INTRODUCTION

Environment is everything that is around us. It can be living or nonliving

things. It includes physical, chemical and other natural forces. Living things live
in their environment. They constantly interact with it and change in response to
conditions in their environment. In the environment there are interactions
between animals, plants, soil, water, and other living and non-living things.

Since everything is part of the environment of something else, the word

'environment' is used to talk about many things. People in different fields of
knowledge (like history, geography or biology) use the word environment
differently. Electromagnetic environment is radio waves and other
electromagnetic and magnetic fields. The galactic environment refers to
conditions between the stars.

In psychology and medicine a person's environment is the people,

physical things, places, and epornvents that the person lives with. The
environment affects the growth and development of the person. It affects the
person's behavior, body, mind and heart.

Discussions on nature versus nurture are sometimes framed as heredity vs

environment.
  NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

In biology and ecology, the environment is all of the natural materials and living
things, including sunlight. If those things are natural, it is a natural environment.
Some people call themselves environmentalists. They think we must protect the
natural environment, to keep it safe. Things in the natural environment that we
value are called natural resources. For example; fish, sunlight, and forests.
These are renewable resources because they come back naturally when we use
them. Non-renewable resources are important things in the environment that are
limited for example, ores and fossil fuels. Some things in the natural
environment can kill people, such as lightning.

Everything is surrounded by other things, so everything is the environment of

something. This includes the biotic and abiotic factors that influence each other.
Living elements: animals, plants, etc. are biotic elements, abiotic elements
include air, water, sunlight etc. Studying the environment means studying the
relationships among these various things.

 Ecological units which are natural systems without much human

interference. These include all
vegetation, microorganisms, soil, rocks, atmosphere, and natural events.

 Universal natural resources and physical phenomena which lack clear-cut

boundaries. These include climate, air, water, energy, radiation, electric
charge, and magnetism.

(Reference: en.wikipedia.org)
Definition of Environment
‘Environment’, this word has a great importance in our life. The simple definition
of environment is the ‘surrounding’. It is what surrounds a thing. We can also
define it as “environment is the combination of all of physical and organic factors
that act on a living being, residents, or ecological society and power its endurance
and growth”.

It could be a physical component, which is known as physical environment or a-

biotic environment that includes the built environment. The natural surroundings
like air conditions, water, land, atmosphere etc are also the part of physical
environment but they are commonly known as natural environment. People
surrounding the item or thing, this type of environment is known as human
environment. This is also known as the social environment and includes elements
like the religious environment, emotional environment, residence, relations etc.

Types of Environment
There are mainly three types of environment-

1. The Physical environment

 It is also known as a-biotic environment and natural environment.

 The meaning of ‘a-biotic’ or ‘physical’ is non living like land water air
conditions atmosphere which constitutes of soil. So we can say that physical
or a-biotic environment is the environment which includes non living or
physical things which are constitutes of soil and affect the living things.

 The physical or a-biotic environment also includes the climatic factors such
as sunbeams, rainwater, precipitation, moisture, pressure and wind speed.

The Importance of Physical Environment

  Just think, the most important thing to make house is residential space, and
for residential space, we need land area. The land area is included in physical
environment. So it is responsible for the residential for living beings.

 The a-biotic environment like soil, water and air are the necessary nutrients
element provider for the living beings.

 All of living beings are surrounded by atmosphere; it is the combination of

different types of gases. The living beings take oxygen and other gases from
the atmosphere.

 The a-biotic environment also controls the climatic factors like weather.

 The physical environment also includes the soil which is responsible for the
works and food crops for the living beings. It also provides different types of
minerals which are very necessary for growth of life

 Water is one of the most necessary things for living beings. Physical
environment also deals with the water factor of the earth.

2. Biotic environment
 It is also known as biological environment and organic environment.

 In the opposite side of the physical environment, the biotic or biological

environment is responsible for the living beings.

 You have already understood that the meaning of ‘biological’ is living things.
So, the biological environment is the environment which involves the living
part of the earth.

The importance of biotic environment

 In this type of environment includes the plants, trees, animals, mammals,
underwater living beings including human beings and microorganisms like
bacteria and fungi.
  There is a concept which is necessary to understand. The living beings are
highly dependent to each other. For example humans are highly depend upon
plants and trees for food and oxygen, and plants and trees are also depend
upon humans and animals because of co2

3. Social or cultural environment

 This type of environment involves the culture and life style of the human
beings.

 The social or cultural environment means the environment which is created

by the man through his different social and cultural activities and thinking.

 The historical, cultural, political, moral, economic aspects of human life

constitute to the social or cultural environment

The Importance of Social or Cultural Environment

 Culture involves the religion of the human, relations with each other etc. In a
society there involve different types of people, they have different religion,
different thinking, which has culture of its own and posses people having
their own life style.

 The social or culture environment affects the social culture of human beings
and hence it has the great importance.

 The development of a child is highly depends upon culture and society.

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