Natural resources

Biosphere
All living thing on earth together with
• ATMOSPHERE
• HYDROSPHERE
• LITHOSPHERE

ATMOSPHERE
• Multilayered
gaseous envelop
surrounding the
earth.
• No atmosphere no
life
- e.g. other planets
Venus, Mars

ROLE OF THE ATMOSPHERE IN
CLIMATE CONTROL
• Air is a bad conductor of heat - keeps the
average temperature of the Earth fairly steady
during the day and even during the course of the
whole year.
• Prevents the sudden increase in temperature
during the daylight hours. And during the night, it
slows down the escape of heat into outer space.
• Think of the moon - about the same distance
from the Sun - no atmosphere - the temperature
ranges from –190º C to 110º C.

Layers f Atmosphere (image)
• Troposphere
• Stratosphere
• Mesosphere
• Ionosphere
• Exosphere

COMPOSITION OF GASES IN AIR
- Pi graph

AIR POLLUTION
• An increase in the content of harmful
substances (pollutants) in air is called air
pollution. (image)
• Pollutants – e.g. CO, CO2, SO2, H2S,
Oxides of nitrogen, dust particles, lead,
asbestos etc.

Air pollution can cause :
• In humans – respiratory & renal problems, high
blood pressure, problems of nervous system,
eye irritation, cancer
• In plants – reduced growth, degeneration of
chlorophyll, mottling (patches/ spots of color) of
leaves etc
• Acid rain
• Green house effect
• Holes in ozone layers

• CO2 keeps the earth warm much like
glass which keeps the green house warm.
• Increase in CO2 – intensified green house
effect – leads to global warming –
increase in average temperature of the
earth – may lead to melting of polar caps
and ultimate rise in sea level –
submerging number of costal cities.
Green house effect
Click here to view video

Holes in ozone layer

• Ozone O3 in stratosphere blocks ultraviolet
radiation through it and protect biosphere.
• A hole in ozone layer was found over Antarctica
caused due to chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).
• CFCs – compounds consists of Cl, Fl and C
• CFCs use as coolant in refrigerators and air
conditioners, in aerosol sprays.
• CFCs do not degrade easily.

• Rise into stratosphere and break down O3 to O2
and damage ozone layer.
• 1 molecule of Cl can damage 10,000 molecules
of O3
• Increased ultraviolet radiation can lead to
• In humans - increase incidents of skin cancer,
cataract, immune deficiency
• In plants & aquatic life – decreased crop yields,
reduced population of phytoplankton's,
zooplanktons and certain fish larvae.

Biosphere – All living thing on earth together
with
• ATMOSPHERE,
• HYDROSPHERE,
• LITHOSPHERE.

HYDROSPHERE
• Oceans, rivers, lakes,
ponds, pools, polar ice
caps, etc. collectively
form hydrosphere.

Why is water so necessary?
And do all organisms require water?
• Water a medium for all the reactions that take
place within our body and within the cells occur
between substances that are dissolved in water.
• Transportation of substances from one part of
the body to the other in a dissolved form.
• Terrestrial life-forms require fresh water for this
because their bodies cannot tolerate or get rid of
the high amounts of dissolved salts in saline
water.

• Activity – Compare the number of plants
and animals of each type in an area (say,
1 m2 ) in wet and dry regions.

• Activity – number of plants and animals of
each type in an unused area (say, 1 m2 0
in different seasons.

• There is any relationship between the
amount of available water and the number
and variety of plants and animals that can
live in a given area.

Include –
• map of rain fall pattern in India
• Biodiversity in India
• Compare both maps

Water pollution – (image)
• Term water pollution covers following
effects

The addition of undesirable
substances to water - bodies.
. e.g. : fertilisers and pesticides (farming),
poisonous substances, like mercury salts
(paper-industries), disease-causing
organisms, like the bacteria which cause
cholera.

