Science · Class 6 · Chapter 10
Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics
Aim: Build a clear, working understanding of this chapter's key ideas, connected to real NCERT examples, worked problems, and everyday situations.
- Germination — A seed developing into a seedling.
- Respiration — Breathing in oxygen, releasing carbon dioxide.
- Excretion — Removal of waste from the body.
- Stimulus — Anything that triggers a response.
- Life cycle — The stages from birth to producing the next generation.
- Larva / Pupa — Early wormlike stage / resting transformation stage.
- Spawn — A jelly-like cluster of frog eggs.
- Tadpole / Froglet — Young stages of a frog, before adulthood.
Chapter 10 · Concept 1 of 7
What Sets the Living Apart
- Plants move too — Flowers open. Climbers wind around nearby objects. Insectivorous plants like Drosera move their sticky hairs to trap insects.
- So what's the real test? — Living beings share a set of life processes that non-living things never show, no matter how they move.
Chapter 10 · Concept 2 of 7
The Life Processes
- Growth — Increasing in size over time.
- Nutrition — Taking in food for growth and energy.
- Respiration — Breathing in oxygen, releasing carbon dioxide.
- Excretion — Removing waste from the body.
- Response to stimuli — Reacting to touch, light, or other triggers.
- Reproduction — Producing new individuals of the same kind.
Chapter 10 · Concept 3 of 7
What a Seed Needs to Germinate
- Water — Softens the seed coat and lets the embryo inside grow into a plant.
- Air — Needed from spaces between soil particles; those same spaces let roots grow easily.
- Light — usually not needed yet — Most seeds germinate without light, though sunlight is essential once the seedling appears.
Chapter 10 · Concept 4 of 7
Which Way Do Roots and Shoots Grow?
- Jagadish Chandra Bose — Invented the crescograph, an instrument to measure how plants grow and respond to light, heat, electricity, and gravity.
- One-sided light — When light comes from only one direction, the shoot bends and grows toward it — while the root still grows straight down.
Chapter 10 · Concept 5 of 7
Life Cycle of a Plant
- Seed → Young plant → Flowers & fruit → New seeds
Chapter 10 · Concept 6 of 7
Life Cycle of a Mosquito
- Egg → Larva → Pupa → Adult
Chapter 10 · Concept 7 of 7
Life Cycle of a Frog
- Spawn (eggs) → Tadpole → Froglet → Adult frog
Quick Recap
Check Your Understanding
- 1List the similarities and differences in the life cycles of plants and animals.
- 2Can you find real examples for: an object that neither grows nor respires; one that respires but doesn't grow; one that grows but doesn't respire; and one that does both?
- 3You've learnt that seeds need certain conditions to germinate. How can this help us store grains and pulses properly?