Chapter 6- Life Processes

Various functions carried out by living beings; which are necessary to maintain and
continue life are called life process. Following are the life processes in living beings:
 Nutrition
 Respiration
 Transportation of substances
 Excretion
 Movement
 Reproduction

Nutrition:
The process by which an organism takes food and utilizes it is called nutrition.
Need of nutrition: Organisms need energy to perform various activities. The energy is
supplied by the nutrients. Organisms need various raw materials for growth and repair.
These raw materials are provided by nutrients.
Nutrients: Materials which provide nutrition to organisms are called nutrients.
Carbohydrates, proteins and fats are the main nutrients and are called macronutrients.
Minerals and vitamins are required in small amounts and hence are called micronutrients.

Types of Nutrition:
1. Autotrophic Nutrition: The mode of nutrition in which an organism prepares
its own food is called autotrophic nutrition. Green plants and blue-green algae
follow the autotrophic mode of nutrition.
2. Heterotrophic Nutrition: The mode of nutrition in which an organism takes
food from another organism is called heterotrophic nutrition. Organisms; other
than green plants and blue-green algae follow heterotrophic mode of nutrition.
Heterotrophic nutrition can be further divided into two types, viz. saprophytic
nutrition and holozoic nutrition.
o Saprophytic Nutrition: In saprophytic nutrition; the organism secretes
the digestive juices on the food. The food is digested while it is still
to be ingested. The digested food is then ingested by the organism.
All the decomposers follow saprophytic nutrition. Some insects; like
houseflies; also follow this mode of nutrition.
o Holozoic Nutrition: In holozoic nutrition; the digestion happens inside
the body of the organism, i.e. after the food is ingested. Most of the
animals follow this mode of nutrition.

Nutrition in plants:
Green plants prepare their own food. They make food in the presence of sunlight. Sunlight
provides energy. carbon dioxide and water are the raw materials. Chloroplast is the site
where food is made.
Photosynthesis: The process by which green plants prepare food is called
photosynthesis. During this process; the solar energy is converted into chemical energy
and carbohydrates are formed. Green leaves are the main sites of photosynthesis. The
green portion of the plant contains a pigment chloroplast; which contains chlorophyll. The
whole process of photosynthesis can be shown by following equation:
6CO2 + 6H2O ⇨ C6H12O6 + 6O2

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Steps of Photosynthesis:
 Sunlight activates chlorophyll; which leads to splitting of water molecule.
 The hydrogen; released by splitting of water molecule is utilized for reduction of
carbon dioxide to produce carbohydrates.
 Oxygen is the by product, of photosynthesis.
 Carbohydrate is subsequently converted into starch and is stored in leaves and
other storage parts.
 The splitting of water molecules is part of the light reaction.
 Other steps are part of the dark reaction during photosynthesis.
How do raw materials for photosynthesis become available to the plant?
 Water comes from soil; through the xylem tissue in roots and stems.
 Carbon dioxide comes in the leaves through stomata.

Nutrition in animals:
Heterotrophic Nutrition: When an organism takes food from another organism, it is called
heterotrophic nutrition. Based on this, heterotrophic nutrition can be divided into two types:
a. Saprophytic Nutrition: In saprophytic nutrition, the digestion of food takes
place before ingestion of food. This type of nutrition is usually seen in fungi
and some other microorganisms. The organism secretes digestive enzymes
on the food and then ingests the simple substances. Saprophytes feed on
dead materials and thus help in decomposition dead remains of plants and
animals.
b. Holozoic Nutrition: In holozoic nutrition, the digestion of food follows after
the ingestion of food. Thus, digestion takes place inside the body of the
organism.

