Grade 5 Chapter 4: Environmental Balance

Topics covered: Components of the environment, Interdependence in nature, Food chains, Causes of environmental imbalance, Ways to maintain environmental balance, Community health.

What is the Environment?

Can you tell?

• What do you see around your home and school?
• Can you name five living things and five non-living things in your surroundings?
• How does the weather affect your daily activities?

Our environment is everything that surrounds us. It includes all living things like plants, animals, and microorganisms, as well as non-living things such as air, water, soil, sunlight, temperature, and even the buildings and roads we build. All these components interact with each other to form our natural and man-made environment.

For example, a tree is a living part of the environment, while the soil it grows in, the water it absorbs, and the air it breathes are non-living parts. They all work together.

Think about it:

1. Imagine a desert. What living and non-living things would you expect to find there?
2. Why is it important for us to have clean water and fresh air?

Interdependence in Nature and Food Chains

Let’s try this (Activity):

1. Observe a small garden or a park.
2. List all the living things you see (e.g., grass, flowers, insects, birds, cats).
3. Think about how each living thing depends on others for food, shelter, or other needs.

In nature, nothing lives alone. All living things depend on each other and on the non-living parts of their environment. This is called interdependence. For instance, plants make their own food using sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide from the air. Animals then eat these plants, or other animals that have eaten plants. This flow of energy from one living thing to another forms a food chain.

A simple food chain might look like this:

Grass → Deer → Tiger

Here, the deer eats the grass, and the tiger eats the deer. If the grass disappears, the deer will not have food, and then the tiger will also suffer. This shows how changes in one part of the environment can affect others.

Even non-living things are crucial. Plants need water and sunlight. Animals need water to drink and air to breathe. The soil provides nutrients for plants. The sun provides warmth and light for all life.

Use your brain power!

1. How does a bee help a flower, and how does the flower help the bee?

   Answer: Bees collect nectar from flowers for food, and in doing so, they help pollinate the flowers, which allows the flowers to produce seeds.

2. Can you think of another simple food chain?

   Answer: Examples could be: Leaf → Caterpillar → Bird; or Algae → Small fish → Big fish.

Always remember: Every living thing, no matter how small, plays a vital role in keeping the balance of nature. Removing even one type of creature or plant can affect many others.

Causes of Environmental Imbalance

Can you recall?

1. What is pollution and what are its different types?
2. What are some bad habits that can harm our health and surroundings?

When the natural balance of the environment is disturbed, it leads to environmental imbalance. Many human activities are responsible for this. When we use natural resources without care, or produce too much waste, we harm the environment.

• Pollution: This is the biggest threat.
  • Air Pollution: Smoke from factories and vehicles, burning garbage, and dust make the air dirty and unhealthy to breathe.
  • Water Pollution: Throwing garbage, industrial waste, and sewage into rivers, lakes, and oceans makes the water unsafe for drinking and harms aquatic life.
  • Soil Pollution: Using too many chemicals in farming, and improper disposal of waste, makes the soil infertile and harms plants.
  • Noise Pollution: Loud sounds from vehicles, construction, and loudspeakers can harm our hearing and disturb animals.
• Deforestation: Cutting down large numbers of trees for wood, farming, or building homes removes the "lungs" of the Earth. Trees provide oxygen, absorb carbon dioxide, and prevent soil erosion. Losing them contributes to global warming and loss of animal habitats.
• Overpopulation: When there are too many people, there is more demand for resources like food, water, and land, leading to more waste and pollution.
• Improper Waste Management: Not disposing of waste correctly leads to garbage heaps, which can spread diseases and pollute land and water.
• Harmful Habits: Habits like spitting in public places, consuming tobacco or alcohol, and not maintaining personal hygiene can lead to epidemics and insect-borne diseases, which are all threats to community health.

These factors like pollution, squalor (very dirty conditions), epidemics, addictions, and insect-borne diseases are all harmful for community health and severely disturb the environmental balance.

Think about it:

1. If a factory releases dirty water into a river, how does it affect the fish in the river and the people who use the river water?
2. Why is it bad to burn plastic waste?
3. What are the ill effects of chewing tobacco or alcoholism on a person's health and the community?

   Answer: Chewing tobacco can cause mouth cancer and other diseases. Alcoholism can lead to liver damage, addiction, and social problems, affecting family and community well-being.

Ways to Maintain Environmental Balance and Community Health

Let’s try this (Activity):

1. In your classroom, discuss how you can reduce, reuse, and recycle things.
2. Make a poster showing different ways to save water at home and at school.

Maintaining environmental balance is crucial for our future. Everyone has a role to play. Here are some ways:

• Plant More Trees: Trees are essential for clean air, preventing soil erosion, and providing habitats for animals. Participate in tree-planting drives.
• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle:
  • Reduce: Use less. For example, turn off lights when not needed, use less water while bathing.
  • Reuse: Use things again instead of throwing them away. For example, reuse plastic bottles, old clothes for cleaning.
  • Recycle: Convert waste materials into new products. Separate your waste into dry and wet waste.
• Conserve Water and Energy: Fix leaky taps, take shorter showers, use buckets for washing cars. Switch off electrical appliances when not in use. Use natural light as much as possible.
• Proper Waste Disposal: Always throw garbage in dustbins. Avoid littering. Learn about composting organic waste.
• Protect Wildlife: Do not harm animals or destroy their habitats. Support efforts to protect endangered species.
• Promote Community Health:
  • Practice personal hygiene: Wash hands regularly, bathe daily, keep your surroundings clean.
  • Have a nutritious diet: Eat healthy food to stay strong and prevent diseases.
  • Exercise regularly and pursue hobbies: These keep your mind and body healthy.
  • Avoid bad habits: Learn to say ‘No!’ firmly to things like tobacco, alcohol, and other addictions, as they harm individual and community health.
  • Follow public health rules: Adhere to bans on spitting in public places, as this helps prevent the spread of diseases and maintains cleanliness.

Good community health can be achieved through habits of hygiene and good health. When individuals are healthy, the community is healthy, and this positively impacts the environment.

Use your brain power!

1. How can your school contribute to maintaining environmental balance? (Starting a school garden, recycling bins, awareness campaigns).
2. Why is it important to keep public places clean? (To prevent diseases, make the environment pleasant, and show civic responsibility).
3. How can you achieve excellent health?

   Answer: By eating a nutritious diet, practicing personal hygiene, exercising regularly, and engaging in hobbies.

Summary

• Our environment is made up of all living (plants, animals) and non-living (air, water, soil, sunlight) things around us.
• All living and non-living things in nature are interdependent, meaning they rely on each other.
• Food chains show how energy flows from one living thing to another.
• Environmental imbalance is caused by human activities like various types of pollution (air, water, soil, noise), deforestation, and improper waste management.
• Threats to community health like pollution, squalor, epidemics, and addictions also contribute to environmental imbalance.
• We can maintain environmental balance and good community health by reducing, reusing, and recycling, planting trees, conserving resources, proper waste disposal, practicing good hygiene, and avoiding harmful habits.