CHAPTER 6

Life Processes

H ow do we tell the difference between what is alive and what is not

alive? If we see a dog running, or a cow chewing cud, or a man
shouting loudly on the street, we know that these are living beings. What
if the dog or the cow or the man were asleep? We would still think that
they were alive, but how did we know that? We see them breathing, and
we know that they are alive. What about plants? How do we know that
they are alive? We see them green, some of us will say. But what about
plants that have leaves of colours other than green? They grow over
time, so we know that they are alive, some will say. In other words, we
tend to think of some sort of movement, either growth-related or not, as
common evidence for being alive. But a plant that is not visibly growing is
still alive, and some animals can breathe without visible movement. So
using visible movement as the defining characteristic of life is not enough.
Movements over very small scales will be invisible to the naked eye –
movements of molecules, for example. Is this invisible molecular
movement necessary for life? If we ask this question to professional
biologists, they will say yes. In fact, viruses do not show any molecular
movement in them (until they infect some cell), and that is partly why
there is a controversy about whether they are truly alive or not.
Why are molecular movements needed for life? We have seen in earlier
classes that living organisms are well-organised structures; they can
have tissues, tissues have cells, cells have smaller components in them,
and so on. Because of the effects of the environment, this organised,
ordered nature of living structures is very likely to keep breaking down
over time. If order breaks down, the organism will no longer be alive. So
living creatures must keep repairing and maintaining their structures.
Since all these structures are made up of molecules, they must move
molecules around all the time.
What are the maintenance processes in living organisms?
Let us explore.

WHATT ARE LIFE PROCESSES?

6.1 WHA
The maintenance functions of living organisms must go on even when
they are not doing anything particular. Even when we are just sitting in

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 class, even if we are just asleep, this maintenance job has to go on.
The processes which together perform this maintenance job are
life processes.
Since these maintenance processes are needed to prevent damage
and break-down, energy is needed for them. This energy comes from
outside the body of the individual organism. So there must be a process
to transfer a source of energy from outside the body of the organism,
which we call food, to the inside, a process we commonly call nutrition.
If the body size of the organisms is to grow, additional raw material will
also be needed from outside. Since life on earth depends on carbon-
based molecules, most of these food sources are also carbon-based.
Depending on the complexity of these carbon sources, different
organisms can then use different kinds of nutritional processes.
The outside sources of energy could be quite varied, since the
environment is not under the control of the individual organism. These
sources of energy, therefore, need to be broken down or built up in the
body, and must be finally converted to a uniform source of energy that
can be used for the various molecular movements needed for
maintaining living structures, as well as to the kind of molecules the
body needs to grow. For this, a series of chemical reactions in the
body are necessary. Oxidising-reducing reactions are some of the most
common chemical means to break-down molecules. For this, many
organisms use oxygen sourced from outside the body. The process
of acquiring oxygen from outside the body, and to use it in the process
of break-down of food sources for cellular needs, is what we call
respiration.
In the case of a single-celled organism, no specific organs for taking
in food, exchange of gases or removal of wastes may be needed because
the entire surface of the organism is in contact with the environment.
But what happens when the body size of the organism increases and
the body design becomes more complex? In multi-cellular organisms,
all the cells may not be in direct contact with the surrounding
environment. Thus, simple diffusion will not meet the requirements of
all the cells.
We have seen previously how, in multi-cellular organisms, various
body parts have specialised in the functions they perform. We are familiar
with the idea of these specialised tissues, and with their organisation in
the body of the organism. It is therefore not surprising that the uptake
of food and of oxygen will also be the function of specialised tissues.
However, this poses a problem, since the food and oxygen are now taken
up at one place in the body of the organisms, while all parts of the body
need them. This situation creates a need for a transportation system for
carrying food and oxygen from one place to another in the body.
When chemical reactions use the carbon source and the oxygen for
energy generation, they create by-products that are not only useless
for the cells of the body, but could even be harmful. These waste by-
products are therefore needed to be removed from the body and discarded
outside by a process called excretion. Again, if the basic rules for body

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design in multi-cellular organisms are followed, a specialised tissue for
excretion will be developed, which means that the transportation system
will need to transport waste away from cells to this excretory tissue.
Let us consider these various processes, so essential to maintain
life, one by one.

Q U E S T I O N S

?
1. Why is diffusion insufficient to meet the oxygen requirements of multi-
cellular organisms like humans?
2. What criteria do we use to decide whether something is alive?
3. What are outside raw materials used for by an organism?
4. What processes would you consider essential for maintaining life?

6.2 NUTRITION
When we walk or ride a bicycle, we are using up energy. Even when we
are not doing any apparent activity, energy is needed to maintain a
state of order in our body. We also need materials from outside in order
to grow, develop, synthesise protein and other substances needed in
the body. This source of energy and materials is the food we eat.

How do living things get their food?

The general requirement for energy and materials is common in all
organisms, but it is fulfilled in different ways. Some organisms use simple
food material obtained from inorganic sources in the form of carbon
dioxide and water. These organisms, the autotrophs, include green
plants and some bacteria. Other organisms utilise complex substances.
These complex substances have to be broken down into simpler ones
before they can be used for the upkeep and growth of the body. To
achieve this, organisms use bio-catalysts called enzymes. Thus, the
heterotrophs survival depends directly or indirectly on autotrophs.
Heterotrophic organisms include animals and fungi.

6.2.1 Autotrophic Nutrition

Carbon and energy requirements of the autotrophic organism are
fulfilled by photosynthesis. It is the process by which autotrophs take
in substances from the outside and convert them into stored forms of
energy. This material is taken in the form of carbon dioxide and water
which is converted into carbohydrates in the presence of sunlight and
chlorophyll. Carbohydrates are utilised for providing energy to the plant.
We will study how this takes place in the next section. The carbohydrates
which are not used immediately are stored in the form of starch, which
serves as the internal energy reserve to be used as and when required
by the plant. A somewhat similar situation is seen in us where some of
the energy derived from the food we eat is stored in our body in the form
of glycogen.

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 Let us now see what actually happens during the process of
photosynthesis. The following events occur during this process –

(i) Absorption of light energy by

chlorophyll.
(ii) Conversion of light energy to chemical
energy and splitting of water molecules
into hydrogen and oxygen.
(iii) Reduction of carbon dioxide to
carbohydrates.
These steps need not take place one after
the other immediately. For example, desert
plants take up carbon dioxide at night and
prepare an intermediate which is acted upon
by the energy absorbed by the chlorophyll
during the day.
Let us see how each of the components of
the above reaction are necessary for
photosynthesis.
If you carefully observe a cross-section of a
leaf under the microscope (shown in Fig. 6.1),
you will notice that some cells contain green
dots. These green dots are cell organelles called
chloroplasts which contain chlorophyll. Let us
Figure 6.1 do an activity which demonstrates that
Cross-section of a leaf
chlorophyll is essential for photosynthesis.

Activity 6.1
n Take a potted plant with variegated leaves – for example, money plant
or crotons.
n Keep the plant in a dark room for three days so that all the starch
gets used up.
n Now keep the plant in sunlight for about six hours.
n Pluck a leaf from the plant. Mark the green areas in it and trace them
on a sheet of paper.
n Dip the leaf in boiling water for a few minutes.
n After this, immerse it in a beaker containing alcohol.
n Carefully place the above beaker in a water-bath and heat till the
alcohol begins to boil.
n What happens to the colour of the leaf? What is the colour of the
solution?
n Now dip the leaf in a dilute solution of iodine for a few minutes.
n Take out the leaf and rinse off the iodine solution.
n Observe the colour of the leaf and compare this with the tracing of
Figure 6.2 the leaf done in the beginning (Fig. 6.2).
Variegated leaf (a) before n What can you conclude about the presence of starch in various areas
and (b) after starch test of the leaf?

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 Now, let us study how the plant
obtains carbon dioxide. In Class IX,
we had talked about stomata (Fig. 6.3)
which are tiny pores present on the
surface of the leaves. Massive amounts
of gaseous exchange takes place in the
leaves through these pores for the
purpose of photosynthesis. But it is
important to note here that exchange
of gases occurs across the surface of
stems, roots and leaves as well. Since
large amounts of water can also be lost
through these stomata, the plant Figure 6.3 (a) Open and (b) closed stomatal pore
closes these pores when it does not
need carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. The opening and closing of the
pore is a function of the guard cells. The guard cells swell when water
flows into them, causing the stomatal pore to open. Similarly the pore
closes if the guard cells shrink.

Activity 6.2
n Take two healthy potted plants
which are nearly the same size.
n Keep them in a dark room for
three days.
n Now place each plant on
separate glass plates. Place a
watch-glass containing potassium
hydroxide by the side of one of
the plants. The potassium
hydroxide is used to absorb
carbon dioxide.
n Cover both plants with separate
(a) (b)
bell-jars as shown in Fig. 6.4.
n Use vaseline to seal the bottom Figure 6.4 Experimental set-up (a) with potassium
of the jars to the glass plates so hydroxide (b) without potassium hydroxide
that the set-up is air-tight.
n Keep the plants in sunlight for
about two hours.
n Pluck a leaf from each plant and check for the presence of starch as in the above activity.
n Do both the leaves show the presence of the same amount of starch?
n What can you conclude from this activity?

Based on the two activities performed above, can we design an

experiment to demonstrate that sunlight is essential for photosynthesis?
So far, we have talked about how autotrophs meet their energy
requirements. But they also need other raw materials for building their
body. Water used in photosynthesis is taken up from the soil by the
roots in terrestrial plants. Other materials like nitrogen, phosphorus,
iron and magnesium are taken up from the soil. Nitrogen is an essential
element used in the synthesis of proteins and other compounds. This is

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 taken up in the form of inorganic nitrates or nitrites. Or it is taken up as
organic compounds which have been prepared by bacteria from
atmospheric nitrogen.

6.2.2 Heterotrophic Nutrition

Each organism is adapted to its environment. The form of nutrition
differs depending on the type and availability of food material as well
as how it is obtained by the organism. For example, whether the food
source is stationary (such as grass) or mobile (such as a deer), would
allow for differences in how the food is accessed and what is the nutritive
apparatus used by a cow and a lion. There is a range of strategies by
which the food is taken in and used by the organism. Some organisms
break-down the food material outside the body and then absorb it.
Examples are fungi like bread moulds, yeast and mushrooms. Others
take in whole material and break it down inside their bodies. What can
be taken in and broken down depends on the body design and
functioning. Some other organisms derive nutrition from plants or
animals without killing them. This parasitic nutritive strategy is used
by a wide variety of organisms like cuscuta (amar-bel), ticks, lice,
leeches and tape-worms.

6.2.3 How do Organisms obtain their Nutrition?

Since the food and the way it is obtained differ, the digestive system is
different in various organisms. In single-celled organisms, the food
may be taken in by the entire surface. But as the complexity of the
organism increases, different parts become specialised to perform
different functions. For example, Amoeba takes in food using
temporary finger-like extensions of the cell surface which fuse over
the food particle forming a food-vacuole (Fig. 6.5). Inside the food-
vacuole, complex substances are broken down into simpler ones
which then diffuse into the cytoplasm. The remaining undigested
material is moved to the surface of the cell and thrown out. In
Paramoecium, which is also a unicellular organism, the cell has a
definite shape and food is taken in at a specific spot. Food is moved
to this spot by the movement of cilia which cover the entire surface
of the cell.

Figure 6.5
Nutrition in Amoeba
6.2.4 Nutrition in Human Beings
The alimentary canal is basically a long tube extending from the mouth
to the anus. In Fig. 6.6, we can see that the tube has different parts.
Various regions are specialised to perform different functions. What
happens to the food once it enters our body? We shall discuss this
process here.

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 Activity 6.3
n Take 1 mL starch solution (1%) in two test tubes (A and B).
n Add 1 mL saliva to test tube A and leave both test tubes undisturbed
for 20-30 minutes.
n Now add a few drops of dilute iodine solution to the test tubes.
n In which test tube do you observe a colour change?
n What does this indicate about the presence or absence of starch
in the two test tubes?
n What does this tell us about the action of saliva on starch?

We eat various types of food which has to pass through the same
digestive tract. Naturally the food has to be processed to generate
particles which are small and of the same texture. This is achieved by
crushing the food with our teeth. Since the lining of the canal is soft, the
food is also wetted to make its passage smooth. When we eat something
we like, our mouth ‘waters’. This is actually not only water, but a fluid
called saliva secreted by the salivary glands. Another aspect of the food
we ingest is its complex nature. If it is to be absorbed from the alimentary
canal, it has to be broken into smaller molecules. This is done with the
help of biological catalysts called
enzymes. The saliva contains an
enzyme called salivary amylase that
breaks down starch which is a complex
molecule to give simple sugar. The food
is mixed thoroughly with saliva and
moved around the mouth while
chewing by the muscular tongue.
It is necessary to move the food in
a regulated manner along the digestive
tube so that it can be processed
properly in each part. The lining of
canal has muscles that contract
rhythmically in order to push the food
forward. These peristaltic movements
occur all along the gut.
From the mouth, the food is taken
to the stomach through the food-pipe
or oesophagus. The stomach is a large
organ which expands when food
enters it. The muscular walls of the
stomach help in mixing the food Figure 6.6 Human alimentary canal
thoroughly with more digestive juices.
The digestion in stomach is taken
care of by the gastric glands present in the wall of the stomach. These
release hydrochloric acid, a protein digesting enzyme called pepsin,
and mucus. The hydrochloric acid creates an acidic medium which
facilitates the action of the enzyme pepsin. What other function do you
think is served by the acid? The mucus protects the inner lining of the
stomach from the action of the acid under normal conditions. We

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 have often heard adults complaining about ‘acidity’. Can this be related
to what has been discussed above?
The exit of food from the stomach is regulated by a sphincter muscle
which releases it in small amounts into the small intestine. From the
stomach, the food now enters the small intestine. This is the longest part
of the alimentary canal which is fitted into a compact space because of
extensive coiling. The length of the small intestine differs in various
animals depending on the food they eat. Herbivores eating grass need a
longer small intestine to allow the cellulose to be digested. Meat is easier
to digest, hence carnivores like tigers have a shorter small intestine.
The small intestine is the site of the complete digestion of
carbohydrates, proteins and fats. It receives the secretions of the liver
and pancreas for this purpose. The food coming from the stomach is
acidic and has to be made alkaline for the pancreatic enzymes to act.
Bile juice from the liver accomplishes this in addition to acting on fats.
Fats are present in the intestine in the form of large globules which makes
it difficult for enzymes to act on them. Bile salts break them down into
smaller globules increasing the efficiency of enzyme action. This is similar
to the emulsifying action of soaps on dirt that we have learnt about in
Chapter 4. The pancreas secretes pancreatic juice which contains
enzymes like trypsin for digesting proteins and lipase for breaking down
emulsified fats. The walls of the small intestine contain glands which
secrete intestinal juice. The enzymes present in it finally convert the
proteins to amino acids, complex carbohydrates into glucose and fats
into fatty acids and glycerol.
Digested food is taken up by the walls of the intestine. The inner
lining of the small intestine has numerous finger-like projections called
villi which increase the surface area for absorption. The villi are richly
supplied with blood vessels which take the absorbed food to each and
every cell of the body, where it is utilised for obtaining energy, building
up new tissues and the repair of old tissues.
The unabsorbed food is sent into the large intestine where its wall
absorb more water from this material. The rest of the material is removed
from the body via the anus. The exit of this waste material is regulated
by the anal sphincter.
More to Know!

Dental caries
Dental caries or tooth decay causes gradual softening of enamel and dentine. It begins
when bacteria acting on sugars produce acids that softens or demineralises the enamel.
Masses of bacterial cells together with food particles stick to the teeth to form dental
plaque. Saliva cannot reach the tooth surface to neutralise the acid as plaque covers
the teeth. Brushing the teeth after eating removes the plaque before the bacteria
produce acids. If untreated, microorganisms may invade the pulp, causing
inflammation and infection.

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 Q U E S T I O N S
1. What are the differences between autotrophic nutrition and heterotrophic
nutrition?
2.
3.
4.
5.
Where do plants get each of the raw materials required for photosynthesis?
What is the role of the acid in our stomach?
What is the function of digestive enzymes?
How is the small intestine designed to absorb digested food?
?
6.3 RESPIR
RESPIRAATION
Pichkari
Activity 6.4
n Take some freshly prepared lime
water in a test tube. Rubber Tube
n Blow air through this lime water. tube
n Note how long it takes for the lime
water to turn milky.
n Use a syringe or pichkari to pass air Test tube containing
Lime lime water
through some fresh lime water water
taken in another test tube (Fig. 6.7).
n Note how long it takes for this lime
(a) (b)
water to turn milky.
n What does this tell us about the Figure 6.7
amount of carbon dioxide in the air (a) Air being passed into lime water with a pichkari/
that we breathe out? syringe, (b) air being exhaled into lime water

Activity 6.5
n Take some fruit juice or sugar solution and add some yeast to
this. Take this mixture in a test tube fitted with a one-holed cork.
n Fit the cork with a bent glass tube. Dip the free end of the glass
tube into a test tube containing freshly prepared lime water.
n What change is observed in the lime water and how long does it
take for this change to occur?
n What does this tell us about the products of fermentation?

We have discussed nutrition in organisms in the last section. The

food material taken in during the process of nutrition is used in cells to
provide energy for various life processes. Diverse organisms do this in
different ways – some use oxygen to break-down glucose completely
into carbon dioxide and water, some use other pathways that do not
involve oxygen (Fig. 6.8). In all cases, the first step is the break-down of
glucose, a six-carbon molecule, into a three-carbon molecule called
pyruvate. This process takes place in the cytoplasm. Further, the
pyruvate may be converted into ethanol and carbon dioxide. This process
takes place in yeast during fermentation. Since this process takes place
in the absence of air (oxygen), it is called anaerobic respiration. Break-
down of pyruvate using oxygen takes place in the mitochondria. This

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 process breaks up the three-carbon pyruvate molecule to give three
molecules of carbon dioxide. The other product is water. Since this
process takes place in the presence of air (oxygen), it is called aerobic
respiration. The release of energy in this aerobic process is a lot greater
than in the anaerobic process. Sometimes, when there is a lack of oxygen
in our muscle cells, another pathway for the break-down of pyruvate is
taken. Here the pyruvate is converted into lactic acid which is also a
three-carbon molecule. This build-up of lactic acid in our muscles during
sudden activity causes cramps.

Figure 6.8 Break-down of glucose by various pathways

The energy released during cellular respiration is immediately used

to synthesise a molecule called ATP which is used to fuel all other
activities in the cell. In these processes, ATP is broken down giving rise
to a fixed amount of energy which can drive the endothermic reactions
taking place in the cell.

ATP
ATP is the energy currency for most cellular processes. The energy released during
More to Know!

the process of respiration is used to make an ATP molecule from ADP and inorganic
phosphate.

Endothermic processes in the cell then use this ATP to drive the reactions. When the
terminal phosphate linkage in ATP is broken using water, the energy equivalent to
30.5 kJ/mol is released.
Think of how a battery can provide energy for many different kinds of uses. It can be
used to obtain mechanical energy, light energy, electrical energy and so on. Similarly,
ATP can be used in the cells for the contraction of muscles, protein synthesis,
conduction of nervous impulses and many other activities.

Since the aerobic respiration pathway depends on oxygen, aerobic

organisms need to ensure that there is sufficient intake of oxygen. We
have seen that plants exchange gases through stomata, and the large
inter-cellular spaces ensure that all cells are in contact with air. Carbon
dioxide and oxygen are exchanged by diffusion here. They can go into

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cells, or away from them and out into the air. The direction of diffusion
depends upon the environmental conditions and the requirements of
the plant. At night, when there is no photosynthesis occurring, CO2
elimination is the major exchange activity going on. During the day,
CO2 generated during respiration is used up for photosynthesis, hence
there is no CO2 release. Instead, oxygen release is the major event at
this time.
Animals have evolved different organs for the uptake of oxygen
from the environment and for getting rid of the carbon dioxide
produced. Terrestrial animals can breathe the oxygen in the
atmosphere, but animals that live in water need to use the oxygen
dissolved in water.

Activity 6.6
n Observe fish in an aquarium. They open and close their mouths
and the gill-slits (or the operculum which covers the gill-slits)
behind their eyes also open and close. Are the timings of the
opening and closing of the mouth and gill-slits coordinated in some
manner?
n Count the number of times the fish opens and closes its mouth in
a minute.
n Compare this to the number of times you breathe in and out in a
minute.

Since the amount of dissolved oxygen is fairly low compared

to the amount of oxygen in the air, the rate of breathing in aquatic
organisms is much faster than that seen in terrestrial organisms.
Fishes take in water through their mouths and force it past the More to Know!
gills where the dissolved oxygen is taken up by blood.
Using tobacco directly or
Terrestrial organisms use the oxygen in the atmosphere for any product of tobacco in
respiration. This oxygen is absorbed by different organs in the form of cigar, cigarettes,
different animals. All these organs have a structure that increases bidis, hookah, gutkha, etc.,
the surface area which is in contact with the oxygen-rich is harmful. Use of tobacco
atmosphere. Since the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide most commonly affects the
has to take place across this surface, this surface is very fine tongue, lungs, heart and
and delicate. In order to protect this surface, it is usually placed liver. Smokeless tobacco is
within the body, so there have to be passages that will take air also a major risk factor for
to this area. In addition, there is a mechanism for moving the air heart attacks, strokes,
in and out of this area where the oxygen is absorbed. pulmonary diseases and
In human beings (Fig. 6.9), air is taken into the body through several forms of cancers.
There is a high incidence of
the nostrils. The air passing through the nostrils is filtered by
oral cancer in India due to
fine hairs that line the passage. The passage is also lined with
the chewing of tobacco in
mucus which helps in this process. From here, the air passes
the form of gutkha. Stay
through the throat and into the lungs. Rings of cartilage are healthy; just say NO to
present in the throat. These ensure that the air-passage does tobacco and its products!
not collapse.