Steps of Holozoic Nutrition

1. Ingestion: The process of taking in the food is called ingestion.
2. Digestion: The process of breaking complex food substances into simple
molecules is called digestion. Simple molecules; thus obtained; can be
absorbed by the body.
3. Absorption: The process of absorption of digested food is called absorption.
4. Assimilation: The process of utilization of digested food; for energy and for
growth and repair is called assimilation.
5. Egestion: The process of removing undigested food from the body is called
egestion.
Nutrition in Amoeba: Amoeba is a unicellular animal which follows holozoic mode
of nutrition. The cell membrane of amoeba keeps on protruding into pseudopodia.
Amoeba surrounds a food particle with pseudopodia and makes a food vacuole.
The food vacuole contains the food particle and water. Digestive enzymes are
secreted in the food vacuole and digestion takes place. After that, digested food is
absorbed from the food vacuole. Finally, the food vacuole moves near the cell
membrane and undigested food is expelled out.

Nutrition in Humans: Human beings are complex animals; which have a complex digestive
system. The human digestive system is composed of an alimentary canal and some
accessory glands. The alimentary canal is divided into several parts, viz. oesophagus,
stomach, small intestine, large intestine, rectum and anus. Salivary gland, liver and pancreas
are the accessory glands which lie outside the alimentary canal.

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Structure of the Human Digestive System:
Mouth or Buccal Cavity: The mouth has teeth and tongue. Salivary glands are also
present in the mouth. The tongue has gustatory receptors which perceive the sense of
taste. Tongue helps in turning over the food, so that saliva can be properly mixed in it.
Teeth help in breaking down the food into smaller particles so that swallowing of food
becomes easier. There are four types of teeth in human beings. The incisor teeth are used
for cutting the food. The canine teeth are used for tearing the food and for cracking hard
substances. The premolars are used for coarse grinding of food. The molars are used for
fine grinding of food.
Salivary glands secrete saliva. Saliva makes the food slippery which makes it easy to
swallow the food. Saliva also contains the enzyme salivary amylase or ptyalin. Salivary
amylase digests starch and converts it into sucrose.
Stomach: Stomach is a bag-like organ. Highly muscular walls of the stomach help in
churning the food. The walls of stomach secrete hydrochloric acid. Hydrochloric acid kills
the germs which may be present in food. Moreover, it makes the medium inside stomach
as acidic. The acidic medium is necessary for gastric enzymes to work. The enzyme
pepsin; secreted in stomach; does partial digestion of protein. The mucus; secreted by the
walls of the stomach saves the inner lining of stomach from getting damaged from
hydrochloric acid.
Small Intestine: It is a highly coiled tube-like structure. The small intestine is longer than
the large intestine but its lumen is smaller than that of the large intestine.
Liver: Liver is the largest organ in the human body. Liver manufactures bile; which gets
stored in gall bladder. From the gall bladder, bile is released as and when required.
Pancreas: Pancreas is situated below the stomach. It secretes pancreatic juice which
contains many digestive enzymes. Bile breaks down fat into smaller particles. This process
is called emulsification of fat. After that, the enzyme lipase digests fat into fatty acids and
glycerol. Trypsin and chymotrypsin are enzymes which digest protein into amino acids.
Complex carbohydrates are digested into glucose.
The inner wall in small intestine is projected into numerous finger-like structures; called villi.
Villi increase the surface area inside the ileum so that optimum absorption can take place.
Digested food is absorbed by villi.
Large Intestine: Large intestine is smaller than small intestine. Undigested food goes into
the large intestine. Some water and salt are absorbed by the walls of the large intestine.
After that, the undigested food goes to the rectum; from where it is expelled out through the
anus.

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Respiration:
The process by which a living being utilizes the food to get energy is called respiration.
Respiration is an oxidation reaction in which carbohydrate is oxidized to produce energy.
Mitochondrion is the site of respiration and the energy released is stored in the form of ATP
(Adenosine triphosphate). ATP is stored in mitochondria and is released as per need.

