SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT
Quiz Preparation Notes • Class VI – VIII
These notes summarise the key ideas, terms, and examples you should know before attempting the Science
& Environment quiz. Read each topic, then try to explain it out loud in your own words — that's the best
way to prepare for subjective questions.
1. Environment and Ecosystem
What to know
• Environment = everything around a living being — air, water, soil, plants, animals, and sunlight.
• An ecosystem is a community of living things (plants, animals, microbes) interacting with each other
and their non-living surroundings (air, water, soil, sunlight).
• Examples of ecosystems: pond, forest, desert, grassland, garden.
• Components of an ecosystem: Biotic (living — plants, animals, decomposers) and Abiotic (non-
living — sunlight, air, water, soil, temperature).
Key terms
Habitat The natural home or place where an organism lives.
Population All the members of one species living in an area.
Community All the different populations living together in an area.
Biotic Living components of an ecosystem (plants, animals, microbes).
Abiotic Non-living components (air, water, soil, sunlight, temperature).
2. Food Chains and Food Webs
• A food chain shows how energy passes from one organism to another: Producer → Herbivore →
Carnivore → Decomposer.
• Producers (green plants) make their own food using sunlight (photosynthesis).
• Consumers depend on other organisms for food: herbivores eat plants, carnivores eat animals,
omnivores eat both.
• Decomposers (bacteria, fungi) break down dead plants/animals and return nutrients to the soil.
• Example: Grass → Grasshopper → Frog → Snake → Eagle.
• A food web is many interconnected food chains in an ecosystem.
Prep tip: Be ready to draw or describe one food chain from a pond, forest, or grassland, and explain
what would happen if one organism in the chain disappeared.
3. Biodiversity and Adaptation
• Biodiversity = the variety of plants, animals, and microorganisms found in an area or on Earth.
• Rich biodiversity keeps an ecosystem balanced and stable — every species plays a role.
• Adaptation = special features or behaviours that help an organism survive in its habitat.
• Examples: camels store fat in humps and have thick eyelashes (desert); fish have gills and
streamlined bodies (water); cactus has thick stems and spines to reduce water loss (desert).
Prep tip: Learn one plant and one animal adaptation each for desert, aquatic, and mountain
habitats.
4. Natural Resources and Conservation
Types of resources
• Renewable resources: replenish naturally and don't run out easily — sunlight, wind, water, forests.
• Non-renewable resources: exist in limited amounts and take millions of years to form — coal,
petroleum, natural gas, minerals.
Why conserve?
• Growing population and industries are using resources faster than they can be replaced.
• Conservation means using resources wisely and reducing waste so they last for future generations.
• The 3 R's: Reduce (use less), Reuse (use again), Recycle (convert waste into new products).
Prep tip: Think of 2–3 examples of how you personally practise the 3 R's at home or school.
5. The Water Cycle
• Evaporation: The sun heats water in oceans, rivers, and lakes, turning it into water vapour.
• Condensation: Water vapour rises, cools, and forms tiny droplets that make clouds.
• Precipitation: Water falls back to Earth as rain, snow, or hail.
• Collection: Water collects in rivers, lakes, oceans, and underground, and the cycle repeats.
Prep tip: Practice explaining the cycle in a simple 4-step sequence — evaporation → condensation →
precipitation → collection.
6. Pollution — Air, Water, and Soil
Air pollution
• Causes: vehicle and factory smoke, burning of fuels, crop residue burning, dust.
• Effects: breathing problems, global warming, acid rain, damage to buildings and crops.
Water pollution
• Causes: dumping of sewage and industrial waste into rivers, use of chemical fertilisers and
pesticides, oil spills.
• Effects: harms aquatic life, spreads waterborne diseases, makes water unsafe to drink.
Soil pollution
• Causes: excess use of chemical fertilisers/pesticides, dumping of plastic and industrial waste.
• Effects: reduces soil fertility, harms organisms living in soil, enters the food chain.
Prep tip: For each type of pollution, be ready to name 2 causes, 2 effects, and 1 solution.
7. Global Warming and the Greenhouse Effect
• Greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, water vapour) trap heat from the sun in the atmosphere
— this is the greenhouse effect.
• A natural greenhouse effect keeps Earth warm enough for life to survive.
• But burning fossil fuels and deforestation add extra greenhouse gases, trapping too much heat — this
causes global warming.
• Effects of global warming: melting glaciers, rising sea levels, changing weather patterns, more
frequent heatwaves.
Prep tip: Be clear on the difference — greenhouse effect is natural and necessary, but too much of it
(due to human activity) causes global warming, which is harmful.
8. Deforestation and Forests
• Deforestation = large-scale cutting down of trees for farming, housing, industry, or timber.
• Effects: loss of habitat for wildlife, soil erosion, reduced rainfall, increased carbon dioxide in the air,
floods.
• Forests are called the 'lungs of the earth' because trees absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen
through photosynthesis.
• Ways to help: afforestation (planting new trees), reforestation, avoiding paper waste, supporting
sustainable farming.
9. Waste Management
• Biodegradable waste: breaks down naturally by the action of microorganisms — e.g. food scraps,
paper, cotton, leaves.
• Non-biodegradable waste: does not break down easily and stays in the environment for a long time
— e.g. plastic, glass, metal.
• Segregating waste at source (into biodegradable/non-biodegradable/recyclable bins) makes disposal
and recycling easier.
• Composting turns biodegradable waste into manure for plants.
• Plastic waste is especially harmful — it doesn't decompose easily, chokes drains, and harms animals
that swallow it.
Quick Recap — Cause & Effect Table
Deforestation Loss of wildlife habitat, soil erosion, less rainfall, more CO2 in the air.
Burning fossil fuels Air pollution, global warming, acid rain.
Dumping waste in rivers Water pollution, harm to aquatic life, disease.
Overuse of Soil pollution, reduced soil fertility, water contamination.
fertilisers/pesticides
Excess greenhouse gases Global warming, melting glaciers, rising sea levels.
How to Answer Subjective Questions Well
• Read the question twice and underline key words (e.g. 'explain', 'give reasons', 'in your opinion').
• For 1-mark questions: answer in one clear sentence.
• For 3-mark questions: give 2–3 distinct points, each explained briefly.
• For long-answer/opinion questions: take a clear stand, support it with 2–3 examples, and add a
concluding line.
• Use examples from your surroundings (home, school, city) wherever possible — examiners like real-
life connections.
Good luck with your quiz!