conditions of the ecosystem, predators and other species that compete for the same food and space. An adaptation is a modification or change in the organism's body or behaviour that helps it to survive.

An animal may adapt to its habitat in different ways. Organisms having their different habitats and adaptive features are given below

ORGANISMS WITH THEIR HABITATS AND ADAPTIVE FEATURES

Organism

Habitats

Adaptive Features

Birds

Terrestrial and arboreal

Forelimbs modified into wings for flight adaptation, claws, full body is covered with feathers.

Duck

Terrestrial and aquatic

Webbed feet, broad beak, boat-shaped body for swimming in water.

Fish

Aquatic

Gills for respiration, lateral and dorsal  fins, scale on the body, streamlined body.

Frog

Terrestrial and aquatic

Webbed feet, bifid tongue, presence of limbs, bulging eyes, fixed eyelid.

Lizard

Terrestrial

Claws, limbs, tongue for catching prey, lungs for respiration.

Rat

Terrestrial

Hair on the body, limbs, lungs and claws.

Giraffe

Terrestrial

Hair on the body, long neck, long eye lashes.

Cactus

Terrestrial(desert)

Spongy stem, leaves reduced to spines, thick waxy coating to prevent loss of water.

Lotus

Aquatic

Leaves are large, circular and waxy, stem is thin and flexible, root and root hairs are poorly developed.

Mangroves

Aquatic

Prop-roots, pneumatophores.

Question 5: What do lion eat?

Expected Answer: flesh

STEP III: RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ORGANISMS IN THE SAME HABITAT

Each type of organism interacts with one another on the way the organisms adapted to their habitat. These relationships are better described as positive-negative relationship.

All the species or organisms in a habitat are connected through food chains and complex food webs of eater and eaten. These show interconnectedness. If one species disappears, its predators can no longer eat it and its prey is no longer eaten by it.

In a habitat, food relationship exists between different living organisms. The food (or energy) produced by green plants (producers) is consumed by herbivores.

Thus, a food chain is formed. In a food chain, energy transfer takes place from producers to consumers to decomposers. In a food web, each organism occupies a specific position, whether it is a producer, a herbivore or a carnivore, One organism may occupy positions in more than one food chain, for an organism can obtain its food from different sources and in turn may be eaten by different types of organisms. This is particularly true for carnivores at the higher trophic levels. For example, sheep, a herbivore, may be consumed by a lion or a jackal, or even by humans. Similarly, mice, which are herbivorous, may be consumed by a snake, a cat or a hawk.

Different components of a habitat are producers, consumers and decomposers.

Producers are mainly trees of different kinds. The contain chlorophyll which enable them to manufacture their food through a process called photosynthesis. The chlorophyll is found in the chloroplast. In addition, shrubs and herbs are also present. Tree flora varies depending upon the climate whether tropical or temperate. These organisms synthesize their own food by photosynthesis. Examples are all green plants. However, in the strict sense, the plants (or the producers) don't produce energy. They only convert sunlight (Solar energy) into chemical energy of food. Consumers consist of herbivores and carnivores. These organisms are dependent upon other organisms for food. Examples: Man and all the animals.

Omnivores feed on all things i.e. flesh and plants.

Herbivores feed on producers (plant). Smaller herbivores like ants, flies and beetles feed on tree leaves. Larger herbivores like the elephant, deer and squirrels feed on shoots and fruits.

Carnivores feed on the herbivores. Smaller carnivores like birds, lizards and snakes feed on the herbivores. The larger carnivores like the lion and tiger feed on herbivores and smaller carnivores.

Decomposers these consume, and thus decompose, the dead remains of other organisms, they include bacteria and fungi and are also called saprophyte.

STEP IV: POPULATION AND POPULATION DENSITY

A population is the number of organisms of the same species that live in a particular geographic area at the same time, with the capability of interbreeding.

Examples, humans, fishes, birds, etc.

POPULATION DENSITY

Population density refers to a measure of the number of organisms that make up a population in a defined area.

SUMMARY/CONCLUSSION

i. A habitat is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animals, plants, or other types of organisms.

ii. A number of a-biotic factors influence the habitat and survival of organisms.

iii. The three types of habitat are-terrestrial, aquatic and arboreal.

iv. Aquatic habitats are chiefly classified into three categories namely: freshwater, brackish and marine.

EVALUATION: Oral Questions

(i) Define habitat, states the various types of habitat and give examples.

(ii) Explain the adaptation of living things to their habitat.

(ii) State the relationship between living things in the same habitat.

(iv)What is population and population density?

ASSIGNMENT:

1. Define terrestrial habitat and describe it briefly by giving examples of animals and plants found in it.

2. What do you mean by aquatic habitat?

3. Define arboreal habitat and describe it briefly by giving examples of animals and plants found in it.

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