Types of Respiration:
1. Aerobic Respiration: This type of respiration happens in the presence of
oxygen. Pyruvic acid is converted into carbon dioxide. Energy is released and
water molecule is also formed at the end of this process.
2. Anaerobic Respiration: This type of respiration happens in the absence of
oxygen. Pyruvic acid is either converted into ethyl alcohol or lactic acid. Ethyl
alcohol is usually formed in case of anaerobic respiration in microbes; like
yeast or bacteria. Lactic acid (CH3(CHOH)COOH) is formed in some microbes
as well as in the muscle cells.

Pain in Leg Muscles on Running: When someone runs too fast, he may experience a
throbbing pain the leg muscles. This happens because of anaerobic respiration taking
place in the muscles. During running, the energy demand from the muscle cells increases.
This is compensated by anaerobic respiration and lactic acid is formed in the process. The
deposition of lactic acid causes the pain the leg muscles. The pain subsides after taking
rest for some time.
Exchange of Gases: For aerobic respiration; organisms need a continuous supply of
oxygen, and carbon dioxide produced during the process needs to be removed from the
body. Different organisms use different methods for intake of oxygen and expulsion of
carbon dioxide. Diffusion is the method which is utilized by unicellular and some simple
organisms for this purpose. In plants also, diffusion is utilized for exchange of gases. In
complex animals, respiratory system does the job of exchange of gases. Gills are the
respiratory organs for fishes. Fishes take in oxygen; which is dissolved in water; through
gills. Since availability of oxygen is less in the aquatic environment so the breathing rate of

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aquatic organisms is faster. Insects have a system of spiracles and tracheae which is used
for taking in oxygen.
Terrestrial organisms have developed lungs for exchange of gases. Availability of oxygen
is not a problem in the terrestrial environment so breathing rate is slower compared to what
it is in fishes.

Human Respiratory System:

The human respiratory system is composed of a pair of lungs. These are attached to a
system of tubes which open on the outside through the nostrils. Following are the main
structures in the human respiratory system:
Nostrils: There two nostrils which converge to form a nasal passage. The inner lining of
the nostrils is lined by hairs and remains wet due to mucus secretion. The mucus and the
hairs help in filtering the dust particles out from inhaled air. Further, air is warmed up when
it enters the nasal passage.
Pharynx: It is a tube like structure which continues after the nasal passage.
Larynx: This part comes after the pharynx. This is also called the voice box.
Trachea: This is composed of rings of cartilage. Cartilaginous rings prevent the collapse of
trachea in the absence of air.
Bronchi: A pair of bronchi comes out from the trachea; with one bronchus going to each
lung.
Bronchioles: A bronchus divides into branches and sub-branches; inside the lung.
Alveoli: These are air-sacs at the end of bronchioles. Alveolus is composed of a very thin
membrane and is the place where blood capillaries open. This is alveolus; where oxygen
mixes with the blood and carbon dioxide exits from the blood. The exchange of gases; in
alveoli; takes place due to pressure differential.
Breathing Mechanism: The breathing mechanism of lungs is controlled by the diaphragm.
Diaphragm is a membrane which separates the thoracic chamber from the abdominal cavity.
When diaphragm moves down, the lungs expand and air is inhaled. When diaphragm moves
up, the lungs contract and air is exhaled.

Transportation in Animals:
Circulatory System: The circulatory system is responsible for transport of various
substances in human beings. It is composed of the heart, arteries, veins and blood
capillaries. Blood plays the role of the carrier of substances.
Heart: Heart is a muscular organ; which is composed of cardiac muscles. It is so small that
it can fit inside and adult’s fist. The heart is a pumping organ which pumps the blood. The
human heart is composed of four chambers, viz. right auricle, right ventricle, left auricle
and left ventricle.
Systole: Contraction of cardiac muscles is called systole.
Diastole: Relaxation of cardiac muscles is called diastole.

