Exploring the Investigative World of Science — Practice

Question 1

What are the 7 steps of the scientific method?

Accepted Answer

✦ Answer: Observe, Question, Hypothesise, Experiment, Analyse, Conclude, Communicate.

Question 2

Who discovered the Raman Effect and when?

Accepted Answer

✦ Answer: C.V. Raman discovered the Raman Effect in 1928. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930. 28 February is celebrated as National Science Day in India to commemorate this.

Question 3

Design an experiment to test if light affects plant growth. Identify all variables.

Accepted Answer

Step 1 — Hypothesis.
  Plants grow better with more light.

Step 2 — Identify variables.
  Independent: amount of light (changed)
  Dependent: plant height (measured)
  Controlled: water, soil type, temperature, pot size, seed type, observation period

Step 3 — Set up experiment.
  Take 3 identical pots with same soil, same seeds, same water.
  Pot A: full sunlight (8 hours/day)
  Pot B: half sunlight (4 hours/day)
  Pot C: no direct sunlight (dark room)

Step 4 — Record measurements weekly for 3-4 weeks.

Step 5 — Analyse and conclude.
  Compare growth rates. If Pot A > Pot B > Pot C, hypothesis supported.

✦ Answer: A controlled experiment with light as independent, plant height as dependent, and all other factors controlled. Need 3 identical pots, same conditions except light exposure. Record growth weekly.

Question 4

Explain the importance of curiosity in scientific discovery with examples from Indian science.

Accepted Answer

Step 1 — Curiosity as the engine of science.
  Every major scientific discovery began with someone asking a simple but unanswered question. Without curiosity, there is no science.

Step 2 — Indian examples.
  • C.V. RAMAN: Asked 'Why is the sea blue?' Discovered the Raman Effect (1928). Nobel Prize 1930.
  • JAGADISH CHANDRA BOSE: Asked 'Do plants respond to stimuli?' Pioneered plant physiology; invented the crescograph.
  • SUSHRUTA (~600 BCE): Asked 'Can we repair broken human bodies?' Pioneered surgery — earliest known surgical text.
  • ARYABHATA (~5th century CE): Asked 'How do planets really move?' Proposed earth rotates on its axis (centuries before Galileo).
  • SRINIVASA RAMANUJAN: Driven by deep curiosity for number patterns despite no formal math training — produced thousands of identities.

Step 3 — Modern Indian curiosity.
  • ISRO: Curiosity about space led to Chandrayaan (2008, 2019, 2023), Mangalyaan (2014).
  • Indian doctors and scientists continue to publish thousands of research papers yearly.

Step 4 — Cultivating curiosity.
  Reading widely, asking 'why' constantly, never accepting 'because it's always been so', visiting museums, doing your own experiments.

Step 5 — Lesson for students.
  In school, you receive answers. As a future scientist, you must learn to FIND THE QUESTIONS others haven't asked. India needs the next Ramanujan, the next Raman, the next Kalpana Chawla — and that begins with you, today.

✦ Answer: Curiosity has powered all of science — from Raman's blue-sea question to ISRO's Chandrayaan. Indian heritage shows that civilisations advance when individuals ask 'why?' relentlessly. India needs students to develop this curiosity today to become tomorrow's scientific leaders.

Practice — Exploring the Investigative World of Science

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