L 10 REACHING THE AGE OF ADOLESCENCE EXERCISE QUESTIONS

Question 1.
What is the term used for secretions of endocrine glands responsible for changes
taking place in the body?
Answer:
Hormones

Question 2.
Define adolescence.
Answer:
The period of human life, when the body undergoes changes, leading to physical,
mental and reproductive maturity, is called adolescence. The period of adolescence
is normally from 11 years to 19 years.

Question 3.
What is menstruation? Explain.
Answer:
In females, every month the uterus prepares itself for future pregnancy. If the
fertilization fails to take place, the thickened lining of the uterus is no longer needed,
so this lining along with its blood vessels are shed off. This causes bleeding for 3 to
4 days. This is called menstruation. It occurs once in every28 to 30 days.

Question 4.
List changes in the body that take place at puberty.
Answer:
There are some common and some specific changes happen in the body of boys
and girls at puberty:

Common changes in both boys and girls

 There is sudden increase in the height of both boys and girls.

Specific Changes

 Boys develop facial hair. In girls, breast develop and menstruation starts.
 The voice of boys become deep due to enlarged voice box and that of girls
remain shrill.
 Shoulders become broader and muscles grow more prominently in boys. In
girls, the regions below the waist becomes wider.

Question 5.
Prepare a table having two columns depicting names of endocrine glands and
hormones secreted by them.
Answer:
 Endocrine glands Hormones

1. Pituitary gland (i) Growth hormones

2. Ovaries (ii) Estrogen

3. Testes (iii) Testosterone

4. Thyroid (iv) Thyroxine

5. Pancreas (v) Insulin

6. Adrenal glands (vi) Adrenaline

Question 6.
What are sex hormones? Why are they named so? State their function.
Answer:
The hormones which control the functions of reproductive system are called sex
hormones. They are named so because they control the sexual activities and are
secreted by males and females separately.
Functions of sex hormones are given below separately:
Male sex hormone: It is also called testosterone. It is secreted by testes and causes
appearance of secondary sexual characters in males. It also regulates sperm
formation.
Female sex hormone: It is also called estrogen. It is secreted by ovaries and controls
the secondary sexual characters in females. It also controls ovum maturation and the
menstrual cycle.

Question 7.
Choose the correct option.
(a) Adolescents should be careful about what they eat, because:
(i) proper diet develops their brains.
(ii) proper diet is needed for the rapid growth taking place in their body.
(iii) adolescents feel hungry all the time.
(iv) taste buds are well developed in teenagers.
(b) Reproductive age in women starts when their:
(i) menstruation starts.
(ii) breasts start developing.
(iii) body weight increases.
(iv) height increases.

(c) The right meal for adolescents consists of:

Question 8.
Write notes on:
(a) Adam’s apple
(b) Secondary sexual characters.
(c) Sex determination in the unborn baby.
Answer:
(a) Adam’s apple: In boys, the voice box grows and tends to protrude out on the
upper part of the neck, below the chin and is often referred to as Adam’s apple.

(b) Secondary sexual characters: Those visible characters that help in distinguishing
a male from a female are called secondary sexual characters. For example, in girls,
breasts and in boys, facial hair etc.

(c) Sex determination in the unborn baby: The sex of a child, i.e., whether it is a male
or a female is determined at the time of fertilisation when a male gametes fuse with a
female gamete. All human beings have 23 pairs of chromosomes in the nuclei of
their cells. Two chromosomes out of these are sex chromosomes. A female has two
X chromosomes, while a male has one X and one Y chromosome. The gametes
(egg and sperm) have only one set of chromosomes. The unfertilised egg always
has X chromosome. But sperms are of two kinds—One having X chromosome, and
the other having Y chromosome. When a sperm containing X chromosome fertilises
the egg, the zygote would have two X chromosomes and develop into a female child.
If the sperm contributes a Y chromosome to the egg or ovum at fertilisation, the
zygote would develop into a male child. It is thus also clear that the gamete of father
determines the sex of an unborn baby.
Question 9.
Word game: Use the clues to work out the words.
Across:
3. Protruding voice box in boys
4. Glands without ducts
7. Endocrine gland attached to brain
8. Secretion of endocrine glands
9. Pancreatic hormone
10. Female hormone
Down:
1. Male hormone
2. Secretes thyroxine
3. Another term for teenage
5. Hormone reaches here through blood stream
6. Voice box
7. Term for changes at adolescence
Question 10.
The table below shows the data on likely heights of boys and girls as they grow in
age. Draw graphs showing height and age for both boys and girls on the same graph
paper. What conclusions can be drawn from these graphs?

