GRADE 8 SCIENCE NOTES REVISED 2016 – 17

3. Inter neurons
CHAPTER # 1 HUMAN ORGAN SYSTEM These are present in CNS. They form a link between
sensory and motor neurons.
1) Define nervous system 11) Write the names of main parts of the followings
The organ system in our body that carries messages from 1. Forebrain
one part of the body to another part and coordinates It consists of three main parts
body functions is called nervous system. I. Cerebrum
2) What is CNS? II. Thalamus
CNS means central nervous system that includes brain III. Hypothalamus
and spinal cord. 2. Hindbrain
3) What is PNS? It consists of three main parts
PNS means peripheral nervous system that includes a I. Cerebellum
network of nerves connecting the central system to whole II. Pons
body. III. Medulla oblongata
4) Define Neuron or Nerve Cell. 3. Neuron
Neuron or nerve cell is the basic structure and functional It consists of three main parts
unit of the nervous system. All parts of the nervous I. Cell body
system are made up of neurons. II. Dendrites
5) Define Nerve impulses. III. Axon
Neurons carry messages in the form of electro-chemical 4. Nephron
waves called nerve impulses. It consists of two main parts
6) Define cell body. I. Renal corpuscle
The part of neuron containing nucleus and most of the II. Renal tubule
cytoplasm is called cell body. 12) Write the function of the followings
7) Define Dendrites. 1. Forebrain
A fine projection of the cell body that receives messages is It is the largest part of the brain. It consists of three main
called dendrites. parts
8) What is Axon? I. Cerebrum
A long projection of the cell body that conducts messages II. Thalamus
away from the cell body is called axon. III. Hypothalamus
9) Define Nerve. Cerebrum is the topmost and the largest part of the brain.
It is an enclosed, cable like bundle of axons present side It controls many actions like thinking, feelings, emotions,
by side in a common sheath. Nerve conveys messages seeing, hearing, perceptions, memory, speech, decision
carried by the individual neurons from one body part to making, etc.
another. Inside cerebrum there is a small structure called
10) How many types of neurons are there? thalamus. It controls many sensory functions.
There are three types of neurons on the basis of Hypothalamus lies at the base of thalamus. It controls
functions. body temperature, hunger and thirst.
I. Sensory neurons 2. Hindbrain
II. Motor neurons It consists of three main parts
III. Inter neurons I. Cerebellum
1. Sensory neurons II. Pons
It carries nerve impulses from sense organs (ears, eyes, III. Medulla oblongata
skin, tongue, nose etc) to the central nervous system Cerebellum lies under the back part of cerebrum. It acts
(CNS). as a controller for maintaining balance and accurate
2. Motor Neurons movements.
It carries nerve impulses from central nervous system Pons is oval structure and present beneath the midbrain.
(CNS) to effectors (muscles and glands), i.e. the parts It controls many function like sleeping, swallowing,
which respond. equilibrium and taste etc.

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Medulla oblongata is connected with the spinal cord. It nervous system. All parts sheath. Nerve conveys
controls heartbeat, breathing and digestion etc. it also of the nervous system are messages carried by the
keeps working when rest of brain goes to sleep. made up of neurons. individual neurons from
one body part to another.
3. Neuron or Nerve Cell
Neuron or nerve cell is the basic structure and Voluntary actions Involuntary actions
functional unit of the nervous system. All parts of the The body actions which are
The body actions which are
nervous system are made up of neurons. It consists of performed without thinking
performed under conscious
three main parts over them under conscious
control. These actions are
control are called
I. Cell body done after thinking.
involuntary actions.
e.g. speaking, eating,
II. Dendrites e.g. Heartbeat, blood
reading, walking, running,
III. Axon circulation, blinking of eyes
etc
etc.
I. Cell body
Kidneys Lungs
The part of neuron containing nucleus and most of the
cytoplasm is called cell body. Human body has two dark
Lungs are present in the
brown, bean shaped kidneys
II. Dendrites thorax cavity in pair form.
in the abdominal region. The
Lungs make oxygenated
A fine projection of the cell body that receives messages is main function is removing
blood and remove carbon
called dendrites. waste material from the
dioxide from the blood.
body in the form of urine.
III. Axon
Lithotripsy Dialysis
A long projection of the cell body that conducts messages
It is the bombardment of
away from the cell body is called axon. Terminal ends of
shock waves on the stones
the axons transmit the messages to the next cells. from outsides. Shock waves Clearing of blood by artificial
break the stones into small methods is called dialysis. It
pieces which are passed out is done by dialyzer.
of the body in the form of
urine.

