Bio Questions

Chapter 1 Classification
Q1) Write a short note on Platypus and why it was a puzzle to scientists?
A1) The Platypus is an animal with fur, webbed feet and a beak which was first found in
Australia. It had been given many names by the indigenous people and one of them was
Dulawarrung. In 1799, a dead specimen of this animal was sent to England, where it was study
by George Shaw and he gave the name called Platypus anatinus (flat footed and like a duck).As
this name was given to a group of beetles the German scientist gave another name called
ornithorhynchus paradoxus. (Nose like a bird and puzzling).The platypus was classified into a
new group of mammals called monotremis because it lays eggs but still feeds milk to its young
ones.
Q2) What are the seven characteristics of living things?
A2) The seven characteristics of living things are:
Movement- An action of an organism or part of an organism which causes change in its position
or place
Respiration - The chemical reaction in cells that break down nutrient molecules and release
energy for metabolism.
Sensitivity - The ability to detect stimuli in the internal or external environment and to make
appropriate responses.
Growth - A permanent increase in size and dry mass by an increase in cell number or cell size or
both.
Reproduction - The processes that make more of the same kind of organism.
Excretion- Removal from organisms of the waste products of metabolism (chemical reactions in
cells), toxic material and substances in excess of requirements.
Nutrition -Taking in of material for energy, growth and development. Plants require light, water,
carbon dioxide and ions. Animals need organic compounds, ions and water.
Q3) What is Classification? Elaborate.
A3) Classification means putting things into groups. The main reason for classifying living
things is to make it easier to study them. For example we put humans, horses and mice into one
group (mammals) because they share a few certain features that are not found in other groups.
We think that all mammals share the same feature because they are descended from a single
ancestor that lived long ago. The ancestor they all share is called common ancestor.
Q4) How has DNA helped in classification?
A4) In the past the only way that biologists could decide which organism were most closely
related to each other was to study their structure of their bodies. They look carefully at their
morphology (shape of their body) and their anatomy (detailed body structure which could be
determined by direction).
Now we have new tools to help to workout evolutionary relationship and one of the most
powerful of these is the study of DNA (Deoxyribo nucleic Acid). DNA is the chemical forms
which all chromosomes are made of. It is the genetic material passed on from one generation to
the next. DNA molecule is made up of strings of smaller molecules containing 4 different bases
– A, C, G, and T which can be arranged in any order. Biologists can compare the sequences of
basis in the DNA. The more similar the base sequence, the more closely related the species are to
one another.
Q5) Who was the first person to classify organisms?
A5) The first person to try and classify organisms in a scientific way was a Swedish naturalist
called Linnaeus.
Q6) How are animals grouped in the classification system?
Genera (singular: genus)

Species with similar characteristics

Family

Order

Classes

Phyla
 Kingdoms
Q7) What is the binomial naming system?
A7) Linnaeus gave every species of living organism two names, where the first name is the name
of the genus the organism belongs to and always has a capital letter. The second name is the
name of the species and always has a small letter. This two word name is called a binomial. This
is an internationally agreed system in which the scientific name if an organism is made up of two
parts.
Eg- Canis Lupus: Wolf
Q8) Define species.
A8) A group of organisms that can reproduce and produce fertile off springs.
Q9) Make a table to show how humans are classified.
A9) This table will be given and questions will be asked based on it.

Kingdom Animal
Phylum Vertebrates
Class Mammals
Order Primates
Family Hominidae
Genus Homo
Species Homo sapiens
Q10) What are the characteristics of Animals?
The characteristics of animals are:

 Multicellular (their bodies contain many cells).

 Cells have nucleus, but no cell walls or chloroplasts.
 Feed on organic substances made by other living things.
Q11) What are the characteristics of Plants?
A11) The characteristics of plants are:

 Multicellular
 Cells have a nucleus; cell walls made of cellulose and often contain chloroplasts.
 Feed by photosynthesis
 May have roots, stems and leaves
 Q12) What are the characteristics of Fungi?
A12) The characteristics of fungi are:

 Usually multicellular (many-celled)

 Have nuclei
 Have cell walls, not made of cellulose
 Do not have chlorophyll
 Feed by saprophytic or parasitic nutrition
Q13) How is fungi harmful and helpful for human life? Give a few examples.
A13)

Harmful Helpful
Cause food decay. We eat them as mushrooms.
Cause ringworm. We use it to make ethanol and bread.
Cause athlete’s foot. We obtain antibiotics from them.

Q14) Draw a few examples of fungi.

Q15) What are the characteristics of Protoctista? Draw a diagram and label it.
A15) The characteristics of protoctista are:

 Multicellular or unicellular
 Cells have a nucleus
 Cells may or may not have a cell wall and a chloroplast
 Some feed by photosynthesis and others feed on organic substances made by other
organisms.
Q16) What are the characteristics of Prokaryotes? Draw a diagram and label it.
A16) The characteristics of Prokaryotes:

 Often unicellular (single celled)

 Have no nucleus
 Have cell walls, not made of cellulose
 Have no mitochondria

Q17) Why were sea anemones classified as plants earlier?

