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CHAPTER

8 HEREDITY AND
EVOLUTION

Syllabus Heredity; Mendel’s contribution- Laws for inheritance of traits; sex determination – brief
introduction. (Topics excluded : Evolution, evolution and classification and evolution
should not be expected with progress.)

Revision Notes
Introduction
Variations arise usually during the process of Plant selected by Mendel was Pisum sativum (garden
sexual reproduction. They may be few in asexual pea). Mendel used a number of varieties of garden pea
reproduction, but many in case of sexual reproduction. to study the inheritance of seven pairs of contrasting
The minor variations arising during sexual characters.
reproduction are caused by slight inaccuracies in Seven pairs of contrasting characters in garden pea
DNA copying. In sexual reproduction, variations are plant, selected by Mendel were:
also caused by crossing over process during meiosis.
Beneficial variations help the species to survive better Character Dominant Recessive
in the environment. Trait Trait
Nature selects the beneficial variations thereby Flower colour Violet White
leading to evolution.
Sexual reproduction produces offspring with similar Flower position Axial Terminal
body design of the parents. However, the offsprings Seed colour Yellow Green
are not identical and show a great deal of variation
Seed shape Round Wrinkled
from the parents.
Importance of Variation: Pod shape Inflated Constricted
(i) Depending upon the nature of variations,
Pod colour Green Yellow
different individuals would have different
kinds of advantages. Height of plant Tall Dwarf/Short
e.g., Bacteria that can withstand heat will
Mendel conducted a series of experiments in
survive better in a heat wave (Archaebacteria). which he crossed the pollinated plants to study one
(ii) Main advantage of variation to species is that character (at a time).
it increases the chances of its survival in a Scan to know
Monohybrid cross is a cross
changing environment. more about
Scan to know
between two pea plants with one this topic.
Mendel and His Work on Inheritance pair of contrasting characters.
more about
Gregor Johann Mendel (1833 & this topic. e.g., Cross between a tall and a
1884) started his experiments on dwarf plant (short).
plant breeding and hybridization. In case of monohybrid cross
He proposed the laws of with pure line breeding varieties Mendelian
inheritance in living organisms. of plants, the phenotypic ratio Experiments -
Monohybrid and
Mendel was known as the Father Heredity and obtained in F2 generation was Dihybrid Crosses
Principles of 3:1.
of Genetics. inheritance
 F2 generation
• It states that recessive alleles will
always be masked by dominant alleles. •Phenotype : 3 Red : 1 White
• In F1 generation, phenotype of all •Genotype : 1 RR : 2 Rr : 1 rr
F1 generation
plants are red.
•Phenotype : All red
•Genotype : Rr

Law of Dominance
Law of Segregation
s
ros

Mo
dC Brings about evolution

no
h yb bri
rid n ohy

Mo
F2 generation C ro
ss Variations
•Phenotype
1. Round Yellow
2. Wrinkled Yellow
3. Round Green Gregor Johann Mendel
4. Wrinkled Green (Heredity)
•Genotype
9:3:3:1
Sex
determination

o ss
Cr in humans
rid
D ihyb
Law of Independent
Assortment
Female: 22+XX Male: 22+XY
22 autosomes 22 autosomes
XX sex chromosome XY sex chromosome

F1 generation ity and Evolu

ed
r
•Phenotype : All round yellow
tio

•Genotype : Hybrid (RrYy)

He
n

•Child who inherits an X chromosome from his father : Girl (XX)

•Child who inherits a Y chromosome from his father : Boy (XY).
HEREDITY AND EVOLUTION

Trace the Mind Map




First Level Second Level Third Level
155
156 Oswaal CBSE Question Bank Chapterwise & Topicwise, SCIENCE, Class-X

Example 1
Cross between tall and dwarf pea plants :

(a) Phenotypic ratio:-Tall: Dwarf (3:1), (b) Genotypic ratio:-Pure Tall: Hybrid Tall: Pure Dwarf (1:2:1)
Dihybrid cross is a cross between two plants having In case of dihybrid cross i.e., involving two pairs of
two pairs of contrasting characters. e.g., Cross contrasting characters, the phenotypic ratio obtained
between green round seed with a yellow wrinkled in F2 generation was 9:3:3:1.
seed.

Example 2
Cross between pea plants bearing round green seeds with plants bearing wrinkled and yellow seeds:

Based on above monohybrid cross, he proposed A dominant allele expresses itself in the presence
Law of Dominance, which states that “When parents or absence of a recessive trait
having pure contrasting characters are crossed then whereas a recessive allele is Scan to know
only one character expresses itself in F1 generation. able to express itself only in the more about
This character is the dominant character and the absence of a dominant trait. this topic.
character which cannot express itself is called Law of Segregation: It states
recessive character”. that every individual possesses
The homozygous dominant trait is denoted by two a pair of alleles for a particular
capital letters whereas the homozygous recessive trait. During gamete formation,
trait is denoted by two small letters. a gamete receives only one trait Law of Genetics
Alleles are alternate forms of genes. For e.g., The gene from the alleles. A particular trait
for eye color has several alleles. Two major alleles are: can be dominant or recessive in a
brown and blue. particular generation.
 HEREDITY AND EVOLUTION 157
Law of Independent Assortment : It states that alleles The combination of the male and female germ cells
of different characters separates from each other gives a diploid zygote. Thus, the normal diploid
during gamete formation. number of chromosomes in the offspring is restored.
Genes carry information for producing proteins, Different mechanisms are used for sex determination
which in turn control the various body characteristics. in different species.
For a particular trait, the offspring receives one allele
from the father and one allele from the mother.

