CLASS X

Biology
Gist of the Lessons Taught Between December 1st and December 19th

HEREDITY
Q1. Why do mice whose tails were surgically removed after birth for generations , continue to
produce mice with tails?

Answer: The tails were surgically removed in mice. This is an acquired character for the mice. It does
not cause any change in the DNA of the germ cell of the mice. As a result such characters cannot be
inherited. Hence in the next generation as well mice are born with tails.

Q2. Name the genetic material that is responsible for inheritance of traits.

Answer: The genetic material that is responsible for inheritance of traits is Deoxyribonucleic Acids
which is inherited as genes.

Q3. What are chromosomes? Where are they located in the cell?

Answer: Chromosomes are thread like coiled structures which are made up of DNA and protein and
contains genes that can be inherited by the next generation. They are present in the nucleus of the
eukaryotic cell.

Q4. How do Mendel’s experiment show that traits are inherited independently?

Answer: In Mendel’s dihybrid cross it is evident that the alleles for seed colour and the alleles for
seed shape segregate independent of one another forming four types of gametes YR, Yr, yR and yr.
When offprings are formed in the second filial generation, there are four types of phenotypes that
can be seen. Yellow round, yellow wrinkled, green round and green wrinkled. This proves that the
alleles for the two traits combine in all possible combinations independent of one another.

Q5. A blue coloured flower plant denoted by BB is cross bred with that of a white coloured flower
plant denoted by bb

a. State the colour of flower you would expect in the next generation
b. What must be the percentage of white flowered plants if F1 plants are self fertilised?
c. State the expected ratio of BB and Bb in the F2progeny.

Answer: The cross in the problem has been worked out below
a. Since blue (B) is dominant over white (b) in the given cross between BB and bb, the offsprings will
be Bb and will be phenotypically Blue.

b. As the cross shows, one out of four individuals will bear bb gene and will have white flowers.
Therefore, 25% of the offprings will have white flowers.

c. As the cross shows, the expected ratio of BB and Bb will be 1:2 in the F2 progenies.

Q6. What will be the sex of a child who inherits Y chromosome from the father?
Answer: The child who inherits Y chromosome of the father will be male as the Y chromosome
contains gene for development of testis in the foetus.

Q7. How many autosomes are present in the female gamete?

Answer: There are 22 autosomes present in the female gamete.

Q8. Name the terms-

a. The transmission of traits from parents to offsprings

b. Differences in a trait in human beings.
c. A recognisable feature of an organism.

Answer

a. Inheritance

b. Variation

c. Phenotype

Q9. How many sex chromosomes are present in a human female?

Answer: There are two sex chromosomes present in the human female, both are X chromosomes.

Q10. How many types of sex chromosomes are present in the body cell of a human female?
Answer: There is only one type of sex chromosome present in the body cell of the human female. It
is X chromosome.

Q11. How many types of sex chromosomes are found in the somatic cell of a human male?

Answer: There are two types of sex chromosomes – X and Y present in the somatic cell of the human
male.

Q12. How many sex chromosomes are present in a human sperm?

Answer: There is only one type of sex chromosome present in a human sperm. It is either X or Y.

OUR ENVIRONMENT
Q1. What are trophic levels?

Answer: Trophic levels are the levels of food that forms a food chain.

Q2. What is biological magnification?

Answer: Biological magnification is the process by which a nonbiodegradable substance increases in

amount along the trophic level and shows maximum amount in the top level consumers.

Q3. List two natural ecosystems.

Answer: Two natural ecosystems are forest ecosystem and marine ecosystem.

Q4. Why are green plants called producers?

Answer: Green plants are called producers because they are capable of fixing solar energy into food
energy by the process of photosynthesis and making it available for the rest of the food chain.

Q5. Consider the following food chain which occurs in a forest: grass deer lion

If 10000j of solar energy is available to grass , how much energy would be available to the deer to
transfer to the lion.

Answer: If 10000j of solar energy is available for the plant the plant will be able to use 1% of the
total available energy. So the plant gets 100j of energy. According to Lindeman’s 10% law, only 10%
of this energy, that is 10j will be available for the next trophic level that is deer. And 10% of 10j, that
is 1j will be available for the lion.

If we consider that a total of 10000j of energy is fixed by the plant then the amount of energy
available for the deer will be 10% of 10000j, that is, 1000j. And the amount of energy available for
the lion will be 10j.

Q6. Which of the following belong to the first trophic level in a food chain ?

Grass, Grasshopper, Plants, Rats, Tiger

Answer: Grass and plants belong to the first trophic level of a food chain as they are producers.

Q7. Discuss the role of decomposers in an ecosystem.

Answer: Decomposers are responsible for breaking down complex organic dead matter and
releasing the minerals trapped in them into air, water and soil. These minerals are available now for
the plants to re-enter the food chain.
Q8. What is the function of ozone in the upper atmosphere?

Answer: The ozone in the upper ozone layer is responsible for trapping the harmful Ultra-Violet rays
of the sun and preventing them from entering the earth’s atmosphere.

Q9. Which chemical is linked to the decrease in ozone layer?

Answer: Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) is mainly linked to the depletion of ozone layer in the upper
atmosphere.

REPRODUCTION
Q1. Trace the changes that take place in a flower from gamete formation to fruit
formation.
Answer: The reproductive parts of a flower are stamen and carpel. The stamen consists of the anther
and the filament. The anther contains pollen grains. The carpel consists of three parts – stigma, style
and ovary. The ovary contains the ovules.

The pollen grain has two haploid nuclei. These are the tube nucleus which helps in the formation of
the pollen tube and the generative nucleus which divides to give rise to two male gametes.

The ovule contains the embryo sac. In the embryo sac there are eight nuclei and seven cells. There
haploid cells, called antipodals are present towards the chalazal end. Two haploid nuclei fuse at the
centre of the embryo sac forming the central cell. At the micropylar end one haploid egg cell remains
flanked by two haploid synergid cells on two sides.
During pollination, the pollen grain from the anther of a flower falls on the stigma of the same
flower or another flower of the same plant or a different plant.

The pollen grain starts growing a tube known as the pollen tube with the help of the tube nucleus.
The pollen tube runs along the style towards the ovule. The tube nucleus is followed by the
generative nucleus. Before reaching the embryo sac the generative nucleus divides to give rise to
two male gametes. The tube nucleus dissolves on entering the embryo sac through one of the
synergids. This makes way for the male gametes. One of the male gametes fuses with the egg cell to
form the diploid zygote. The other male gamete fuses with the central cell to form the triploid
primary endosperm nucleus. Since fertilization takes place twice, this process is known as double
fertilization. The fusion of three haploid cells forms the primary endosperm nucleus. Hence this
process is known as triple fusion.
After fertilization, the fertilized ovary gets converted into fruit, the ovule gets converted into seed,
the primary endosperm nucleus forms the endosperm of the seed, the zygote forms the embryo.
The other parts like the stigma, style, the calyx and corolla of the flower are shed off.