Question 1

Why is diffusion insufficient to meet the oxygen requirements of multicellular organisms like humans ?
Answer:
In multicellular organisms like humans, all the body cells are not in direct contact with the surrounding
environment. Therefore, every cell of the body will not get oxygen as per need by the process of
diffusion from the environment. Therefore diffusion is insufficient to meet the oxygen requirements of
multicellular organisms.

Question 2
What criteria do we use to decide whether something is alive ?
Answer:
The main criteria used to decide whether something is alive are breathing and respiration. However,
living beings also show growth and movement.

Question 3
What are outside raw materials used by an organism ?
Answer:
Any organism uses organic molecules as raw material. Heteroptrophs use food and autotrophs use
carbon dioxide, minerals, water and all organisms use oxygen (for respiration) as raw materials.

Question 4
What processes would you consider essential for maintaining life ?
Answer:
Processes essential for maintaining life are :
(i) Nutrition
(ii) Respiration
(iii) Transportation
(iv) Excretion

Page Number: 101

Question 1
What are the differences between autotrophic nutrition and heterotrophic nutrition ?
Answer:

Autotrophic nutrition Heterotrophic nutrition

(i) In this mode of nutrition an organism makes or (i) In this mode of nutrition an organism cannot
synthesizes its own food. make or synthesize its own food

Organisms use simple inorganic materials like carbon (ii) Organisms cannot make their own food from
dioxide and water and synthesise their food in presence simple inorganic matter and depend on other
of sunlight. organisms for their food.

(iii) All green plants and some algae undergo this mode (iii) All the animals, most bacteria and fungi undergo
of nutrition. this mode of nutrition.
Question 2
Where do plants get each of the raw materials required for photosynthesis ?
Answer:
(i) Carbon dioxide : Plants get carbon dioxide from the environment/atmosphere through stomata.
(ii) Water : Plants absorb water from the soil through roots and transport to leaves.
(iii) Sunlight : Plants get sunlight from the sun.
(iv) Chlorophyll : It is present in chloroplast found in green leaves and green parts of plants.

Question 3
What is the role of the acid in our stomach ?
Answer:
Role of acid in our stomach is :
(i) To make acidic medium which is necessary for the activation of the enzyme pepsin.
(ii) To kill bacteria which the food may contain.

Question 4
What is the function of digestive enzymes ?
Answer:
The food we eat is complex in nature, i.e., it contains complex molecules. Digestive enzymes break down
these complex molecules into smaller simpler molecules so that they can be absorbed by the walls of
the intestine.

Question 5
How is the small intestine designed to absorb digested food ?
Answer:
The small intestine is designed to provide maximum area for absorption of digested food and its transfer
into the blood for its circulation into the body. For this the inner lining of the small intestine has
numerous finger-like projections called villi. The villi are richly supplied with blood vessels which take
the absorbed food to each and every cell of the body.

Page Number: 105

Question 1
What advantage over an aquatic organism does a terrestrial organism have with regard to obtaining
oxygen for respiration ?
Answer:
Aquatic organisms use oxygen dissolved in surrounding water. Since air dissolved in water has fairly low
concentration of oxygen, the aquatic organisms have much faster rate of breathing.
Terrestrial organisms take oxygen from the oxygen-rich atmosphere through respiratory organs. Hence,
they have much less breathing rate than aquatic organisms.

Question 2
What are the different ways in which glucose is oxidised to provide energy in various organisms ?
Answer:
First step of breakdown of glucose (6 carbon molecules) takes place in the cytoplasm of cells of all
organisms. This process yields a three carbon molecule compound called pyruvate.
Further break down of pyruvate takes place in different ways in different organisms.
(i) Anaerobic respiration : The anaerobic respiration in plants (like yeast) produces ethanol and carbon
dioxide as end products.
(ii) Aerobic respiration : In aerobic respiration break down of pyruvate takes place in presence of oxygen
to give rise three molecules of carbon dioxide and water. The release of energy in aerobic respiration is
much more than in anaerobic respiration.
(iii) Lack of oxygen : Sometimes, when there is lack of oxygen especially during physical exercise, in our
muscles, pyruvate is converted into lactic acid (3 carbon molecule compound). Formation of lactic acid in
muscles causes cramp.

