I. Conceptual Understanding:
1: Reaching for a pencil, grasping a doorknob, walking or running, driving etc., involve some movements. What are they?
A: Whenever we move the three basic functions, movement, balance, and coordination work together to produce purposeful motions of body parts.
2: Give some examples of responses to stimuli.
A: * The cat may be running because it has seen a mouse.
* Plants grow out into the sunshine.
* We start sweating when it is hot and humid.
II. Asking Questions and Making Hypothesis
3: Imagine yourself to be Galan, the Greek physiologist (A.D. 129-200). One day a patient came to you and told that he had fallen from his chariot and had a blow in the neck. He complained of loss of feeling in the arm while still retaining normal muscular control of its moment. What questions would arise in your mind to make any conclusions about the situation?
A: If I were Galan, I would think on following questions:
1. Is it the nervous system that is damaged?
2. Why is it that the blow in the neck resulted in the loss of feeling?
3. If the nervous system is affected, how is it that there is normalcy in muscular control of its movement?
4. Are there different types of nerves for feeling and muscular movement?
5. What should I do to the patient to normalize his situation?
III. Experimentation and Field Investigation
4: Touch the leaves of Mimosa pudica (Touch me not plant) and observe how the leaves respond. Write your observations.
A: I went into a botanical garden and observed Mimosa pudica.
The plant looks like this:
* When I touched the leaves of the plant, I observed that the plant folded up its leaves.
* Then I observed the plant carefully and noted down my observations:
Observations:
* Mymosa pudica leaves has pad like swellings at the base.
* Here cells contain lot of water and large inter cellular spaces.
* Due to water pressure pulvini hold the leaf erect.
* Touch me not plant shows nastic movement by touch. This is called thigmo nasty.
IV. Information Skills and Projects
5: Write the functions of various parts of the brain.
A:
| Part of the | Functions |
| Cerebrum | i) Seat of mental abilities, controls thinking, memory, reasoning, preparation, emotions and speech. ii) Interprets sensations and responds to cold, heat, pain and pressure. |
| Diencephalon | i) Relay centre for sensory impulses, such as pain, temperature and light. ii) Reflex centre for muscular activities. iii) Centre for certain emotions such as anger. iv) Centre for water balance, blood pressure, body temperature, sleep and hunger. v) The hypothalamus controls the pituitary gland, which functions as the master gland. |
| Midbrain | * It relays motor impulses from the cerebral cortex to the spinal cord and relays sensory impulses from the spinal cord to the thalamus, reflexes for sight and hearing. |
| Cerebellum | i) Maintains posture, equilibrium and muscle tone. ii) Coordinates voluntary movements initiated by cerebrum. |
| Medulla oblongata | i) Contains centre for cardiac, respiratory and vasomotor activities. (Vasomotor refers to actions upon a blood vessel which alter its diameter). ii) Coordinates reflexes like swallowing, coughing, sneezing and vomiting. |
6: What is Tropism? Explain in a tabular form.
A: Tropism is a biological phenomenon, indicating growth or turning movement a plant makes in response to an environ-
| Name of the tropism & Picture | How it functions |
Phototropism  |
Movement of plants toward light to maximize amount of sun for photosynthesis to make their food. |
Gravitropism  |
Movement of plants in response to gravity. Positive is toward gravity (roots). Negative is away from gravity (shoot: stems and leaves). |
Hydrotropism |
Movement by plants towards water. Seen in roots 'searching' and growing toward water which is needed for photosynthesis and to support cell structure. |
Thigmotropism |
Plants moving in response to touch. Seen in vine plants as they wrap around other plants or structures to support leaves as they grow higher and higher to reach the sun to make more food (photosynthesis). |
V. Communication Through Drawing, Model Making
7: Draw a neat labeled diagram of brain and answer the following
questions:
1. What is the bony box that contains the brain called?
2. What is it that extends from the back of the hind brain?
3. What does central nervous system comprise of?
A:
1. Crainium
2. Spinal cord
3. Brain and spinal cord.
VI. Appreciation and Aesthetic Sense, Values
Sense, Values
8: What does this picture denote?
A: It is a synapse. Dendrites of one nerve cell connect to the other or to the axons of the other nerve cell through connections called as a 'synapse'.
* Synapse is the connections between neurons. Synapse is a functional region between two neurons where information from one neuron is transmitted or relayed to another neuron.
VII. Application to Daily life, Concern to Biodiversity
9: How are responses brought about in our body?
A: Responses are brought about by rapid changes in some muscles and such changes are usually related to changing stimuli. Rapidity of response indicates an efficient communication system linking those parts that pick up stimuli to those that elicit a response.
10: Give an example for the functions of autonomic nervous system in our activities.
A: Example: When we enter a dark room we cannot see anything immediately. Slowly we are able to see the things around us in the room. This is because of increase in diameter of pupil, which allows more light in. When we come out of the dark room into broad day light the diameter of the pupil decreases.
