There are a large variety of organisms around us. A few can be seen with the naked eye, while a few can’t. The different kinds of plants, animals, and microorganisms make up the biodiversity. The organism is described correctly and given a name so that it is known by the same name throughout the world. Each name is divided into a generic name and a specific name.
Very Short Answer Type Questions
Q.1. Name three botanists who contributed to the field of plant taxonomy.
A.1. The three botanists are:
- Carolus Linnaeus
- G Bentham
- Joseph Dalton Hooker
Also read: Taxonomy
Q.2. Expand ICZN? (Clue: The organization that dictates the correct use of the scientific names of animals)
A.2. International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature
Q.3. What is a couplet in the taxonomic key?
A.3. A couplet in the taxonomic key is dichotomous.
Q.4. Define a monograph.
A.4. A monograph is the writing work of a specialist on a single scholarly subject or an aspect of a subject. It is often written by a single author.
Q.5. Define metabolism.
A.5. Metabolism is the process of conversion of food into energy by a series of chemical reactions.
Q.6. The mitotic cell division in amoeba represents growth or reproduction?
A.6. The phenomenon represents reproduction.
Q.7. Name a few botanical gardens in India. Also, name the largest botanical garden in the world.
A.7. Kew Royal Garden in London is the largest botanical garden in the world. Botanical gardens in India are:
- Indian Botanical Garde, Kolkata
- Lalbagh Botanical Garden, Bangalore
- Government Botanical garden, Ooty
- National Botanical Garden, Lucknow
- Assam State Botanical Garden, Guwahati
Q.8. If a habitat contains 20 animal species and 20 plant species, is it “diversity” or “biodiversity”?
A.8. This represents the biodiversity of a given habitat. This is because biodiversity refers to the variation of life forms in a specified area.
Q.9. Identify the correctly written scientific name for mango species- Mangifera indica/Mangifera Indica.
A.9. Mangifera indica.
Q.10. Match the correct pairs.
| Column I | Column II |
| Family | Tuberosum |
| Kingdom | Polymoniales |
| Order | Solanum |
| Species | Plantae |
| Genus | Solanaceae |
A.10. Family- Solanaceae Kingdom- Plantae Order- Polymoniales Species- Tuberosum Genus- Solanum
Q.11. What is the lowest category of classification?
A.11. Species is the lowest category of classification.
Also read: Species
Q.12.What are the Taxonomic keys?
A.12. The Taxonomic keys are aids that assist in the identification of any organism in view of its attributes.
Q.13.Who is known as the Father of Taxonomy?
A.13. Carl Linnaeus is called the Father of Taxonomy.
Q.14. What are the 8 levels of taxonomy?
A.14. According to the modern taxonomic classification system the eight main levels of taxonomy are:
Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species.
Q.15.What is Taxonomy?
A.15. Taxonomy is the process of classifying and nomenclature of all living things including into different groups according to their similarities and differences.
Q.16.What is Reproduction?
A.16.Reproduction is the process of producing offspring that are biologically or genetically similar to the parent organism.
Q.17.List out the building blocks of life?
A.17.The essential building blocks of life include – carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and nucleic acids.
Q.18.What is Biology?
A.18.Biology is a natural science, which is concerned with the study of principles of governing life processes and also explores the living world, diversity of living organisms, relationships between the living and nonliving, and a lot more.
Q.19.What is Biodiversity?
A.19.Biodiversity can be defined as the variation among living organisms from different sources, including terrestrial, marine and desert ecosystems, and other ecological complexes.
Q.20.What is DNA?
A.20.DNA – Deoxyribonucleic acid, is the double-helical structure, which contains the unique genetic code, which is inherited from our parents. It is found in every single living creature and is composed of molecules called nucleotides.
Q.21.What are Carbohydrates?
A.21.Carbohydrates are a group of organic molecules or the macromolecules, which are composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms. These biomolecules are primary food groups and are an essential source of energy. The most common and abundant forms of Carbohydrates are sugars, fibres, and starches.
Q.22.What is Cellular organization?
A.22 The cellular organization is defined as the components that make up the cell, tissues, organs and the organ system.
Short Answer Type Questions
Q.1. What are the units of classification followed by Botanists while classifying plants?
A.1.
| Hierarchy | Suffix used |
| Kingdom | -Plantae |
| Division | -Phyta |
| Class | –Ae |
| Order | -Ales |
| Family | -Eae or -Cae |
| Genus | First name of the organism |
| Species | The second term of the scientific name |
Q.2. Define the following:
- Phylum
- Class
- Order
- Genus
A.2.
Phylum– This category is higher than class. It consists of one or more related classes with common characteristics.
Class– This category is higher than the order. It consists of one or more related orders with common features.
Order– It consists of one or more related families having some common characteristics.
Genus– It ranks higher than the species and includes one or more species closely related to each other.
Q.3. State the differences between flora, fauna, and vegetation.
A.3.
| Flora | Fauna | Vegetation |
Flora refers to the total number of plants found in a particular area at a particular time. | Fauna refers to the total number of animals found in a specific region at a particular time. | It is a broad term used for the plant forms of a region. It does not any particular taxa or botanical characteristics. |
Also read: Flora and Fauna
Q.4. What do you mean by endemic and exotic species? Give examples for each.
A.4. Exotic species– Any species of a living organism living in a place other than its native place are known as exotic species. For eg; Eichhornia crassipes is the native of the Amazon basin but was introduced in India, so it is an exotic species to India.
Endemic species- These are the species found only in a particular area. For eg; Rauwolfia is an endemic species found only in India.
Q.5. The number and kind of organisms are not constant. Explain.