15) Explain central nervous system.

CNS acts as a control Centre of the whole nervous system.
It contains brain and spinal cord.
Brain
Human brain is enclosed in a bony skull called cranium. It
4. Nephron divided into following parts.
It is the functional unit of kidneys. It consists of two main 1. Forebrain
parts It is the largest part of the brain. It consists of three main
I. Renal corpuscle parts
II. Renal tubule I. Cerebrum
These are the tubules where urine is formed. There are II. Thalamus
over one million nephrons in each kidney. III. Hypothalamus
13) Skin is considered as excretory organ. Why? Cerebrum is the topmost and the largest part of the brain.
Because some extra salts are also removed through skin It controls many actions like thinking, feelings, emotions,
during perspiration. seeing, hearing, perceptions, memory, speech, decision
14) Differentiate between making, etc.
Receptors Effectors Inside cerebrum there is a small structure called
The special organ tissue The parts respond after thalamus. It controls many sensory functions.
which detect any change receiving nerve impulses
Hypothalamus lies at the base of thalamus. It controls
in environment is called through motor neurons is
receptors. called effectors. body temperature, hunger and thirst.
Neuron Nerve 2. Midbrain
Neuron or nerve cell is the It is an enclosed cable like It is a small part of the brain that is present below
basic structure and bundle of axons present cerebrum. It receives information from sense organs and
functional unit of the side by side in a common sends messages to concerned part.

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3. Hindbrain
It consists of three main parts
I. Cerebellum
II. Pons
III. Medulla oblongata
Cerebellum lies under the back part of cerebrum. It acts
as a controller for maintaining balance and accurate
movements.
Pons is oval structure and present beneath the midbrain.
It controls many function like sleeping, swallowing,
equilibrium and taste etc.
Medulla oblongata is connected with the spinal cord. It
controls heartbeat, breathing and digestion etc. it also
keeps working when rest of brain goes to sleep.
4. Spinal Cord
It is an extension of medulla oblongata. It runs backwards
inside the backbone up to its lower end.
It creates a link between brain and different body parts. It
also controls some reflex actions and some other
involuntary actions.
16) Describe peripheral nervous system (PNS).
PNS includes a network of nerves connecting the central
system to whole body.
The nerves which arise from brain are called cranial
nerves. The nerves which arise from spinal cord are called
spinal nerves. There are 12 pairs of cranial nerves and 31
pairs of spinal nerves in human body.
17) Describe the main parts of excretory system in man.
It consists of one pair of kidneys and associated structure.
i.e. two ureter, a urinary bladder and urethra.
1. Kidneys
Human body has two dark brown bean shaped kidneys in the
abdominal region. The main function is removing waste
material from the body in the form of urine. The outer surface
of kidney is convex while the inner surface is concave.
2. Ureter
A tube which arises from each kidney and enters in
urinary bladder is called ureter.
3. Urinary bladder
Ureter transports urine from kidneys to urinary bladder.
Urinary bladder is a muscular sac which collects urine
from both ureters.
4. Urethra
A fine tube through which urine is released from urinary
bladder to the outside is called urethra.
18) Write a note on internal structure of kidneys
Each kidney is divided into three regions
1. Renal cortex
It is the outer most region of kidney
2. Renal medulla and renal pyramids
Renal medulla is the middle regions which is divided into
conical masses called renal pyramids.
3. Renal pelvis
It is the inner area where urine is drained. The urine from
renal pelvis moves into ureter.
19) Describe structure of nephron
It is the functional unit of kidneys. It consists of two main
parts
I. Renal corpuscle
II. Renal tubule
These are the tubules where urine is formed. There are
over one million nephrons in each kidney.
Renal corpuscle
It is the first part of nephron. It consists of two structures,
i.e. glomerulus and Bowman’s capsule.
Glomerulus is a tuft of blood capillaries formed by the
division of small arteries.
Bowman’s capsules is a cup shaped structure enclosing
glomerulus.
Renal tubule
It is start after bowman’s capsules. The first coiled part of
renal tubule is called proximal tubule. The next part is U-
shaped and is called Loop of Henle. The last part of the
renal tubule is again coiled called distal tubule.
20) Define reflex action.
An immediate and involuntary response to a stimulus is
called reflex action.
Quick pulling of hand just after touching the hot object is
a common example of reflex action.
Explanation
When we touch hot object a nerve impulse is created in
skin. It is carried by the sensory neuron to the spinal cord.
The inter neuron transmit the impulse to motor neuron.
They carried the impulse to muscles. The pathway of
nerve impulse that complete a reflex action is called
reflex arc. It consists of receptor, a sensory neuron, an
inter neuron, a motor neuron and effectors.
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21) Define Reflex arc. 3) What is gene?

