BIOLOGY 9TH PREPARED BY: ENGR.

MUHAMMAD NAEEM

Chapter 2: solving a biological problem

B. Define the following terms
1. Biological method: The systematic procedure which is adopted by biologists to get a final
answer of a biological problem is called biological method.
2. Qualitative observations: Observations are called qualitative which deals only with qualities
or properties.
3. Deduction: Deduction is a possible specific belief about the solution of a biological problem.
4. Experimental group: Experimental group are those organisms who are used in experiments
to know the effects of different factors on them.
5. Scientific theory: when a hypothesis is proved by a series of experiments then it is called a
scientific theory.
6. Scientific law: If the productive theory satisfies the other biologists then it becomes a
scientific law. Scientific laws are also called laws of nature.
7. Meaning of malaria: The name malaria is derived from two Italian words i.e. “Mala" means
bad and “aria" means air.
8. Control group: Those organisms which are not exposed to those factors which are provided
to experimental group is called control group.
9. Ratio: Ratio indicates the comparison of relative values. Ratio may be represented in the
form of quotient (x/y) or by putting colon mark (:) between number (x:y).
10. Incubation period: The time period between the entry of parasite in host and appearance
the symptoms of disease is called incubation period.

C. Short Questions
1. Differentiate between ratio and proportion.
Ans: Ratio: Ratio indicates the comparison of relative values. Ratio may be represented in the
form of quotient (x/y) or by putting colon mark (:) between number (x:y).
Proportion: proportion is the relation between equal ratio. The proportion may be represented
by two ways i.e. w : x = y : z or w : x :: y : z.
2. Briefly describe the experiments of Ronald Ross on malaria.
Ans: Ronald Ross was a British army physician. He proved by experiments that female
mosquitoes get plasmodia from malarial patients. He also discovered that the transmission of
plasmodia from patients to healthy one is carried out by female mosquitoes.

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BIOLOGY 9TH PREPARED BY: ENGR.MUHAMMAD NAEEM

3. Is mathematics an integral part of scientific process?

Ans: yes, mathematics is an integral part of scientific process. A perfect knowledge about
biological problem is obtained by using the applied mathematics.
4. What is the importance of data analysis.
Ans: The data analysis is necessary to check whether a hypothesis is correct or not. The
acceptance or rejection of hypothesis depends upon the analysis of data. It is done through the
applications of statistics.

D. Descriptive Questions.
1. Explain four steps (observations, hypothesis formulation, deduction and experimentation)
of a biological method to solve a biological problem.
Ans: Observations: It is the first phase to solve a biological problem. A biologists uses all the
sources to get information about the problem. The observations are of two types i.e. qualitative
and quantitative. Observations are called qualitative which deals only with qualities or
properties. Observations are called quantitative which deals with the numbers.
Hypothesis formulation: Hypothesis is a possible guess to answer a biological problem. A
biologists arranges observations in the form of data. After deep thinking, discussions and
reasoning a hypothesis is derived from this data.
Deduction: Deduction is a possible specific belief about the solution of a biological problem.
The deduction is based on “if" and “then” format e.g. “if" malaria is due to plasmodium “then"
all the malarial patients should have plasmodium in their blood.
Experimentation: The hypothesis may be true or wrong so it should be tested by experiments.
Incorrect hypothesis is rejected and a new hypothesis is selected for experiments. Only that
hypothesis is accepted which is proved by experiments. Experiments are carried out many
times on a hypothesis to get the certain conclusion of biological problem.
2. How ratio and proportion are used in appropriate situations to solve biological problems.
Ans: Biologists use ratios and proportions to get the answers of biological problems in
mathematical form.
Ratio: Ratio indicates the comparison of relative values. Ratio may be represented in the form
of quotient (x/y) or by putting colon mark (:) between number (x:y).
e.g. The ratio between 25 malarial patients and 50 healthy persons is 25/50 or 25 : 50.
Proportion: proportion is the relation between equal ratio. The proportion may be represented
by two ways i.e. w : x = y : z or w : x :: y : z. If any three values in the proportion are known then
the fourth can be calculated easily.

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BIOLOGY 9TH PREPARED BY: ENGR.MUHAMMAD NAEEM

Example: Suppose a biologist allows infected mosquitoes to bite 40 healthy sparrows and he
noted that 28 out of them got malaria. By using the proportion he can find out if he allows
mosquitoes to bite 80 healthy sparrows then how much sparrows will get infected?
Healthy sparrows : Infected sparrows
40 : 28
80 : X
40 : 80 = 28 : X
Product of extreme = product of mean
40 × X = 80 × 28
80 x 28
X=
40
X = 56
Thus 56 out of 80 sparrows would get malaria.

3. Write a detailed note on the experiment of Italian scientists on human beings to find the
cause of malaria.
Ans: In 1898, the experiments were carried out by Italian biologists on human beings to find the
cause of malaria. They allowed some female Anopheles mosquitoes (who had no plasmodia ) to
bite a malarial patient (who had plasmodia in their blood). These mosquitoes were kept for
some days and then allowed to bite a healthy person ( who had no plasmodium in blood).
Biologists observed that after some days that person became a malarial patient. When the
blood of patient was analysed then a large number of plasmodia were found in his blood.