A17) Sea anemones were classified as plants earlier because they did not move around and their
tentacles looked like flower petals.
Q18) How can a microscopes determine that sea anemones are animals and not plants.
A18) Now we can say that sea anemones are animals and not plants because of microscopes.
With the use of a microscope we can see that sea anemones do not have cell walls or chloroplast.
They also feed on organic substances made by other living organisms.
Q19) What is the difference between Protoctista and Prokaryotes?
A19)

Protoctista Prokaryotes
Multicellular or unicellular Often unicellular
Cells have nucleus Have no nucleus
May or may not have cell wall and chloroplasts Have cell walls but not made up of cellulose
Feed by organic substances or photosynthesis Have no mitochondria
Q20) Why are viruses generally not considered to be living things?
A20) Viruses are not considered to be alive because they do nothing but exist until they get
inside a living cell. Before taking over a cell they show no sign of growth, respiration, excretion,
nutrition, movement, reproduction and sensitivity.

Q21. State 1 similarity and 1 difference between the Cells of a fungus and the cells of a plant?
Ans. Fungi feed by saprophytic or parasitic nutrition
Plants feed by photosynthesis.

Q22) How do the cells of bacteria differ from the cells of plants and animals?
Ans. 22)

Animals Plants Bacteria

Multicelullar
Cells have nucleus
Feed on organic substances
made by other living organism
Multicelullar
Cells have a nucleus
Feed by photosynthesis
Often unicellular(single
celled)
No nucleus
Organic substances like
animal waste, plant litter

Q23. Draw a chart of major groups into which animal kingdom is divided?
Ans.
Q24. List 3 ways in which all mammals differ from all birds?
Ans.

Birds Mammals
Birds hollow bones. Mammals do not have hollow bones
Birds do not have a tail. Mammals normally have tails.
Birds always lay eggs Mammals nearly never lay eggs.
Q25. Write short note on Phylum Vertebrates and Phylum nematodes? What are their various
types/class along with their characteristics?
Ans.
1. Phylum Vertebrates – Animals with a supporting rod running along the length of the
body. The most familiar once have a backbone and are called Vertebrates.
 Class Fish – Vertebrates with scaly skin, have grills, have fins-except mudskipper
 Class Amphibians – vertebrates with moist, scale less skin, eggs laid in water, larva
(tadpole) lives in water, adult often lives on Land, larva has gills but adult has lungs -
 Class Reptiles – Crocodiles, lizards, snakes, turtles n tortoise – vertebrates with scaly
skin, lay eggs on land with rubbery shells
 Class Birds – vertebrates with feathers, forelimbs have become wings, lay eggs with
hard shells, endothermic, have a beak, heart has 4 chamber
 Class Mammals – human – vertebrates with hair, have a placenta, young feed on milk
from mammary glands, endothermic, have a diaphragm, heart has 4 chambers, have
different types of teeth (incisors, canines, premolars, molars)

2. Phylum Arthropods – Several pair of Jointed legs but no backbone, a successful group
because of waterproof exoskeleton that has allowed them to live on dry land.
 Insects – Mainly terrestrial, arthropods with three pairs of jointed legs, 2 pairs of
wings (one or both may be vestigial, breath through tracheae, body divided into
head, thorax and abdomen
 Crustaceans – mostly live in wet places and many are aquatic, arthropods with
more than 4 pairs of jointed legs, not millipedes or centipedes, breathe through
gills
 Arachnids – land-dwelling organisms, arthropods with 4 pairs of jointed legs,
breath through gills called lungs – spiders, ticks, scorpion
 Myriapods – these are centipedes and millipedes, body consists of many
segments, each segment has jointed legs

Q26. List 3 ways in which all mammals differ from all birds?
Ans.

Birds Mammals
Birds have hollow bones. Mammals do not have hollow bones
Birds do not have a tail. Mammals normally have tails.
Birds always lay eggs Mammals nearly never lay eggs.

Q27. Explain why Bats are classified as mammals even though they have wings?
Ans. Bats have all the features necessary to be classified as mammals.

 They have fur

 Give birth to live young
 Nourish their young with milk from internal glands.
Q. 28What is photosynthesis?
Ans. Plants are organisms that have cells with cell walls made of cellulose. The green color of
plant is caused by pigment ‘chlorophyll, which absorbs energy from sunlight. The plant uses this
energy to make glucose, using carbon dioxide and water from its environment. This process is
called photosynthesis.
Q29. Classify plants.
Ans. Plants include small organisms such as mosses, ferns and flowering plants.

 Ferns – plants with roots, stems and leaves, have leaves called fronds, do not produce
flowers, reproduce by spores
 Flowering Plants – plants with roots, stems and leaves, reproduce sexually by means of
flowers and seeds, seeds are produces inside the ovary(flower)
Q30. Monocotyledonous plants and dicotyledonous plants belong to which group of plants?
What’s the difference between both?
Ans. Both belong to flowering plants.
Monocots Dicots
have 1 cotyledon in their seeds have 2 cotyledons in their seeds
usually branching root system tap root system
veins of leaves run in parallel to one another leaves are broader and have a
network of branching veins
Q32. How do you calculate the length of biological specimens?
Ans. Drawing of biological specimens are usually made at a different size from the
real one. One must use the same units for all the measurements. Usually
millimeters. Magnification doesn’t have units.
Magnification = size of Drawing/size of real object
size of real object = length in drawing/magnification