The process by which sex of a new born individual is An egg fertilised by X-carrying sperm result into girl
determined is called sex determination. child.
Sex Chromosomes: In human beings, there are 23 An egg fertilised by Y carrying sperm results into a
pairs of chromosomes. Out of these, 22 chromosome boy child.
pairs are called autosomes and Thus, sex of the child is determined by the type of
the last pair of chromosome Scan to know
sperm that fuses with egg.
more about
which helps in deciding sex of
this topic.
the individual is called sex
chromosome.
Autosomes are pairs of
chromosomes that are identical
in appearance and are not
involved in sex determination. Sex Determination
Sex chromosomes are pairs of
chromosomes involved in sex determination and are
not identical in appearance (e.g., X and Y chromosome
in humans).
Sex determination in human beings: A male has one
X and Y sex chromosomes (XY) while a female has
two X-sex chromosomes (XX).
Fig 8.1 : Flow chart

SUBJECTIVE TYPE QUESTIONS

Q. 2. A Mendelian experiment consisted of breeding
Very Short Answer Type pea plants bearing violet flowers with pea plants
Questions (1 mark each) bearing white flowers. What will be the result in
Q. 1. Mendel took tall pea plants and short pea F1 progeny? E [CBSE, Delhi & O.D. Set, 2018]
plants and produced F1 progeny through cross- Concept Applied

fertilisation. What did Mendel observe in the F1
progeny? A [CBSE, Comptt. Set. I, II & III, 2018] Mendel's first law- law of Dominance".

Ans. All pea plant were tall in F1 generation. 1

[CBSE Marking Scheme, 2018]

Topper Answer, 2018

 158 Oswaal CBSE Question Bank Chapterwise & Topicwise, SCIENCE, Class-X

Q. 3. What is DNA? called “tallness”. The gene for tallness will give
K [Board Term II, Foreign Set II, 2016] instructions to the plant cell to generate many plant
growth hormones due to which the plant will grow
Ans. DNA is the carrier of hereditary information from
tall. On the other hand, if the plant has the gene
parents to the next generation. 1
for shortness, less plant growth hormones will be
[CBSE Marking Scheme, 2016]
produced, due to which the plant will not grow
Q. 4. Pea plants can have green or yellow seeds. One of much and remain a dwarf plant. 2
the phenotypes shows dominance over the other. Q. 2. In a cross between red coloured and white coloured
A farmer decides to pollinate a flower of a plant flowers, when plants with red coloured flowers
with green seeds using pollen from a flower of a of F1 generation were self pollinated, plants of F2
plant with yellow seeds. The resulting pod has all generation were obtained in which 75% of plants
green seeds. were with red flowers and 25% plants were with
What should be the genotype of the parent plants to white flowers.
give green and yellow seeds in equal proportion? Explain the inheritance of traits in the above cross
with the help of a flow chart only along with the
 U [CFPQ] ratio of plants obtained.
Q. 5. A farmer crosses two heterozygous green seeded
 F [Board Outside Delhi, Term II, 2022]
plants and obtains 100 plants in the F1 generation.
Ans. When a pure red flowered plant is crossed with
What would be the number of green and yellow
pure white flowered plant, in the next generation,
seeds respectively in the F1 generation?
plants with red flowers are produced. It is called
 A [CFPQ] Mendel’s monohybrid cross or law of dominance.
Ans. Green seeds – 75
Yellow seeds – 25 ½+½
Q. 6. Two tall pea plants are used to produce a progeny
of 20 pea plants. The two parent plants have a
genotype of TT and Tt respectively. How many
short pea plants will be found in the progeny in
the F1 generation? E [CFPQ]
Ans. Cross:

Phenotype: All Tall plants with 50% homozygous

tall and 50% heterozygous tall. (a) Phenotypic ratio: Red : White : 3 : 1
(b) Genotypic ratio: Pure Red : Hybrid Red :
Short Answer Type Pure White: 1 : 2 : 1 2
Questions-I (2 marks each) Q. 3. Mustard was growing in two fields- A and B.
Q. 1. Using height (tallness/dwarfness) of a plant as an While field A produced brown coloured seeds,
example, show that genes control the characteristics field B produced yellow coloured seeds.
or traits in an organism. It was observed that in field A, the offsprings
 K [Board Outside Delhi, Term II, 2022] showed only the parental trait for consecutive
Ans. A gene is the section of DNA on a chromosome generations, whereas in field B, majority of the
that codes the formation of a protein controlling a offsprings showed a variation in the progeny.
specific characteristic of the organisms. Suppose a What are the probable reasons for these ?
plant progeny possess gene for the characteristic Ap [CBSE SQP Term 2, 2022]
This question is for practice and its solution is available at the end of the chapter.
 HEREDITY AND EVOLUTION 159
Ans. In field A, the reason for parental trait in consecutive (ii) Cross for F2 progeny is:
generations of the offsprings is self-pollination. 1
In field B, variation is seen to occur because of
recombination of genes as cross-pollination is
taking place.  1 [CBSE Marking Scheme, 2022]
Q. 4. In an asexually reproducing species, if a trait X
exists in 5% of a population and trait Y exists in
70% of the same population, which of the two trait
is likely to have arisen earlier? Give reason.
A [CBSE SQP Term 2, 2022]
Ans. Trait Y which exists in 70% (larger fraction) of the
population is likely to have arisen earlier because
in asexual reproduction, identical copies of DNA
are produced and variations do not occur. 1
New traits come in the population due to sudden
mutation and then are inherited. 70% of the
population with trait Y is likely to have been
replicating that trait for a longer period than 5% of The phenotypic ratio will be 3 (green): 1 (purple).
population with trait X. 1 (iii) From the above cross, it is confirmed that recessive
traits are not expressed in the F1 generation as they
[CBSE Marking Scheme Answer]
are present in heterozygous condition whereas the
Q. 5. “The chromosome number of the sexually
recessive traits get expressed in F2 generation in
reproducing parents and their offspring is the
same.” Justify this statement. homozygous condition. This is known as the "law
A
of dominance". 1
Ans. Male individual have 46 chromosomes but because
the gametes are always haploid i.e., they have half
the number of chromosomes; sperms will be haploid Commonly Made Error
(23 chromosomes). Female individual also contains
only 23 chromosomes in egg. It is the fusion of the Students often get confused between
sperm and egg which leads to an offsprings with 46 phenotype and genotype and between F1 and
chromosomes. 2 F2 generation.
Q. 6. Give the respective scientific terms used for
studying:
(a) The mechanism by which variations are created Answering Tip
and inherited.
(b) The development of new type of organisms from
Practice concept of phenotype along with F1
the existing ones. K and F2 generation and genotype with the help
of examples.
Short Answer Type
Q. 2. What are chromosomes? Explain how stability
Questions-II (3 marks each)
of the DNA of the species is ensured in sexually
Q. 1. A green stemmed tomato plant denoted by (GG) reproducing organisms.
is crossed with a tomato plant with purple stem  K [Board Delhi, Term II, 2022]
denoted by (gg). Ans. Chromosomes are thread like structures which are
(i) What colour of the stem would you expect in their made up of proteins and DNA. DNA contains the
F1 progeny? information of traits which are passed from parents
(ii) In what ratio would you find the green and purple to offspring from one generation to another. In
coloured stem in plants of F2 progeny? sexually reproducing organisms, stability of DNA
(iii) What conclusion can be drawn for the above is ensured by the DNA copying mechanism. The
observations? U [Board Delhi Set-II, 2022] DNA replication process is very efficient and error
Ans. (i) All the plants in F1 progeny will be of green free which in turn maintains the stability of the
coloured stem. DNA. The chromosome number is also maintained
during reproduction by the process of meiosis
during gamete formation.  3
Q. 3. Two pea plants one with round yellow seeds
(RRYY) and another with wrinkled green (rryy)
seeds produce F1 progeny that have round, yellow
(RrYy) seeds.
When F1 plants are self-pollinated, which new
combination of characters is expected in F2
progeny? How many seeds with these new
This question is for practice and its solution is available at the end of the chapter.
160 Oswaal CBSE Question Bank Chapterwise & Topicwise, SCIENCE, Class-X