Height (cm)

Age (Years)

Boys Girls

0 53 53

4 96 92

8 114 110

12 129 133

16 150 150

20 173 165

Answer:
From the above graph, we conclude that initially boys grow faster than girls from 0-8
years, and girls grow faster than boys from 8-16 years. But both reach their
maximum height at the age of 20. Here boys show a greater increase in height than
girls.
EXTRA QUESTIONS
Question 1. What is puberty?
Answer:
The period during which adolescent boys and girls attain sexual maturity and become
capable of producing gametes. Puberty is attained in female by the age of 10 to 12 years
while in males it is attained by the age of 12 to 14 years.
Question 2.
Why are endocrine glands also called ductless glands?
Answer:
Endocrine glands release hormones directly into the blood stream. So, they are termed as
ductless glands. For example, pituitary, thyroid, adrenal etc.

Question 3.
Why is pituitary called the Master gland?
Answer:
Pituitary gland situated in the brain releases Stimulating hormones which stimulate
the other glands to secrete their Hormones, so it is called the Master gland. For Ex.
TSH (Thyroid stimulating Hormone) secreted from pituitary stimulates the thyroid
gland to secrete thyroxine.

Question 4.
How do hormones work in human body?
Answer:
Endocrine glands release hormones into the blood stream to reach a particular body
parts called target sites. The target sites have receptors to detect and receive the
hormone and respond accordingly.

Question 5.
Explain the terms menarche and menopause.
Answer:
The first menstrual flow, which marks the beginning of the reproductive phase of
Human female is termed as menarche. It occurs at 10 to 12 years of age.
At 45 to 50 years of age, the menstrual cycle stops. Stoppage of menstruation is
called menopause. It marks the end of the reproductive phase of Human Female.

Question 6.
What happens when the egg is fertilised?
Answer:
When the egg is fertilised, it begins to divide and then gets embedded in the uterus
for further development. Finally, the fertilised egg develops into a foetus.

Question 7.
How can an individual achieve a good reproductive health?
Answer: For a good reproductive Health, at any age, individuals needs to have a balanced
diet. The person must also observe personal hygiene and undertake adequate physical
exercise.
Question 8. What is the role of hormones in completing the life history of insects and
frogs?
Answer:
Hormones play an important role in the completion of life cycle of insects and frogs.
Metamorphosis in insects is controlled by insect hormones. In a frog, it is controlled
by thyroxine, the hormone produced by thyroid gland. Thyroxine production requires
the presence of iodine in water. Water in which iodine is not, present, the tadpoles
cannot become adult.

Question 9.
Which hormone is released by pancreas? What is its function?
Answer:
Insulin is released by pancreatic gland. It regulates sugar metabolism. If insulin is
deficient in the body, sugar level becomes high in blood causing diabetes.

Question 10.
Is a woman responsible for the sex of a child? Explain.
Answer:
No, because a woman has eggs of only X chromosomes but a male has sperms of
both X and Y chromosomes. It is the type of male chromosome (X or Y) which fuses
with the egg and determine the sex of the foetus, i.e., whether it will be male (XY) or
female (XX) child.

Question 11.
What is AIDS? Name the virus that causes AIDS? How is the Virus transmitted?
Answer:
Aids is a disease in which a person’s immune system becomes too weak to fight
infections. It is caused by HIV (human immunodeficiency virus). It can be transmitted
from the infected person to Healthy person through sexual contact, sharing syringes
etc. it can also be transmitted to the infant from the infected Mother.

___________________________________________________________________