Topic 1 of 8 · Grade 7
Living things and their environment
They move, breathe (respire), feel (sensitivity), grow, reproduce, get rid of waste (excretion) and need food (nutrition).
Notes for this topic 1 file, in order
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Characteristics of living things
They move, breathe (respire), feel (sensitivity), grow, reproduce, get rid of waste (excretion) and need food (nutrition).
Classifying living things
- Plants: flowering (maize, msasa) and non-flowering (ferns, mosses).
- Animals: vertebrates (with backbones – fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals) and invertebrates (without backbones – insects, spiders, worms, snails).
Habitats
A habitat is the place where a living thing lives: pond, forest, grassland, river, soil. Living things are adapted to their habitats (fish have gills and fins; cacti store water).
Food chains and webs
Grass → grasshopper → lizard → hawk. Plants are producers; animals that eat them are consumers; decomposers (bacteria, fungi) break down dead things and return nutrients to the soil.
Conservation
Protect wildlife and plants by not cutting trees carelessly, preventing veld fires, avoiding pollution and supporting national parks such as Hwange and Gonarezhou.
Worked example: In the food chain maize → mouse → snake → eagle, what would happen if snakes were removed?
Mice would increase and eat more maize; eagles would have less food.
Check yourself
- Name the group of vertebrates that has feathers.
- What is a producer?
- Give two ways of conserving the environment.
Show answers
- Birds.
- A green plant that makes its own food using sunlight.
- Any two: plant trees, prevent veld fires, avoid littering, protect wildlife, save water.
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