combinations of characters will be produced when Analyse the result and describe the mechanism of
a total 160 seeds are produced in F2 generation? inheritance which explains the results.
Explain with reason. U [CBSE SQP Term 2, 2022] A [CBSE SQP, 2021]

Concept Applied Ans. The approximate ratio obtained is 9 : 3 : 3 : 1 in

which parental as well as new combinations are
"Dihybrid inheritance and Law of independent
observed. This indicates that progeny plants have
assortment."
not inherited the whole set of genes from each
parent.
Ans. Round green: 30 ½+½
Wrinkled yellow: 30  ½+½ Every germ cell takes one chromosome from the
New combinations are produced because of the pair of maternal and paternal chromosomes.
independent inheritance of seed shape and seed When two germ cells combine, segregation of one
colour trait.  1 pair of characters is independent of other pair of
[CBSE Marking Scheme, 2022] characters. 3
Q. 5. In humans, there is a 50% probability of the birth
Detailed Answer :
of a boy and 50% probability that a girl will be
When F1 plants were self-pollinated, in F2 generation, born. Justify the statement on the basis of the
off springs produced were in ratio of 9:3:3:1. mechanism of sex-determination in human beings.
Trait Ratio No: of seeds  A [CBSE SQP, 2021]
Round Yellow 9 9/16 ×160 = 90 Concept
Applied
Round green 3 3/16 × 160 = 30 "Sex Determination in Humans".
Wrinkled Yellow 3 3/16 × 160 = 30 Ans. In human beings, the genes inherited from our
Wrinkled Green 1 1/16 × 160 = 60 parents decide whether it will be a boy or girl.
Total 16 160 Women have a perfect pair of sex chromosomes
(XX). But, men have a mismatched pair (XY).
Thus, the new combinations of characters expected All children will inherit an X chromosome from
in F2 generation were: their mother regardless of whether they are boys
Round Green = 30 or girls. Thus, the sex of the children will be
Wrinkled yellow = 30 determined by what they inherit from their father.
New combinations are produced because of the A child who inherits an X chromosome from her
independent inheritance of seed shape and seed father will be a girl, and one who inherits a Y
colour trait. chromosome from him will be a boy. 3
Q. 4. After self-pollination in pea plants with round,  [CBSE Marking Scheme, 2021]
yellow seeds, following types of seeds were Q. 6. What are acquired traits? Why are these traits
obtained by Mendel: generally not inherited over generations? Explain.
Seeds Number  C [CBSE, Comptt. Set I, II & III, 2018]
Round, yellow 630 Q. 7. How do Mendel’s experiment shows that traits are
inherited independently?
Round, green 216
C [O.D. Set I, 2016 , Delhi 31/1/3 2017]
Wrinkled, yellow 202
Concept Applied

Wrinkled, green 64
"Mendel's third law- Law of independent
assortment".
Ans.

Topper Answer, 2016

This question is for practice and its solution is available at the end of the chapter.
 HEREDITY AND EVOLUTION 161

Ans. (a) Law of dominance of traits: In a

Commonly Made Error cross between a pair of contrasting
characters, only one parental
Mostly students make error while drawing the character will be expressed in F1
cross. Some of them forget to label the stages.
generation which is called dominant
trait and the other is called recessive
Answering Tip ½
trait.