The removal of desirable
substances
from water-bodies.
• Dissolved oxygenis used by the animals
and plants that live in water. Any change
that reduces the amount of this dissolved
oxygen would adversely affect these
aquatic organisms.
• Other nutrients could also be depleted
from the water bodies.

A change in temperature : Aquatic
• organisms are used to a certain range
of temperature in the water-body where they live,
• a sudden marked change in this temperature
would be dangerous for them or affect their
breeding.
• The eggs and larvae of various animals are
particularly susceptible to temperature changes.
Youtube / animation

Biosphere – All living thing on earth
together with
• ATMOSPHERE,
• HYDROSPHERE,
• LITHOSPHERE.

lithosphere
• The lithosphere is the
solid, rocky layer
covering the entire
surface of the planet,
composed of the crust
and the hard
uppermost mantle.

The tectonic plates of the lithosphere on Earth

• Overlong periods of time, thousands and
millions of years, the rocks at or near the
surface of the Earth are broken down by
various physical, chemical and some
biological processes. The end product of
this breaking down is the fine particles of
soil.

What are the factors or processes
that make soil?

The Sun:
• The Sun heats up rocks
during the day so that they
expand. At night, these
rocks cool down and
contract. Since all parts of
the rock do not expand and
contract at the same rate,
this results in the formation
of cracks and ultimately the
huge rocks break up into
smaller pieces.

Water:
• Water helps in the formation of soil in two ways. One,
water could get into the cracks in the rocks formed due
to uneven heating by the Sun. If this water later freezes,
it would cause the cracks to widen. Can you think why
this should be so? Two, flowing water wears away even
hard rock over long periods of time. Fast flowing water
often carries big and small particles of rock downstream.
These rocks rub against other rocks and the resultant
abrasion causes the rocks to wear down into smaller and
smaller particles. The water then takes these particles
along with it and deposits it further down its path. Soil is
thus found in places far away from its parent-rock.

Wind:
• In a process similar to the way in which
water rubs against rocks and wears them
down, strong winds also erode rocks
down. The wind also carries sand from
one place to the other like water does.
(image / animation)

Living organisms also influence the
formation of soil:
• The lichen that we read about earlier, also grows
on the surface of rocks. While growing, they
release certain substances that cause the rock
surface to powder down and form a thin layer of
soil. Other small plants like moss, are able to
grow on this surface now and they cause the
rock to break up further. The roots of big trees
sometimes go into cracks in the rocks and as
the roots grow bigger, the crack is forced bigger.
(image / animation)

Types of soil
• The type of soil is decided by the average size of
particles found in it.

Three main types are
• i) Sandy soil – contains large amount of
sand particles & very small amount of silt
& clay. Found in desert. Cannot hold much
water

• ii) Clayey soil – Mainly contains clay
particles & small quantity of humus and
silt. Compact and can hold water but can’t
trap air.

• iii) Loamy soil – Contains clay, silt, sand &
humus. Good water holding capacity &
porous to allow aeration of roots.

• Soil pollution – Removal of useful
components from the soil and addition of
other substances, which adversely affect
the fertility of the soil and kill the diversity
of organisms that live in it, is called soil
pollution.

Modern farming
practices
• Use of large amounts of fertilizers and
pesticides. - Use over long periods of time
can destroy the soil structure by killing the
soil micro-organisms that recycle nutrients
in the soil. image
• It also kills the Earthworms which are
instrumental in
• making the rich humus.

• Fertile soil can quickly be turned barren if
sustainable practices are not followed.

• Soil erosion –process of removal of fertile
top layer of soil by rain water, floods or
wind.

Addition of solid waste –
• Degradable pollutants – Domestic waste
and sewage.
• No – degradable pollutants – plastics,
pesticides, radioactive substances

Biogeochemical cycle
• A pathway by which a chemical element or
molecule moves through both biotic
(plants & animals) and abiotic (lithosphere,
atmosphere, and hydrosphere) componets
of the environment.

Include diagrams / animations /
youtubes of

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