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 Figure 6.9 Human respiratory system

Within the lungs, the passage divides into smaller and smaller
tubes which finally terminate in balloon-like structures which
Do You Know? are called alveoli (singular–alveolus). The alveoli provide a surface
Smoking is injurious to where the exchange of gases can take place. The walls of the alveoli
health.
contain an extensive network of blood-vessels. As we have seen
Lung cancer is one of in earlier years, when we breathe in, we lift our ribs and flatten
common causes of
our diaphragm, and the chest cavity becomes larger as a result.
deaths in the world. The
upper part of respiratory Because of this, air is sucked into the lungs and fills the expanded
tract is provided with alveoli. The blood brings carbon dioxide from the rest of the body
small hair -like for release into the alveoli, and the oxygen in the alveolar air is
structures called cilia. taken up by blood in the alveolar blood vessels to be transported
These cilia help to to all the cells in the body. During the breathing cycle, when air is
remove germs, dust and taken in and let out, the lungs always contain a residual volume
other harmful particles
of air so that there is sufficient time for oxygen to be absorbed
from inhaled air.
Smoking destroys these and for the carbon dioxide to be released.
hair due to which germs, When the body size of animals is large, the diffusion pressure
dust, smoke and other alone cannot take care of oxygen delivery to all parts of the body.
harmful chemicals enter Instead, respiratory pigments take up oxygen from the air in the
lungs and cause lungs and carry it to tissues which are deficient in oxygen before
infection, cough and
releasing it. In human beings, the respiratory pigment is
even lung cancer.
haemoglobin which has a very high affinity for oxygen. This pigment
is present in the red blood corpuscles. Carbon dioxide is more
soluble in water than oxygen is and hence is mostly transported in
the dissolved form in our blood.

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Do You Know?
n If the alveolar surface were spread out, it would cover about 80 m2. How much
do you think the surface area of your body is? Consider how efficient exchange
of gases becomes because of the large surface available for the exchange to take
place.
n If diffusion were to move oxygen in our body, it is estimated that it would take 3
years for a molecule of oxygen to get to our toes from our lungs. Aren’t you glad
that we have haemoglobin?

Q U E S T I O N S
1. What advantage over an aquatic organism does a terrestrial organism

?
have with regard to obtaining oxygen for respiration?
2. What are the different ways in which glucose is oxidised to provide
energy in various organisms?
3. How is oxygen and carbon dioxide transported in human beings?
4. How are the lungs designed in human beings to maximise the area for
exchange of gases?

6.4 TR ANSPORT
ANSPORTAATION
6.4.1 Transportation in Human Beings

Activity 6.7
n Visit a health centre in your locality and find out what is the
normal range of haemoglobin content in human beings.
n Is it the same for children and adults?
n Is there any difference in the haemoglobin levels for men and
women?
n Visit a veterinary clinic in your locality. Find out what is the normal
range of haemoglobin content in an animal like the buffalo
or cow.
n Is this content different in calves, male and female animals?
n Compare the difference seen in male and female human beings
and animals.
n How would the difference, if any, be explained?

We have seen in previous sections that blood transports food, oxygen

and waste materials in our bodies. In Class IX, we learnt about blood
being a fluid connective tissue. Blood consists of a fluid medium called
plasma in which the cells are suspended. Plasma transports food, carbon
dioxide and nitrogenous wastes in dissolved form. Oxygen is carried by
the red blood corpuscles. Many other substances like salts, are also
transported by the blood. We thus need a pumping organ to push blood
around the body, a network of tubes to reach all the tissues and a system
in place to ensure that this network can be repaired if damaged.

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 Our pump — the heart
The heart is a muscular organ which is
as big as our fist (Fig. 6.10). Because
both oxygen and carbon dioxide have to
be transported by the blood, the heart
has different chambers to prevent the
oxygen-rich blood from mixing with the
blood containing carbon dioxide. The
carbon dioxide-rich blood has to reach
the lungs for the carbon dioxide to be
removed, and the oxygenated blood from
the lungs has to be brought back to the
heart. This oxygen-rich blood is then
pumped to the rest of the body.
We can follow this process step by
step (Fig. 6.11). Oxygen-rich blood from
Figure 6.10 the lungs comes to the thin-walled upper
Schematic sectional chamber of the heart on the left, the left atrium. The left atrium relaxes
view of the human heart when it is collecting this blood. It then contracts, while the next chamber,
the left ventricle, relaxes, so that the blood is transferred to it. When the
muscular left ventricle contracts in its turn, the blood is pumped out to
the body. De-oxygenated blood comes from the body to the upper
chamber on the right, the right atrium, as it relaxes. As the right atrium
contracts, the corresponding lower chamber, the right ventricle, dilates.
This transfers blood to the right ventricle, which in turn pumps it to the
lungs for oxygenation. Since ventricles have to pump blood into various
organs, they have thicker muscular walls than the atria do. Valves ensure
that blood does not flow backwards when the atria or ventricles contract.

Oxygen enters the blood in the lungs

The separation of the right side and the left side of
the heart is useful to keep oxygenated and de-
oxygenated blood from mixing. Such separation
allows a highly efficient supply of oxygen to the
body. This is useful in animals that have high
energy needs, such as birds and mammals, which
constantly use energy to maintain their body
temperature. In animals that do not use energy
for this purpose, the body temperature depends
on the temperature in the environment. Such
animals, like amphibians or many reptiles have
three-chambered hearts, and tolerate some mixing
of the oxygenated and de-oxygenated blood
streams. Fishes, on the other hand, have only two
chambers to their hearts, and the blood is pumped
Figure 6.11 to the gills, is oxygenated there, and passes directly
Schematic representation of transport and exchange to the rest of the body. Thus, blood goes only once
of oxygen and carbon dioxide through the heart in the fish during one cycle of
passage through the body. On the other hand, it goes through the heart
twice during each cycle in other vertebrates. This is known as double
circulation.

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 Blood pressure
The force that blood exerts against the wall of a vessel is called blood pressure. This
pressure is much greater in arteries than in veins. The pressure of blood inside the
artery during ventricular systole (contraction) is called systolic pressure and pressure
in artery during ventricular diastole (relaxation) is called diastolic pressure. The normal
systolic pressure is about 120 mm of Hg and diastolic pressure is 80 mm of Hg.
More to Know!

Blood pressure is measured with an instrument called sphygmomanometer. High

blood pressure is also called hypertension and is caused by the constriction of
arterioles, which results in increased resistance to blood flow. It can lead to the rupture
of an artery and internal bleeding.

The tubes – blood vessels

Arteries are the vessels which carry blood away from the heart to various
organs of the body. Since the blood emerges from the heart under high
pressure, the arteries have thick, elastic walls. Veins collect the blood
from different organs and bring it back to the heart. They do not need
thick walls because the blood is no longer under pressure, instead they
have valves that ensure that the blood flows only in one direction.
On reaching an organ or tissue, the artery divides into smaller and
smaller vessels to bring the blood in contact with all the individual cells.
The smallest vessels have walls which are one-cell thick and are called
capillaries. Exchange of material between the blood and surrounding
cells takes place across this thin wall. The capillaries then join together
to form veins that convey the blood away from the organ or tissue.

Maintenance by platelets
What happens if this system of tubes develops a leak? Think about
situations when we are injured and start bleeding. Naturally the loss of
blood from the system has to be minimised. In addition, leakage would
lead to a loss of pressure which would reduce the efficiency of the

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 pumping system. To avoid this, the blood has platelet cells which circulate
around the body and plug these leaks by helping to clot the blood at
these points of injury.

Lymph
There is another type of fluid also involved in transportation. This is
called lymph or tissue fluid. Through the pores present in the walls of
capillaries some amount of plasma, proteins and blood cells escape into
intercellular spaces in the tissues to form the tissue fluid or lymph. It is
similar to the plasma of blood but colourless and contains less protein.
Lymph drains into lymphatic capillaries from the intercellular spaces,
which join to form large lymph vessels that finally open into larger veins.
Lymph carries digested and absorbed fat from intestine and drains excess
fluid from extra cellular space back into the blood.

6.4.2 Transportation in Plants

We have discussed earlier how plants take in simple compounds such
as CO2 and photosynthesise energy stored in their chlorophyll-containing
organs, namely leaves. The other kinds of raw materials needed for
building plant bodies will also have to be taken up separately. For plants,
the soil is the nearest and richest source of raw materials like nitrogen,
phosphorus and other minerals. The absorption of these substances
therefore occurs through the part in contact with the soil, namely roots.
If the distances between soil-contacting organs and chlorophyll-
containing organs are small, energy and raw materials can easily diffuse
to all parts of the plant body. But if these distances become large because
of changes in plant body design, diffusion processes will not be sufficient
to provide raw material in leaves and energy in roots. A proper system of
transportation is therefore essential in such situations.
Energy needs differ between different body designs. Plants do not
move, and plant bodies have a large proportion of dead cells in many
tissues. As a result, plants have low energy needs, and can use relatively
slow transport systems. The distances over which transport systems
have to operate, however, can be very large in plants such as very tall
trees.
Plant transport systems will move energy stores from leaves and raw
materials from roots. These two pathways are constructed as
independently organised conducting tubes. One, the xylem moves water
and minerals obtained from the soil. The other, phloem transports
products of photosynthesis from the leaves where they are synthesised
to other parts of the plant. We have studied the structure of these tissues
in detail in Class IX.

Transport of water
In xylem tissue, vessels and tracheids of the roots, stems and leaves are
interconnected to form a continuous system of water-conducting
channels reaching all parts of the plant. At the roots, cells in contact
with the soil actively take up ions. This creates a difference in the
concentration of these ions between the root and the soil. Water, therefore,

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moves into the root from the soil to eliminate this difference. This means
that there is steady movement of water into root xylem, creating a column
of water that is steadily pushed upwards.
However, this pressure by itself is unlikely to be enough to move
water over the heights that we commonly see in plants. Plants use another
strategy to move water in the xylem upwards to the highest points of the
plant body.

Activity 6.8
n Take two small pots of approximately the same size and having
the same amount of soil. One should have a plant in it. Place a
stick of the same height as the plant in the other pot.
n Cover the soil in both pots with a plastic sheet so that moisture
cannot escape by evaporation.
n Cover both sets, one with the plant and the other with the stick,
with plastic sheets and place in bright sunlight for half an hour.
n Do you observe any difference in the two cases?

Provided that the plant has an adequate

supply of water, the water which is lost through the
stomata is replaced by water from the xylem vessels
in the leaf. In fact, evaporation of water molecules from
the cells of a leaf creates a suction which pulls water
from the xylem cells of roots. The loss of water in the
form of vapour from the aerial parts of the plant is
known as transpiration.
Thus, transpiration helps in the absorption and
upward movement of water and minerals dissolved
in it from roots to the leaves. It also helps in
temperature regulation. The effect of root pressure in
transport of water is more important at night. During
the day when the stomata are open, the transpiration
pull becomes the major driving force in the movement Figure 6.12
of water in the xylem. Movement of water during transpiration in a tree

Transport of food and other substances

So far we have discussed the transport of water and minerals in plants.
Now let us consider how the products of metabolic processes, particularly
photosynthesis, are moved from leaves, where they are formed, to other
parts of the plant. This transport of soluble products of photosynthesis
is called translocation and it occurs in the part of the vascular tissue
known as phloem. Besides the products of photosynthesis, the phloem
transports amino acids and other substances. These substances are
especially delivered to the storage organs of roots, fruits and seeds and
to growing organs. The translocation of food and other substances takes
place in the sieve tubes with the help of adjacent companion cells both
in upward and downward directions.
Unlike transport in xylem which can be largely explained by simple
physical forces, the translocation in phloem is achieved by utilising

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 energy. Material like sucrose is transferred into phloem tissue using
energy from ATP. This increases the osmotic pressure of the tissue
causing water to move into it. This pressure moves the material in the
phloem to tissues which have less pressure. This allows the phloem to
move material according to the plant’s needs. For example, in the spring,
sugar stored in root or stem tissue would be transported to the buds
which need energy to grow.

Q U E S T I O N S
1. What are the components of the transport system in human beings?

?
What are the functions of these components?
2. Why is it necessary to separate oxygenated and deoxygenated blood in
mammals and birds?
3. What are the components of the transport system in highly organised
plants?
4. How are water and minerals transported in plants?
5. How is food transported in plants?

6.5 EX CRETION
EXCRETION
We have already discussed how organisms get rid of gaseous wastes
generated during photosynthesis or respiration. Other metabolic activities
generate nitrogenous materials which need to be removed. The biological
process involved in the removal of these harmful metabolic wastes from
the body is called excretion. Different organisms use varied strategies to
do this. Many unicellular organisms remove these wastes by simple
diffusion from the body surface into the surrounding
water. As we have seen in other processes, complex
multi-cellular organisms use specialised organs to
perform the same function.

6.5.1 Excretion in Human Beings

The excretory system of human beings (Fig. 6.13)
includes a pair of kidneys, a pair of ureters, a urinary
bladder and a urethra. Kidneys are located in the
abdomen, one on either side of the backbone. Urine
produced in the kidneys passes through the ureters
into the urinary bladder where it is stored until it is
released through the urethra.
How is urine produced? The purpose of making
urine is to filter out waste products from the blood.
Just as CO2 is removed from the blood in the lungs,
nitrogenous waste such as urea or uric acid are
Figure 6.13 removed from blood in the kidneys. It is then no
Excretory system in human beings
surprise that the basic filtration unit in the kidneys,

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like in the lungs, is a cluster of very thin-walled blood
capillaries. Each capillary cluster in the kidney is
associated with the cup-shaped end of a coiled tube
called Bowman’s capsule that collects the filtrate
(Fig. 6.14). Each kidney has large numbers of these
filtration units called nephrons packed close together.
Some substances in the initial filtrate, such as glucose,
amino acids, salts and a major amount of water, are
selectively re-absorbed as the urine flows along the tube.
The amount of water re-absorbed depends on how much
excess water there is in the body, and on how much of
dissolved waste there is to be excreted. The urine forming
in each kidney eventually enters a long tube, the ureter,
which connects the kidneys with the urinary bladder.
Urine is stored in the urinary bladder until the pressure
of the expanded bladder leads to the urge to pass it out
through the urethra. The bladder is muscular, so it is
under nervous control, as we have discussed elsewhere.
Figure 6.14
As a result, we can usually control the urge to urinate. Structure of a nephron

Artificial kidney (Hemodialysis)

Kidneys are vital organs for survival. Several factors like infections, injury or restricted
blood flow to kidneys reduce the activity of kidneys. This leads to accumulation of
poisonous wastes in the body, which can even lead to death. In case of kidney
failure, an artificial kidney can be used. An artificial kidney is a device to remove
nitrogenous waste products from the blood through dialysis.
Artificial kidneys contain a number of tubes with a semi-permeable lining, suspended
in a tank filled with dialysing fluid.
More to Know!

This fluid has the same osmotic

pressure as blood, except that it is
devoid of nitrogenous wastes. The
patient’s blood is passed through
these tubes. During this passage,
the waste products from the blood
pass into dialysing fluid by diffusion.
The purified blood is pumped back
into the patient. This is similar to the
function of the kidney, but it is
different since there is no re-
absorption involved. Normally, in a
healthy adult, the initial filtrate in the
kidneys is about 180 L daily.
However, the volume actually
excreted is only a litre or two a day,
because the remaining filtrate is re-
absorbed in the kidney tubules.

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 Think it over! 6.5.2 Excretion in Plants
Plants use completely different
Organ donation
strategies for excretion than those
Organ donation is a generous act of donating an of animals. Oxygen itself can be
organ to a person who suffers from non-function of thought of as a waste product
organ(s). Donation of an organ may be done by the generated during photosynthesis!
consent of the donor and his/her family. Anyone We have discussed earlier how
regardless of age or gender can become an organ plants deal with oxygen as well as
and tissue donor. Organ transplants can save or CO2. They can get rid of excess water
transform the life of a person. Transplantation is by transpiration. For other wastes,
required because recipient’s organ has been
plants use the fact that many of
damaged or has failed by disease or injury. In organ
their tissues consist of dead cells,
transplantation the organ is surgically removed
and that they can even lose some
from one person (organ donor) and transplanted to
parts such as leaves. Many plant
another person (the recipient). Common
waste products are stored in
transplantations include corneas, kidneys, heart,
cellular vacuoles. Waste products
liver, pancreas, lungs, intestines and bone marrow.
Most organ and tissue donations occur just after may be stored in leaves that fall off.
the donor has died or when the doctor declares a Other waste products are stored as
person brain dead. But some organs such as resins and gums, especially in old
kidney, part of a liver, lung, etc., and tissues can be xylem. Plants also excrete some
donated while the donor is alive. waste substances into the soil
around them.

Q U E S T I O N S

?
1. Describe the structure and functioning of nephrons.
2. What are the methods used by plants to get rid of excretory products?
3. How is the amount of urine produced regulated?

What you have learnt

n Movement of various types can be taken as an indication of life.
n Maintenance of life requires processes like nutrition, respiration, transport of
materials within the body and excretion of waste products.
n Autotrophic nutrition involves the intake of simple inorganic materials from the
environment and using an external energy source like the Sun to synthesise complex
high-energy organic material.
n Heterotrophic nutrition involves the intake of complex material prepared by other
organisms.
n In human beings, the food eaten is broken down by various steps along the
alimentary canal and the digested food is absorbed in the small intestine to be sent
to all cells in the body.

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 n During the process of respiration, organic compounds such as glucose are broken
down to provide energy in the form of ATP. ATP is used to provide energy for other
reactions in the cell.
n Respiration may be aerobic or anaerobic. Aerobic respiration makes more energy
available to the organism.
n In human beings, the transport of materials such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, food
and excretory products is a function of the circulatory system. The circulatory
system consists of the heart, blood and blood vessels.
n In highly differentiated plants, transport of water, minerals, food and other materials
is a function of the vascular tissue which consists of xylem and phloem.
n In human beings, excretory products in the form of soluble nitrogen compounds
are removed by the nephrons in the kidneys.
n Plants use a variety of techniques to get rid of waste material. For example, waste
material may be stored in the cell-vacuoles or as gum and resin, removed in the
falling leaves, or excreted into the surrounding soil.

E X E R C I S E S
1. The kidneys in human beings are a part of the system for
(a) nutrition. (c) excretion.
(b) respiration. (d) transportation.
2. The xylem in plants are responsible for
(a) transport of water. (c) transport of amino acids.
(b) transport of food. (d) transport of oxygen.
3. The autotrophic mode of nutrition requires
(a) carbon dioxide and water. (c) sunlight.
(b) chlorophyll. (d) all of the above.
4. The breakdown of pyruvate to give carbon dioxide, water and energy takes place in
(a) cytoplasm. (c) chloroplast.
(b) mitochondria. (d) nucleus.
5. How are fats digested in our bodies? Where does this process take place?
6. What is the role of saliva in the digestion of food?
7. What are the necessary conditions for autotrophic nutrition and what are its by-
products?
8. What are the differences between aerobic and anaerobic respiration? Name some
organisms that use the anaerobic mode of respiration.
9. How are the alveoli designed to maximise the exchange of gases?
10. What would be the consequences of a deficiency of haemoglobin in our bodies?
11. Describe double circulation of blood in human beings. Why is it necessary?
12. What are the differences between the transport of materials in xylem and phloem?
13. Compare the functioning of alveoli in the lungs and nephrons in the kidneys with
respect to their structure and functioning.

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 CHAPTER 7
Control and
Coordination

I n the previous chapter, we looked at life processes involved in the

maintenance functions in living organisms. There, we had started with
a notion we all have, that if we see something moving, it is alive. Some of
these movements are in fact the result of growth, as in plants. A seed
germinates and grows, and we can see that the seedling moves over the
course of a few days, it pushes soil aside and comes out. But if its growth
were to be stopped, these movements would not happen. Some
movements, as in many animals and some plants, are not connected
with growth. A cat running, children playing on swings, buffaloes
chewing cud – these are not movements caused by growth.
Why do we associate such visible movements with life? A possible
answer is that we think of movement as a response to a change in the
environment of the organism. The cat may be running because it has
seen a mouse. Not only that, we also think of movement as an attempt
by living organisms to use changes in their environment to their
advantage. Plants grow out into the sunshine. Children try to get pleasure
and fun out of swinging. Buffaloes chew cud to help break up tough
food so as to be able to digest it better. When bright light is focussed on
our eyes or when we touch a hot object, we detect the change and respond
to it with movement in order to protect ourselves.
If we think a bit more about this, it becomes apparent that all this
movement, in response to the environment, is carefully controlled. Each
kind of a change in the environment evokes an appropriate movement
in response. When we want to talk to our friends in class, we whisper,
rather than shouting loudly. Clearly, the movement to be made depends
on the event that is triggering it. Therefore, such controlled movement
must be connected to the recognition of various events in the
environment, followed by only the correct movement in response. In other
words, living organisms must use systems providing control and
coordination. In keeping with the general principles of body organisation
in multicellular organisms, specialised tissues are used to provide these
control and coordination activities.