Practice cross with the help of different For example – in pea plants, when a
characteristic features in three stages: tall pea plant (TT) is crossed with a
(a) Parents short pea plant (tt), all the progeny
(b) F1 generation produced in F1 generation are tall (Tt). ½
(c) F2 generation 1
All plants in F1 generation were tall
Q. 8. ‘Different species use different strategies to proving that the gene for tallness
determine sex of a newborn individual. It can be is dominant over the gene for
environmental cues or genetically determined.’ dwarfness/ short, which is not able
Explain the statement by giving example for each to express itself in the presence of
strategy. A [Board Term II, SQP, 2016] dominant trait. (any other example)
Ans. Environmental Cue: (i) In some animals, the For cross: Refer to Topic 1/ Revision
temperature at which fertilised eggs are kept notes/ Example 1.
determines whether the developing animal in egg (b) Traits acquired by an organism during 1
is male or female.
its lifetime are known as acquired 1
(ii) In some animals like snail, individual can change traits.
sex. These traits are not inherited because 1
Genetical Cue: A child who inherits an they occur in somatic cells only and do
X-chromosome from her father will be a girl and not cause any change in the DNA of
one who inherits a Y- chromosome from the father
will be boy. 1+1+1 the germ cells.
[CBSE Marking Scheme, 2020]
[CBSE Marking Scheme, 2016]

Long Answer Type Q. 2. (a) What are dominant and recessive traits?
Questions (5 marks each) (b) “Is it possible that a trait is inherited but may
Q. 1. (a) W
 hat is the law of dominance of traits? not be expressed in the next generation?” Give a
Explain with an example. suitable example to justify this statement.
(b) Why are the traits acquired during the life time  U [Board Outside Delhi, Set- II, 2019]
of an individual not inherited? Explain. 
U [Delhi Set I, 2020]
 162 Oswaal CBSE Question Bank Chapterwise & Topicwise, SCIENCE, Class-X

Ans. (a) Dominant Trait: The trait which expresses (b) Using any of the parent pairs mentioned
by you in (a), perform a cross to show the
itself in F1 (first) generation after crossing
genotypes of the offspring that might arise in
contrasting (opposite) trait is known as
the next generation. K [CFPQ]
dominant character (trait). 1
Recessive Trait: The trait which is not Q. 4. How do Mendel’s experiments show that
expressed itself in F1 (first) generation after (a) Traits may be dominant or recessive?
crossing contrasting (opposite) trait. 1 (b) Inheritance of two traits is independent of each
(b) Yes 1 other? U [Delhi 31/1/1 2017]

Ans. (a) Mendel conducted a Monohybrid cross/

(crossed pure tall pea plants with pure dwarf pea
plants) he observed only tall pea plants in the F1
generation, but on self crossing of the F1 progeny,
both tall and dwarf pea plants were observed in
F2 generation in the ratio 3: 1. Appearance of tall
character in F1 and F2 generations shows tallness
to be a dominant character. But absence of dwarf
character in F1 and its reappearance in F2 confirms
 2
that dwarfness is recessive character. 2½
(Or can be explained in words also)
(b) Mendel conducted a dihybrid cross and observed
 [CBSE Marking Scheme, 2019]
that though he started with two types of parents, he
Q. 3. Consider a pea plant that is recessive for plant obtained four types of individuals in F2 generation.
height. Its ‚genotype‘ is tt and ’phenotype‘ is
The appearance of new recombination in F2
dwarf.
generations along with parental type characters
(a) Assuming that the gene for plant height
showed that traits are inherited independently of
obeys the Mendels laws of inheritance,
each other. 2½
indicate the genotypes and phenotypes of
ALL the possible parent pairs that could have [CBSE Marking Scheme, 2017]
dwarf offspring.

COMPETENCY AND CRITICAL

THINKING BASED QUESTIONS
These questions have been specially developed as per the latest typologies prescribed by CBSE in accordance with NEP 2020.

LEVEL-1: Objective Q. 2. Which of the following statement is incorrect?

(A) For every hormone there is a gene.
Type Questions (B) For every protein there is a gene.
 (1 Marks each) (C) For production of every enzyme there is a gene.
(D) For every molecule of fat there is a gene.
[A] Multiple Choice Questions  U [NCERT Exemp.]
Ans. Option (D) is correct.
Q. 1. If a pure tall pea plant is crossed with a pure
dwarf pea plant then, what percentage of F1 and Explanation: Hormone and enzymes are proteins and
F2 generation respectively will be tall? formation of any particular protein is controlled by a
(A) 25%, 25% (B) 50%, 50% particular gene. Hence, all other options are correct.

(C) 75%,100% (D) 100%, 75% Q. 3. If a round, green seeded pea plant (RRyy) is
 U [Board SQP, 2022] crossed with wrinkled, yellow seeded pea plant,
Ans. Option (D) is correct. (rrYY) the seeds produced in F1 generation are:
Explanation: When a pure tall plant (TT) is crossed (A) round and yellow.
with a pure dwarf plant (tt), in the F1 generation, tall (B) round and green.
plants are formed (Tt). When F1 plant is subjected to (C) wrinkled and green.
self pollination, in the F2 generation, 3 tall plants and (D) wrinkled and yellow. Ap [NCERT Exemp.]
1 dwarf plants are formed. Ans. Option (A) is correct.