Question 3
How is oxygen and carbon dioxide transported in human beings ?
Answer:
(i) Transport of oxygen : Haemoglobin present in the blood takes up the oxygen from the air in the lungs.
It carries the oxygen to tissues which are deficient in oxygen before releasing it.
(ii) Transport of carbon dioxide : Carbon dioxide is more soluble in water. Therefore, it is mostly
transported from body tissues in the dissolved form in our blood plasma to lungs. Here it diffuses from
blood to air in the lungs.

Question 4
How are the lungs designed in human beings to maximise the area for exchange of gases ?
Answer:
Within the lungs, the air passage divides into smaller and smaller tubes, called bronchi which in turn
form bronchioles. The bronchioles terminate in balloon-like structures, called alveoli. The alveoli present
in the lungs provide maximum surface for exchange of gases. The alveoli have vary thin walls and
contain an extensive network of blood vessels to facilitate exchange of gases.

Page Number: 110

Question 1
What are the components of the transport system in human beings ? What are the functions of these
components ?
Answer:
The transport system (circulatory system) in human beings mainly consists of heart, blood and blood
vessels.
(i) Function of heart : The heart receives deoxygenated blood from the body parts and pumps it to lungs
for enriching with oxygen. It receives purified blood from lungs and pumps it around the body.
(ii) Function of blood : Blood transports oxygen, carbon dioxide, digested food, hormones and
nitrogeneous waste like urea. It also protects the body from diseases and regulates the body
temperature.
(iii) Function of blood vessels : The blood pushed by the heart flows through the blood vessels (arteries,
veins and capillaries) and also comes back to the heart through them.

Question 2
Why is it necessary to separate oxygenated and deoxygenated blood in mammals and birds ?
Answer:
Separation of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood allows good supply of oxygen to the body. This
system is useful in animals that have high energy requirement. Mammals and birds constantly need
oxygen to get energy to maintain their body temperature constant.

Question 3
What are the components of the transport system in highly organised plants?
Answer:
In highly organised plants there are two conducting tissues xylem and phloem.
Xylem consists of vessels, tracheids and other xylem tissues. The interconnected vessels and tracheids
form a continuous system of water conducting channels reaching all parts of the plant. Xylem carries
water and minerals.
Phloem conducts soluble products of photosynthesis from leaves to different parts of the plant body.

Question 4
How are water and minerals transport in plants ? [AICBSE 2015]
Answer:
The roots of a plant have hair called root hair.
The root hair are directly in contact with the film of water in between the soil particles. Water and
dissolved minerals get into the root hair by the process of diffusion. The water and minerals absorbed by
the root hair from the soil pass from cell to cell by osmosis through the epidermis, root cortex,
endodermis and reach the root xylem.
The xylem vessels of the root of the plant are connected to the xylem vessels of its stem.
Therefore the water containing dissolved minerals enters the root xylem vessels into stem xylem
vessels. The xylem vessels of the stem branch into the leaves of the plants. So, the water and minerals
carried by the xylem vessels in the stem reach the leaves through the branched xylem vessels which
enter from the petiole (stalk of the leaf) into each and every part of the leaf. Thus the water and
minerals from the soil reach through the root and stem to the leaves of the plants. Evaporation of water
molecules from the cells of a leaf creates a suction which pulls water from the xylem cells of roots. The
loss of water in the form of vapour from the aerial parts of the plant is known as transpiration.

Question 5
How is food transported in plants ?
Answer:
The movement of food in phloem (or translocation) takes place by utilizing energy. The sugar (food)
made in leaves is loaded into the sieve tubes of phloem tissue by using energy from ATR Water now
enters the sieve tubes containing sugar by the process of osmosis due to which the pressure in the
phloem tissue rises. This high pressure produced in the phloem tissue moves the food to all parts of the
plant having less pressure in their tissues. This allows the phloem to transport food according to the
needs of the plant.

Question 2
The xylem in plants are responsible for
(i) transport of water
(ii) transport of food
(iii) transport of amino acids
(iv) transport of oxygen
Answer:
(i) Transport of water

Question 3
The autotrophic mode of nutrition requires
(i) carbon dioxide and water
(ii) chlorophyll
(iii) sunlight
(iv) all of the above
Answer:
(iv) All of the above

Question 4
The breakdown of pyruvate to give carbon dioxide, water and energy takes place in
(i) cytoplasm
(ii) mitochondria
(iii) chloroplast
(iv) nucleus
Answer:
(ii) Mitochondria
Question 5
How are fats digested in our bodies ? Where does this process take place ?
Answer:
Digestion of fats takes place in the small intestine.
Bile juice secreted by the liver poured in the intestine along with pancreatic juice. The bile salts present
in the bile juice emulsify fhe large globules of fats. Therefore, by enulsification large globules break
down into fine globules to provide larger surface area to act upon by the enzymes.
Lipase enzyme present in the pancreatic juice causes break down of emulsified fats. Glands present in
the wall of small intestine secrete intestinal juice which contains lipase enzyme that converts fats into
fatty acids and glycerol.