7 . 1 ANIMALS – NERVOUS SYSTEM

In animals, such control and coordination are provided by nervous and
muscular tissues, which we have studied in Class IX. Touching a hot

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object is an urgent and dangerous
situation for us. We need to detect it,
and respond to it. How do we detect that
we are touching a hot object? All
information from our environment is
detected by the specialised tips of some
nerve cells. These receptors are usually
located in our sense organs, such as the
inner ear, the nose, the tongue, and so
(a)
on. So gustatory receptors will detect taste
while olfactory receptors will detect smell.
This information, acquired at the
end of the dendritic tip of a nerve cell
[Fig. 7.1 (a)], sets off a chemical reaction
that creates an electrical impulse. This
impulse travels from the dendrite to the
cell body, and then along the axon to its
end. At the end of the axon, the electrical
impulse sets off the release of some
chemicals. These chemicals cross the
gap, or synapse, and start a similar (b)
electrical impulse in a dendrite of the next
Figure 7.1 (a) Structure of neuron, (b) Neuromuscular junction
neuron. This is a general scheme of how
nervous impulses travel in the body. A
similar synapse finally allows delivery of such impulses from neurons to
other cells, such as muscles cells or gland [Fig. 7.1 (b)].
It is thus no surprise that nervous tissue is made up of an organised
network of nerve cells or neurons, and is specialised for conducting
information via electrical impulses from one part of the body to another.
Look at Fig. 7.1 (a) and identify the parts of a neuron (i) where
information is acquired, (ii) through which information travels as an
electrical impulse, and (iii) where this impulse must be converted into a
chemical signal for onward transmission.

Activity 7.1
n Put some sugar in your mouth. How does it taste?
n Block your nose by pressing it between your thumb and index
finger. Now eat sugar again. Is there any difference in its taste?
n While eating lunch, block your nose in the same way and notice if
you can fully appreciate the taste of the food you are eating.

Is there a difference in how sugar and food taste if your nose is

blocked? If so, why might this be happening? Read and talk about
possible explanations for these kinds of differences. Do you come across
a similar situation when you have a cold?

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 7.1.1 What happens in Reflex Actions?
‘Reflex’ is a word we use very commonly when we talk about some sudden
action in response to something in the environment. We say ‘I jumped
out of the way of the bus reflexly’, or ‘I pulled my hand back from the
flame reflexly’, or ‘I was so hungry my mouth started watering reflexly’.
What exactly do we mean? A common idea in all such examples is that
we do something without thinking about it, or without feeling in control
of our reactions. Yet these are situations where we are responding with
some action to changes in our environment. How is control and
coordination achieved in such situations?
Let us consider this further. Take one of our examples. Touching a
flame is an urgent and dangerous situation for us, or in fact, for any
animal! How would we respond to this? One seemingly simple way is to
think consciously about the pain and the possibility of getting burnt,
and therefore move our hand. An important question then is, how long
will it take us to think all this? The answer depends on how we think. If
nerve impulses are sent around the way we have talked about earlier,
then thinking is also likely to involve the creation of such impulses.
Thinking is a complex activity, so it is bound to involve a complicated
interaction of many nerve impulses from many neurons.
If this is the case, it is no surprise that the thinking tissue in our
body consists of dense networks of intricately arranged neurons. It sits
in the forward end of the skull, and receives signals from all over the
body which it thinks about before responding to them. Obviously, in
order to receive these signals, this thinking part of the brain in the skull
must be connected to nerves coming from various parts of the body.
Similarly, if this part of the brain is to instruct muscles to move, nerves
must carry this signal back to different parts of the body. If all of this is
to be done when we touch a hot object, it may take enough time for us to
get burnt!
How does the design of the body solve this problem? Rather than
having to think about the sensation of heat, if the nerves that detect heat
were to be connected to the nerves that move muscles in a simpler way,
the process of detecting the signal or the input and responding to it by
an output action might be completed quickly. Such a connection is
commonly called a reflex arc (Fig. 7.2). Where should such reflex arc
connections be made between the input nerve and the output nerve?
The best place, of course, would be at the point where they first meet
each other. Nerves from all over the body meet in a bundle in the spinal
cord on their way to the brain. Reflex arcs are formed in this spinal cord
itself, although the information input also goes on to reach the brain.
Of course, reflex arcs have evolved in animals because the thinking
process of the brain is not fast enough. In fact many animals have very
little or none of the complex neuron network needed for thinking. So it is
quite likely that reflex arcs have evolved as efficient ways of functioning
in the absence of true thought processes. However, even after complex
neuron networks have come into existence, reflex arcs continue to be
more efficient for quick responses.

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 Figure 7.2 Reflex arc

Can you now trace the sequence of events which occur when a bright
light is focussed on your eyes?

7.1.2 Human Brain

Is reflex action the only function of the spinal cord? Obviously not, since
we know that we are thinking beings. Spinal cord is made up of nerves
which supply information to think about. Thinking involves more
complex mechanisms and neural connections. These are concentrated
in the brain, which is the main coordinating centre of the body. The
brain and spinal cord constitute the central nervous system. They receive
information from all parts of the body and integrate it.
We also think about our actions. Writing, talking, moving a chair,
clapping at the end of a programme are examples of voluntary actions
which are based on deciding what to do next. So, the brain also has to
send messages to muscles. This is the second way in which the nervous
system communicates with the muscles. The communication between
the central nervous system and the other parts of the body is facilitated
by the peripheral nervous system consisting of cranial nerves arising
from the brain and spinal nerves arising from the spinal cord. The brain
thus allows us to think and take actions based on that thinking. As you
will expect, this is accomplished through a complex design, with different
parts of the brain responsible for integrating different inputs and outputs.
The brain has three such major parts or regions, namely the fore-brain,
mid-brain and hind-brain.
The fore-brain is the main thinking part of the brain. It has regions
which receive sensory impulses from various receptors. Separate areas
of the fore-brain are specialised for hearing, smell, sight and so on. There
are separate areas of association where this sensory information is
interpreted by putting it together with information from other receptors
as well as with information that is already stored in the brain. Based on

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 all this, a decision is made about how to respond and the information is
passed on to the motor areas which control the movement of voluntary
muscles, for example, our leg muscles. However, certain sensations are
distinct from seeing or hearing, for example, how do we know that we
have eaten enough? The sensation of feeling full is because of a centre
associated with hunger, which is in a separate part of the fore-brain.

Figure 7.3 Human brain

Study the labelled diagram of the human brain. We have seen that
the different parts have specific functions. Can we find out the function
of each part?
Let us look at the other use of the word ‘reflex’ that we have talked
about in the introduction. Our mouth waters when we see food we like
without our meaning to. Our hearts beat without our thinking about it.
In fact, we cannot control these actions easily by thinking about them
even if we wanted to. Do we have to think about or remember to breathe
or digest food? So, in between the simple reflex actions like change in
the size of the pupil, and the thought out actions such as moving a
chair, there is another set of muscle movements over which we do not
have any thinking control. Many of these involuntary actions are
controlled by the mid-brain and hind-brain. All these involuntary actions
including blood pressure, salivation and vomiting are controlled by the
medulla in the hind-brain.
Think about activities like walking in a straight line, riding a bicycle,
picking up a pencil. These are possible due to a part of the hind-brain
called the cerebellum. It is responsible for precision of voluntary actions
and maintaining the posture and balance of the body. Imagine what
would happen if each of these events failed to take place if we were not
thinking about it.

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7.1.3 How are these Tissues protected?
A delicate organ like the brain, which is so important for a variety of
activities, needs to be carefully protected. For this, the body is designed
so that the brain sits inside a bony box. Inside the box, the brain is
contained in a fluid-filled balloon which provides further shock
absorption. If you run your hand down the middle of your back, you
will feel a hard, bumpy structure. This is the vertebral column or
backbone which protects the spinal cord.

7.1.4 How does the Nervous Tissue cause Action?

So far, we have been talking about nervous tissue, and how it collects
information, sends it around the body, processes information, makes
decisions based on information, and conveys decisions to muscles for
action. In other words, when the action or movement is to be performed,
muscle tissue will do the final job. How do animal muscles move? When
a nerve impulse reaches the muscle, the muscle fibre must move. How
does a muscle cell move? The simplest notion of movement at the cellular
level is that muscle cells will move by changing their shape so that they
shorten. So the next question is, how do muscle cells change their shape?
The answer must lie in the chemistry of cellular components. Muscle
cells have special proteins that change both their shape and their
arrangement in the cell in response to nervous electrical impulses. When
this happens, new arrangements of these proteins give the muscle cells
a shorter form. Remember when we talked about muscle tissue in
Class IX, there were different kinds of muscles, such as voluntary muscles
and involuntary muscles. Based on what we have discussed so far, what
do you think the differences between these would be?

Q U E S T I O N S

?
1. What is the difference between a reflex action and walking?
2. What happens at the synapse between two neurons?
3. Which part of the brain maintains posture and equilibrium of the body?
4. How do we detect the smell of an agarbatti (incense stick)?
5. What is the role of the brain in reflex action?

7.2 COORDINATION IN PL ANTS

COORDINATION
Animals have a nervous system for controlling and coordinating the
activities of the body. But plants have neither a nervous system nor
muscles. So, how do they respond to stimuli? When we touch the leaves
of a chhui-mui (the ‘sensitive’ or ‘touch-me-not’ plant of the Mimosa
family), they begin to fold up and droop. When a seed germinates, the
root goes down, the stem comes up into the air. What happens? Firstly,
the leaves of the sensitive plant move very quickly in response to touch.

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 There is no growth involved in this movement. On the other hand, the
directional movement of a seedling is caused by growth. If it is prevented
from growing, it will not show any movement. So plants show two different
types of movement – one dependent on growth and the other independent
of growth.

7.2.1 Immediate Response to Stimulus

Let us think about the first kind of movement, such as that of the sensitive
plant. Since no growth is involved, the plant must actually move its leaves
in response to touch. But there is no nervous tissue, nor any muscle
tissue. How does the plant detect the touch, and how do the leaves move
in response?

Figure 7.4 The sensitive plant

If we think about where exactly the plant is touched, and what part
of the plant actually moves, it is apparent that movement happens at a
point different from the point of touch. So, information that a touch has
occurred must be communicated. The plants also use electrical-chemical
means to convey this information from cell to cell, but unlike in animals,
there is no specialised tissue in plants for the conduction of information.
Finally, again as in animals, some cells must change shape in order for
movement to happen. Instead of the specialised proteins found in animal
muscle cells, plant cells change shape by changing the amount of water
in them, resulting in swelling or shrinking, and therefore in changing
shapes.

7.2.2 Movement Due to Growth

Some plants like the pea plant climb up other plants or fences by means
of tendrils. These tendrils are sensitive to touch. When they come in
contact with any support, the part of the tendril in contact with the object
does not grow as rapidly as the part of the tendril away from the object.
This causes the tendril to circle around the object and thus cling to it.
More commonly, plants respond to stimuli slowly by growing in a
particular direction. Because this growth is directional, it appears as if
the plant is moving. Let us understand this type of movement with the
help of an example.

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 Activity 7.2
n Fill a conical flask with water.
n Cover the neck of the flask with a wire mesh.
n Keep two or three freshly germinated bean
seeds on the wire mesh.
n Take a cardboard box which is open from one
side.
n Keep the flask in the box in such a manner
that the open side of the box faces light coming
from a window (Fig. 7.5).
n After two or three days, you will notice that
the shoots bend towards light and roots away
from light.
n Now turn the flask so that the shoots are away Figure 7.5
from light and the roots towards light. Leave it Response of the plant to the direction of light
undisturbed in this condition for a few days.
n Have the old parts of the shoot and root
changed direction?
n Are there differences in the direction of the new
growth?
n What can we conclude from this activity?

Environmental triggers such as light, or gravity

will change the directions that plant parts grow in.
These directional, or tropic, movements can be either
towards the stimulus, or away from it. So, in two
different kinds of phototropic movement, shoots
respond by bending towards light while roots
respond by bending away from it. How does this help Figure 7.6 Plant showing geotropism
the plant?
Plants show tropism in response to other stimuli as well. The roots
of a plant always grow downwards while the shoots usually grow
upwards and away from the earth. This upward and downward growth
of shoots and roots, respectively, in response to the pull of earth or gravity
is, obviously, geotropism (Fig. 7.6). If ‘hydro’ means water and ‘chemo’
refers to chemicals, what would ‘hydrotropism’ and ‘chemotropism’
mean? Can we think of examples of these kinds of directional growth
movements? One example of chemotropism is the growth of pollen tubes
towards ovules, about which we will learn more when we examine the
reproductive processes of living organisms.
Let us now once again think about how information is communicated
in the bodies of multicellular organisms. The movement of the
sensitive plant in response to touch is very quick. The movement of
sunflowers in response to day or night, on the other hand, is quite slow.
Growth-related movement of plants will be even slower.
Even in animal bodies, there are carefully controlled directions to
growth. Our arms and fingers grow in certain directions, not haphazardly.
So controlled movements can be either slow or fast. If fast responses to
stimuli are to be made, information transfer must happen very quickly.
For this, the medium of transmission must be able to move rapidly.

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 Electrical impulses are an excellent means for this. But there are
limitations to the use of electrical impulses. Firstly, they will reach only
those cells that are connected by nervous tissue, not each and every cell
in the animal body. Secondly, once an electrical impulse is generated in
a cell and transmitted, the cell will take some time to reset its mechanisms
before it can generate and transmit a new impulse. In other words, cells
cannot continually create and transmit electrical impulses. It is thus no
wonder that most multicellular organisms use another means of
communication between cells, namely, chemical communication.
If, instead of generating an electrical impulse, stimulated cells release
a chemical compound, this compound would diffuse all around the
original cell. If other cells around have the means to detect this compound
using special molecules on their surfaces, then they would be able to
recognise information, and even transmit it. This will be slower, of course,
but it can potentially reach all cells of the body, regardless of nervous
connections, and it can be done steadily and persistently. These
compounds, or hormones used by multicellular organisms for control
and coordination show a great deal of diversity, as we would expect.
Different plant hormones help to coordinate growth, development and
responses to the environment. They are synthesised at places away from
where they act and simply diffuse to the area of action.
Let us take an example that we have worked with earlier [Activity 7.2].
When growing plants detect light, a hormone called auxin, synthesised
at the shoot tip, helps the cells to grow longer. When light is coming from
one side of the plant, auxin diffuses towards the shady side of the shoot.
This concentration of auxin stimulates the cells to grow longer on the
side of the shoot which is away from light. Thus, the plant appears to
bend towards light.
Another example of plant hormones are gibberellins which, like
auxins, help in the growth of the stem. Cytokinins promote cell division,
and it is natural then that they are present in greater concentration in
areas of rapid cell division, such as in fruits and seeds. These are examples
of plant hormones that help in promoting growth. But plants also need
signals to stop growing. Abscisic acid is one example of a hormone which
inhibits growth. Its effects include wilting of leaves.

Q U E S T I O N S
1. What are plant hormones?

?
2. How is the movement of leaves of the sensitive plant different from the
movement of a shoot towards light?
3. Give an example of a plant hormone that promotes growth.
4. How do auxins promote the growth of a tendril around a support?
5. Design an experiment to demonstrate hydrotropism.

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7.3 HORMONES IN ANIMALS
How are such chemical, or hormonal, means of information transmission
used in animals? What do some animals, for instance squirrels,
experience when they are in a scary situation? Their bodies have to
prepare for either fighting or running away. Both are very complicated
activities that will use a great deal of energy in controlled ways. Many
different tissue types will be used and their activities integrated together
in these actions. However, the two alternate activities, fighting or running,
are also quite different! So here is a situation in which some common
preparations can be usefully made in the body. These preparations
should ideally make it easier to do either activity in the near future. How
would this be achieved?
If the body design in the squirrel relied only on electrical impulses
via nerve cells, the range of tissues instructed to prepare for the coming
activity would be limited. On the other hand, if a chemical signal were to
be sent as well, it would reach all cells of the body and provide the wide-
ranging changes needed. This is done in many animals, including human
beings, using a hormone called adrenaline that is secreted from the
adrenal glands. Look at Fig. 7.7 to locate these glands.
Adrenaline is secreted directly into the blood and carried to different
parts of the body. The target organs or the specific tissues on which it
acts include the heart. As a result, the heart beats faster, resulting in
supply of more oxygen to our muscles. The blood to the digestive system
and skin is reduced due to contraction of muscles around small arteries
in these organs. This diverts the blood to our skeletal muscles. The
breathing rate also increases because of the contractions of the
diaphragm and the rib muscles. All these responses together enable the
animal body to be ready to deal with the situation. Such animal hormones
are part of the endocrine system which constitutes a second way of control
and coordination in our body.

Activity 7.3
n Look at Fig. 7.7.
n Identify the endocrine glands mentioned in the figure.
n Some of these glands have been listed in Table 7.1 and discussed
in the text. Consult books in the library and discuss with your
teachers to find out about other glands.

Remember that plants have hormones that control their directional

growth. What functions do animal hormones perform? On the face of it,
we cannot imagine their role in directional growth. We have never seen
an animal growing more in one direction or the other, depending on
light or gravity! But if we think about it a bit more, it will become evident
that, even in animal bodies, growth happens in carefully controlled places.
Plants will grow leaves in many places on the plant body, for example.
But we do not grow fingers on our faces. The design of the body is carefully
maintained even during the growth of children.

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 (a) (b)

Figure 7.7 Endocrine glands in human beings (a) male, (b) female

Let us examine some examples to understand how hormones help

in coordinated growth. We have all seen salt packets which say ‘iodised
salt’ or ‘enriched with iodine’. Why is it important for us to have iodised
salt in our diet? Iodine is necessary for the thyroid gland to make
thyroxin hormone. Thyroxin regulates carbohydrate, protein and fat
Do You Know? metabolism in the body so as to provide the best balance for growth.
Hypothalamus plays Iodine is essential for the synthesis of thyroxin. In case iodine is deficient
an important role in in our diet, there is a possibility that we might suffer from goitre. One
the release of many of the symptoms in this disease is a swollen neck. Can you correlate
hormones. For this with the position of the thyroid gland in Fig. 7.7?
example, when the Sometimes we come across people who are either very short (dwarfs)
level of growth or extremely tall (giants). Have you ever wondered how this happens?
hormone is low, the Growth hormone is one of the hormones secreted by the pituitary. As
hypothalamus its name indicates, growth hormone regulates growth and development
releases growth of the body. If there is a deficiency of this hormone in childhood, it
hormone releasing leads to dwarfism.
factor which You must have noticed many dramatic changes in your appearance
stimulates the as well as that of your friends as you approached 10–12 years of age.
pituitary gland to These changes associated with puberty are because of the secretion of
release growth testosterone in males and oestrogen in females.
hormone. Do you know anyone in your family or friends who has been advised
by the doctor to take less sugar in their diet because they are suffering
from diabetes? As a treatment, they might be taking injections of insulin.
This is a hormone which is produced by the pancreas and helps in
regulating blood sugar levels. If it is not secreted in proper amounts,
the sugar level in the blood rises causing many harmful effects.

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 If it is so important that hormones should be secreted in precise
quantities, we need a mechanism through which this is done. The timing
and amount of hormone released are regulated by feedback mechanisms.
For example, if the sugar levels in blood rise, they are detected by the
cells of the pancreas which respond by producing more insulin. As the
blood sugar level falls, insulin secretion is reduced.

Activity 7.4
n Hormones are secreted by endocrine glands and have specific functions. Complete
Table 7.1 based on the hormone, the endocrine gland or the functions provided.

Table 7.1 : Some important hormones and their functions

S.No. Hormone Endocrine Gland Functions

1. Growth hormone Pituitary gland Stimulates growth in all organs

2. Thyroid gland Regulates metabolism for body growth
3. Insulin Regulates blood sugar level
4. Testosterone Testes
5. Ovaries Development of female sex organs,
regulates menstrual cycle, etc.
6. Adrenaline Adrenal gland
7. Releasing Stimulates pituitary gland to release
hormones hormones

Q U E S T I O N S

?
1. How does chemical coordination take place in animals?
2. Why is the use of iodised salt advisable?
3. How does our body respond when adrenaline is secreted into the blood?
4. Why are some patients of diabetes treated by giving injections of insulin?

What you have learnt

n Control and coordination are the functions of the nervous system and hormones
in our bodies.
n The responses of the nervous system can be classified as reflex action, voluntary
action or involuntary action.
n The nervous system uses electrical impulses to transmit messages.
n The nervous system gets information from our sense organs and acts through our
muscles.
n Chemical coordination is seen in both plants and animals.
n Hormones produced in one part of an organism move to another part to achieve
the desired effect.
n A feedback mechanism regulates the action of the hormones.

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 E X E R C I S E S
1. Which of the following is a plant hormone?
(a) Insulin
(b) Thyroxin
(c) Oestrogen
(d) Cytokinin.
2. The gap between two neurons is called a
(a) dendrite.
(b) synapse.
(c) axon.
(d) impulse.
3. The brain is responsible for
(a) thinking.
(b) regulating the heart beat.
(c) balancing the body.
(d) all of the above.
4. What is the function of receptors in our body? Think of situations where receptors
do not work properly. What problems are likely to arise?
5. Draw the structure of a neuron and explain its function.
6. How does phototropism occur in plants?
7. Which signals will get disrupted in case of a spinal cord injury?
8. How does chemical coordination occur in plants?
9. What is the need for a system of control and coordination in an organism?
10. How are involuntary actions and reflex actions different from each other?
11. Compare and contrast nervous and hormonal mechanisms for control and
coordination in animals.
12. What is the difference between the manner in which movement takes place in a
sensitive plant and the movement in our legs?