This question is for practice and its solution is available at the end of the chapter.
 HEREDITY AND EVOLUTION 163
Explanation: Round and green peas are represented
by RRyy. [B] Assertion & Reason
Wrinkled and yellow peas are represented by rrYY. Directions: In the following questions, A statement
When they are crossed they produce round and of Assertion (A) is followed by a statement of
yellow seed in F1 generation. Reason (R). Mark the correct choice as.
Q. 4. The maleness of a child is determined by: (A) Both (A) and (R) are true and R is the correct
(A) the X chromosome in the zygote. explanation of (A).
(B) the Y chromosome in zygote. (B) Both (A) and (R) are true but R is NOT the correct
(C) the cytoplasm of germ cell which determines explanation of (A).
the sex. (C) (A) is true but (R) is false.
(D) sex is determined by chance. (D) (A) is false and (R) is true.
 K [NCERT Exemp.] Q. 1. Assertion (A): Height in pea plants is controlled
Q. 5. A zygote which has an X-chromosome inherited by efficiency of enzymes and is thus genetically
from the father will develop into a: controlled.
(A) a boy. Reason (R): Cellular DNA is the information source
(B) a girl. for making proteins in the cell.
(C) X- chromosome does not determine the sex of  K [Board SQP, 2022]
a child. Ans. Option (A) is correct.
(D) either boy or girl. U [NCERT Exemp.] Explanation: Height in pea plants is controlled by
Ans. Option (B) is correct. efficiency of enzymes. Plants with more growth
Explanation: A zygote with XX chromosomes in the hormones being released grow taller than other
23rd pair would develop into a girl child. plants. Thus the height is genetically controlled.
Cellular DNA is the information source for making
Q. 6. Two pink coloured flowers on crossing resulted
proteins, which in turn carry information for the
in 1 red, 2 pink and 1 white flower progeny. The
release of hormones.
nature of the cross will be:
Q. 2. Assertion (A): A geneticist crossed a pea plant
(A) Double fertilisation. having violet flowers with a pea plant having white
(B) Self-pollination. flowers, he got all violet flowers in first generation.
(C) Cross fertilisation. Reason (R): White colour gene is not passed on to
(D) No fertilisation. U next generation. A [CBSE SQP, 2021]
Ans. Option (B) is correct. Ans. Option (C) is correct.
Explanation: When plants with pure red and Explanation: The gene for violet flowers is
white were crossed, in F1 generation, plants with dominant over the gene for white flowers so that
all pink flowers were produced due to incomplete only the violet gene is expressed as violet flowers
dominance. in the first generation. White colour flower shows
These plants on self-pollination or fertilization its trait in the second generation, after the selfing of
produce progenies (F2 generation) with red, pink, two plants of the first generation. 
and white flowers in 1:2:1 ratio. Q. 3. Assertion (A): Mendel choose a number of varieties
Q. 7. A cross between a tall plant (TT) and short pea of garden pea as plant material for his experiments.
plant (tt) resulted in progeny that were all tall Reason (R): Garden pea has well defined characters
plants because: and is bisexual. K
(A) Tallness is the dominant trait. Q. 4. Assertion (A): In humans, males play an important
(B) Shortness is the dominant trait. role in determining the sex of the child.
(C) Tallness is the recessive trait. Reason (R): Males have two X chromosomes. U
(D) Height of pea plant is not governed by gene ‘T’ Ans. Option (C) is correct.
or ‘t’. U Explanation: Sex of a child is dependent on the
Ans. Option (A) is correct. type of the male gamete that fuses with the
Explanation: This is a case of monohybrid cross, in female gamete. Human beings possess 23 pairs of
which all the progenies in the F1 generation show chromosomes. Out of these, 22 pairs are known as
dominant character. Hence, tallness is the dominant autosomes, while the remaining one pair comprises
trait. sex chromosomes (XX in females and XY in males).
Q. 8. The number of pair (s) of sex chromosomes in the At the time of fertilisation, the egg cell fuses with
zygote of humans is: the sperm cell, resulting in the formation of the
zygote. If the egg cell carrying an X chromosome
(A) One (B) Two.
fuses with the sperm carrying an X chromosome,
(C) Three (D) Four. U the resulting child would be a girl. If the egg cell
Ans. Option (A) is correct. carrying an X chromosome fuses with the sperm
Explanation: The human zygote has twenty-two carrying a Y chromosome, the resulting child would
pairs of autosomes and one pair of sex chromosome. be a boy.

These questions are for practice and their solutions is available at the end of the chapter.
164 Oswaal CBSE Question Bank Chapterwise & Topicwise, SCIENCE, Class-X

Q. 5. Assertion (A): Zygote with two X chromosomes Explanation: In a cross between plant with red
develops into a boy. flower (Rw) and a plant with white flower (ww), 50
Reason (R): If the egg cell carrying an X chromosome % of plants is likely to produce red flower and 50 %
fuses with the sperm carrying a Y chromosome, the white flowers.
resulting child would be a boy. U Q. 2. A red flower plant (RR) was crossed with a white
Ans. Option (D) is correct. flower plant (ww). What will be the colour of the
Explanation: A zygote having two X-chromosomes flower of the next generation plants?
develops into a girl or female (XX) and a zygote (A) Red (B) White
having one X and one Y-chromosome develops into (C) Pink (D) All of these
a boy (male).
Competency: Interpreting Data and Evidence
Q. 6. Assertion (A): Mendel in his experiment selected
Scientifically.
only two characters of seed.
Ans. Option (A) is correct.
Reason (R): He studied single character at one
Explanation: All flowers in the next generation
time. K
would be red as R is the dominant trait. The flowers
Ans. Option (D) is correct. will inherit Rw set of genes.
Explanation: Mendel considered total 7 characters: Q. 3. What would have caused the variation in the gene
(i) 3 characters of seed i.e., seed shape, seed for flower colour?
colour, cotyledon colour.
(A) Mutation (B) Pollination
(ii) 2 characters of pod i.e., pod shape and pod
colour. (C) Speciation (D) Adaptation
(iii) 2 characters of plant i.e., plant height and Competency: Explaining Phenomena Scientifically
position of pods on the stem. Ans. Option (A) is correct.
Mendel’s success was mainly based on the fact that Explanation: Mutation caused due to variation in
he considered a single character at one time. the gene for flower colour. A mutation is a change
in the DNA sequence of an organism. It can result
LEVEL-2: Case Based from errors in DNA replication during cell division,
exposure to mutagens or a viral infection.
Questions  (4 Marks each) Q. 4. The above cross is known as:
(A) Monohybrid cross (B) Dihybrid cross
[A] Case based MCQs (C) Test cross (D) Back cross
Ans. Option (A) is correct.
I. Read the passage and answer the following Explanation: A cross between two plants, which
questions. differ in only one pair of contrasting characters, is
A plant with red flower (Rw) is cross bred with called monohybrid cross. In this cross, F2 phenotypic
a plant with white flower (ww). There are two ratio is 3 : 1 and genotypic ratio is 1 : 2 : 1.
variations of the gene controlling the colour of the
flower. The gene for red flower (R) is dominant II. Study the given cross showing self pollination in
F1 and answer the following questions from Q.1.
over that for white flower (w). [SAS]
to Q.4.
RRYY × rryy Parents
(Round Yellow) (Wrinkled Green)
RrYy × ________ F1 generation
(Round Yellow)
Q. 1. The missing blank in the above cross is:

The Punnett square shows the result of the cross. (A) RrYy (B) RRYY
(C) RryY (D) rryy U
W W
Ans. Option (A) is correct.
R Rw Rw Explanation: RrYy (Round Yellow) is the missing
W ww ww blank in the above cross.
Q. 2. The combination of characters in the F2 progeny
Q. 1. What percentage of the plants is likely to produce are:
white flowers? (A) Round Yellow: Round Green: Wrinkled
(A) 25 % (B) 50 % Yellow : Wrinkled Green
(C) 75 % (D) 100 % (B) Round Green : Round Yellow : Wrinkled
Competency: Explaining Phenomena Scientifically yellow : Wrinkled Green
Ans. Option (B) is correct.
 HEREDITY AND EVOLUTION 165
(C) Round Yellow : Round Green : Wrinkled Ans. (a) F1 progeny of tall plants with round seeds
Green: Wrinkled yellow and short plants with wrinkled seeds will be
(D) Round Green : Round Yellow : Wrinkled heterozygous tall plant with round seeds (TtRr) as
yellow : Wrinkled Green K tall and round is the dominant traits.
Ans. Option (A) is correct. (b). The recessive traits are short plants and wrinkled
Explanation: In F2 generation, the combination seeds. 1
of characters is Round Yellow : Round Green : (c) The different types of combination obtained in F2
Wrinkled yellow : Wrinkled Green. progeny are:
Q. 3. The ratio of the combination of characters in the F2
progeny is:
(A) 3 : 1 (B) 1 : 2 : 1
(C) 1 : 1 : 1 (D) 9 : 3 : 3 : 1 K
Ans. Option (D) is correct.
Explanation: The ratio of the combination of
characters in the F2 progeny is 9 : 3 : 3 : 1.
Q. 4. A Mendelian experiment consists of breeding tall
pea plants bearing violet flowers with short pea
plants bearing white flowers. The progeny all bore
violet flowers, but almost half of them were short.
This suggests that the genetic make-up of the tall
parent cod depicted as:
(A) TTWW (B) TTww
(C) TtWW (D) TtWw K
Ans. Option (C) is correct.
Explanation: All progeny bore violet flowers, so they
all must have gene for violet flower. As violet colour
appears in hybrids thus it must be the dominant Tall plants with round seeds = 9
character. So, white flowered plant should have Short plants with round seeds = 3
WW genes to show recessive white character. It Tall plants with wrinkled seeds = 3
indicates that all progenies got allele W (violet Short plants with wrinkled seeds = 1
colour) from tall-violet flowered plant, thus all of Phenotypic ratio = Tall round : short round  : tall
its gametes should have this allele. To serve this
wrinkled : short wrinkled: 9:3:3:1
purpose, plant must have WW genes. But, tallness
was found in 50% progenies thus half of its gametes  1+1
contained T gene and other half contained t gene. OR
Inclusively, the tall plant had TtWW genotype. If 1600 plants were obtained in F2 progeny, the
number of plants having traits will be:
[B] Case Based Subjective (i) Tall plants with round seeds =
9
´ 1600
Questions 16
= 900
I. Mendel blended his knowledge of science and
1
mathematics to keep the count of the individuals (ii) Short plants with wrinkled seeds = ´ 1600
exhibiting a particular trait in each generation. 16
He observed a number of contrasting visible = 100
characters controlled in pea plants in a field. He The conclusion of the above experiment states the
conducted many experiments to arrive at the laws “Law of independent assortment”. This law states
of inheritance. that the alleles of two (or more) different genes get
(a) What do the F1 progeny of tall plants with round sorted into gametes independently of one another.
seeds and short plants with wrinkled seeds look  2
like?  1 II. Sex of an individual is determined by different
(b) Name the recessive traits in above case.  1 factors in various species. Some animals rely
(c) Mention the type of the new combinations of entirely on the environmental ones, while in some
plants obtained in F2 progeny along with their other animals the individuals can change their sex
ratio, if F1 progeny was allowed to self pollinate.2 during their life time indicating that sex of some
OR species is not genetically determined.
If 1600 plants were obtained in F2 progeny, write However in human beings, the sex of an individual
the number of plants having traits: is largely determined genetically.
(i) Tall with round seeds. (a) In what way are the sex chromosomes ‘X’ and ‘Y’
(ii) Short with wrinkled seeds. different in size? Name the mismatched pair of sex
Write the conclusion of the above experiment. 2 chromosome in humans.
 [Board Delhi Term II, 2022]
166 Oswaal CBSE Question Bank Chapterwise & Topicwise, SCIENCE, Class-X

