"Science — The World of the Living" — Practice

Question 1

A plant with a soft, green, tender stem that cannot grow very tall, such as coriander or mint, is classified as a:
(a) Tree  (b) Shrub  (c) Herb  (d) Climber

Accepted Answer

A soft, tender, green stem unable to support much height is the defining feature of a herb.

Answer: (c) Herb. Trap (a) Tree requires a hard, thick, woody trunk, the opposite of a soft stem. Trap (b) Shrub has a harder (though thinner) woody stem branching near the ground, not a soft green one. Trap (d) Climber describes a plant with a weak stem that needs external support to grow upward, not one that simply stays short.

Question 2

A wheat plant's root system consists of many thin roots of roughly equal size arising from the base of the stem, with no single dominant root. This is an example of a:
(a) Tap root  (b) Fibrous root  (c) Prop root  (d) Adventitious storage root

Accepted Answer

A bunch of similarly thin roots with no single main root, typical of a monocot like wheat, is the defining description of a fibrous root system.

Answer: (b) Fibrous root. Trap (a) Tap root describes the opposite pattern — one dominant main root with thinner side branches, typical of dicots like mustard or mango. Trap (c) and trap (d) name genuine but unrelated root modifications not described in this scenario.

Question 3

Which part of a flower is the female reproductive part, containing the stigma, style, and ovary?
(a) Calyx  (b) Corolla  (c) Androecium  (d) Gynoecium

Accepted Answer

The gynoecium, or pistil, is the female reproductive part of the flower, made up of one or more carpels, each with a stigma, style, and ovary containing ovules.

Answer: (d) Gynoecium. Trap (a) Calyx refers to the sepals, which protect the bud, not a reproductive part. Trap (b) Corolla refers to the petals, which attract pollinators, not a reproductive part. Trap (c) Androecium is the correct term for the flower's MALE reproductive part (the stamens), the direct counterpart being asked about.

Question 4

The joint that allows a person to turn their head from side to side is a:
(a) Hinge joint  (b) Ball and socket joint  (c) Pivot joint  (d) Fixed joint

Accepted Answer

The joint between the skull and the topmost neck vertebra is a pivot joint, which specifically allows one bone to rotate around another — exactly the motion involved in turning the head.

Answer: (c) Pivot joint. Trap (a) Hinge joint allows movement in only one plane, like a knee or elbow, not rotation. Trap (b) Ball and socket joint allows movement in almost every direction (as at the shoulder or hip), which is a broader motion than the specific rotation described. Trap (d) Fixed joint allows no movement at all, the opposite of what is described.

Question 5

An earthworm moves and burrows through soil mainly with the help of:
(a) Jointed legs and an exoskeleton  (b) A single muscular foot  (c) Alternating body-wall muscles and bristle-like setae  (d) Webbed hind limbs

Accepted Answer

The earthworm has circular and longitudinal muscles in its body wall that alternately contract and relax, changing its shape and length, while tiny setae grip the soil and anchor part of the body as the rest moves forward.

Answer: (c). Trap (a) describes an insect like a cockroach, not an earthworm, which has no legs or exoskeleton. Trap (b) describes a snail's locomotion. Trap (d) describes a frog's adaptation for swimming, not an earthworm's burrowing mechanism.

Question 6

Cuscuta (dodder), a leafless, yellow-orange climbing plant with no chlorophyll of its own, obtains its nutrition by which mode?
(a) Autotrophic  (b) Saprotrophic  (c) Parasitic  (d) Insectivorous

Accepted Answer

Cuscuta wraps around a host plant's stem and draws nutrients directly from it, harming the host in the process, with no chlorophyll to make its own food — the defining feature of parasitic nutrition.

Answer: (c) Parasitic. Trap (a) is ruled out directly by the plant's lack of chlorophyll, since autotrophic nutrition requires photosynthesis. Trap (b) describes feeding on dead and decaying matter (like bread mould), not a living host. Trap (d) describes plants like the pitcher plant, which still photosynthesise and only trap insects for extra nitrogen — unlike Cuscuta, which has no chlorophyll at all.