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 CHAPTER 8
How do Organisms
Reproduce?

B efore we discuss the mechanisms by which organisms reproduce,

let us ask a more basic question – why do organisms reproduce?
After all, reproduction is not necessary to maintain the life of an individual
organism, unlike the essential life processes such as nutrition,
respiration, or excretion. On the other hand, if an individual organism is
going to create more individuals, a lot of its energy will be spent in the
process. So why should an individual organism waste energy on a process
it does not need to stay alive? It would be interesting to discuss the
possible answers in the classroom!
Whatever the answer to this question, it is obvious that we notice
organisms because they reproduce. If there were to be only one, non-
reproducing member of a particular kind, it is doubtful that we would
have noticed its existence. It is the large numbers of organisms belonging
to a single species that bring them to our notice. How do we know that
two different individual organisms belong to the same species? Usually,
we say this because they look similar to each other. Thus, reproducing
organisms create new individuals that look very much like themselves.

8.1 DO ORG ANISMS CREA

ORGANISMS TE EXA
CREATE CT COPIES OF
EXACT
THEMSELVES?
THEMSELVES?
Organisms look similar because their body designs are similar. If body
designs are to be similar, the blueprints for these designs should be
similar. Thus, reproduction at its most basic level will involve making
copies of the blueprints of body design. In Class IX, we learnt that the
chromosomes in the nucleus of a cell contain information for inheritance
of features from parents to next generation in the form of DNA (Deoxyribo
Nucleic Acid) molecules. The DNA in the cell nucleus is the information
source for making proteins. If the information is changed, different
proteins will be made. Different proteins will eventually lead to altered
body designs.
Therefore, a basic event in reproduction is the creation of a DNA
copy. Cells use chemical reactions to build copies of their DNA. This
creates two copies of the DNA in a reproducing cell, and they will need to
be separated from each other. However, keeping one copy of DNA in the
original cell and simply pushing the other one out would not work,

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 because the copy pushed out would not have any organised cellular
structure for maintaining life processes. Therefore, DNA copying is
accompanied by the creation of an additional cellular apparatus, and
then the DNA copies separate, each with its own cellular apparatus.
Effectively, a cell divides to give rise to two cells.
These two cells are of course similar, but are they likely to be
absolutely identical? The answer to this question will depend on how
accurately the copying reactions involved occur. No bio-chemical reaction
is absolutely reliable. Therefore, it is only to be expected that the process
of copying the DNA will have some variations each time. As a result, the
DNA copies generated will be similar, but may not be identical to the
original. Some of these variations might be so drastic that the new DNA
copy cannot work with the cellular apparatus it inherits. Such a newborn
cell will simply die. On the other hand, there could still be many other
variations in the DNA copies that would not lead to such a drastic
outcome. Thus, the surviving cells are similar to, but subtly different
from each other. This inbuilt tendency for variation during reproduction
is the basis for evolution, as we will discuss in the next chapter.

8.1.1 The Importance of Variation

Populations of organisms fill well-defined places, or niches, in the
ecosystem, using their ability to reproduce. The consistency of DNA
copying during reproduction is important for the maintenance of body
design features that allow the organism to use that particular niche.
Reproduction is therefore linked to the stability of populations of species.
However, niches can change because of reasons beyond the control
of the organisms. Temperatures on earth can go up or down, water levels
can vary, or there could be meteorite hits, to think of a few examples. If
a population of reproducing organisms were suited to a particular niche
and if the niche were drastically altered, the population could be wiped
out. However, if some variations were to be present in a few individuals
in these populations, there would be some chance for them to survive.
Thus, if there were a population of bacteria living in temperate waters,
and if the water temperature were to be increased by global warming,
most of these bacteria would die, but the few variants resistant to heat
would survive and grow further. Variation is thus useful for the survival
of species over time.

Q U E S T I O N S
1.
2.
What is the importance of DNA copying in reproduction?
Why is variation beneficial to the species but not necessarily
for the individual?
?
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8.2 MODES OF REPRODUCTION USED BY SINGLE
ORGANISMS
Activity 8.1
n Dissolve about 10 gm of sugar in 100 mL of water.
n Take 20 mL of this solution in a test tube and add a pinch of yeast
granules to it.
n Put a cotton plug on the mouth of the test tube and keep it in a
warm place.
n After 1 or 2 hours, put a small drop of yeast culture from the test
tube on a slide and cover it with a coverslip.
n Observe the slide under a microscope.

Activity 8.2
n Wet a slice of bread, and keep it in a cool, moist and dark place.
n Observe the surface of the slice with a magnifying glass.
n Record your observations for a week.

Compare and contrast the ways in which yeast grows in the first
case, and how mould grows in the second.
Having discussed the context in which reproductive processes work,
let us now examine how different organisms actually reproduce. The
modes by which various organisms reproduce depend on the body
design of the organisms.

8.2.1 Fission
For unicellular organisms, cell division, or fission, leads to the creation
of new individuals. Many different patterns of fission have been observed.
Many bacteria and protozoa simply split into two equal halves during
cell division. In organisms such as Amoeba, the splitting of the two cells
during division can take place in any plane.

Activity 8.3
n Observe a permanent slide of
Amoeba under a microscope.
n Similarly observe another Figure 8.1(a) Binary fission in Amoeba
permanent slide of Amoeba
showing binary fission.
n Now, compare the observations of
both the slides.

However, some unicellular organisms

show somewhat more organisation of their
bodies, such as is seen in Leishmania (which
(a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f)
cause kala-azar), which have a whip-like
Figure 8.1(b) Binary fission in Leishmania
structure at one end of the cell. In such
organisms, binary fission occurs in a definite orientation in relation to

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 these structures. Other single-celled organisms, such as the malarial
parasite, Plasmodium, divide into many daughter cells simultaneously
by multiple fission.
Yeast, on the other hand, can put out small buds that separate and
grow further, as we saw in Activity 8.1.

8.2.2 Fragmentation
Figure 8.2
Multiple fission in
Plasmodium Activity 8.4
n Collect water from a lake or pond that appears dark green and
contains filamentous structures.
n Put one or two filaments on a slide.
n Put a drop of glycerine on these filaments and cover it with a coverslip.
n Observe the slide under a microscope.
n Can you identify different tissues in the Spirogyra filaments?

In multi-cellular organisms with relatively simple body organisation,

simple reproductive methods can still work. Spirogyra, for example,
simply breaks up into smaller pieces upon maturation. These pieces or
fragments grow into new individuals. Can we work out the reason for
this, based on what we saw in Activity 8.4?
This is not true for all multi-cellular organisms. They cannot simply
divide cell-by-cell. The reason is that many multi-cellular organisms, as
we have seen, are not simply a random collection of cells. Specialised
cells are organised as tissues, and tissues are organised into organs,
which then have to be placed at definite positions in the body. In such a
carefully organised situation, cell-by-cell division would be impractical.
Multi-cellular organisms, therefore, need to use more complex ways of
reproduction.
A basic strategy used in multi-cellular organisms is that different
cell types perform different specialised functions. Following this general
pattern, reproduction in such organisms is also the function of a specific
cell type. How is reproduction to be achieved from a single cell type, if
the organism itself consists of many cell types? The answer is that there
must be a single cell type in the organism that is capable of growing,
proliferating and making other cell types under the right circumstances.

8.2.3 Regeneration
Many fully differentiated organisms have the ability to give rise to new
individual organisms from their body parts. That is, if the individual is
somehow cut or broken up into many pieces, many of these pieces grow
into separate individuals. For example, simple animals like Hydra and
Planaria can be cut into any number of pieces and each piece grows
into a complete organism. This is known as regeneration (see Fig. 8.3).
Regeneration is carried out by specialised cells. These cells proliferate
and make large numbers of cells. From this mass of cells, different cells
undergo changes to become various cell types and tissues. These changes

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 take place in an organised
sequence referred to as
development. However,
regeneration is not the same
as reproduction, since most
organisms would not
normally depend on being cut
up to be able to reproduce.

8.2.4 Budding
Organisms such as Hydra
use regenerative cells for
reproduction in the process of
budding. In Hydra, a bud
Figure 8.3 Regeneration in Planaria develops as an outgrowth due
to repeated cell division at one
specific site (Fig. 8.4). These buds develop into tiny individuals and when
fully mature, detach from the parent body and become new independent
individuals.

Figure 8.4 Budding in Hydra

8.2.5 Vegetative Propagation

There are many plants in which parts like the root, stem and leaves
develop into new plants under appropriate conditions. Unlike in most
animals, plants can indeed use such a mode for reproduction. This
property of vegetative propagation is used in methods such as layering
or grafting to grow many plants like sugarcane, roses, or grapes for
agricultural purposes. Plants raised by vegetative propagation can bear
flowers and fruits earlier than those produced from seeds. Such methods
also make possible the propagation of plants such as banana, orange,
rose and jasmine that have lost the capacity to produce seeds. Another
advantage of vegetative propagation is that all plants produced are
genetically similar enough to the parent plant to have all its
characteristics.

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 Activity 8.5
n Take a potato and observe its surface. Can notches be seen?
n Cut the potato into small pieces such that some pieces contain a
notch or bud and some do not.
n Spread some cotton on a tray and wet it. Place the potato pieces
on this cotton. Note where the pieces with the buds are placed.
n Observe changes taking place in these potato pieces over the next
few days. Make sure that the cotton is kept moistened.
n Which are the potato pieces that give rise to fresh green shoots
and roots?

Similarly buds produced in the notches along the leaf

margin of Bryophyllum fall on the soil and develop into
new plants (Fig. 8.5).

Activity 8.6
n Select a money-plant.
n Cut some pieces such that they contain at least
Figure 8.5 one leaf.
Leaf of Bryophyllum n Cut out some other portions between two leaves.
with buds n Dip one end of all the pieces in water and observe
over the next few days.
n Which ones grow and give rise to fresh leaves?
n What can you conclude from your observations?
More to Know?

Tissue culture
In tissue culture, new plants are grown by removing tissue or separating cells from
the growing tip of a plant. The cells are then placed in an artificial medium where they
divide rapidly to form a small group of cells or callus. The callus is transferred to
another medium containing hormones for growth and differentiation. The plantlets
are then placed in the soil so that they can grow into mature plants. Using tissue
culture, many plants can be grown from one parent in disease-free conditions. This
technique is commonly used for ornamental plants.

8.2.6 Spore Formation

Even in many simple multi-cellular organisms, specific reproductive
parts can be identified. The thread-like structures that developed on
the bread in Activity 8.2 above are the hyphae of the bread mould
(Rhizopus). They are not reproductive parts. On the other hand, the
tiny blob-on-a-stick structures are involved in reproduction. The
blobs are sporangia, which contain cells, or spores, that can
eventually develop into new Rhizopus individuals (Fig. 8.6). The spores
Figure 8.6 are covered by thick walls that protect them until they come into
Spore formation in Rhizopus contact with another moist surface and can begin to grow.

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 All the modes of reproduction that we have discussed so far allow
new generations to be created from a single individual. This is known as
asexual reproduction.

Q U E S T I O N S
1. How does binary fission differ from multiple fission?

?
2. How will an organism be benefited if it reproduces through spores?
3. Can you think of reasons why more complex organisms cannot give
rise to new individuals through regeneration?
4. Why is vegetative propagation practised for growing some types of
plants?
5. Why is DNA copying an essential part of the process of reproduction?

8.3 SEXUAL REPRODUCTION

We are also familiar with modes of reproduction that depend on the
involvement of two individuals before a new generation can be created.
Bulls alone cannot produce new calves, nor can hens alone produce
new chicks. In such cases, both sexes, males and females, are needed to
produce new generations. What is the significance of this sexual mode
of reproduction? Are there any limitations of the asexual mode of
reproduction, which we have been discussing above?

8.3.1 Why the Sexual Mode of Reproduction?

The creation of two new cells from one involves copying of the DNA as
well as of the cellular apparatus. The DNA copying mechanism, as we
have noted, cannot be absolutely accurate, and the resultant errors are
a source of variations in populations of organisms. Every individual
organism cannot be protected by variations, but in a population,
variations are useful for ensuring the survival of the species. It would
therefore make sense if organisms came up with reproductive modes
that allowed more and more variation to be generated.
While DNA-copying mechanisms are not absolutely accurate, they
are precise enough to make the generation of variation a fairly slow
process. If the DNA copying mechanisms were to be less accurate, many
of the resultant DNA copies would not be able to work with the cellular
apparatus, and would die. So how can the process of making variants
be speeded up? Each new variation is made in a DNA copy that already
has variations accumulated from previous generations. Thus, two
different individuals in a population would have quite different patterns
of accumulated variations. Since all of these variations are in living
individuals, it is assured that they do not have any really bad effects.
Combining variations from two or more individuals would thus create
new combinations of variants. Each combination would be novel, since
it would involve two different individuals. The sexual mode of

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 reproduction incorporates such a process of combining DNA from two
different individuals during reproduction.
But this creates a major difficulty. If each new generation is to be the
combination of the DNA copies from two pre-existing individuals, then
each new generation will end up having twice the amount of DNA that
the previous generation had. This is likely to mess up the control of the
cellular apparatus by the DNA. How many ways can we think of for
solving this difficulty?
We have seen earlier that as organisms become more complex, the
specialisation of tissue increases. One solution that many multi-cellular
organisms have found for the problem mentioned above is to have special
lineages of cells in specialised organs in which only half the number of
chromosomes and half the amount of DNA as compared to the non-
reproductive body cells. This is achieved by a process of cell division
called meiosis. Thus, when these germ-cells from two individuals combine
during sexual reproduction to form a new individual, it results in re-
establishment of the number of chromosomes and the DNA content in
the new generation.
If the zygote is to grow and develop into an organism which has
highly specialised tissues and organs, then it has to have sufficient stores
of energy for doing this. In very simple organisms, it is seen that the two
germ-cells are not very different from one another, or may even be similar.
But as the body designs become more complex, the germ-cells also
specialise. One germ-cell is large and contains the food-stores while the
other is smaller and likely to be motile. Conventionally, the motile germ-
cell is called the male gamete and the germ-cell containing the stored
food is called the female gamete. We shall see in the next few sections
how the need to create these two different types of gametes give rise to
differences in the male and female reproductive organs and, in some
cases, differences in the bodies of the male and female organisms.

8.3.2 Sexual Reproduction in Flowering Plants

The reproductive parts of angiosperms are located in the flower. You
have already studied the different parts of a flower – sepals, petals,
stamens and pistil. Stamens and pistil are
the reproductive parts of a flower which
contain the germ-cells. What possible
functions could the petals and sepals serve?
The flower may be unisexual (papaya,
watermelon) when it contains either stamens
or pistil or bisexual (Hibiscus, mustard)
when it contains both stamens and pistil.
Stamen is the male reproductive part and it
produces pollen grains that are yellowish
in colour. You must have seen this yellowish
powder that often sticks to our hands if we
Figure 8.7 touch the stamen of a flower. Pistil is present
Longitudinal section of in the centre of a flower and is the female
flower reproductive part. It is made of three parts.

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The swollen bottom part is the ovary, middle elongated part is the style
and the terminal part which may be sticky is the stigma. The ovary
contains ovules and each ovule has an egg cell. The male germ-cell
produced by pollen grain fuses with the female gamete present in
the ovule. This fusion of the germ-cells or fertilisation gives us the
zygote which is capable of growing into a new plant.
Thus the pollen needs to be transferred from the stamen to the
stigma. If this transfer of pollen occurs in the same flower, it is
referred to as self-pollination. On the other hand, if the pollen is
transferred from one flower to another, it is known as cross-
pollination. This transfer of pollen from one flower to another is
achieved by agents like wind, water or animals.
After the pollen lands on a suitable stigma, it has to reach the
female germ-cells which are in the ovary. For this, a tube grows
out of the pollen grain and travels through the style to reach the
ovary.
After fertilisation, the zygote divides several times to form an
embryo within the ovule. The ovule develops a tough coat and is
gradually converted into a seed. The ovary grows rapidly and ripens
to form a fruit. Meanwhile, the petals, sepals, stamens, style and
stigma may shrivel and fall off. Have you ever observed any flower
part still persisting in the fruit? Try and work out the advantages Figure 8.8
Germination of pollen on
of seed-formation for the plant. The seed contains the future plant
stigma
or embryo which develops into a seedling under appropriate
conditions. This process is known as germination.

Activity 8.7
n Soak a few seeds of Bengal gram (chana)
and keep them overnight.
n Drain the excess water and cover the seeds
with a wet cloth and leave them for a day. Figure 8.9
Make sure that the seeds do not become dry. Germination
n Cut open the seeds carefully and observe
the different parts.
n Compare your observations with the Fig. 8.9
and see if you can identify all the parts.

8.3.3 Reproduction in Human Beings

So far, we have been discussing the variety of modes that different species
use for reproduction. Let us now look at the species that we are most
interested in, namely, humans. Humans use a sexual mode of
reproduction. How does this process work?
Let us begin at an apparently unrelated point. All of us know that
our bodies change as we become older. You have learnt changes that
take place in your body earlier in Class VIII also. We notice that our
height has increased continuously from early age till now. We acquire
teeth, we even lose the old, so-called milk teeth and acquire new ones.

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 All of these are changes that can be grouped under the general process
of growth, in which the body becomes larger. But in early teenage years,
a whole new set of changes occurs that cannot be explained simply as
body enlargement. Instead, the appearance of the body changes.
Proportions change, new features appear, and so do new sensations.
Some of these changes are common to both boys and girls. We begin
to notice thick hair growing in new parts of the body such as armpits
and the genital area between the thighs, which can also become darker
in colour. Thinner hair can also appear on legs and arms, as well as on
the face. The skin frequently becomes oily and we might begin to develop
pimples. We begin to be conscious and aware of both our own bodies
and those of others in new ways.
On the other hand, there are also changes taking place that are
different between boys and girls. In girls, breast size begins to increase,
with darkening of the skin of the nipples at the tips of the breasts. Also,
girls begin to menstruate at around this time. Boys begin to have new
thick hair growth on the face and their voices begin to crack. Further,
the penis occasionally begins to become enlarged and erect, either in
daydreams or at night.
All of these changes take place slowly, over a period of months and
years. They do not happen all at the same time in one person, nor do
they happen at an exact age. In some people, they happen early and
quickly, while in others, they can happen slowly. Also, each change does
not become complete quickly either. So, for example, thick hair on the
face in boys appears as a few scattered hairs first, and only slowly does
the growth begin to become uniform. Even so, all these changes show
differences between people. Just as we have differently shaped noses or
fingers, so also we have different patterns of hair growth, or size and
shape of breast or penis. All of these changes are aspects of the sexual
maturation of the body.
Why does the body show sexual maturation at this age? We have
talked about the need for specialised cell types in multi-cellular bodies
to carry out specialised functions. The creation of germ-cells to participate
in sexual reproduction is another specialised function, and we have seen
that plants develop special cell and tissue types to create them. Human
beings also develop special tissues for this purpose. However, while the
body of the individual organism is growing to its adult size, the resources
of the body are mainly directed at achieving this growth. While that is
happening, the maturation of the reproductive tissue is not likely to be
a major priority. Thus, as the rate of general body growth begins to slow
down, reproductive tissues begin to mature. This period during
adolescence is called puberty.
So how do all the changes that we have talked about link to the
reproductive process? We must remember that the sexual mode of
reproduction means that germ-cells from two individuals have to join
together. This can happen by the external release of germ-cells from the
bodies of individuals, as happens in flowering plants. Or it can happen
by two individuals joining their bodies together for internal transfer of
germ-cells for fusion, as happens in many animals. If animals are to

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participate in this process of mating, their state of sexual maturity must
be identifiable by other individuals. Many changes during puberty, such
as new hair-growth patterns, are signals that sexual maturation is taking
place.
On the other hand, the actual transfer of germ-cells between two
people needs special organs for the sexual act, such as the penis when it
is capable of becoming erect. In mammals such as humans, the baby is
carried in the mother’s body for a long period, and will be breast-fed
later. The female reproductive organs and breasts will need to mature to
accommodate these possibilities. Let us look at the systems involved in
the process of sexual reproduction.

8.3.3 (a) Male Reproductive System

The male reproductive system (Fig. 8.10)
consists of portions which produce the
germ-cells and other portions that deliver
the germ-cells to the site of fertilisation.
The formation of germ-cells or sperms
takes place in the testes. These are located
outside the abdominal cavity in scrotum
because sperm formation requires a lower
temperature than the normal body
temperature. We have discussed the role of the
testes in the secretion of the hormone,
testosterone, in the previous chapter. In
addition to regulating the formation of sperms,
testosterone brings about changes in
appearance seen in boys at the time of puberty.
The sperms formed are delivered
through the vas deferens which unites with Figure 8.10 Human –male reproductive system
a tube coming from the urinary bladder. The
urethra thus forms a common passage for
both the sperms and urine. Along the path
of the vas deferens, glands like the prostate
and the seminal vesicles add their secretions
so that the sperms are now in a fluid which
makes their transport easier and this fluid
also provides nutrition. The sperms are tiny
bodies that consist of mainly genetic
material and a long tail that helps them to
move towards the female germ-cell.