(b) Write the number of pair/pairs of sex chromosomes Q. 1. What will be set of genes present in the F1
present in human beings. In which one of the generation? U 1
parent (male/female) perfect pair/pairs of sex Q. 2. Give reason why only tall plants are observed in F1
chromosome are present? progeny. K 1
(c) Citing two examples, justify the statement Q. 3. When F1 plants were self-pollinated, a total 800
“Sex of an individual is not always determined plants were produced. How many of these would
genetically”. be tall, medium height or short plants? Give the
OR genotype of F2 generation. K 1
Draw a flow chart to show that sex is determined Q. 4. When F1 plants were cross pollinated with
genetically in human beings. plants having it genes, a total of 800 plants were
 [Board Outside Delhi, Term II, 2022] produced. How many of these would be tall,
Ans. (a) The father can contribute an X or a Y medium height or short plants ? Give the genotype
chromosome, while the mother always contributes of F2 generation. 1
an X. The Y chromosome is one-third the size of the K [CBSE SQP Term 2, 2022]
X chromosome and contains about 55 genes while
the X chromosome has about 900 genes. ½
X chromosome has mismatched pair in a normal
human male. ½
(b) There is 1 pair of sex chromosomes present in
human beings. ½
Females have perfect pair of chromosomes i.e., XX.
 ½
(c) Sex of an individual is not always determined
genetically. for e.g.,
(i) In some animals, the temperature at which
fertilised eggs are kept determines whether the
developing animal in an egg is male or female.
(ii) In some animals like snail, individual can
change sex. 2 Ans. 1. Tt 1
OR 2. Traits like 'T' are called dominant traits, while
those that behave like 't' are called recessive
Sex determination in human beings: Refer to
traits. /Alternatively accept the definition of
Revision Notes/ Fig 8.1.
dominant and recessive traits with examples
III. Read the passage given below and answer the of T and t respectively/Alternatively accept the
following questions. law of Dominance with examples of T and t. 1
Sahil performed an experiment to study the 3. Out of 800 plants, 600 plants will be tall and 200
inheritance pattern of genes. He crossed tall pea plants will be small. 1TT : 2Tt : 1tt 1
plants (TT) with short pea plants (tt) and obtained
4. In the cross between Tt × tt, 400 Tall (Tt) and
all tall pea plants in F1 generation.
400 short (tt) plants will be produced. 1

Solutions for Practice Questions

Very Short Answer Type Questions Changes in the non-reproductive tissues are
st
Ans. 4: 1 parent – Gg ½ not passed on to the DNA of the germ cells and
therefore not inherited to the next generation. 1
2nd parent – gg ½
Short Answer Type Questions-I Long Answer Type Questions
Ans. 6:(a) Genetics is the study of mechanism by which Ans. 3. (a) The genotypes of all the possible parent
variations are created and inherited. pairs are:
(b) Evolution is used for studying the development of (i) Tt × Tt ½
new type of organisms from the existing ones.1+1 (ii) Tt × tt ½
Short Answer Type Questions-II (iii) tt × tt ½
Ans. 6: Characters that a person acquires during one’s The correct phenotypes for each of the
life time are known as acquired characters/traits. 1 genotypes are :
Such changes do not occur in the reproductive (i) Tt (Tall) × Tt (Tall) ½
tissues. 1 (ii) Tt (Tall) × tt (Dwarf) ½
(iii) tt (Dwarf) × tt (Dwarf) ½
 HEREDITY AND EVOLUTION 167

(b) Cross: (0.25 marks for writing the four gametes +

0.25 for writing the four genotypes correctly)
 (¼ × 4 + ¼ × 4)

Solutions for Competency and Critical

Thinking Based Questions
[A] Multiple Choice Questions [B] Assertion and Reason
Ans. 4: (B) Y-chromosome in zygote means that the Ans. 3: (A) Mendel choose garden pea as plant material
zygote would develop into a male child. for his experiment because garden pea plants
were easily available / they grow in one season /
fertilisation is easy /they have several contrasting
characters.

REFLECTIONS

(a) Can you now easily solve the questions based on Mendel’s monohybrid and dihybrid cross?
(b) Is the concept of sex determination in human more authentic than other animals?

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
AI CONCEPTS
PARAMETERS DESCRIPTION
INTEGRATED
Chapter Covered Chapter 8: Heredity and Evolution
Name of the Book Science, Class 10, NCERT
Subject and Artificial Mendelian experiments on pea plants. tiny-sorter
Intelligence Reasons for success of Mendel.
Integrated Laws of Inheritance integrated with supervised learning

Learning Students will be able to: teachablemachine

Objectives • Understand gametes contain the chromosomes that get
transferred to the next generation.
• Identify that DNA is the substance that leads to the
variation in organisms.
• Differentiate between Dominant and Recessive traits.
• Justify the use of Pea plants as the experimental
material by Mendel.
• Construct a monohybrid & dihybrid cross and calculate
the ratio of offspring.
• Analyse the appearance and suppression of specific
traits during the crosses.
168 Oswaal CBSE Question Bank Chapterwise & Topicwise, SCIENCE, Class-X

Time Required 3-4 periods, 40 mins each.

Classroom Flexible sitting arrangement
Arrangement
Material Required Desktops with internet connection for each group, Pen,
pencil, paper, projector.
Pre – Preparation Students will be provided with samples of pea seeds, and
Activities asked to sort them according to their shapes.
They will also be asked to observe and note down
following characters in their classmates:
The eye color, hair color, hair texture, dimples on cheeks
and note the number as their observation.
Previous Knowledge Students must be familiar with terms like variations and
that sexual reproduction leads to variations.
The DNA plays an important role in determination of
characters.
Methodology The students will share their observations with the class.
Teacher now explains that there are some traits which are
dominant over others, and explains the first law of Mendel
through a Monohybrid Cross.
Dominant traits are the ones which are found in most
of the population and recessive ones are found less
frequently in the population.
Students will be divided into groups of 5 students each
and asked to work out on any 3 dominant/ recessive traits
they are able to find in a population and then make a
report of the same. Later share it with the class.
Further the teacher explains the work of Mendel and
the other two laws of Mendel and law of independent
assortment. i.e. law of segregation.
Students now will be asked to practice the mono and
dihybrid cross using different examples.
Learning Outcomes Students should be able to:
• Understand that gametes contain the chromosomes
that get transferred to the next generation.
• Appreciate the efforts of Mendel for studying
contrasting traits located on different chromosomes in
the pea plant.
• Differentiate between Dominant and Recessive traits.
• Justify the use of Pea plants as the experimental
material by Mendel.
• Illustrate the Monohybrid cross as performed by
Mendel.
• Construct a monohybrid & dihybrid cross and calculate
the ratio of offspring using (Punnett square).
• Analyse the appearance and suppression of specific
traits during the crosses.
Follow up Activities • 
Hold a brief class discussion on the topic of inheritance
and observe what the students say and which concepts
are still not clear to them.
• 
Ask them to award a score to themselves based on how
much they could contribute to the discussion
• 
Take a mind map making activity on paddlet.com
Reflections Students can feed in different samples and calculate the
dominant trait in different characters like dominant coat
colour in dogs; black or brown hair.


