NCERT Solutions for Class 8th Science Chapter 12 .4 What Are the Different Types of Interactions Among Organisms and their Surroundings? — Activity 12.5: Let us classify
Book page 197–19812 Updated on2026-09-19
Q1.
Study the picture carefully and spot the organisms listed in Table 12.4. Using the internet or your school library, find out what do these organisms eat. Record your observations in Table 12.4 by identifying whether each organism feeds only on plants and plant products, only on animals, or on both.
Fig. 12.1(b), page 192 — redrawn sketch of the forest habitat: the nine organisms of Table 12.4 are all in this picture.
Table 12.4: Eating habits of different organisms
Name of the organism
Performs photosynthesis
Feeds on plants and plant products
Feeds on animals
Feeds on both plants and animals
Deer
No
Yes — Grass and leaves of plants
No
No — Only on plants
Hare
Vulture
Bengal Fox
Bird (Shikra)
Squirrel
Mouse
Mushroom
Tree
Yes
Table 12.4, page 198 — reproduced as printed; only the Deer row and the ‘Tree — Yes’ cell are filled in the book.
Answer
All nine organisms of Table 12.4 can be found in the forest habitat of Fig. 12.1(b): the deer and the hare grazing, a Bengal fox in the open, a mouse and a squirrel near the tree, a vulture overhead, a shikra perched on a branch, mushrooms on a dead stump, and the trees themselves.
Name of the organism
Performs photosynthesis
Feeds on plants and plant products
Feeds on animals
Feeds on both plants and animals
Deer
No
Yes — grass and leaves of plants
No
No — only on plants
Hare
No
Yes — grasses, tender shoots, bark
No
No — only on plants
Vulture
No
No
Yes — flesh of dead animals
No — only on animals
Bengal Fox
No
Yes — fruits
Yes — rodents, insects, birds
Yes — omnivore
Bird (Shikra)
No
No
Yes — lizards, small birds, insects
No — only on animals
Squirrel
No
Yes — nuts, seeds, fruits
Sometimes insects and eggs
Yes — mainly plants
Mouse
No
Yes — grains and seeds
Yes — insects
Yes — omnivore
Mushroom
No
Neither — it grows on dead plants and animal matter and breaks it down (a decomposer)
Tree
Yes
No
No
No — it makes its own food
Why it happens: the table sorts the forest into three roles. The tree is a producer — it alone brings energy into the forest, from sunlight. The deer, hare, fox, shikra, squirrel, mouse and vulture are consumers — they pass that energy along. The mushroom is a decomposer — it takes the energy and nutrients left in dead bodies and returns the nutrients to the soil. Every organism in a forest fits one of these three roles.
Q2.
List the heterotrophs from Table 12.4.
Table 12.4: Eating habits of different organisms
Name of the organism
Performs photosynthesis
Feeds on plants and plant products
Feeds on animals
Feeds on both plants and animals
Deer
No
Yes — Grass and leaves of plants
No
No — Only on plants
Hare
Vulture
Bengal Fox
Bird (Shikra)
Squirrel
Mouse
Mushroom
Tree
Yes
Table 12.4, page 198 — reproduced as printed; only the Deer row and the ‘Tree — Yes’ cell are filled in the book.
Answer
Deer, hare, vulture, Bengal fox, bird (shikra), squirrel, mouse and mushroom — eight of the nine. Only the tree is an autotroph.
Sorted by what they eat:
Herbivores (eat only plants): deer, hare
Carnivores (eat only animals): vulture, shikra
Omnivores (eat both): Bengal fox, squirrel, mouse
Saprotroph (feeds on dead matter): mushroom
Why it happens:hetero = other, troph = food. A heterotroph is any organism that cannot make its own food and so must take it from another organism. That includes the mushroom, even though it does not hunt or graze — it still gets its food from other organisms, only after they are dead.