8.3.3 (b) Female Reproductive System

The female germ-cells or eggs are made in
the ovaries. They are also responsible for the
production of some hormones. Look at
Fig. 8.11 and identify the various organs in
the female reproductive system. Figure 8.11 Human –female reproductive system

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 When a girl is born, the ovaries already contain thousands of
immature eggs. On reaching puberty, some of these start maturing. One
egg is produced every month by one of the ovaries. The egg is carried
from the ovary to the womb through a thin oviduct or fallopian tube.
The two oviducts unite into an elastic bag-like structure known as the
uterus. The uterus opens into the vagina through the cervix.
The sperms enter through the vaginal passage during sexual
intercourse. They travel upwards and reach the oviduct where they may
encounter the egg. The fertilised egg (zygote) starts dividing and form a
ball of cells or embryo. The embryo is implanted in the lining of the uterus
where they continue to grow and develop organs to become foetus. We
have seen in earlier sections that the mother’s body is designed to
undertake the development of the child. Hence the uterus prepares itself
every month to receive and nurture the growing embryo. The lining
thickens and is richly supplied with blood to nourish the growing embryo.
The embryo gets nutrition from the mother’s blood with the help of a
special tissue called placenta. This is a disc which is embedded in the
uterine wall. It contains villi on the embryo’s side of the tissue. On the
mother’s side are blood spaces, which surround the villi. This provides
a large surface area for glucose and oxygen to pass from the mother to
the embryo. The developing embryo will also generate waste substances
which can be removed by transferring them into the mother’s blood
through the placenta. The development of the child inside the mother’s
body takes approximately nine months. The child is born as a result of
rhythmic contractions of the muscles in the uterus.

8.3.3 (c) What happens when the Egg is not Fertilised?

If the egg is not fertilised, it lives for about one day. Since the ovary
releases one egg every month, the uterus also prepares itself every month
to receive a fertilised egg. Thus its lining becomes thick and spongy.
This would be required for nourishing the embryo if fertilisation had
taken place. Now, however, this lining is not needed any longer. So, the
lining slowly breaks and comes out through the vagina as blood and
mucous. This cycle takes place roughly every month and is known as
menstruation. It usually lasts for about two to eight days.

8.3.3 (d) Reproductive Health

As we have seen, the process of sexual maturation is gradual, and takes
place while general body growth is still going on. Therefore, some degree
of sexual maturation does not necessarily mean that the body or the
mind is ready for sexual acts or for having and bringing up children.
How do we decide if the body or the mind is ready for this major
responsibility? All of us are under many different kinds of pressures
about these issues. There can be pressure from our friends for
participating in many activities, whether we really want to or not. There
can be pressure from families to get married and start having children.
There can be pressure from government agencies to avoid having
children. In this situation, making choices can become very difficult.

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 We must also consider the possible health consequences of having
sex. We have discussed in Class IX that diseases can be transmitted
from person to person in a variety of ways. Since the sexual act is a
very intimate connection of bodies, it is not surprising that many
diseases can be sexually transmitted. These include bacterial infections
such as gonorrhoea and syphilis, and viral infections such as warts
and HIV-AIDS. Is it possible to prevent the transmission of such diseases
during the sexual act? Using a covering, called a condom, for the penis
during sex helps to prevent transmission of many of these infections to
some extent.
The sexual act always has the potential to lead to pregnancy.
Pregnancy will make major demands on the body and the mind of the
woman, and if she is not ready for it, her health will be adversely
affected. Therefore, many ways have been devised to avoid pregnancy.
These contraceptive methods fall in a number of categories. One
category is the creation of a mechanical barrier so that sperm does not
reach the egg. Condoms on the penis or similar coverings worn in the
vagina can serve this purpose. Another category of contraceptives acts
by changing the hormonal balance of the body so that eggs are not
released and fertilisation cannot occur. These drugs commonly need
to be taken orally as pills. However, since they change hormonal
balances, they can cause side-effects too. Other contraceptive devices
such as the loop or the copper-T are placed in the uterus to prevent
pregnancy. Again, they can cause side effects due to irritation of the
uterus. If the vas deferens in the male is blocked, sperm transfer will
be prevented. If the fallopian tube in the female is blocked, the egg will
not be able to reach the uterus. In both cases fertilisation will not take
place. Surgical methods can be used to create such blocks. While
surgical methods are safe in the long run, surgery itself can cause
infections and other problems if not performed properly. Surgery can
also be used for removal of unwanted pregnancies. These may be
misused by people who do not want a particular child, as happens in
illegal sex-selective abortion of female foetuses. For a healthy society,
the female-male sex ratio must be maintained. Because of reckless
female foeticides, child sex ratio is declining at an alarming rate in
some sections of our society, although prenatal sex determination has
been prohibited by law.
We have noted earlier that reproduction is the process by which
organisms increase their populations. The rates of birth and death in a
given population will determine its size. The size of the human population
is a cause for concern for many people. This is because an expanding
population makes it harder to improve everybody’s standard of living.
However, if inequality in society is the main reason for poor standards of
living for many people, the size of the population is relatively unimportant.
If we look around us, what can we identify as the most important
reason(s) for poor living standards?

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 Q U E S T I O N S

?
1. How is the process of pollination different from fertilisation?
2. What is the role of the seminal vesicles and the prostate gland?
3. What are the changes seen in girls at the time of puberty?
4. How does the embryo get nourishment inside the mother’s body?
5. If a woman is using a copper -T, will it help in protecting her from
sexually transmitted diseases?

What you have learnt

n Reproduction, unlike other life processes, is not essential to maintain the life of an
individual organism.
n Reproduction involves creation of a DNA copy and additional cellular apparatus
by the cell involved in the process.
n Various organisms use different modes of reproduction depending on their body
design.
n In fission, many bacteria and protozoa simply divide into two or more daughter
cells.
n Organisms such as hydra can regenerate if they are broken into pieces. They can
also give out buds which mature into new individuals.
n Roots, stems and leaves of some plants develop into new plants through vegetative
propagation.
n These are examples of asexual reproduction where new generations are created
from a single individual.
n Sexual reproduction involves two individuals for the creation of a new individual.
n DNA copying mechanisms creates variations which are useful for ensuring the
survival of the species. Modes of sexual reproduction allow for greater variation to
be generated.
n Reproduction in flowering plants involves transfer of pollen grains from the anther
to the stigma which is referred to as pollination. This is followed by fertilisation.
n Changes in the body at puberty, such as increase in breast size in girls and new
facial hair growth in boys, are signs of sexual maturation.
n The male reproductive system in human beings consists of testes which produce
sperms, vas deferens, seminal vesicles, prostate gland, urethra and penis.
n The female reproductive system in human beings consists of ovaries, fallopian
tubes, uterus and vagina.
n Sexual reproduction in human beings involves the introduction of sperm in the
vagina of the female. Fertilisation occurs in the fallopian tube.
n Contraception to avoid pregnancy can be achieved by the use of condoms, oral
pills, copper-T and other methods.

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 E X E R C I S E S
1. Asexual reproduction takes place through budding in
(a) amoeba.
(b) yeast.
(c) plasmodium.
(d) leishmania.
2. Which of the following is not a part of the female reproductive system in human
beings?
(a) Ovary
(b) Uterus
(c) Vas deferens
(d) Fallopian tube
3. The anther contains
(a) sepals.
(b) ovules.
(c) pistil.
(d) pollen grains.
4. What are the advantages of sexual reproduction over asexual reproduction?
5. What are the functions performed by the testis in human beings?
6. Why does menstruation occur?
7. Draw a labelled diagram of the longitudinal section of a flower.
8. What are the different methods of contraception?
9. How are the modes for reproduction different in unicellular and
multicellular organisms?
10. How does reproduction help in providing stability to populations of species?
11. What could be the reasons for adopting contraceptive methods?

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 CHAPTER 9
Heredity and
Evolution

W e have seen that reproductive processes give rise to new individuals

that are similar, but subtly different. We have discussed how some
amount of variation is produced even during asexual reproduction. And
the number of successful variations are maximised by the process of
sexual reproduction. If we observe a field of sugarcane we find very little
variations among the individual plants. But in a number of animals
including human beings, which reproduce sexually, quite distinct
variations are visible among different individuals. In this chapter, we
shall be studying the mechanism by which variations are created and
inherited. The long-term consequences of the accumulation of variations
are also an interesting point to be considered. We shall be studying this
under evolution.

9 . 1 A CCUMUL ATION OF V
VARIA
ARIATION
ARIATION
DURING REPRODUCTION
Inheritance from the previous generation provides both
a common basic body design, and subtle changes in it,
for the next generation. Now think about what would
happen when this new generation, in its turn,
reproduces. The second generation will have differences
that they inherit from the first generation, as well as
newly created differences (Fig. 9.1).
Figure 9.1 would represent the situation if a single
individual reproduces, as happens in asexual
reproduction. If one bacterium divides, and then the
Figure 9.1 resultant two bacteria divide again, the four individual
Creation of diversity over succeeding bacteria generated would be very similar. There would
generations. The original organism at the top
will give rise to, say, two individuals, similar
be only very minor differences between them, generated
in body design, but with subtle differences. due to small inaccuracies in DNA copying. However, if
Each of them, in turn, will give rise to two sexual reproduction is involved, even greater diversity
individuals in the next generation. Each of will be generated, as we will see when we discuss the
the four individuals in the bottom row will be rules of inheritance.
different from each other. While some of these Do all these variations in a species have equal
differences will be unique, others will be
chances of surviving in the environment in which they
inherited from their respective parents, who
were different from each other.
find themselves? Obviously not. Depending on the
nature of variations, different individuals would have

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different kinds of advantages. Bacteria that can withstand heat will survive
better in a heat wave, as we have discussed earlier. Selection of variants
by environmental factors forms the basis for evolutionary processes, as
we will discuss in later sections.

Q U E S T I O N S

?
1. If a trait A exists in 10% of a population of an asexually reproducing
species and a trait B exists in 60% of the same population, which trait
is likely to have arisen earlier?
2. How does the creation of variations in a species promote survival?

9.2 HEREDITY
The most obvious outcome of the reproductive process still remains the
generation of individuals of similar design. The rules of heredity determine
the process by which traits and characteristics are reliably inherited. Let
us take a closer look at these rules.

9.2.1 Inherited Traits

What exactly do we mean by similarities and differences? We know that
a child bears all the basic features of a human being. However, it does
not look exactly like its parents, and human populations show a great
deal of variation.

Activity 9.1
n Observe the ears of all the students in the class. Prepare a list of
students having free or attached earlobes and calculate the (a)
percentage of students having each (Fig. 9.2). Find out about the
earlobes of the parents of each student in the class. Correlate the
earlobe type of each student with that of their parents. Based on
this evidence, suggest a possible rule for the inheritance of earlobe
types.

9.2.2 Rules for the Inheritance of Traits – (b)

Mendel’s Contributions Figure 9.2
(a) Free and (b) attached
The rules for inheritance of such traits in human beings are related to
earlobes. The lowest part
the fact that both the father and the mother contribute practically equal of the ear, called the
amounts of genetic material to the child. This means that each trait can earlobe, is closely attached
be influenced by both paternal and maternal DNA. Thus, for each trait to the side of the head in
some of us, and not
there will be two versions in each child. What will, then, the trait seen in
in others. Free and
the child be? Mendel (see box) worked out the main rules of such attached earlobes are two
inheritance, and it is interesting to look at some of his experiments from variants found in human
more than a century ago. populations.

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 Gregor Johann Mendel (1822–1884)
Mendel was educated in a monastery and went on to study science and
mathematics at the University of Vienna. Failure in the examinations for a
teaching certificate did not suppress his zeal for scientific quest. He went
back to his monastery and started growing peas. Many others had studied
the inheritance of traits in peas and other organisms earlier, but Mendel
blended his knowledge of science and mathematics and was the first one
to keep count of individuals exhibiting a particular trait in each generation.
This helped him to arrive at the laws of inheritance.

Mendel used a number of contrasting visible characters of garden

peas – round/wrinkled seeds, tall/short plants, white/violet flowers and
so on. He took pea plants with different characteristics – a tall plant and
a short plant, produced progeny by crossing them, and calculated the
percentages of tall or short progeny.
In the first place, there were no halfway characteristics in this first-
generation, or F1 progeny – no ‘medium-height’ plants. All plants were
tall. This meant that only one of the parental traits
was seen, not some mixture of the two. So the next
question was, were the tall plants in the F1
generation exactly the same as the tall plants of the
parent generation? Mendelian experiments test this
by getting both the parental plants and these F1 tall
plants to reproduce by self-pollination. The progeny
of the parental plants are, of course, all tall. However,
the second-generation, or F2, progeny of the F1 tall
plants are not all tall. Instead, one quarter of them
are short. This indicates that both the tallness and
shortness traits were inherited in the F1 plants, but
only the tallness trait was expressed. This led Mendel
to propose that two copies of factor (now called genes)
controlling traits are present in sexually reproducing
organism. These two may be identical, or may be
different, depending on the parentage. A pattern of
inheritance can be worked out with this assumption,
as shown in Fig. 9.3.
Figure 9.3
Inheritance of traits
over two generations Activity 9.2
n In Fig. 9.3, what experiment would we do to confirm that the F2
generation did in fact have a 1:2:1 ratio of TT, Tt and tt trait
combinations?

In this explanation, both TT and Tt are tall plants, while only tt is a

short plant. In other words, a single copy of ‘T’ is enough to make the
plant tall, while both copies have to be ‘t’ for the plant to be short. Traits
like ‘T’ are called dominant traits, while those that behave like ‘t’ are
called recessive traits. Work out which trait would be considered
dominant and which one recessive in Fig. 9.4.

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 What happens when pea plants showing two different
characteristics, rather than just one, are bred with each other?
What do the progeny of a tall plant with round seeds and a short
plant with wrinkled-seeds look like? They are all tall and have
round seeds. Tallness and round seeds are thus dominant traits.
But what happens when these F1 progeny are used to generate
F2 progeny by self-pollination? A Mendelian experiment will find
that some F2 progeny are tall plants with round seeds, and some
were short plants with wrinkled seeds. However, there would also
be some F2 progeny that showed new combinations. Some of them
would be tall, but have wrinkled seeds, while others would be short,
but have round seeds. You can see as to how new combinations of Figure 9.4
traits are formed in F2 offspring when factors controlling for seed
shape and seed colour recombine to form zygote leading to form x
F2 offspring (Fig. 9.5). Thus, the tall/short trait and the round RR yy rr YY
(round, green) (wrinkled, yellow)
seed/wrinkled seed trait are independently inherited.
Ry rY
9.2.3 How do these Traits get Expressed?
How does the mechanism of heredity work? Cellular DNA is F1

the information source for making proteins in the cell. A section Rr Yy

(round, yellow)
of DNA that provides information for one protein is called the
gene for that protein. How do proteins control the x
characteristics that we are discussing here? Let us take the Rr Yy
F1
Rr Yy
F1
example of tallness as a characteristic. We know that plants
have hormones that can trigger growth. Plant height can thus RY Ry rY ry

depend on the amount of a particular plant hormone. The F2

amount of the plant hormone made will depend on the RY

efficiency of the process for making it. Consider now an enzyme RRYY RRYy RrYY RrYy

that is important for this process. If this enzyme works Ry

efficiently, a lot of hormone will be made, and the plant will be RRYy RRyy RrYy Rryy
tall. If the gene for that enzyme has an alteration that makes
rY
the enzyme less efficient, the amount of hormone will be less,
RrYY RrYy rrYY rrYy
and the plant will be short. Thus, genes control characteristics,
ry
or traits.
If the interpretations of Mendelian experiments we have been RrYy Rryy rrYy rryy

discussing are correct, then both parents must be contributing

315 round, yellow 9
equally to the DNA of the progeny during sexual reproduction.
We have disscussed this issue in the previous Chapter. If both 108 round, green 3

parents can help determine the trait in the progeny, both parents 101 wrinkled, yellow 3

must be contributing a copy of the same gene. This means that 32 wrinkled, green 1
each pea plant must have two sets of all genes, one inherited from 556 seeds 16

each parent. For this mechanism to work, each germ cell must
Figure 9.5 Independent inheritance of two
have only one gene set. separate traits, shape and colour of seeds
Figure 9.5
How do germ-cells make a single set of genes from the normal two Independent inheritance
copies that all other cells in the body have? If progeny plants inherited a of two separate traits,
single whole gene set from each parent, then the experiment explained shape and colour of seeds
in Fig. 9.5 cannot work. This is because the two characteristics ‘R’ and
‘y’ would then be linked to each other and cannot be independently

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 inherited. This is explained by the fact that each gene set is present, not
as a single long thread of DNA, but as separate independent pieces,
each called a chromosome. Thus, each cell will have two copies of each
chromosome, one each from the male and female parents. Every germ-
cell will take one chromosome from each pair and these may be of either
maternal or paternal origin. When two germ cells combine, they will
restore the normal number of chromosomes in the progeny, ensuring
the stability of the DNA of the species. Such a mechanism of inheritance
explains the results of the Mendel experiments, and is used by all
sexually reproducing organisms. But asexually reproducing organisms
also follow similar rules of inheritance. Can we work out how their
inheritance might work?

9.2.4 Sex Determination

We have discussed the idea that the two sexes participating in sexual
reproduction must be somewhat different from each other for a number
of reasons. How is the sex of a newborn individual
determined? Different species use very different strategies
for this. Some rely entirely on environmental cues. Thus,
in some animals like a few reptiles, the temperature at
which fertilised eggs are kept determines whether the
animals developing in the eggs will be male or female. In
other animals, such as snails, individuals can change sex,
indicating that sex is not genetically determined. However,
in human beings, the sex of the individual is largely
genetically determined. In other words, the genes inherited
from our parents decide whether we will be boys or girls.
But so far, we have assumed that similar gene sets are
inherited from both parents. If that is the case, how can
genetic inheritance determine sex?
The explanation lies in the fact that all human
chromosomes are not paired. Most human chromosomes
have a maternal and a paternal copy, and we have 22
such pairs. But one pair, called the sex chromosomes, is
odd in not always being a perfect pair. Women have a
perfect pair of sex chromosomes, both called X. But men
have a mismatched pair in which one is a normal-sized X
while the other is a short one called Y. So women are XX,
while men are XY. Now, can we work out what the
inheritance pattern of X and Y will be?
As Fig. 9.6 shows, half the children will be boys and
half will be girls. All children will inherit an X chromosome
from their mother regardless of whether they are boys or
girls. Thus, the sex of the children will be determined by
Figure 9.6
what they inherit from their father. A child who inherits
Sex determination in an X chromosome from her father will be a girl, and one
human beings who inherits a Y chromosome from him will be a boy.

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 Q U E S T I O N S
1. How do Mendel’s experiments show that traits may be dominant or

?
recessive?
2. How do Mendel’s experiments show that traits are inherited
independently?
3. A man with blood group A marries a woman with blood group O and
their daughter has blood group O. Is this information enough to tell you
which of the traits – blood group A or O – is dominant? Why or why not?
4. How is the sex of the child determined in human beings?

9.3 EVOLUTION
We have noted that there is an inbuilt tendency to variation during
reproduction, both because of errors in DNA copying, and as a result of
sexual reproduction. Let us now look at some consequences of this
tendency.

9.3.1 An Illustration
Consider a group of twelve red beetles. They live, let us assume, in some
bushes with green leaves. Their population will grow by sexual
reproduction, and therefore, can generate variations. Let us imagine also
that crows eat these beetles. The more beetles the crows eat, the fewer
beetles are available to reproduce. Now, let us think about some different
situations (Fig. 9.7) that can develop in this beetle population.

Figure 9.7 Variations in a population – inherited and otherwise

In the first situation, a colour variation arises during reproduction,

so that there is one beetle that is green in colour instead of red. This
beetle, moreover, can pass the colour on to its progeny, so that all its

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 progeny beetles are green. Crows cannot see green-coloured beetles on
the green leaves of the bushes, and therefore cannot eat them. What
happens then? The progeny of green beetles is not eaten, while the
progeny of red beetles continues to be eaten. As a result, there are more
and more green beetles than red ones in the beetle population.
In a second situation, again, a colour variation arises during
reproduction, but now it results in a beetle that is blue in colour instead
of red. This beetle can also pass the colour on to its progeny, so that all
its progeny beetles are blue. Crows can see blue-coloured beetles in the
green leaves of the bushes as well as they can see red ones, and therefore
can eat them. What happens initially? In the population, as it expands,
there are a few blue beetles, but most are red. But at this point, an
elephant comes by, and stamps on the bushes where the beetles live.
This kills most of the beetles. By chance, the few beetles that have survived
are mostly blue. The beetle population slowly expands again, but now,
the beetles in the population are mostly blue.
It is obvious that in both situations, what started out as a rare variation
came to be a common characteristic in the population. In other words,
the frequency of an inherited trait changed over generations. Since genes
control traits, we can say that the frequency of certain genes in a
population changed over generations. This is the essence of the idea of
evolution.
But there are interesting differences, too, in the two situations. In the
first case, the variation became common because it gave a survival
advantage. In other words, it was naturally selected. We can see that the
natural selection is exerted by the crows. The more crows there are, the
more red beetles would be eaten, and the more the proportion of green
beetles in the population would be. Thus, natural selection is directing
evolution in the beetle population. It results in adaptations in the beetle
population to fit their environment better.
In the second situation, the colour change gave no survival advantage.
Instead, it was simply a matter of accidental survival of beetles of one
colour that changed the common characteristic of the resultant
population. The elephant would not have caused such major havoc in
the beetle population if the beetle population had been very large. So,
accidents in small populations can change the frequency of some genes
in a population, even if they give no survival advantage. This is the notion
of genetic drift, which provides diversity without any adaptations.
Now consider a third situation. In this, as the beetle population begins
to expand, the bushes start suffering from a plant disease. The amount
of leaf material for the beetles is reduced. The beetles are poorly nourished
as a result. The average weight of adult beetles decreases from what it
used to be when leaves were plentiful, but there is no genetic change
occurring. After a few years and a few beetle generations of such scarcity,
the plant disease is eliminated. There is a lot of leaf food. At this time,
what would we expect the weight of the beetles to be?

