Long Answer Type Question
How do the desert plants and animals combat the scarcity of water in deserts?
Ans. The desert plants and animals learn to adapt themselves to the climatic conditions of the desert and thereby require less water than most plants and animals. Some plants have the capacity to store in their stems, roots and other parts excess water. Also, they constantly suck moisture from the ground. The desert animals, too, are able to consume and store more water. Animals like camels can survive without water for days. The smaller animals, on the other hand, face this adversity by not exposing themselves to heat during the day. Also, they eat other smaller animals from whose meat they could gather moisture.
Value Based Question
Why do you think deserts are an important part of nature’s great plan?
Ans. A large portion of the Earth is covered by deserts. The dry patches of land with no water or vegetation too have a purpose to serve. If nothing else, deserts remind us of the beauty of other places with which God has blessed human beings.
Just like it is impossible to understand the significance of light in the absence of darkness, similarly the beauty of nature could be appreciated by understanding barrenness as another alternative.
Nonetheless, the natural landscapes of deserts too are a thing of beauty.