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Arteries: These are thick-walled blood vessels which carry oxygenated blood from the
heart to different organs. Pulmonary arteries are exceptions because they carry
deoxygenated blood from the heart to lungs; where oxygenation of blood takes place.
Veins: These are thin-walled blood vessels which carry deoxygenated blood from different
organs to the heart. Pulmonary veins are exceptions because they carry oxygenated blood
from lungs to the heart. Valves are present in veins to prevent backflow of blood.
Capillaries: These are the blood vessels which have single-celled walls.
Blood: Blood is a connective tissue which plays the role of the carrier for various
substances in the body. Blood is composed of plasma, blood cells and platelets.
Blood Plasma: Blood plasma is a pale coloured liquid which is mostly composed of water.
Blood plasma forms the matrix of blood.
Blood Cells: There are two types of blood cells, viz. Red Blood Cells (RBCs) and White
Blood Cells (WBCs).
Red Blood Corpuscles (RBCs): These are of red colour because of the presence of
haemoglobin which is a pigment. Haemoglobin readily combines with oxygen and carbon
dioxide. The transport of oxygen happens through haemoglobin. Some part of carbon
dioxide is also transported through haemoglobin.
White Blood Corpuscles (WBCs): These are of pale white colour. They play important
role in the immunity.
Platelets: Platelets are responsible for blood coagulation. Blood coagulation is a defense
mechanism which prevents excess loss of blood; in case of an injury.
Lymph: Lymph is similar to blood but RBCs are absent in lymph. Lymph is formed from
the fluid which leaks from blood capillaries and goes to the intercellular spaces in the
tissues. This fluid is collected through lymph vessels and finally returns to the blood
capillaries. Lymph also plays an important role in the immune system.
Double Circulation: In the human heart, blood passes through the heart twice in one
cardiac cycle. This type of circulation is called double circulation. One complete heart beat
in which all the chambers of the heart contract and relax once is called cardiac cycle. The
heart beats about 72 times per minute in a normal adult. In one cardiac cycle, the heart
pumps out 70 mL blood and thus about 4900 mL blood in a minute. Double circulation
ensures complete segregation of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood which is necessary
for optimum energy production in warm-blooded animals.

Transportation in Plants:
Plants have specialized vascular tissues for transportation of substances. There are two
types of vascular tissues in plants, viz. xylem and phloem.
Xylem: Xylem is responsible for transportation of water and minerals. It is composed of
trachieds, xylem vessels, xylem parenchyma and xylem fibre. Trachieds and xylem vessels

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are the conducting elements. The xylem makes a continuous tube in plants which runs
from roots to stem and right up to the veins of leaves.
Phloem: Phloem is responsible for transportation of food. Phloem is composed of sieve
tubes, companion cells, phloem parenchyma and fibres. Sieve tubes are the conducting
elements in phloem.
Ascent of Sap
The upward movement of water and minerals from roots to different plant parts is called
ascent of sap. Many factors are at play in ascent of sap and it takes place in many steps.
They are explained as follows:
Root Pressure: The walls of cells of root hairs are very thin. Water; from soil; enters the
root hairs because of osmosis. Root pressure is responsible for movement of water up to
the base of the stem.
Capillary Action: A very fine tube is called capillary. Water; or any liquid; rises in the
capillary because of physical forces and this phenomenon is called capillary action. Water;
in stem; rises up to some height because of capillary action.
Adhesion-cohesion of Water Molecules: Water molecules make a continuous column in
the xylem because of forces of adhesion and cohesion among the molecules.
Transpiration Pull: Loss of water vapour through stomata and lenticels; in plants; is called
transpiration. Transpiration through stomata creates vacuum which creates a suction;
called transpiration pull. The transpiration pull sucks the water column from the xylem
tubes and thus water is able to rise to great heights in even the tallest plants.
Transport of Food: Transport of food in plants happens because of utilization of energy.
Thus, unlike the transport through xylem; it is a form of active transport. Moreover, the flow
of substances through phloem takes place in both directions, i.e. it is a two-way traffic in
phloem.