 SELF ASSESSMENT PAPER - 2

Max. Marks : 30 Max. Time: 1 hour

Multiple Choice Questions [1 Mark each]
Q. 1. If salivary amylase is lacking in the saliva, which of the following events in the mouth cavity will be affected?
(A) Proteins breaking down into amino acids
(B) Starch breaking down into sugars
(C) Fats breaking down into fatty acids and glycerol
(D) Absorption of vitamins
Q. 2. What prevents back flow of blood inside the heart during contraction?
(A) Valves in heart (B) Thick muscular walls of ventricles
(C) Thin walls of atria (D) All of the above
Q. 3. Factors responsible for the rapid spread of bread mould on slices of bread are:
(i) large number of spores.
(ii) availability of moisture and nutrients in bread.
(iii) presence of tubular branched hyphae.
(iv) formation of round shaped sporangia.
(A) (i) and (iii) (B) (ii) and (iv)
(C) (i) and (ii) (D) (iii) and (iv)
Q. 4. If a round, green seeded pea plant (RRyy) is crossed with wrinkled, yellow seeded pea plant, (rrYY) the seeds
produced in F1 generation are
(A) round and yellow. (B) round and green.
(C) wrinkled and green. (D) wrinkled and yellow.
Assertion & Reason [1 Mark each]
Directions : In the following questions, a statement of Assertion (A) is followed by a statement of Reason (R).
Mark the correct choice as.
(A) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
(B) Both A and R are true but R is NOT the correct explanation of A.
(C) A is true but R is false.
(D) A is false and R is true.
Q. 5. Assertion (A): Alveoli contain an extensive network of blood vessels.
Reason (R): Alveoli is the site where exchange of gases occurs.
Q. 6. Assertion (A): Abscisic acid is a stress hormone.
Reason (R): Stimulation of abscisic acid occurs in adverse conditions.
Case Based Questions [4 Marks each]
Q. 7. Read the following and answer any four questions from (a) to (e).
All living cells require energy for various activities. This energy is available by the breakdown of simple
carbohydrates either using oxygen or without using oxygen.
(a) Energy in the case of higher plants and animals is obtained by
(A) Breathing (B) Tissue respiration
(C) Organ respiration (D) Digestion of food
(b) The graph below represents the blood lactic acid concentration of an athlete during a race of 400 m and
shows a peak at point D.
170 Oswaal CBSE Question Bank Chapterwise & Topicwise, SCIENCE, Class-X

Lactic acid production has occurred in the athlete while running in the 400 m race. Which of the following
processes explains this event?
(A) Aerobic respiration (B) Anaerobic respiration
(C) Fermentation (D) Breathing
(c) Study the graph below that represents the amount of energy supplied with respect to the time while an
athlete is running at full speed.

Choose the correct combination of plots and justification provided in the following table.
Plot A Plot B Justification
(A) Aerobic Anaerobic Amount of energy is low and inconsistent in aerobic and high
in anaerobic
(B) Aerobic Anaerobic Amount of energy is high and consistent in aerobic and low in
anaerobic
(C) Anaerobic Aerobic Amount of energy is high and consistent in aerobic and low in
anaerobic
(D) Anaerobic Aerobic Amount of energy is high and inconsistent in anaerobic and
low in aerobic
(d) The characteristic processes observed in anaerobic respiration are
(i) presence of oxygen (ii) release of carbon dioxide
(iii) release of energy (iv) release of lactic acid
(A) (i), (ii) only (B) (i), (ii), (iii) only
(C) (ii), (iii), (iv) only (D) (iv) only
(e) Study the table below and select the row that has the incorrect information.
Aerobic Anaerobic
(A) Location Cytoplasm Mitochondria
(B) End Product CO2 and H2O Ethanol and CO2

(C) Amount of ATP High Low

(D) Oxygen Needed Not needed

Very Short Answer Type Questions [1 Mark each]

Q. 8. Name the two components of peripheral nervous system.
Q. 9. Name the hormones in humans which regulate carbohydrate, protein and fat metabolism in the body. Mention
the site where it is synthesised.
Q. 10. How many pairs of chromosomes are present in human beings?
Short Answer Type Questions [2 Marks each]
Q. 11. Mention the role of the following organs of human male reproductive system:
(i) Testis; (ii) Scrotum;
(iii) Vas deferens; (iv) Prostate gland
Q. 12. Mention the pathway of urine starting from the organ of its formation. Name any two substances which are re-
absorbed from the initial filtrate in the tubular part of the nephron.
 SELF ASSESSMENT PAPER 171
Q. 13. Different parts of brain are associated with specific functions. Name the part of human brain which performs the
following functions:
(A) Sensation of feeling full (B) Vomiting
(C) Picking up a pencil (D) Riding a bicycle
Short Answer Type Questions [3 Marks each]
Q. 14. Give one example of following plant parts:
(A) Which is (i) positively phototropic and (ii) negatively geotropic.
(B) Which is positively hydrotropic as well as positively geotropic ?
(C) Which synthesises auxin ?
Q. 15. Bile juice does not have any digestive enzyme but still plays a significant role in the process of digestion. Justify
the statement.
Long Answer Type Questions [5 Marks each]
Q. 16. Give one example each of unisexual and bisexual flowers. Differentiate between the two types of pollination that
occur in flowers. What happens when pollen lands on a suitable stigma? Write about the events that occur till the
seed formation in the ovary.


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