Q1.
Identify two habitats in your surroundings. These could be any two of the following: a pond, a forest, an agricultural farm, or even a large tree like banyan, mango, or pilkhan (white fig) tree.
Answer
Pick two habitats that are clearly different in their non-living conditions — that is what makes the comparison worth doing. A village pond and a mango tree, or a school garden and a roadside, work well.
Sample answer: our group chose (i) the village pond and (ii) the old banyan tree beside the school wall.
Before you go, decide what you will look at, so that two groups record comparable things:
- the surface and the edges, not just the middle;
- under stones, under bark and under leaf litter — most small organisms are hidden;
- things you can only feel or measure: how warm it is, how moist the soil is, how much sunlight reaches the ground.
Caution: explore the habitat in groups with your teacher. Do not enter deep water, and do not disturb nests, burrows or the animals themselves — put every stone back the way you found it.