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9.3.2 Acquired and Inherited Traits
We discussed the idea that the germ cells of sexually reproducing
populations are made in specialised reproductive tissue. If the weight of
the beetle is reduced because of starvation, that will not change the DNA
of the germ cells. Therefore, low weight is not a trait that can be inherited
by the progeny of a starving beetle. Therefore, even if some generations
of beetles are low in weight because of starvation, that is not an example
of evolution, since the change is not inherited over generations. Change
in non-reproductive tissues cannot be passed on to the DNA of the germ
cells. Therefore the experiences of an individual during its lifetime cannot
be passed on to its progeny, and cannot direct evolution.
Consider another example of how an individual cannot pass on to
its progeny the experiences of its lifetime. If we breed a group of mice, all
their progeny will have tails, as expected. Now, if the tails of these mice
are removed by surgery in each generation, do these tailless mice have
tailless progeny? The answer is no, and it makes sense because removal
of the tail cannot change the genes of the germ cells of the mice.

Charles Robert Darwin (1809–1882)

Charles Darwin set out on a voyage when he was 22 years old. The
five-year voyage took him to South America and the islands off its coast.
The studies that he conducted during this voyage were to change forever
the way we look at the variety of life on earth. Interestingly, after he got
back to England, he never left its shores again. He stayed at home and
conducted various experiments that led him to formulate his hypothesis
that evolution took place due to natural selection. He did not know the
mechanism whereby variations arose in the species. He would have
been enlightened by Mendel’s experiments, but these two gentlemen
did not know of each other or their work!
We often associate Darwin solely with the theory of evolution. But he was an accomplished
naturalist, and one of the studies he conducted was to do with the role of earthworms in
soil fertility.

This is the reason why the ideas of heredity and genetics that we
have discussed earlier are so essential for understanding evolution. Even
Charles Darwin, who came up with the idea of evolution of species by
natural selection in the nineteenth century, could not work out the
mechanism. It is ironic that he could have done so if he had seen the
significance of the experiments his Austrian contemporary, Gregor
Mendel, was doing. But then, Mendel too did not notice Darwin’s work
as relevant to his!

Origin of life on earth

Darwin’s theory of evolution tells us how life evolved from simple to more complex forms
and Mendel’s experiments give us the mechanism for the inheritance of traits from one
generation to the next. But neither tells us anything about how life began on earth in the
first place.

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 J.B.S. Haldane, a British scientist (who became a citizen of India later), suggested in
1929 that life must have developed from the simple inorganic molecules which were
present on earth soon after it was formed. He speculated that the conditions on earth
Do You Know?

at that time, which were far from the conditions we see today, could have given rise to
more complex organic molecules that were necessary for life. The first primitive
organisms would arise from further chemical synthesis.
How did these organic molecules arise? An answer was suggested by the experiment
conducted by Stanley L. Miller and Harold C. Urey in 1953. They assembled an
atmosphere similar to that thought to exist on early earth (this had molecules like
ammonia, methane and hydrogen sulphide, but no oxygen) over water. This was
maintained at a temperature just below 100°C and sparks were passed through the
mixture of gases to simulate lightning. At the end of a week, 15% of the carbon (from
methane) had been converted to simple compounds of carbon including amino acids
which make up protein molecules. So, can life arise afresh on earth even now?

Q U E S T I O N S

?
1. What are the different ways in which individuals with a particular
trait may increase in a population?
2. Why are traits acquired during the life-time of an individual not
inherited?
3. Why are the small numbers of surviving tigers a cause of worry from
the point of view of genetics?

9.4 SPECIA TION

SPECIATION
What we have seen so far is micro-evolution. That means that the changes
are small, even though they are significant. Also, they simply change the
common characteristics of a particular species. But this does not properly
explain as to how new species come into existence. That can be said to
have happened only if this group of beetles we are thinking about, splits
into two populations that cannot reproduce with each other. When this
happens, they can be called two independent species. So, can we extend
the reasoning we have used above to explain such speciation?
Consider what would happen if the bushes the beetles feed on are
spread widely over a mountain range. The beetle population becomes
very large as a result. But individual beetles feed mostly on a few nearby
bushes throughout their lifetime. They do not travel far. So, in this huge
population of beetles, there will be sub-populations in neighbourhoods.
Since male and female beetles have to meet for reproduction to happen,
most reproduction will be within these sub-populations. Of course, an
occasional adventurous beetle might go from one site to another. Or a
beetle is picked up by a crow from one site and dropped in the other site
without being eaten. In either case, the migrant beetle will reproduce
with the local population. This will result in the genes of the migrant
beetle entering a new population. This kind of gene flow is bound to

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happen between populations that are partly, but not completely
separated. If, however, between two such sub-populations a large river
comes into existence, the two populations will be further isolated. The
levels of gene flow between them will decrease even further.
Over generations, genetic drift will accumulate different changes in
each sub-population. Also, natural selection may also operate differently
in these different geographic locations. Thus, for example, in the territory
of one sub-population, crows are eliminated by eagles. But this does
not happen for the other sub-population, where crow numbers are very
high. As a result, the green variation will not be selected at the first site,
while it will be strongly selected at the second.
Together, the processes of genetic drift and natural selection will result
in these two isolated sub-populations of beetles becoming more and
more different from each other. Eventually, members of these two groups
will be incapable of reproducing with each other even if they happen to
meet.
There can be a number of ways by which this can happen. If the
DNA changes are severe enough, such as a change in the number of
chromosomes, eventually the germ cells of the two groups cannot fuse
with each other. Or a new variation emerges in which green females will
not mate with red males, but only with green males. This allows very
strong natural selection for greenness. Now, if such a green female beetle
meets a red male from the other group, her behaviour will ensure that
there is no reproduction between them. Effectively, new species of beetles
are being generated.

Q U E S T I O N S
1. What factors could lead to the rise of a new species?
2.

3.

9.5 EV
Will geographical isolation be a major factor in the speciation of a self-
pollinating plant species? Why or why not?
Will geographical isolation be a major factor in the speciation of an
organism that reproduces asexually? Why or why not?

OLUTION AND CL ASSIFIC

EVOLUTION ASSIFICAATION
?
Based on these principles, we can work out the evolutionary relationships
of the species we see around us. It is a sort of going backwards in time.
We can do this by identifying hierarchies of characteristics between
species. In order to understand this process, let us think back to our
discussion on the classification of organisms in Class IX.
Similarities among organisms will allow us to group them and then
study the groups. For this, which characteristics decide more
fundamental differences among organisms, and which ones decide less
basic differences? What is meant by ‘characteristics’, anyway?
Characteristics are details of appearance or behaviour; in other words, a
particular form or a particular function. That we have four limbs is thus a
characteristic. That plants can do photosynthesis is also a characteristic.

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 Some basic characteristics will be shared by most organisms. The
cell is the basic unit of life in all organisms. The characteristics in the
next level of classification would be shared by most, but not all organisms.
A basic characteristic of cell design that differs among different organisms
is whether the cell has a nucleus. Bacterial cells do not, while the cells of
most other organisms do. Among organisms with nucleated cells, which
ones are unicellular and which ones multi-cellular? That property marks
a very basic difference in body design, because of specialisation of cell
types and tissues. Among multi-cellular organisms, whether they can
undertake photosynthesis or not will provide the next level of
classification. Among the multi-cellular organisms that cannot do
photosynthesis, whether the skeleton is inside the body or around the
body will mark another fundamental design difference. We can see that,
even in these few questions that we have asked, a hierarchy is developing
that allows us to make classification groups.
The more characteristics two species will have in common, the more
closely they are related. And the more closely they are related, the more
recently they will have had a common ancestor. An example will help. A
brother and a sister are closely related. They have common ancestors in
the first generation before them, namely, their parents. A girl and her
first cousin are also related, but less than the girl and her brother. This
is because cousins have common ancestors, their grandparents, in the
second generation before them, not in the first one. We can now appreciate
that classification of species is in fact a reflection of their evolutionary
relationship.
We can thus build up small groups of species with recent common
ancestors, then super-groups of these groups with more distant common
ancestors, and so on. In theory, we can keep going backwards like this
until we come to the notion of a single species at the very beginning of
evolutionary time. If that is the case, then at some point in the history of
the earth, non-living material must have given rise to life. There are many
theories about how this might have happened. It would be interesting to
come up with theories of our own!

9.5.1 Tracing Evolutionary Relationships

When we try to follow evolutionary relationships, how do we identify
characteristics as common? These characteristics in different organisms
would be similar because they are inherited from a common ancestor.
As an example, consider the fact that mammals have four limbs, as do
birds, reptiles and amphibians (Fig. 9.8). The basic structure of the limbs
is similar though it has been modified to perform different functions in
various vertebrates. Such a homologous characteristic helps to identify
an evolutionary relationship between apparently different species.
Figure 9.8 However, all similarities simply in organ shape are not necessarily
Homologous organs
because of common ancestry. What would we think about the wings of

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birds and bats, for example (Fig. 9.9)? Birds
and bats have wings, but squirrels and
lizards do not. So are birds and bats more
closely related to each other than to squirrels
or lizards?
Before we jump to this conclusion, let us
look at the wings of birds and bats more Figure 9.9
closely. When we do that, we find that the Analogous organs – The wing of a bat and the
wings of bats are skin folds stretched mainly wing of a bird
between elongated fingers. But the wings of
birds are a feathery covering all along the arm. The designs of the two
wings, their structure and components, are thus very different. They
look similar because they have a common use for flying, but their origins
are not common. This makes them analogous characteristics, rather
than homologous characteristics. It would now be interesting to think
about whether bird arms and bat arms should be considered homologous
or analogous!

9.5.2 Fossils
Such studies of organ structure can be done not only on current species,
but also on species that are no longer alive. How do we know that these
extinct species ever existed? We know this from finding fossils (Fig. 9.10).
What are fossils? Usually, when organisms die, their bodies will
decompose and be lost. But every once in a while, the body or at least
some parts may be in an environment that does not let it decompose
completely. If a dead insect gets caught in hot mud, for example, it will
not decompose quickly, and the mud will eventually harden and retain
the impression of the body parts of the insect. All such preserved traces
of living organisms are called fossils.

Figure 9.10 Various kind of fossils. Note the different appearances and degrees of detail and preservation.
The dinosaur skull fossil shown was found only a few years ago in the Narmada valley.

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 How do we know how old the fossils are? There are two components
to this estimation. One is relative. If we dig into the earth and start finding
fossils, it is reasonable to suppose that the fossils we find closer to the
surface are more recent than the fossils we find in deeper layers. The
second way of dating fossils is by detecting the ratios of different isotopes
of the same element in the fossil material. It would be interesting to find
out exactly how this method works!

How do fossils form layer by layer?

Let us start 100 million years ago. Some invertebrates on

the sea-bed die, and are buried in the sand. More sand
accumulates, and sandstone forms under pressure.

Millions of years later, dinosaurs living in the area die, and their bodies, too, are
buried in mud. This mud is also compressed into rock, above the rock containing
the earlier invertebrate fossils.
Do You Know?

Again millions of years later, the bodies of horse-like creatures dying in the area are
fossilised in rocks above these earlier rocks.

Much later, by erosion or water flow wears away some of the rock and exposes the
horse-like fossils. As we dig deeper, we will find older and older fossils.

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9.5.3 Evolution by Stages
A question that arises here is – if complicated organs,
such as the eye, are selected for the advantage they
provide, how can they be generated by a single DNA
change? Surely such complex organs will be created
bit-by-bit over generations? But how can each
intermediate change be selected for? There are a
number of possible explanations. Even an
intermediate stage (Fig. 9.11), such as a rudimentary
eye, can be useful to some extent. This might be
enough to give a fitness advantage. In fact, the eye –
Figure 9.11
like the wing – seems to be a very popular adaptation. A flatworm named Planaria has very simple
Insects have them, so does an octopus, and so do ‘eyes’ that are really just eye-spots which
vertebrates. And the structure of the eye in each of detect light.
these organisms is different – enough for them to have
separate evolutionary origins.
Also, a change that is useful for one property to
start with can become useful later for quite a different
function. Feathers, for example, can start out as
providing insulation in cold weather (Fig. 9.12). But
later, they might become useful for flight. In fact,
some dinosaurs had feathers, although they could
not fly using the feathers. Birds seem to have later
adapted the feathers to flight. This, of course, means
that birds are very closely related to reptiles, since
dinosaurs were reptiles!
It is all very well to say that very dissimilar-
looking structures evolve from a common ancestral
design. It is true that analysis of the organ structure
in fossils allows us to make estimates of how far back
evolutionary relationships go. But those are guesses
about what happened in history. Are there any
current examples of such a process? The wild
cabbage plant is a good example. Humans have, over
more than two thousand years, cultivated wild
cabbage as a food plant, and generated different
vegetables from it by selection (see Fig. 9.13). This is,
of course, artificial selection rather than natural
selection. So some farmers have wanted to select for
very short distances between leaves, and have bred Figure 9.12
the cabbage we eat. Some have wanted to select for Dinosaurs and the evolution of feathers
arrested flower development, and have bred broccoli,
or for sterile flowers, and have made the cauliflower. Some have selected
for swollen parts, and come up with kohlrabi. Some have simply looked
for slightly larger leaves, and come up with a leafy vegetable called kale.
Would we have thought that all these structures are descended from the
same ancestor if we had not done it ourselves?

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 Figure 9.13 Evolution of wild cabbage!

Another way of tracing evolutionary relationships depends on the

original idea that we started with. That idea was that changes in DNA
during reproduction are the basic events in evolution. If that is the case,
then comparing the DNA of different species should give us a direct estimate
of how much the DNA has changed during the formation of these species.
This method is now extensively used to define evolutionary relationships.
More to Know!

Molecular phylogeny
We have been discussing how changes in the DNA during cell division would lead to changes
in the proteins that are made from this new DNA. Another point that has been made is that
these changes would accumulate from one generation to the next. Could this be used to
trace the changes in DNA backwards in time and find out where each change diverged
from the other? Molecular phylogeny does exactly this. This approach is based on the idea
that organisms which are more distantly related will accumulate a greater number of
differences in their DNA. Such studies trace the evolutionary relationships and it has been
highly gratifying to find that the relationships among different organisms shown by molecular
phylogeny match the classification scheme that we learnt in Class IX.

Q U E S T I O N S
1. Give an example of characteristics being used to determine how close

2.

3.
two species are in evolutionary terms.
Can the wing of a butterfly and the wing of a bat be considered
homologous organs? Why or why not?
What are fossils? What do they tell us about the process of evolution?

9.6 EV OLUTION SHOULD NOT BE EQUA

EVOLUTION EQUATED
TED WITH
?
‘PROGRESS’
In an exercise of tracing the family trees of species, we need to remember
certain things. Firstly, there are multiple branches possible at each and

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every stage of this process. So it is not as if one species is eliminated to
give rise to a new one. A new species has emerged. But that does not
necessarily mean, like the beetle example we have been thinking about,
that the old species will disappear. It will all depend on the environment.
Also, it is not as if the newly generated species are in any way ‘better’
than the older one. It is just that natural selection and genetic drift have
together led to the formation of a population that cannot reproduce with
the original one. So, for example, it is not true that human beings have
evolved from chimpanzees. Rather, both human beings and chimpanzees
have a common ancestor a long time ago. That common ancestor is likely
to have been neither human or chimpanzee. Also, the first step of
separation from that ancestor is unlikely to have resulted in modern
chimpanzees and human beings. Instead, the two resultant species have
probably evolved in their own separate ways to give rise to the current
forms.
In fact, there is no real ‘progress’ in the idea of evolution. Evolution is
simply the generation of diversity and the shaping of the diversity by
environmental selection. The only progressive trend in evolution seems
to be that more and more complex body designs have emerged over
time. However, again, it is not as if the older designs are inefficient! So
many of the older and simpler designs still survive. In fact, one of the
simplest life forms – bacteria – inhabit the most inhospitable habitats
like hot springs, deep-sea thermal vents and the ice in Antarctica. In
other words, human beings are not the pinnacle of evolution, but simply
yet another species in the teeming spectrum of evolving life.

9.6.1 Human Evolution

The same tools for tracing evolutionary
relationships – excavating, time-dating
and studying fossils, as well as
determining DNA sequences – have
been used for studying human
evolution. There is a great diversity of
human forms and features across the
planet. So much so that, for a long time,
people used to talk about human
‘races’. Skin colour used to be the
commonest way of identifying these so-
called races. Some were called yellow, Figure 9.14
some black, white or brown. A major question debated for a long time Evolution —
was, have these apparent groups evolved differently? Over recent years, Ladder versus Tree
the evidence has become very clear. The answer is that there is no
biological basis to the notion of human races. All humans are a single
species.
Not only that, regardless of where we have lived for the past few
thousand years, we all come from Africa. The earliest members of the
human species, Homo sapiens, can be traced there. Our genetic footprints
can be traced back to our African roots. A couple of hundred thousand
years ago, some of our ancestors left Africa while others stayed on. While

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 the residents spread across Africa, the migrants slowly spread across
the planet – from Africa to West Asia, then to Central Asia, Eurasia,
South Asia, East Asia. They travelled down the islands of Indonesia and
the Philippines to Australia, and they crossed the Bering land bridge to
the Americas. They did not go in a single line, so they were not travelling
for the sake of travelling, obviously. They went forwards and backwards,
with groups sometimes separating from each other, sometimes coming
back to mix with each other, even moving in and out of Africa. Like all
other species on the planet, they had come into being as an accident of
evolution, and were trying to live their lives the best they could.

Q U E S T I O N S

?
1. Why are human beings who look so different from each other in terms
of size, colour and looks said to belong to the same species?
2. In evolutionary terms, can we say which among bacteria, spiders, fish
and chimpanzees have a ‘better’ body design? Why or why not?

What you have learnt

n Variations arising during the process of reproduction can be inherited.
n These variations may lead to increased survival of the individuals.
n Sexually reproducing individuals have two copies of genes for the same trait. If the
copies are not identical, the trait that gets expressed is called the dominant trait
and the other is called the recessive trait.
n Traits in one individual may be inherited separately, giving rise to new combinations
of traits in the offspring of sexual reproduction.
n Sex is determined by different factors in various species. In human beings, the sex
of the child depends on whether the paternal chromosome is X (for girls) or Y (for
boys).
n Variations in the species may confer survival advantages or merely contribute to
the genetic drift.
n Changes in the non-reproductive tissues caused by environmental factors are not
inheritable.
n Speciation may take place when variation is combined with geographical isolation.
n Evolutionary relationships are traced in the classification of organisms.
n Tracing common ancestors back in time leads us to the idea that at some point of
time, non-living material must have given rise to life.
n Evolution can be worked out by the study of not just living species, but also fossils.
n Complex organs may have evolved because of the survival advantage of even the
intermediate stages.
n Organs or features may be adapted to new functions during the course of evolution.
For example, feathers are thought to have been initially evolved for warmth and
later adapted for flight.

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 n Evolution cannot be said to ‘progress’ from ‘lower’ forms to ‘higher’ forms. Rather,
evolution seems to have given rise to more complex body designs even while the
simpler body designs continue to flourish.
n Study of the evolution of human beings indicates that all of us belong to a single
species that evolved in Africa and spread across the world in stages.

E X E R C I S E S
1. A Mendelian experiment consisted of breeding tall pea plants bearing violet flowers
with short pea plants bearing white flowers. The progeny all bore violet flowers,
but almost half of them were short. This suggests that the genetic make-up of the
tall parent can be depicted as
(a) TTWW
(b) TTww
(c) TtWW
(d) TtWw
2. An example of homologous organs is
(a) our arm and a dog’s fore-leg.
(b) our teeth and an elephant’s tusks.
(c) potato and runners of grass.
(d) all of the above.
3. In evolutionary terms, we have more in common with
(a) a Chinese school-boy.
(b) a chimpanzee.
(c) a spider.
(d) a bacterium.
4. A study found that children with light-coloured eyes are likely to have parents
with light-coloured eyes. On this basis, can we say anything about whether the
light eye colour trait is dominant or recessive? Why or why not?
5. How are the areas of study – evolution and classification – interlinked?
6. Explain the terms analogous and homologous organs with examples.
7. Outline a project which aims to find the dominant coat colour in dogs.
8. Explain the importance of fossils in deciding evolutionary relationships.
9. What evidence do we have for the origin of life from inanimate matter?
10. Explain how sexual reproduction gives rise to more viable variations than asexual
reproduction. How does this affect the evolution of those organisms that reproduce
sexually?
11. How is the equal genetic contribution of male and female parents ensured in the
progeny?
12. Only variations that confer an advantage to an individual organism will survive in
a population. Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?

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 CHAPTER 15
Our Environment

W e have heard the word ‘environment’ often being used on the

television, in newspapers and by people around us. Our elders tell
us that the ‘environment’ is not what it used to be earlier; others say that
we should work in a healthy ‘environment’; and global summits involving
the developed and developing countries are regularly held to discuss
‘environmental’ issues. In this chapter, we shall be studying how various
components in the environment interact with each other and how we
impact the environment.