Excretion:
Removal of harmful waste from the body is called excretion. Many wastes are produced
during various metabolic activities. These need to be removed in time because their
accumulation in the body can be harmful and even lethal for an organism.
Human Excretory System
The human excretory system is composed of a pair of kidneys. A tube; called ureter;
comes out of each kidney and goes to the urinary bladder. Urine is collected in the urinary
bladder, from where it is expelled out through urethra as and when required.
Kidney: Kidney is a bean-shaped organ which lies near the vertebral column in the
abdominal cavity. The kidney is composed of many filtering units; called nephrons.
Nephron is called the functional unit of kidney.

Nephron: It is composed of a tangled mess of tubes and a filtering part; called glomerulus.
Glomerulus is a network of blood capillaries to which renal artery is attached. The artery
which takes blood to the glomerulus is called afferent arteriole and the one receiving blood

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from the glomerulus is called efferent arteriole. Glomerulus is enclosed in a capsule like
portion; called Bowman’s capsule. The Bowman’s capsule extends into a fine tube which is
highly coiled. Tubes from various nephrons converge into collecting duct; which finally
goes to the ureter.

Filtration in Glomerulus: Filtration happens because of very high pressure inside the
glomerulus. The lumen of efferent arteriole is smaller than that of afferent arteriole. Due to
this, the blood entering the glomerulus experiences very high pressure and due to this, the
waste products are filtered out through the thin membrane of capillaries in the glomerulus.
The filtered blood is sent to the systemic circulation through efferent arteriole and the filtrate
goes to the Bowman’s capsule. That is how urine is formed inside the kidneys. Reabsorption
of water and some other filtrates takes place in the tubular part of the nephron. This
increases the concentration of urine. The human urine is mainly composed of water and
urea.

NCERT In-Text Q/A

Question 1. Why is diffusion insufficient to meet the oxygen requirements of

multicellular organisms like humans?
Solution: The body structure of multicellular organism such as humans is very
complex design. They comprised of specialized cells and tissues for
performing various important functions of the body. Unlike the unicellular
organisms, multicellular organisms are not in the direct contact
with surrounding environment. Therefore, simple diffusion will not meet
the oxygen requirement of all the cells and tissues.

Question 2. What criteria do you use to decide whether something is alive?

Solution: Movement of various type such as walking, breathing or growing which
are visible to us can be taken as an indication of life. However a living
organism can also have movements which are not visible to the naked
eye. So, the presence of life process is the fundamental criteria that are
used to decide whether something is alive or not.

Question 3. What are outside raw materials used by an organism?

Solution: An organism uses outside raw materials mostly in the form of food and
oxygen. The raw materials required by an organism can be quite
varied depending on the complexity of the organism and its
environment.

Question 4. What process would you consider essential for maintaining life?
Solution: Life processes such as nutrition, respiration, transportation, excretion,
etc. are essential for maintaining life.

Question 5. What are the difference between autotrophic nutrition and

heterotrophic nutrition?
Solution:
Autotrophic nutrition Heterotrophic nutrition
Food is obtained directly or indirectly from
Food is synthesized from simple Inorganic
autotrophs. This food is broken down with help of
raw material such as CO2 And water
enzymes
Presence of green pigment (chlorophyll) is
No chlorophyll required
necessary
Food is generally prepared During day Food can be prepared at all times.

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time
Example: All green plants and Some Example: All animal and fungi have this type
bacteria have this type of nutrition of nutrition

Question 6. Where do the plants get each of the raw materials required for

photosynthesis?

Solution: The following raw materials are required for photosynthesis:

 The raw material CO2 enters from the atmosphere through stomata.

 Water is absorbed from the soil by the plant roots.

 Sunlight, an important component to manufacture food, is absorbed by the

chlorophyll and other green parts of the plants.

Question 7. What is role of acid in our stomach?

Solution: Role of acid in our stomach are-
(1) It makes an acidic medium in our stomach which is necessary for
activation of pepsin enzyme.
(2) It kills germ present in the food.

Question 8. What is function of digestive enzymes?