The inter neuron transmit the impulse to motor neuron. The basic physical and functional unit of heredity is called
They carried the impulse to muscles. The pathway of gene. Genes act as instructions to make molecules called
nerve impulse that complete a reflex action is called proteins. Gene occur in pairs. Every hereditary character
reflex arc. It consists of receptor, a sensory neuron, an in an organism (tallness, eye colour) is controlled by a pair
inter neuron, a motor neuron and effectors. of genes. Genes are the sections of DNA molecule and are
22) What is renal failure? located on chromosomes
It is a complete or partial failure of kidneys to work. The 4) Define heredity
main cause of renal failure are During reproduction, living things pass on their
I. long term infection characteristics to their offspring. This process is called
II. Diabetes mellitus heredity e.g. colour of eye, skin colour, hair colour etc
III. Hypertension 5) What are haploid cells?
23) Define diabetes When an organism forms gametes (sperms or eggs) by
Diabetes mellitus is disease in which sugar level increases meiosis, the number of chromosomes is reduced to half in
in the blood. the gametes, is called haploid cell.
24) What is Hypertension? 6) Define cell division
It is a state of high blood pressure in the body. It is a process by which a cell divides into two daughter
cells.
25) What is dialyzer?
Clearing of blood by artificial methods is called dialysis. It 7) What are parent cell and daughter cell?
is done by a machine called dialyzer. During cell division the cell which divides is called Parent
Cell and the cell which is produced as a result of cell
26) What is kidney transplant?
division is called Daughter Cell.
In this method a kidney donated by some healthy person
is grafted in the body of the patient. The donar of kidney 8) What are chromatids?
may be blood relative or any other close relative. A typical chromosome consists of two arms called
chromatids, which are attached to the same part called
27) Name any two waste materials produced by the
centromere.
human body
1: Urine 2: Feces
28) How stones are formed in the kidney and how can
these be removed?
Sometimes kidneys cannot work properly to remove salt
from blood. In such situation, the salts gather in kidneys 9) Difference between Mitosis and Meiosis
and form stones. Mitosis Meiosis
Stones can be removed in three ways During mitosis, two During meiosis, four
daughter cells are daughter cells are
I. By drinking water produced from the parent produced from parent
II. Lithotripsy cell.
III. shockwaves The number of The number of
chromosomes in the chromosomes in the
daughter cells remains the daughter cells is reduced
CHAPTER # 2 CELL DIVISION same as in parent cell to half as compared to
parent cell
Mitosis occurs in general Meiosis occurs to produce
1) Name two inheritable characters. body cells gametes in animal or
Eye colour spores in plants
Skin colour Only one division takes Two division take place in
2) Name two non-inheritable characters. place in mitosis meiosis.
I. Loss of any part of body does not transferred to
children. 10) Name the cells produced by meiosis in plants and
II. Some diseases like malaria, kidney-stone etc does animals
not transferred to children Plant: Spores Animals: Gametes

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