Question 6
What is the role of saliva in the digestion of food ?
Answer:
Saliva contains salivary amylase enzyme that breaks down starch into sugars like maltose.

Saliva keeps the mouth cavity clean and moistens the food that help in chewing and breaking down the
big pieces of food into smaller ones.

Question 7
What are the necessary conditions (or autotrophic nutrition and what are its by-products ?
Answer:
Necessary conditions for autotrophic nutrition :
(i) Presence of chlorophyll in the living cells.
(if) Provision of supply of water to green plants or cells of the plant.
(iii) Sufficient sunlight.
(iv) Sufficient supply of carbon dioxide.
By-product of auto tropic nutrition is oxygen.

Question 8
What are the differences between aerobic and anaerobic respiration ? Name some organisms that use
the anaerobic mode of respiration.
Answer:

Aerobic respiration Anaerobic respiration

1. It takes place in the presence of oxygen. 1. It takes place in the absence of oxygen.

2. Complete breakdown of food occurs in aerobic

4. Aerobic respiration produces a considerable

Some organisms which use anaerobic respiration are yeast, bacteria etc.

Question 9
How are the alveoli designed to maximise the exchange of gases ?
Answer:
(i) The alveoli are thin walled and richly supplied with a network of blood vessels to facilitate exchange
of gases between blood and the air filled in alveoli.
(ii) Alveoli have balloon-like structure. Hence, provide maximum surface for exchange of gases.

Question 10
What would be the consequences of a deficiency of haemoglobin in our bodies?
Answer:
Due to the deficiency of haemoglobin in blood, its oxygen carrying capacity decreases. As a result the
production of energy by oxidation will become slower. Therefore, one would fall sick and would feel
fatigue most of the time.

Question 11
Describe double circulation in human beings. Why is it necessary ?
Answer:
In our heart blood enters twice and also pumped out twice from the heart. The deoxygenated blood
from the body is brought to the right atrium through vena cava from where it is sent to right ventricle.
From right ventricle, the blood is pumped to the lungs for oxygenation through pulmonary artery. The
oxygenated blood from lungs again enters the left atrium of the heart through pulmonary veins. From
left atrium it is send to left ventricle, from where this oxygenated blood is pumped to different parts of
body through the arteries. In this way the blood flows through the heart twice, that’s why it is called
‘double circulation’.

Necessity of double circulation: The right side and the left side of the human heart are useful to keep
deoxygenated and oxygenated blood from mixing. This type of separation of oxygenated and
deoxygenated blood ensures a highly efficient supply of oxygen to the body. This is useful in case of
humans who constantly need energy to maintain their body temperature.

Question 12
What are the differences between the transport of materials in xylem and phloem ?
Answer:

Xylem Phloem

1.  Xylem conducts water and dissolved minerals from 1. Phloem conducts prepared food material from leaves
roots to leaves and other parts. to other parts of plant in dissolved form.
 2. In phloem, transport of material takes place through
2. In xylem, the transport of material takes place
sieve tubes with the help of companion cells, which are
through vessels and tracheids which are dead tissues.
living cells.

3. In xylem upward movement of water and dissolved 3. In translocation, material is transferred into phloem
minerals is mainly achieved by transpiration pull. It is tissue using energy from ATP. This increases the osmotic
caused due to suction created by evaporation of water pressure that moves the material in the phloem to tissues
molecules from the cells of a leaf. which have less pressure

Question 13
Compare the functioning of alveoli in the lungs and nephrons in the kidneys with respect to their
structure and functioning.
Answer:

Alveoli Nephron          

1. Alveoli are functional unit of lungs. 1. Nephrons are functional unit of kidney.

2. A mature lung has about 30 crore alveoli. 2. A kidney has about 10 lakh nephrons.

3. Alveoli provide a wide surface for gaseous exchange. 3. The surface area of a nephron is not much more.

4. The exchange of O2 and CO2 takes place through the 4. The Bowman’s capsule in nephron regulates the
network of capillaries in alveoli. concentration of water and salts.