Solution: Digestive enzymes such as amylase, lipase,trypsin,etc. help to break the
complex food particles into simple ones so that these simple particles can
be easily absorbed by the blood and thus transported to all the cells of
the body.

Question 9. How is the small intestine designed to ingested food?

Solution: The inner line of small intestine has millions of tiny finger-like projection
called villi. These villi increase the surface area for absorption of food.
These villi is richly supplied with food vessels which take the absorbed
food to each and every cell of the body, where it is used for obtaining
energy building up new tissues and repairing old tissues.

Question 10. What advantage over an aquatic organism does a terrestrial organism
have with regard to obtain oxygen for respiration?
Solution: Terrestrial like organisms take up oxygen from atmosphere whereas
aquatic animals that live in water use oxygen dissolved in surrounding
water. Since, air is dissolved in water has fairly low concentration of
oxygen, the aquatic organisms has to breath faster to get more oxygen.
Terrestrial organisms take oxygen from the oxygen rich atmosphere so,
they much less breathing rate than aquatic organism.

Question 11. What are different ways in which glucose is oxidized to provide energy
in various organisms?
Solution: Glucose is broken down into three carbon molecule called pyruvate in the
cell cytoplasm . Pyruvate is then further broken down by different ways to

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 provide energy in various organism.

1. In yeast cells during fermentation pyruvate is converted into ethanol and carbon
dioxide in the absence of oxygen.
2. In mitochondria, breakdown of pyruvate takes place in presence of oxygen to give
rise 3 molecules of carbon dioxide and water.
3. Sometimes, when there is lack of oxygen, especially during vigorous activity, in our
muscles, pyruvate is converted into lactic acid.

Question 12. How is oxygen and carbon dioxide transported in human beings?
Solution:
Transport of oxygen Transport of carbon dioxide
The respiratory pigments (haemoglobin) Carbon dioxide is more soluble in water. Hence,
present in red blood cells takes up the it is mostly transported from the body tissues in
oxygen from the air to lungs. They then the dissolved form in our blood plasma to lungs
carry the oxygen to cells and tissues which where diffuses from blood to air in the lungs and
are different in oxygen. then expelled out through nostrils

Question 13. How are lungs designed in human beings to maximize area for
exchange of gases?
Solution: In the lungs, the wind pipe branches into bronchi which in turn branches
into bronchioles which finally terminate in balloon like structures called
alveoli. Each lungs contains about 300-350 millions alveoli. The alveoli
provides maximum surface for exchange of gases. The alveoli have very
thin walls and are surrounded by an extensive network of blood vessels to
facilitate exchange of gases.

Question 14. What are the components of the transport system in human beings?
Solution: The components of the transport system in human beings are heart,
blood and blood vessels.
(1) Heart receives deoxygenate blood from various body parts of the body
and sends this impure blood to the lungs for oxygenation. After
receiving the oxygenated blood it pump oxygenated blood to all the
parts of the body.
(2) Blood helps in transport of oxygen, nutrients, Carbon dioxide, and
nitrogenous wastes throughout the body. WBC helps in protects the
body against the infection and disease.
(3) The blood vessels (arteries, veins, and capillaries) help in circulating
blood all throughout the body.

Question 15. Why is it necessary to separate oxygenated and deoxygenated blood

in mammals and birds?
Solution: Warm- blooded animals such as birds and mammals maintain constant
body temperature by cooling themselves when they are in a hotter

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 environment and by warming their bodies when they are in a cooler
environment. It is therefore necessary to separate oxygenated and
deoxygenated blood to maintain efficient supply of oxygen into the body.
Hence, these animals require more oxygen for more cellular respiration so
that they can produce more energy to maintain their body temperature
Question 16. What are components of the transport system in highly organized
plants?
Solution: The components are
(1) Xylem: It helps to conduct water and minerals obtained from the soil
to the rest of the plant.
(2) Phloem: It transports the food materials from the leaves to different
parts of the plant body.