A.5. The number and kind of organisms are not constant because:
- Mutation
- Sexual reproduction
- Loss of habitats
- Environmental threats
- Anthropogenic activities
Q.6. Brinjal and potato belong to the same genus but different species. What separates the two species?
A.6. They belong to different species because:
- They cannot interbreed
- They have different morphological features.
Q.7. What is taxon? Give a few examples.
A.7. A taxon is a group of organisms of any level in the hierarchical classification based on some common characteristics. For eg; all the insects are classified under one phylum-Arthropoda. A taxa includes-kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus.
Q.8. A person living in a coma is considered living or dead?
A.8. A person on coma is considered to be a living dead. This is because a person in a coma is unconscious for more than six hours. He even doesn’t respond to any form of stimuli such as pain, light and sound. Such a person is brain dead.
Also Read: Suspended Animation
Q.9. What are the different defining properties of a living organism?
A.9.
A living organism can grow.
All living organisms can reproduce.
Metabolism is another defining property of a living organism.
Cellular organization of living organisms.
Consciousness
Q.10. What is biodiversity?
A.10. Biodiversity is the variations among living organisms, from minute microorganisms to the multicellular plants, and animals. It includes genetic diversity, species diversity, and ecosystem diversity.
Q.11. What is ICBN?
A.11.The ICBN – International Code of Botanical Nomenclature is the set of rules used during the nomenclature of plants and are mainly based on international rules. These rules were proposed by the Swedish botanist and zoologist Carl Linnaeus.
Q.12. What are the Building blocks of the living system?
A.12. The basic building blocks of the living system includes both the organic and inorganic biomolecules and they include:
- Water.
- Lipids.
- Oxygen.
- Proteins.
- Nucleic Acids.
- Carbohydrates.
- Sodium chloride.
Q.13.Write the full form for the following code – ICVN, ICBN, ICZN, ICNB.
A.13.
ICVN– The International Code of Viral Nomenclature.
ICBN–The International Code of Botanical Nomenclature.
ICZN– The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature.
ICNB– The Institute for Nature Conservation and Biodiversity.
Q.14.Define the following terms- Metabolism, Growth and Development.
A.14.
Metabolism– It refers to a series of chemical reactions, which takes place in all living organisms to sustain life.
Growth– It is defined as an irreversible and constant increase in the mass and size of a body.
Development–It is the process, where a particular organism grows physically and acquires both the mental and physiological growth as well.
Q.15.What is binomial nomenclature?
A.15.Binomial nomenclature is a formal and biological system of naming all the living organisms. Carolus Linnaeus was the first person to introduce the binomial nomenclature system for naming organisms in a scientific way.
Long Answer Questions
Q.1. What do you mean by living? Explain the defining characteristics of living organisms.
A.1. Living means a thing that can grow, reproduce, has a cellular organization and is aware of its surroundings. Following are the defining characteristics of a living organism:
Growth– All living organisms have the ability to grow. Growth refers to the increase in the number and size of an organism.
Reproduction– All living organisms have the property of giving rise to a new individual. Reproduction can occur through sexual and/or asexual means.
Metabolism– All living organisms exhibit the process of metabolism. It is a series of chemical reactions which converts food into energy.
Cellular organization– Cell is the structural and functional unit of life. All living organisms are made up of one or more cells.
Q.2. With reference to Brassica compestris linn.
Give the common name of the plant
What do the first two words of the name indicate?
Why is the scientific name written in italics?
What does “linn.” mean?
A.2.
Mustard
The first part of the name (Brasicca) indicates the generic name, while the second part (compestris) indicates the species name.
The names are written in italics because it is the rule of the binomial nomenclature.
“Linn” means Linnaeus, the first scientist to discover the plant.
Q.3. Differentiate between “whole moong daal” and “broken moong daal” in terms of respiration and growth?
A.3.
| Whole Moong Daal | Broken Moong Daal |
It is an intact seed of the plant. | It is not an intact seed. |
It germinates under appropriate conditions. | It does not germinate because the embryo and cotyledons are destroyed. |
It resumes the metabolic activity on germination. | It cannot resume the metabolic activity. |
The stored food in the cotyledons is hydrolyzed by the activated enzymes due to metabolism. | The enzyme gets activated when the broken seed imbibes water, but will not facilitate growth. |
It respires and emits CO2. | The embryo is destroyed, so no respiration and no CO2 emission. |
The embryo gives rise to root and shoot as the seed resumes active metabolism. | The cotyledons of broken moon daal have stored food rich in proteins but do not show any root and shoot growth. |
Q.4. How will a scientist go about the identification, nomenclature and classification of a plant which he feels is a new species?
A.4. The taxonomic keys, monographs, herbaria, and preserved plant specimen help in discovering a new plant species. The morphological and anatomical structures of the plant are studied and its characteristic features are compared with the similar information available in the scientific literature. The systematic position of the plant is then decided and it is named according to the rules of binomial nomenclature.
Q.5. What is Reproduction?
A.5. Reproduction is a common characteristic of Living Things. In general terms, reproduction is defined as the biological process of giving birth to their young oned identical to their parents.
There are two different types of reproduction –
- Sexual Reproduction
- Asexual Reproduction.
These two modes of reproduction are differentiated mainly based on the number of parents involved.
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Practice Questions For Class 11 Biology Chapter 1 Living World
- What are the three codes of nomenclatures?
- Properties of cell organelles are not always found in the molecular constituents of cell organelles. Justify.
- What is Binomial system of nomenclature? Who proposed this system? Why is binomial nomenclature the most acceptable mode of naming organism?
- Match the following:
| A. Family | i. Tuberosum |
| B. Kingdom | ii. Polymoniales |
| C. Order | iii. Solanum |
| D. Species | iv. Plantae |
| E. Genus | v. Solanacae |