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NCERT Class 10 Science Our Environment: In-text questions (page 212) Solutions
AI-written, checked on 23 Oct 2026
Solutions written by Shishya, checked — not the board's official answers
Step-by-step working for every question of In-text questions (page 212) in NCERT's Class 10 Science book, chapter “Our Environment”, written by Shishya. Each question is in our own short words; open the NCERT chapter for the exact wording and figures.
How these were checked: the solutions were drafted with AI and then read and corrected on 23 Oct 2026. Every numerical final answer is recomputed from the question's own numbers by a calculator check that runs before each release; proofs and explanations were read, not machine-checked. The NCERT textbook is the authority — if something here disagrees with it, follow the book.
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In-text (page 212) Q1
What are trophic levels? Give a food chain and name its trophic levels.
- Trophic levels are the distinct positions or ranks that organisms occupy in a food chain based on their source of energy and nutrients.
- Each level represents a step in the transfer of energy from one organism to another within an ecosystem.
- Consider the food chain: Grass → Grasshopper → Frog → Snake → Eagle.
- The grass is the producer, which forms the first trophic level.
- The grasshopper is a primary consumer, forming the second trophic level.
- The frog is a secondary consumer, forming the third trophic level.
- The snake is a tertiary consumer, forming the fourth trophic level.
- The eagle is a quaternary consumer, forming the fifth trophic level.
Answer: Trophic levels are the positions in a food chain; in the chain Grass → Grasshopper → Frog → Snake → Eagle, the levels are Producer, Primary Consumer, Secondary Consumer, Tertiary Consumer, and Quaternary Consumer respectively.
In-text (page 212) Q2
What is the role of decomposers in an ecosystem?
- Decomposers are microorganisms like bacteria and fungi that break down dead plants and animals.
- They convert complex organic matter into simple inorganic substances.
- This process releases nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus back into the soil.
- These nutrients are then absorbed by plants to grow.
- Decomposers also help in cleaning the environment by removing dead waste.
- Without them, dead matter would accumulate and nutrients would not cycle back to the soil.
Answer: Decomposers break down dead organic matter into simple inorganic substances, recycling nutrients back into the ecosystem and keeping the environment clean.
Other exercises in this chapter
- In-text questions (page 214) — 3 questions
- In-text questions (page 216) — 2 questions
- End-of-chapter exercises — 9 questions
← Our Environment: notes, practice and all exercises
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