Question 17. How water and minerals care transported in plants?

Solution: Water and minerals transported through xylem cells from soil to the
leaves. The xylem cells of the roots stem and leaves are interconnected to
form a conducting channel that reaches all parts of plant. Because of
transpiration, a suction pressure is created as a result of which water is
forced into the xylem cells of roots. From xylem cells of the roots a steady
movement of water takes place through the interconnected water-
conducting channels. The effect of root pressure for transportation in
plants is more important in night while during day time transpiration pull
becomes the major driving force.

Question 18. How is the food transported in plants?

Solution: Phloem transported food materials from leaves to different parts of the
plant body. Food is transported in dissolved form. This is called
translocation. The transportation of food in phloem is achieved by
utilizing energy from ATP. This energy increases the osmotic pressure, as a
result, water from outside moves into the phloem. This pressure maintains
the movement of food through all the parts of plants.

Question 19. Describe the structure and functioning of nephron.

Solution: Nephrons are the basic filtering units of kidneys. Each kidney processes
large number of nephron, approximately 1-1.5 million. The components of
the nephron are
1. Glomerulus
2. Bowman’s capsule
3. Long renal tubule.
Functioning of a nephron:
(1) The blood enters the kidney through the renal artery, which braches into many
capillaries associated with glomerulus.
(2) The water and solute are transported to the nephron at Bowman’s capsule.
(3) In the proximal tubule, some substances such as amino acids, glucose, and salts
are selectively reabsorbed and unwanted molecules are added in the urine.
(4) The filtrate then moves down into the loop of Henle, where more water is
absorbed.
(5) From here, the filtrate moves upwards into the distal tubule and finally to the
collecting duct. Collecting duct collect urine from many nephrons.

Question 20. What are methods used by the plants to get rid of excretory product?
Solution: Plants used the below ways to get rid of excretory products
 Many waste products are stored in vacuoles of the cells.

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  Some waste products are stored in the leaves and they are removed as the leaves
fall off.
 Some waste products such as resins, tannins and gums are stored in non-functional
old xylem or bark.
 Plants also excrete some waste products through roots into the soil around them
 Plants get rid of excess water through transportations

Question.21 How amount of urine is produced regulated?

Solution: The amount of urine produced depends on the amount of excess water
and dissolved wastes present in the body. Some other factors such as
habitat of an organism and hormone such as Anti-diuretic hormone
(ADH) also regulates the amount of urine produced.

NCERT EXERCISE Q/A

Question 1 The kidney in human beings is a part of the system for
(a) Nutrition. (b) Respiration.
(c) Excretion. (d) Transportation.
Solution: (c)
Question 2 The xylem in plants is responsible for
(a) Transport of water. (b) Transport of food.
(c) Transport of amino acids. (d) Transport of oxygen.
Solution: (a)
Question 3 The autotrophic mode of nutrition requires
(a) Carbon dioxide and water. (b) Chlorophyll.
(c ) sunlight. (d) all of the above.
Solution: (d)
Question 4 The breakdown of pyruvate to give carbon dioxide, water and energy
takes place in
(a) Cytoplasm (b) Mitochondria
(c) Chloroplast (d) Nucleus.
Solution: (b)

Question 5 How are fats digested in our body? Where this process does takes place?
Answer:
- Fats are present in form of large globules in the small intestine.
-The small intestine gets the secretions in the form of bile juice and pancreatic juice
respectively from the liver and pancreas
-The bile salts (from the liver) break down the large fat globules into smaller globules so that
the pancreatic enzymes can easily act on them.
-Lipase enzyme present in the pancreatic juice causes breakdown of emulsified fats.
- Glands present in the wall of small intestine secret intestinal juice which contains
lipase enzyme that convers fats into fatty acids and glycerol. This is referred to as
emulsification of fats. It takes place in the small intestine.

Question 6. What is the role of saliva in the digestion of food?