ECO-SYSTEM
15.1 ECO WHATT ARE ITS COMPONENTS?
-SYSTEM — WHA
All organisms such as plants, animals, microorganisms and human
beings as well as the physical surroundings interact with each other
and maintain a balance in nature. All the interacting organisms in an
area together with the non-living constituents of the environment form
an ecosystem. Thus, an ecosystem consists of biotic components
comprising living organisms and abiotic components comprising
physical factors like temperature, rainfall, wind, soil and minerals.
For example, if you visit a garden you will find different plants, such
as grasses, trees; flower bearing plants like rose, jasmine, sunflower;
and animals like frogs, insects and birds. All these living organisms
interact with each other and their growth, reproduction and other
activities are affected by the abiotic components of ecosystem. So a garden
is an ecosystem. Other types of ecosystems are forests, ponds and lakes.
These are natural ecosystems while gardens and crop-fields are human-
made (artificial) ecosystems.

Activity 15.1
n You might have seen an aquarium. Let us try to design one.
n What are the things that we need to keep in mind when we create
an aquarium? The fish would need a free space for swimming (it
could be a large jar), water, oxygen and food.
n We can provide oxygen through an oxygen pump (aerator) and
fish food which is available in the market.

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 n If we add a few aquatic plants and animals it can become a self-
sustaining system. Can you think how this happens? An aquarium
is an example of a human-made ecosystem.
n Can we leave the aquarium as such after we set it up? Why does
it have to be cleaned once in a while? Do we have to clean ponds
or lakes in the same manner? Why or why not?

We have seen in earlier classes that organisms can be grouped as

producers, consumers and decomposers according to the manner in
which they obtain their sustenance from the environment. Let us recall
what we have learnt through the self sustaining ecosystem created by
us above. Which organisms can make organic compounds like sugar
and starch from inorganic substances using the radiant energy of the
Sun in the presence of chlorophyll? All green plants and certain bacteria
which can produce food by photosynthesis come under this category
and are called the producers.
Organisms depend on the producers either directly or indirectly for
their sustenance? These organisms which consume the food produced,
either directly from producers or indirectly by feeding on other consumers
are the consumers. Consumers can be classed variously as herbivores,
carnivores, omnivores and parasites. Can you give examples for each of
these categories of consumers?
n Imagine the situation where you do not clean the aquarium and
some fish and plants have died. Have you ever thought what
happens when an organism dies? The microorganisms, comprising
bacteria and fungi, break-down the dead remains and waste
products of organisms. These microorganisms are the decomposers
as they break-down the complex organic substances into simple
inorganic substances that go into the soil and are used up once
more by the plants. What will happen to the garbage, and dead
animals and plants in their absence? Will the natural replenishment
of the soil take place, even if decomposers are not there?

Activity 15.2
n While creating an aquarium did you take care not to put an aquatic
animal which would eat others? What would have happened
otherwise?
n Make groups and discuss how each of the above groups of
organisms are dependent on each other.
n Write the aquatic organisms in order of who eats whom and form
a chain of at least three steps. → →
n Would you consider any one group of organisms to be of primary
importance? Why or why not?

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 15.1.1 Food Chains and Webs
In Activity 15.4 we have formed a series of organisms feeding
on one another. This series or organisms taking part at
various biotic levels form a food chain (Fig. 15.1).
Each step or level of the food chain forms a trophic level.
The autotrophs or the producers are at the first trophic level.
They fix up the solar energy and make it available for
heterotrophs or the consumers. The herbivores or the primary
consumers come at the second, small carnivores or the
secondary consumers at the third and larger carnivores or
the tertiary consumers form the fourth trophic level (Fig. 15.2).
We know that the food we eat acts as a fuel to provide us
energy to do work. Thus the interactions among various
components of the environment involves flow of energy from
one component of the system to another. As we have studied,
the autotrophs capture the energy present in sunlight and
convert it into chemical energy. This energy supports all the
activities of the living world. From autotrophs, the energy goes
Figure 15.1
to the heterotrophs and decomposers. However, as we saw in
Food chain in nature
(a) in forest, (b) in
the previous Chapter on ‘Sources of Energy’, when one form
grassland and (c) in a of energy is changed to another, some energy is lost to the
pond environment in forms which cannot be used again. The flow
of energy between various components of the environment
has been extensively studied and it has been found that –
n The green plants in a terrestrial ecosystem capture about
1% of the energy of sunlight that falls on their leaves and convert it
into food energy.
n When green plants are eaten by primary consumers, a great deal
of energy is lost as heat to the environment, some amount goes
into digestion and in doing work and the rest goes towards growth
and reproduction. An average of 10% of the food eaten is turned
into its own body and made available for the next level of
consumers.
n Therefore, 10% can be taken as the average value for the amount
of organic matter that is present at each step and reaches the next
level of consumers.
Figure 15.2 n Since so little energy is available for the next level of consumers,
Trophic levels food chains generally consist of only three or four steps. The loss
of energy at each step is so great that very little usable energy
remains after four trophic levels.
n There are generally a greater number of individuals at the lower
trophic levels of an ecosystem, the greatest number is of the
producers.
n The length and complexity of food chains vary greatly. Each organism
is generally eaten by two or more other kinds of organisms which in
turn are eaten by several other organisms. So instead of a straight
line food chain, the relationship can be shown as a series of branching
lines called a food web (Fig. 15.3).

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 From the energy flow diagram (Fig. 15.4),
two things become clear. Firstly, the flow of
energy is unidirectional. The energy that is
captured by the autotrophs does not revert
back to the solar input and the energy which
passes to the herbivores does not come back
to autotrophs. As it moves progressively
through the various trophic levels it is no
longer available to the previous level.
Secondly, the energy available at each trophic
level gets diminished progressively due to
loss of energy at each level.
Another interesting aspect of food chain
is how unknowingly some harmful
chemicals enter our bodies through the food
chain. You have read in Class IX how water
gets polluted. One of the reasons is the use
of several pesticides and other chemicals to
protect our crops from diseases and pests.
These chemicals are either washed down into
the soil or into the water bodies. From the
soil, these are absorbed by the plants along
with water and minerals, and from the water
bodies these are taken up by aquatic plants

Figure 15.3
Food web, consisting of
many food chains

Figure 15.4 Diagram showing flow of energy in an ecosystem

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 and animals. This is one of the ways in which they enter the food chain.
As these chemicals are not degradable, these get accumulated
progressively at each trophic level. As human beings occupy the top
level in any food chain, the maximum concentration of these chemicals
get accumulated in our bodies. This phenomenon is known as biological
magnification. This is the reason why our food grains such as wheat
and rice, vegetables and fruits, and even meat, contain varying amounts
of pesticide residues. They cannot always be removed by washing or
other means.

Activity 15.3
n Newspaper reports about pesticide levels in ready-made food items
are often seen these days and some states have banned these
products. Debate in groups the need for such bans.
n What do you think would be the source of pesticides in these food
items? Could pesticides get into our bodies from this source through
other food products too?
n Discuss what methods could be applied to reduce our intake of
pesticides.

Q U E S T I O N S

?
1. What are trophic levels? Give an example of a food chain and state the
different trophic levels in it.
2. What is the role of decomposers in the ecosystem?

1 5 . 2 HOW DO OUR ACTIVITIES AFFECT THE

ENVIRONMENT?
We are an integral part of the environment. Changes in the environment
affect us and our activities change the environment around us. We have
already seen in Class IX how our activities pollute the environment. In
this chapter, we shall be looking at two of the environmental problems
in detail, that is, depletion of the ozone layer and waste disposal.

15.2.1 Ozone Layer and How it is Getting Depleted

Ozone (O3) is a molecule formed by three atoms of oxygen. While O2,
which we normally refer to as oxygen, is essential for all aerobic forms of
life. Ozone, is a deadly poison. However, at the higher levels of the
atmosphere, ozone performs an essential function. It shields the surface
of the earth from ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the Sun. This radiation

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is highly damaging to organisms, for example, it is known to cause skin
cancer in human beings.
Ozone at the higher levels of the atmosphere is a product of UV
radiation acting on oxygen (O2) molecule. The higher energy UV
radiations split apart some moleculer oxygen (O2) into free oxygen (O)
atoms. These atoms then combine with the molecular oxygen to form
ozone as shown—
UV
O2  →O+O

O + O2 → O3
( Ozone)
The amount of ozone in the atmosphere began to drop sharply in
the 1980s. This decrease has been linked to synthetic chemicals like
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) which are used as refrigerants and in fire
extinguishers. In 1987, the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP) succeeded in forging an agreement to freeze CFC production at
1986 levels. It is now mandatory for all the manufacturing companies
to make CFC-free refrigerators throughout the world.

Activity 15.4
n Find out from the library, internet or newspaper reports, which
chemicals are responsible for the depletion of the ozone layer.
n Find out if the regulations put in place to control the emission of
these chemicals have succeeded in reducing the damage to the
ozone layer. Has the size of the hole in the ozone layer changed in
recent years?

15.2.2 Managing the Garbage we Produce

In our daily activities, we generate a lot of material that are thrown
away. What are some of these waste materials? What happens after we
throw them away? Let us perform an activity to find answers to these
questions.

Activity 15.5
n Collect waste material from your homes. This could include all
the waste generated during a day, like kitchen waste (spoilt food,
vegetable peels, used tea leaves, milk packets and empty cartons),
waste paper, empty medicine bottles/strips/bubble packs, old and
torn clothes and broken footwear.
n Bury this material in a pit in the school garden or if there is no
space available, you can collect the material in an old bucket/
flower pot and cover with at least 15 cm of soil.
n Keep this material moist and observe at 15-day intervals.
n What are the materials that remain unchanged over long periods
of time?
n What are the materials which change their form and structure
over time?
n Of these materials that are changed, which ones change the fastest?

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 We have seen in the chapter on ‘Life Processes’ that the food we eat is
digested by various enzymes in our body. Have you ever wondered why
the same enzyme does not break-down everything we eat? Enzymes are
specific in their action, specific enzymes are needed for the break-down
of a particular substance. That is why we will not get any energy if we
try to eat coal! Because of this, many human-made materials like plastics
will not be broken down by the action of bacteria or other saprophytes.
These materials will be acted upon by physical processes like heat and
pressure, but under the ambient conditions found in our environment,
these persist for a long time.
Substances that are broken down by biological processes are said
to be biodegradable. How many of the substances you buried were
biodegradable? Substances that are not broken down in this manner
are said to be non-biodegradable. These substances may be inert and
simply persist in the environment for a long time or may harm the various
members of the eco-system.

Activity 15.6
n Use the library or internet to find out more about biodegradable
and non-biodegradable substances.
n How long are various non-biodegradable substances expected to
last in our environment?
n These days, new types of plastics which are said to be biodegradable
are available. Find out more about such materials and whether
they do or do not harm the environment.

Q U E S T I O N S

?
1. Why are some substances biodegradable and some non-biodegradable?
2. Give any two ways in which biodegradable substances would affect the
environment.
3. Give any two ways in which non-biodegradable substances would affect
the environment.

Visit any town or city, and we are sure to find heaps of garbage all over
the place. Visit any place of tourist interest and we are sure to find the
place littered with empty food wrappers. In the earlier classes we have
talked about this problem of dealing with the garbage that we generate. Let
us now look at the problem a bit more deeply.

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 Activity 15.7
n Find out what happens to the waste generated at home. Is there a
system in place to collect this waste?
n Find out how the local body (panchayat, municipal corporation,
resident welfare association) deals with the waste. Are there
mechanisms in place to treat the biodegradable and non-
biodegradable wastes separately?
n Calculate how much waste is generated at home in a day.
n How much of this waste is biodegradable?
n Calculate how much waste is generated in the classroom
in a day.
n How much of this waste is biodegradable?
n Suggest ways of dealing with this waste.

Activity 15.8
n Find out how the sewage in your locality is treated. Are there
mechanisms in place to ensure that local water bodies are not
polluted by untreated sewage.
n Find out how the local industries in your locality treat their wastes.
Are there mechanisms in place to ensure that the soil and water
are not polluted by this waste?

Improvements in our life-style have resulted in greater amounts of

waste material generation. Changes in attitude also have a role to play,
with more and more things we use becoming disposable. Changes in
packaging have resulted in much of our waste becoming non-
biodegradable. What do you think will be the impact of these on our
environment?

Think it over
Disposable cups in trains
If you ask your parents, they will probably remember a time when tea in trains was
served in plastic glasses which had to be returned to the vendor. The introduction of
disposable cups was hailed as a step forward for reasons of hygiene. No one at that time
perhaps thought about the impact caused by the disposal of millions of these cups on a
daily basis. Some time back, kulhads, that is, disposable cups made of clay, were
suggested as an alternative. But a little thought showed that making these kulhads on
a large scale would result in the loss of the fertile top-soil. Now disposable paper-cups
are being used. What do you think are the advantages of disposable paper-cups over
disposable plastic cups?

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 Activity 15.9
n Search the internet or library to find out what hazardous materials
have to be dealt with while disposing of electronic items. How would
these materials affect the environment?
n Find out how plastics are recycled. Does the recycling process
have any impact on the environment?

Q U E S T I O N S

?
1. What is ozone and how does it affect any ecosystem?
2. How can you help in reducing the problem of waste disposal? Give
any two methods.

What you have learnt

n The various components of an ecosystem are interdependent.
n The producers make the energy from sunlight available to the rest of the ecosystem.
n There is a loss of energy as we go from one trophic level to the next, this limits the
number of trophic levels in a food-chain.
n Human activities have an impact on the environment.
n The use of chemicals like CFCs has endangered the ozone layer. Since the ozone
layer protects against the ultraviolet radiation from the Sun, this could damage
the environment.
n The waste we generate may be biodegradable or non-biodegradable.
n The disposal of the waste we generate is causing serious environmental problems.

E X E R C I S E S
1. Which of the following groups contain only biodegradable items?
(a) Grass, flowers and leather
(b) Grass, wood and plastic
(c) Fruit-peels, cake and lime-juice
(d) Cake, wood and grass
2. Which of the following constitute a food-chain?
(a) Grass, wheat and mango
(b) Grass, goat and human

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 (c) Goat, cow and elephant
(d) Grass, fish and goat
3. Which of the following are environment-friendly practices?
(a) Carrying cloth-bags to put purchases in while shopping
(b) Switching off unnecessary lights and fans
(c) Walking to school instead of getting your mother to drop you on her scooter
(d) All of the above
4. What will happen if we kill all the organisms in one trophic level?
5. Will the impact of removing all the organisms in a trophic level be different for
different trophic levels? Can the organisms of any trophic level be removed without
causing any damage to the ecosystem?
6. What is biological magnification? Will the levels of this magnification be different at
different levels of the ecosystem?
7. What are the problems caused by the non-biodegradable wastes that we generate?
8. If all the waste we generate is biodegradable, will this have no impact on the
environment?
9. Why is damage to the ozone layer a cause for concern? What steps are being taken
to limit this damage?

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 CHAPTER 16
Sustainable
Management of
Natural Resources
‘Living in harmony with nature’ is not new to us. Sustainable living has
always been an integral part of India’s tradition and culture. It has been
integrated with our long-lasting traditions and practices, customs, art
and crafts, festivals, food, beliefs, rituals and folklore. Ingrained within us
is the philosophy that ‘entire natural world be in harmony’ which is
reflected in the famous phrase in Sanskrit ‘Vasudhaiv kutumbakam’ that
means “the entire earth is one family”. The phrase is mentioned in
‘Mahaupanishad’, that is probably a part of the ancient Indian text,
Atharva Veda.
In Class IX we have already learnt about some natural resources
like soil, air and water and how various components are cycled over and
over again in nature. Also, we learnt in the previous chapter about the
pollution of these resources because of some of our activities. In this
chapter, we shall look at some of our resources and how we are using
them. Maybe we should also think about how we ought to be using our
resources so as to sustain them and conserve our environment. We shall
be looking at our natural resources like forests, wildlife, water, coal and
petroleum and see what are the issues at stake in deciding how these
resources are to be managed for sustainable development along with
the input from our traditional practices.
We often hear or read about environmental problems. These are often
global-level problems and we feel helpless to bring any change. There
are international laws and regulations, and then there are our own
national laws and acts for environmental protection. There are also
national and international organisations working towards protecting our
environment.

Activity 16.1
n Find out about the international norms to regulate the emission
of carbon dioxide.
n Have a discussion in class about how we can contribute towards
meeting those norms.

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 Activity 16.2
n There are a number of organisations that seek to spread awareness
about our environment and promote activities and attitudes that
lead to the conservation of our environment and natural resources.
Find out about the organisation(s) active in your neighbourhood/
village/town/city.
n Find out how you can contribute towards the same cause.

Awareness about the problems caused by unthinkingly exploiting

our resources has been a fairly recent phenomenon in our society. And
once this awareness rises, some action is usually taken. You must have
heard about the Ganga Action Plan. This multi-crore project came about
in 1985 because the quality of the water in the Ganga was very poor.
Coliform is a group of bacteria, found in human intestines, whose
presence in water indicates contamination by disease-causing
microorganisms.

Figure 16.1 Total coliform count levels in the Ganga

Source: Central Pollution Control Board, 2012

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 Pollution of the Ganga
The Ganga runs its course of over 2500 km from Gangotri in the Himalayas to Ganga
Do You Know?

Sagar in the Bay of Bengal. It is being turned into a drain by more than a hundred
towns and cities in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal that pour their garbage
and excreta into it. Largely untreated sewage is dumped into the Ganges every
day. In addition, think of the pollution caused by other human activities like
bathing, washing of clothes and immersion of ashes or unburnt corpses. And then,
industries contribute chemical effluents to the Ganga’s pollution load and the
toxicity kills fish in large sections of the river. Namami Gange Programme is an
Integrated Conservation Mission approved as a Flagship Programme by the Union
Government in June, 2014. It was launched to accomplish the twin objectives of effective
abatement of pollution conservation and rejuvenation of River Ganga. The National
Mission for Clean Ganga is the implementation wing set up in October, 2016.

As you can see, there are some measurable factors which are used
to quantify pollution or the quality of the water that we use for various
activities. Some of the pollutants are harmful even when present in very
small quantities and we require sophisticated equipment to measure
them. But as we learnt in Chapter 2, the pH of water is something that
can easily be checked using universal indicator.

Activity 16.3
n Check the pH of the water supplied to your house using universal
indicator or litmus paper.
n Also check the pH of the water in the local waterbody (pond, river,
lake, stream).
n Can you say whether the water is polluted or not on the basis of
your observations?

We need not feel powerless or overwhelmed by the scale of the

problems because there are many things we can do to make a difference.
You must have come across the five R’s to save the environment: Refuse,
Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose and Recycle. What do they refer to?
Refuse: This means to say No to things people offer you that you
don’t need. Refuse to buy products that can harm you and
the environment, say No to single-use plastic carry bags.
Reduce: This means that you use less. You save electricity by
switching off unnecessary lights and fans. You save water
by repairing leaky taps. Do not waste food. Can you think
of other things that you can reduce the usage of ?
Reuse: This is actually even better than recycling because the
process of recycling uses some energy. In the ‘reuse’
strategy, you simply use things again and again. Instead
of throwing away used envelopes, you can reverse it and
use it again. The plastic bottles in which you buy various
food-items like jam or pickle can be used for storing things
in the kitchen. What other items can we reuse?

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Repurpose: This means when a product can no more be used for the
original purpose, think carefully and use it for some other
useful purpose. For example, cracked crockery, or cups
with broken handles can be used to grow small plants
and as feeding vessels for birds.
Recycle: This means that you collect plastic, paper, glass and metal
items and recycle these materials to make required things
instead of synthesising or extracting fresh plastic, paper,
glass or metal. In order to recycle, we first need to segregate
our wastes so that the material that can be recycled is not
dumped along with other wastes. Does your village/town/
city have a mechanism in place for recycling these materials?
Even while making everyday choices, we can make environment-
friendly decisions. For doing this, we need to know more about how our
choices affect the environment, these effects may be immediate or long-
term or long-ranging. The concept of sustainable development
encourages forms of growth that meet current basic human needs, while
preserving the resources for the needs of future generations. Economic
development is linked to environmental conservation. Thus sustainable
development implies a change in all aspects of life. It depends upon the
willingness of the people to change their perceptions of the socio-economic
and environmental conditions around them, and the readiness of each
individual to alter their present use of natural resources.

Activity 16.4
n Have you ever visited a town or village after a few years of absence?
If so, have you noticed new roads and houses that have come up
since you were there last? Where do you think the materials for
making these roads and buildings have come from?
n Try and make a list of the materials and their probable sources.
n Discuss the list you have prepared with your classmates. Can
you think of ways in which the use of these materials be reduced?

16.1 WHY DO WE NEED TO MANAGE OUR RESOURCES?

Not just roads and buildings, but all the things we use or consume –
food, clothes, books, toys, furniture, tools and vehicles – are obtained
from resources on this earth. The only thing we get from outside is energy
which we receive from the Sun. Even this energy is processed by living
organisms and various physical and chemical processes on the earth
before we make use of it.
Why do we need to use our resources carefully? Because these are
not unlimited and with the human population increasing at a
tremendous rate due to improvement in health-care, the demand for all
resources is increasing at an exponential rate. The management of
natural resources requires a long-term perspective so that these will
last for the generations to come and will not merely be exploited to the

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 hilt for short-term gains. This management should also ensure equitable
distribution of resources so that all, and not just a handful of rich and
powerful people, benefit from the development of these resources.
Another factor to be considered while we exploit these natural
resources is the damage we cause to the environment while these
resources are either extracted or used. For example, mining causes
pollution because of the large amount of slag which is discarded for
every tonne of metal extracted. Hence, sustainable natural resource
management demands that we plan for the safe disposal of these
wastes too.
The present day global concerns for sustainable development and
conservation of natural resources are of recent origin as compared to
the long tradition and culture of nature conservation in our country.
Principles of conservation and sustainable management were well
established in the pre-historic India.
Our ancient literature is full of such examples where values and
sensitivity of humans towards nature was glorified and the principle of
sustainability was established at its best.