Question 7

Amoeba reproduces asexually by which method?
(a) Budding  (b) Binary fission  (c) Vegetative propagation  (d) Metamorphosis

Accepted Answer

Amoeba, a single-celled organism, reproduces by binary fission — its nucleus divides first, followed by the cytoplasm, producing two independent daughter cells of roughly equal size.

Answer: (b) Binary fission. Trap (a) Budding describes Hydra's asexual reproduction — an outgrowth that develops and detaches — a different mechanism entirely. Trap (c) Vegetative propagation is a plant-specific term (cutting, layering, grafting), not applicable to an animal. Trap (d) Metamorphosis describes a change in body form during development (as in a frog or butterfly), not a mode of reproduction at all.

Question 8

Which of the following structures is present in a plant cell but absent in an animal cell?
(a) Cell membrane  (b) Cytoplasm  (c) Nucleus  (d) Cell wall

Accepted Answer

A rigid cell wall made of cellulose surrounds a plant cell and gives it a fixed, regular shape; animal cells have no cell wall at all, only the flexible cell membrane as their outer boundary.

Answer: (d) Cell wall. Trap (a), trap (b), and trap (c) are all structures present in BOTH plant and animal cells — the cell membrane, cytoplasm, and nucleus are shared basic parts, not distinguishing features between the two cell types.

Question 9

A student insists, 'A spider must be an insect because it has so many legs.' As a Science teacher, the most accurate correction is to point out that:
(a) The student is correct; any animal with several legs is an insect  (b) An insect has three body parts and three pairs of legs, while a spider has two body parts and four pairs of legs, placing it in a different invertebrate group  (c) Spiders are actually vertebrates, unlike true insects  (d) The number of legs is irrelevant to classifying any animal

Accepted Answer

The precise, correct correction identifies the actual distinguishing features — body-part count and leg-pair count — rather than simply dismissing leg count as irrelevant or agreeing with the flawed reasoning.

Answer: (b). Trap (a) endorses the student's flawed reasoning rather than correcting it. Trap (c) is factually wrong — spiders, like insects, are invertebrates, not vertebrates. Trap (d) overcorrects; leg-pair count IS one of the two genuinely relevant criteria, alongside body-part count, so calling it entirely irrelevant is also inaccurate.

Question 10

A student writes in an answer sheet, 'Plants only breathe out oxygen during the day and don't respire at all otherwise.' Which statement should a teacher use to correct this?
(a) The student is correct; plants have no respiration process at all  (b) Plants respire continuously, day and night, in every living cell; photosynthesis, which releases oxygen, occurs separately and only in green parts in the presence of light  (c) Plants only respire at night and only photosynthesise during the day, so the two never occur together  (d) Respiration in plants only happens in the roots, never in the leaves

Accepted Answer

The accurate correction separates the two processes clearly: respiration (energy release, all cells, all the time) is continuous and distinct from photosynthesis (food-making, green parts only, only in light), and both occur simultaneously in a plant during daylight.

Answer: (b). Trap (a) wrongly denies that plants respire at all. Trap (c) is the specific misconception being corrected, restated with the day/night processes swapped rather than fixed. Trap (d) invents a false restriction — respiration occurs in every living plant cell, including in the leaves, not only in the roots.

Question 11

Instead of only showing labelled diagrams of a tap root and a fibrous root, a Class VI teacher takes students to the school garden to uproot and compare an actual mustard plant and an actual grass plant. Which principle does this teaching choice best reflect?
(a) NCF 2005's activity-based, specimen-led approach to science teaching  (b) A time-saving shortcut with no particular pedagogical value  (c) An approach suitable only for students who are already strong performers  (d) A method that should be avoided since it is harder to assess than a written diagram test

Accepted Answer

Having students directly observe and compare real specimens, rather than relying solely on diagrams, is a direct application of NCF 2005's activity-based, constructivist approach to teaching biology.

Answer: (a). Trap (b) dismisses a deliberate pedagogical choice as merely incidental. Trap (c) invents an unsupported restriction — activity-based learning benefits learners across ability levels, not only strong performers. Trap (d) is factually and pedagogically wrong; specimen-based learning is specifically valued for building deeper, more durable understanding, not avoided for assessment convenience.

Practice — "Science — The World of the Living"

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