Answer: Saliva is secreted by the salivary glands, located under the tongue. It moistens the
food for easy swallowing. It contains a digestive enzyme called salivary amylase,
which breaks down starch into sugar.

Question 7: What are the necessary conditions for autotrophic nutrition and what are its by

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 -products?

Answer: Autotrophic nutrition takes place through the process of photosynthesis. Carbon

dioxide, water, chlorophyll pigment, and sunlight are the necessary conditions

required for autotrophic nutrition. Carbohydrates (food) and O2 are the by-

products of photosynthesis.

Question 8: What are the differences between aerobic and anaerobic respiration? Name

some organisms that use the anaerobic mode of respiration.

Answer: Anaerobic respiration occurs in the roots of some waterlogged plants, some

parasitic worms, animal muscles, and some micro-organisms such as yeasts.

Question 9: How are the alveoli designed to maximise the exchange of gases?

Answer: The alveoli are the small balloon-like structures present in the lungs. The walls of

the alveoli consist of extensive network of blood vessels. Each lung contains

300−350 million alveoli, making it a total of approximately 700 million in both the

lungs. The alveolar surface when spreadout covers about 80 m2 area. This large

surface area makes the gaseous exchange more efficient.

Question 10: What would be the consequences of a deficiency of haemoglobin in our

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 bodies?

Answer: Haemoglobin is the respiratory pigment that transports oxygen to the body cells

for cellular respiration. Therefore, deficiency of haemoglobin in blood can affect the

oxygen supplying capacity of blood. This can lead to deficiency of oxygen in the

body cells. It can also lead to a disease called anaemia.

Question 11: Describe double circulation in human beings. Why is it necessary?

Answer: The human heart is divided into four chambers − the right atrium, the right

ventricle, the left atrium, and the left ventricle.

Flow of blood in the heart:

The heart has superior and inferior vena cava, which carries de-oxygenated blood from

the upper and lower regions of the body respectively and supplies this de-oxygenated blood

to the right atrium of the heart.

Flow of blood in the human heart

 The right atrium then contracts and passes the de-oxygenated blood to the right

ventricle, through an auriculo-ventricular aperture.

 Then the right ventricle contracts and passes the de-oxygenated blood into the

two pulmonary arteries, which pumps it to the lungs where the blood becomes

oxygenated.

 From the lungs, the pulmonary veins transport the oxygenated blood to the left

atrium of the heart.

 Then the left atrium contracts and through the auriculo-ventricular aperture,

the oxygenated blood enters the left ventricle.

 The blood passes to aorta from the left ventricle. The aorta gives rise to many

arteries that distribute the oxygenated blood to all the regions of the

body.Therefore, the blood goes twice through the heart. This is known as double

circulation.

Importance of double circulation:

The separation of oxygenated and de-oxygenated blood allows a more efficient supply of

oxygen to the body cells. This efficient system of oxygen supply is very useful in warm-

blooded animals such as human beings. As we know, warm-blooded animals have to

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maintain a constant body temperature. Hence, they require more O2 for more respiration so

that they can produce more energy to maintain their body temperature.

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

phloem?

Answer

Question 13. Compare the functioning of alveoli in the lungs and nephrons in the kidneys

with respect to their structure and functioning.

Answer:

Alveoli Nephrons

(i) Alveoli are tiny balloon-like (i) Nephrons are tubular structures present
structures present inside the lungs. inside the kidneys.

(ii) The walls of the alveoli are one cell

(ii) Nephrons are made of glomerulus,
thick and it contains an extensive
bowman’s capsule, and a long renal tube.
network of blood capillaries.

(iii) The exchange of O2 and (iii) The blood enters the kidneys through
CO2 takes place between the blood of the renal artery. The blood is entered here
the capillaries that surround the alveoli and the nitrogenous waste in the form of
and the gases present in the alveoli. urine is collected by collecting duct.

(iv) Alveoli are the site of gaseous

(iv) Nephrons are the basic filtration unit.
exchange.

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