CBSE Class 6 Science Advanced Biology Getting to Know Plants Very Short Answer Questions Set 02

Ask Yourself

Question 1. Is the stem of shrubs and trees dead or living ?
Answer:
It is partly living. The outer layers just under the bark are living and carry water and food. Most of the older wood in the centre is dead and only gives strength.
In simple words: Only the outer layers are alive; the inner wood is dead.

Teacher's Note:
1. Cutting the bark all around can kill a tree.
2. Dead wood still supports the tree.

Question 2. Is sweet potato a stem or a root ?
Answer:
Sweet potato is a root. It is a swollen adventitious root (root tuber) that stores food.
In simple words: Sweet potato is a modified root.

Teacher's Note:
1. Potato, in contrast, is a stem.
2. The book's figure calls it a root tuber.

Question 3. Can you name a type of edible cactus ?
Answer:
Opuntia (prickly pear, nopal). Its fleshy pads and fruits are eaten.
In simple words: Prickly pear (Opuntia) is an edible cactus.

Teacher's Note:
1. Spines are removed before eating.
2. Opuntia pads are phylloclades.

Question 4. What are stolons ?
Answer:
Stolons are thin horizontal stems that run along the ground and produce roots and a new plant at the nodes. Examples: mint, strawberry, grass.
In simple words: Stolons are runners that make new plants.

Teacher's Note:
1. They are a way of vegetative propagation.
2. The runner of doob grass is a stolon.

Question 5. What can you tell about venation by looking at the seed ?
Answer:
If the seed has two cotyledons (dicot, such as gram or pea), the leaves will have reticulate venation. If it has one cotyledon (monocot, such as maize or wheat), the leaves will have parallel venation.
In simple words: Seeds with two halves give net-veined leaves, and seeds with one give parallel-veined leaves.

Teacher's Note:
1. Split a gram seed to see two halves.
2. Dicot: tap root and reticulate venation.

Question 6. Which surface of leaf has more no. of stomata ?
Answer:
In most plants the lower surface has more stomata, which cuts water loss in the hot sun. In floating leaves such as water lily they are on the upper surface.
In simple words: Usually the underside of the leaf has more stomata.

Teacher's Note:
1. Stomata are guarded by guard cells.
2. Exception: floating leaves.

Question 7. Can plants carnivorous ?
Answer:
Yes. Some plants, such as pitcher plant, Venus flytrap and bladderwort, trap and digest insects. They grow in soil poor in nitrogen and also make food by photosynthesis.
In simple words: Some plants eat insects to get nitrogen.

Teacher's Note:
1. They are also called insectivorous plants.
2. Their leaves are modified.

Question 8. Can you name one plant whose no part goes waste.
Answer:
The coconut palm: its water, kernel, oil, shell, husk (coir), leaves and wood are all used.
In simple words: Every part of the coconut tree is useful.

Teacher's Note:
1. Bamboo and neem are also good answers.
2. Give two uses to support your choice.

Question 9. Can mushroom be called as plant.
Answer:
No. A mushroom is a fungus. It has no chlorophyll, roots, stem or leaves and takes food from dead matter.
In simple words: Mushrooms are fungi, not plants.

Teacher's Note:
1. Plants make their own food; fungi cannot.
2. Fungi do not have chlorophyll.

Question 10. Do birds also transfer pollens ?
Answer:
Yes. Birds such as sunbirds and hummingbirds carry pollen from flower to flower while they drink nectar.
In simple words: Birds can pollinate flowers.

Teacher's Note:
1. Insects, wind and water also pollinate.
2. Bright red flowers often attract birds.

Question 11. What are unisexual and bisexual flowers ?
Answer:
A unisexual flower has only stamens or only pistils (pumpkin, papaya).
A bisexual flower has both stamens and pistils (mustard, China rose).
In simple words: Unisexual flowers have one sex part; bisexual flowers have both.

Teacher's Note:
1. Do not confuse with complete flowers, which have all four whorls.
2. Bisexual = both.

Question 12. Can a flower contain more than one carpel.
Answer:
Yes. Flowers such as lotus have many separate carpels, and in flowers like China rose or tomato several carpels are joined.
In simple words: A flower can have one or many carpels.

Teacher's Note:
1. Free carpels are called pistils.
2. The gynoecium is the set of carpels.

Question 13. Which part of plant is dried and used as saffron ?
Answer:
The stigmas (with part of the style) of the saffron crocus flower.
In simple words: Saffron comes from the dried stigmas of crocus flowers.

Teacher's Note:
1. Saffron is very costly because it is picked by hand.
2. Cloves, in comparison, are dried flower buds.