Eric Ingraham, age 12, of Utica, N.Y., for his question:
WHAT EXACTLY IS ENVIRONMENT?
Environment is the forces and conditions that surround and influence living and nonliving things. Nonliving environmental factors, such as temperature and sunlight, make up the abiotic environment. Living or recently living things, such as seeweed and food, make up the biotic environment.
Abiotic and biotic environments both interact to make up the total environment of living or nonliving things on earth.
A human being's environment includes such factors as temperature, food supply and even other people that surround him. A plant's environment may be made up of soil, sunlight and animals that will eat the plant. A rock's environment may be made up of seaweed and water.
Abiotic environment includes such factors as soil, water, atmosphere and radiation. The abiotic environment is made up of many objects and forces that influence one another and influence the surrounding community of living things.
As an example, a river current may influence the shape of rocks lying along the river bottom. The river's temperature, clearness and chemical composition will also influence what kinds of plants and animals live there and how they live.
One important group of abiotic environmental factors make up what is called the weather. Living and nonliving things are influenced by snow, rain, cold or hot temperature, evaporation of water, the amount of water vapor in the air which is called humidity, wind and many other weather conditions.
Biotic environment includes food, plants, animals and their interactions among one another and the abiotic environment. Man's survival and well being depend largely on the foods he eats, such as fruit, vegetables and meat. It also depends on his associations with other living things.
As an example of biotic environment, some bacteria in man's digestive tract help him digest certain foods.
Man's social or cultural surroundings are an important part of his biotic environment. His highly developed nervous system has made possible memory, reason and communication. Human beings teach their children and their fellow men what they have learned.
By passing on knowledge, man has developed religion, art, music, literature, technology and science.
Man's cultural inheritance and biological inheritance have enabled him to advance beyond any animal in controlling his environment. He is now exploring the environment of outer space.
Another thought on abiotic environment: human beings build homes and wear clothes to protect themselves from harsh climates. Many plants and animals die each year because they are unable to cope with the weather.