Activity 16.5
n Observe various traditional practices for conservation of nature
in your day-to-day life. Share within the peer group. Make a report
and submit.

Indian texts such as Upanishads and Smritis contain many descriptions on the
uses and management of forests, and highlight sustainability as an implicit theme.
One hymn from Atharva Veda ||12.1.11||, later translated into English in the book
Atharva Veda — the Sanskrit Text with English Translation, written by Devi Chand
in 1997, reads:

“O Earth! Pleasant be thy hills, snow-clad mountains and forests; O numerous

coloured, firm and protected earth! On this earth I stand, undefeated, unslain,
unhurt.”
Another hymn that reveals utilisation and regeneration principles from
Atharva Veda ||12.1.35|| reads:

“Whatever I dig out of you, O Earth! May that have quick regeneration again;
may we not damage thy vital habitat and heart.”

During the Vedic period, both productive as well as protective aspect

of forest vegetation were emphasised. Agriculture emerged as a dominant
economic activity during the later Vedic period. This was the time when

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the concept of cultural landscape such as sacred forests and groves,
sacred corridors and a variety of ethno-forestry practices were evolved
that continued to the post-Vedic period, besides a wide range of ethno-
forestry practices were infused with the traditions, customs and rituals
and followed as a means for protection of nature and natural resource.

Q U E S T I O N S
1. What changes can you make in your habits to become more environment-

?
friendly?
2. What would be the advantages of exploiting resources with short-term aims?
3. How would these advantages differ from the advantages of using a long-
term perspective in managing our resources?
4. Why do you think that there should be equitable distribution of resources?
What forces would be working against an equitable distribution of our resources?

16.2 FORESTS AND WILDLIFE

Forests are ‘biodiversity hotspots’. One measure of the biodiversity of an
area is the number of species found there. However, the range of different
life forms (bacteria, fungi, ferns, flowering plants, nematodes, insects,
birds, reptiles and so on) found, is also important. One of the main aims
of conservation is to try and preserve the biodiversity we have inherited.
Experiments and field studies suggest that loss of diversity may lead to
loss of ecological stability.

16.2.1 Stakeholders
Activity 16.6
n Make a list of forest produce that you use.
n What do you think a person living near a forest would use?
n What do you think a person living in a forest would use?
n Discuss with your classmates how these needs differ or do not
differ and the reasons for the same.

We all use various forest produce. But our dependency on forest

resources varies. Some of us have access to alternatives, some do not.
When we consider the conservation of forests, we need to look at the
stakeholders who are –
(i) the people who live in or around forests are dependent on forest
produce for various aspects of their life (see Fig. 16.2).
(ii) the Forest Department of the Government which owns the land
and controls the resources from forests.
(iii) the industrialists – from those who use ‘tendu’ leaves to make
bidis to the ones with paper mills – who use various forest produce,
but are not dependent on the forests in any one area.
(iv) the wildlife and nature enthusiasts who want to conserve nature
in its pristine form.

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 Let us take a look at what each of these groups needs/gets out of the
forests. The local people need large quantities of firewood, small timber
and thatch. Bamboo is used to make slats for huts, and baskets for
collecting and storing food materials. Implements for agriculture, fishing
and hunting are largely made of wood, also forests are sites for fishing
and hunting. In addition to the people gathering fruits, nuts and
medicines from the forests, their cattle also graze in forest areas or feed
on the fodder which is collected from forests.
Do you think such use of forest resources would lead to the
exhaustion of these resources? Do not forget that before the British came
and took over most of our forest areas, people had been living in these
forests for centuries. They had developed practices to ensure that the
resources were used in a sustainable manner. After the British took
control of the forests (which they exploited ruthlessly for their own
purposes), these people were forced to depend on much smaller areas
and forest resources started becoming over-exploited to some extent.
The Forest Department in independent India took over from the British
but local knowledge and local needs continued to be ignored in the
management practices. Thus vast tracts of forests have been converted
to monocultures of pine, teak or eucalyptus. In order to plant these
trees, huge areas are first cleared of all vegetation. This destroys a large
amount of biodiversity in the area. Not only this, the varied needs of the
local people – leaves for fodder, herbs for medicines, fruits and nuts for
food – can no longer be met from such forests. Such plantations are
useful for the industries to access specific products and are an important
source of revenue for the Forest Department.
Do you know how many industries are
based on forest produce? A short count reveals
timber, paper, lac and sports equipment.
Industries would consider the forest as
merely a source of raw material for its factories.
And huge interest-groups lobby the government
for access to these raw materials at artificially
low rates. Since these industries have a greater
reach than the local people, they are not
interested in the sustainability of the forest in
one particular area. For example, after cutting
down all the teak trees in one area, they will get
Figure 16.2 their teak from a forest farther away. They do not have any stake in
A view of a forest life ensuring that one particular area should yield an optimal amount of
some produce for all generations to come. What do you think will stop
the local people in behaving in a similar manner?

Activity 16.7
n Find out about any two forest produce that are the basis for an
industry.
n Discuss whether this industry is sustainable in the long run. Or
do we need to control our consumption of these products?

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 Lastly, we come to the nature and wildlife enthusiasts who are in no
way dependent on the forests, but who may have considerable say in
their management. The conservationists were initially taken up with large
animals like lions, tigers, elephants and rhinoceros. They now recognise
the need to preserve biodiversity as a whole. But shouldn’t we recognise
people as forming part of the forest system? There have been enough
instances of local people working traditionally for conservation of forests.
For example, the case of Bishnois community living in western Rajasthan
on the border of the Thar desert. Conservation of forest and wildlife has
been a religious tenet for them. These nature-loving people have for
centuries, been conserving the flora and fauna to the extent of sacrificing
their lives to protect the environment. They are living with the basic
philosophy that all living things have a right to survive and share all
resources. The Government of India has recently instituted an ‘Amrita
Devi Bishnoi National Award for Wildlife Conservation’ in the memory of
Amrita Devi Bishnoi, who in 1731 sacrificed her life along with 363 others
for the protection of ‘khejri’ trees in Khejrali village near Jodhpur in
Rajasthan.
Studies have shown that the prejudice against the traditional use of
forest areas has no basis. Here is an example – the great Himalayan
National Park contains, within its reserved area, alpine meadows which
were grazed by sheep in summer. Nomadic shepherds drove their flock
up from the valleys every summer. When this national park was formed,
this practice was put to an end. Now it is seen that without the regular
grazing by sheep the grass first grows very tall, and then falls over
preventing fresh growth.
Management of protected areas by keeping the local people
out or by using force cannot possibly be successful in the long
run. In any case, the damage caused to forests cannot be
attributed to only the local people – one cannot turn a blind eye
to the deforestation caused by industrial needs or development
projects like building roads or dams. The damage caused in
these reserves by tourists or the arrangements made for their
convenience is also to be considered.
We need to accept that human intervention has been very
much a part of the forest landscape. What has to be managed in
the nature and what may be the extent of this intervention?
Forest resources ought to be used in a manner that is both
environmentally and developmentally sound – in other words, while the Figure 16.3
environment is preserved, the benefits of the controlled exploitation go Khejri Tree
to the local people, a process in which decentralised economic growth
and ecological conservation go hand in hand. The kind of economic and
social development we want will ultimately determine whether the
environment will be conserved or further destroyed. The environment
must not be regarded as a pristine collection of plants and animals. It is
a vast and complex entity that offers a range of natural resources for our
use. We need to use these resources with due caution for our economic
and social growth, and to meet our material aspirations.

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 16.2.2 Management of forest
We need to consider if the goals of all the above stakeholders with regard
to the management of the forests are the same. Forest resources are
often made available for industrial use at rates far below the market
value while these are denied to the local people. The Chipko Andolan
(‘Hug the Trees Movement’) was the result of a grassroot level effort to
end the alienation of people from their forests. The movement originated
from an incident in a remote village called Reni in Garhwal, high-up in
the Himalayas during the early 1970s. There was a dispute between the
local villagers and a logging contractor who had been allowed to fell
trees in a forest close to the village. On a particular day, the contractor’s
workers appeared in the forest to cut the trees while the men folk were
absent. Undeterred, the women of the village reached the forest quickly
and clasped the tree trunks thus preventing the workers from felling the
trees. Thus thwarted, the contractor had to withdraw.
Inherent in such a competition to control a natural resource is the
conservation of a replenishable resource. Specifically the method of use
was being called into question. The contractor would have felled the
trees, destroying them forever. The communities traditionally lop the
branches and pluck the leaves, allowing the resource to replenish over
time. The Chipko movement quickly spread across communities and
media, and forced the government, to whom the forest belongs, to rethink
their priorities in the use of forest produce. Experience has taught people
that the destruction of forests affected not just the availability of forest
products, but also the quality of soil and the sources of water.
Participation of the local people can indeed lead to the efficient
management of forests.
An Example of People’s Participation in the Management of Forests
In 1972, the West Bengal Forest Department recognised its failures in
reviving the degraded Sal forests in the south-western districts of the
state. Traditional methods of surveillance and policing had led to a
‘complete alienation of the people from the administration’, resulting in
frequent clashes between forest officials and villagers. Forest and land
related conflicts in the region were also a major factor in fuelling the
militant peasant movements led by the Naxalites.
Accordingly, the Department changed its strategy, making a
beginning in the Arabari forest range of Midnapore district. Here, at the
insistence of a far-seeing forest officer, A.K. Banerjee, villagers were
involved in the protection of 1,272 hectares of badly degraded sal forest.
In return for help in protection, villagers were given employment in both
silviculture and harvesting operations, 25 per cent of the final harvest,
and allowed fuelwood and fodder collection on payment of a nominal
fee. With the active and willing participation of the local community, the

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sal forests of Arabari underwent a remarkable recovery – by 1983, a
previously worthless forest was valued Rs 12.5 crores.

Activity 16.8
n Debate the damage caused to forests by the following —
(a) Building rest houses for tourists in national parks.
(b) Grazing domestic animals in national parks.
(c) Tourists throwing plastic bottles/covers and other litter in
national parks.

Q U E S T I O N S
1.
2.
Why should we conserve forests and wildlife?
Suggest some approaches towards the conservation of forests.
?
16.3 WATER FOR ALL

Activity 16.9
n Villages suffering from chronic water shortage surround a water
theme park in Maharashtra. Debate whether this is the optimum
use of the available water.

Water is a basic necessity for all terrestrial forms of life. We studied in

Class IX about the importance of water as a resource, the water cycle
and how human intervention pollutes waterbodies. However, human
intervention also changes the availability of water in various regions.

Activity 16.10
n Study the rainfall patterns in India from an atlas.
n Identify the regions where water is abundant and the regions of
water scarcity.

After the above activity, would you be very surprised to learn that regions
of water scarcity are closely correlated to the regions of acute poverty?
A study of rainfall patterns does not reveal the whole truth behind
the water availability in various regions in India. Rains in India are largely
due to the monsoons. This means that most of the rain falls in a few
months of the year. Despite nature’s monsoon bounty, failure to sustain
water availability underground has resulted largely from the loss of
vegetation cover, diversion for high water demanding crops, and pollution
from industrial effluents and urban wastes. Irrigation methods like dams,
tanks and canals have been used in various parts of India since ancient
times. These were generally local interventions managed by local people
and assured that the basic minimum requirements for both agriculture
and daily needs were met throughout the year. The use of this stored

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 water was strictly regulated and the optimum cropping patterns based
on the water availability were arrived at on the basis of decades/centuries
of experience, the maintenance of these irrigation systems was also a
local affair.
The arrival of the British changed these systems as it changed many
other things. The conception of large scale projects – large dams and
canals traversing large distances were first conceived and implemented
by the British and carried on with no less gusto by our newly formed
independent government. These mega-projects led to the neglect of the
local irrigation methods, and the government also increasingly took over
the administration of these systems leading to the loss of control over
the local water sources by the local people.

Kulhs in Himachal Pradesh

More to Know!
Parts of Himachal Pradesh had evolved a local system of canal irrigation called
kulhs over four hundred years ago. The water flowing in the streams was diverted
into man-made channels which took this water to numerous villages down the
hillside. The management of the water flowing in these kulhs was by common
agreement among all the villages. Interestingly, during the planting season, water
was first used by the village farthest away from the source of the kulh, then by
villages progressively higher up. These kulhs were managed by two or three people
who were paid by the villagers. In addition to irrigation, water from these kulhs
also percolated into the soil and fed springs at various points. After the kulhs were
taken over by the Irrigation Department, most of them became defunct and there
is no amicable sharing of water as before.

16.3.1 Dams
Why do we seek to build dams? Large dams can ensure the storage of
adequate water not just for irrigation, but also for generating electricity,
as discussed in the previous chapter. Canal systems leading from these
dams can transfer large amounts of water over great distances. For
example, the Indira Gandhi Canal has brought greenery to considerable
areas of Rajasthan. However, mismanagement of the water has largely
led to the benefits being cornered by a few people. There is no equitable
distribution of water, thus people close to the source grow water intensive
crops like sugarcane and rice while people farther downstream do not
get any water. The woes of these people who have been promised benefits
which never arrived are added to the discontentment among the people
who have been displaced by the building of the dam and its canal network.
In the previous chapter, we mentioned the reasons for opposition to
the construction of large dams, such as the Tehri Dam on the river Ganga.
You must have read about the protests by the Narmada Bachao Andolan
(‘Save the Narmada Movement’) about raising the height of the Sardar
Sarovar Dam on the river Narmada. Criticisms about large dams address
three problems in particular –
(i) Social problems because they displace large number of peasants
and tribals without adequate compensation or rehabilitation,
(ii) Economic problems because they swallow up huge amounts of
public money without the generation of proportionate benefits,

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 (iii) Environmental problems because they contribute enormously
to deforestation and the loss of biological diversity.
The people who have been displaced by various development projects
are largely poor tribals who do not get any benefits from these projects
and are alienated from their lands and forests without adequate
compensation. The oustees of the Tawa Dam built in the 1970s are still
fighting for the benefits they were promised.

16.3.2 Water Harvesting A traditional technology is helping

India’s “waterman” save thousands of
Watershed management emphasises scientific parched villages and transform the lives of
soil and water conservation in order to increase thousands of villagers in one of India’s
the biomass production. The aim is to develop most arid regions. In “two decades of efforts
primary resources of land and water, to of Dr. Rajendra Singh, 8,600 johads and
produce secondary resources of plants and other structures to collect water have been
animals for use in a manner which will not built in Rajasthan,” and “Water had been
cause ecological imbalance. Watershed brought back to a 1,000 villages across the
management not only increases the production state.” In 2015, he won the Stockholm
and income of the watershed community, but Water Prize. It is the most prestigious
also mitigates droughts and floods and award which honours a person who
increases the life of the downstream dam and contributes to the conservation and
reservoirs. Various organisations have been protection of water resources for the well-
working on rejuvenating ancient systems of being of the planet and its inhabitants.
water harvesting as an alternative to the ‘mega-
projects’ like dams. These communities have used hundreds of
indigenous water saving methods to capture every trickle of water that
had fallen on their land; dug small pits and lakes, put in place simple
watershed systems, built small earthen dams, constructed dykes, sand
and limestone reservoirs, set up rooftop water-collecting units. This has
recharged groundwater levels and even brought rivers back to life.
Water harvesting is an age-old concept in India. Khadins, tanks and
nadis in Rajasthan, bandharas and tals in Maharashtra, bundhis in
Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, ahars and pynes in Bihar, kulhs in
Himachal Pradesh, ponds in the Kandi belt of Jammu region, and eris
(tanks) in Tamil Nadu, surangams in Kerala, and kattas in Karnataka
are some of the ancient water harvesting, including water conveyance,
structures still in use today (see Fig. 16.4 for an example). Water
harvesting techniques are highly locale specific and the benefits are also
localised. Giving people control over their local water resources ensures
that mismanagement and over-exploitation of these resources is
reduced/removed.
In largely level terrain, the water harvesting structures are mainly
crescent shaped earthen embankments or low, straight concrete-and-
rubble “check dams” built across seasonally flooded gullies. Monsoon
rains fill ponds behind the structures. Only the largest structures hold
water year round; most dry up six months or less after the monsoons.
Their main purpose, however, is not to hold surface water but to recharge
the ground water beneath. The advantages of water stored in the ground

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 are many. It does not evaporate, but spreads out to recharge wells and
provides moisture for vegetation over a wide area. In addition, it does
not provide breeding grounds for mosquitoes like stagnant water collected
in ponds or artificial lakes. The groundwater is also relatively protected
from contamination by human and animal waste.

Figure 16.4 Traditional water harvesting system — an ideal setting of the khadin system

Q U E S T I O N S

?
1. Find out about the traditional systems of water harvesting/
management in your region.
2. Compare the above system with the probable systems in hilly/
mountainous areas or plains or plateau regions.
3. Find out the source of water in your region/locality. Is water from this
source available to all people living in that area?

16.4 COAL AND PETROLEUM

We have seen some of the issues involved in the conservation and
sustainable use of resources like forests, wildlife and water. These can
meet our needs perpetually if we were to use them in a sustainable
manner. Now we come to yet another important resource – fossil fuels,
that is, coal and petroleum, which are important sources of energy for
us. Since the industrial revolution, we have been using increasing
amounts of energy to meet our basic needs and for the manufacture of a
large number of goods upon which our lives depend. These energy needs
have been largely met by the reserves of coal and petroleum.
The management of these energy sources involves slightly different
perspectives from those resources discussed earlier. Coal and petroleum
were formed from the degradation of bio-mass millions of years ago and
hence these are resources that will be exhausted in the future no matter
how carefully we use them. And then we would need to look for alternative
sources of energy. Various estimates exist as to how long these resources

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will last if the present rate of usage continues. It is estimated that our
known petroleum resources will last us for about forty years and the
coal resources will last for another two hundred years.
But looking at other sources of energy is not the only consideration
when we look at the consumption of coal and petroleum. Since coal
and petroleum have been formed from bio-mass, in addition to carbon,
these contain hydrogen, nitrogen and sulphur. When these are burnt,
the products are carbon dioxide, water, oxides of nitrogen and oxides
of sulphur. When combustion takes place in insufficient air (oxygen),
then carbon monoxide is formed instead of carbon dioxide. Of these
products, the oxides of sulphur and nitrogen and carbon monoxide
are poisonous at high concentrations and carbon dioxide is a
greenhouse gas. Another way of looking at coal and petroleum is that
they are huge reservoirs of carbon and if all of this carbon is converted
to carbon dioxide, then the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
is going to increase, leading to intense global warming. Thus, we need
to use these resources judiciously.

Activity 16.11
n Coal is used in thermal power stations and petroleum products
like petrol and diesel are used in means of transport like motor
vehicles, ships and aeroplanes. We cannot really imagine life
without a number of electrical appliances and constant use of
transportation. So can you think of ways in which our consumption
of coal and petroleum products be reduced?

Some simple choices can make a difference in our energy consumption

patterns. Think over the relative advantages, disadvantages and
environment-friendliness of the following –
(i) Taking a bus, using your personal vehicle or walking/cycling.
(ii) Using LED bulbs or fluorescent tubes in your homes.
(iii) Using the lift or taking the stairs.
(iv) Wearing an extra sweater or using a heating device (heater or
‘sigri’) on cold days.
The management of coal and petroleum also addresses the efficiency
of our machines. Fuel is most commonly used in internal combustion
engines for transportation and recent research in this field concentrates
on ensuring complete combustion in these engines in order to increase
efficiency and also reduce air pollution.

Activity 16.12
n You must have heard of the Euro I and Euro II norms for emission
from vehicles. Find out how these norms work towards reducing
air pollution.

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 1 6 . 5 AN OVERVIEW OF NATUR
NATUR AL RESOURCE
TURAL
MANAGEMENT
Sustainable management of natural resources is a difficult task. In
addressing this issue, we need to keep an open mind with regard to the
interests of various stakeholders. We need to accept that people will act
with their own best interests as the priority. But the realisation that
such selfish goals will lead to misery for a large number of people and a
total destruction of our environment is slowly growing. Going beyond
laws, rules and regulations, we need to tailor our requirements,
individually and collectively, so that the benefits of development reach
everyone now and for all generations to come.

What you have learnt

n Our resources like forests, wildlife, water, coal and petroleum need to be used in
a sustainable manner.
n We can reduce pressure on the environment by sincerely applying the maxim of
‘Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose and Recycle’ in our lives.
n Management of forest resources has to take into account the interests of various
stakeholders.
n The harnessing of water resources by building dams has social, economic and
environmental implications. Alternatives to large dams exist. These are locale-
specific and may be developed so as to give local people control over their local
resources.
n The fossil fuels, coal and petroleum, will ultimately be exhausted. Because of this
and because their combustion pollutes our environment, we need to use these
resources judiciously.

E X E R C I S E S
1. What changes would you suggest in your home in order to be environment-friendly?
2. Can you suggest some changes in your school which would make it environment-
friendly?
3. We saw in this chapter that there are four main stakeholders when it comes to
forests and wildlife. Which among these should have the authority to decide the
management of forest produce? Why do you think so?
4. How can you as an individual contribute or make a difference to the management
of (a) forests and wildlife, (b) water resources and (c) coal and petroleum?
5. What can you as an individual do to reduce your consumption of the various
natural resources?
6. List five things you have done over the last one week to —
(a) conserve our natural resources.
(b) increase the pressure on our natural resources.
7. On the basis of the issues raised in this chapter, what changes would you
incorporate in your lifestyle in a move towards a sustainable use of our resources?

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