NCERT Solutions Class 5 Environmental Studies Chapter 5 Seeds and Seeds

1. What things are soaked before cooking in your house? Why?

Ans. Things that are soaked before cooking:

(i) Chana, moong etc.

(ii) Dry pea, rajma etc.

(iii) Soyabean

(iv) Pulses before grinding up

(v) Rice, pulses etc. before grinding

After soaking, these things swell up and become soft. Only when they become eatable. If rice, pulse etc. are soaked before cooking, they take less time in cooking and thus fuel can be saved.

2. What things do you eat after sprouting.? How are they sprouted? How much time does it take?

Ans. We eat chana, moong etc. after sprouting them. To sprout them, first these are soaked in water and then wrapped in a wet cloth and hanged up so that they get proper water and air. Chana takes about 36-48 hours in spoiling while moong take 24-36 hours.

3. Has the doctor or someone you know ever told you to eat sprouts? Why?

Ans. Yes, doctor has advised me to eat sprouts because they are very nutritious.

4. Do you remember that in Class IV you did an activity with seeds? Now try another one.

· Take some chana and three bowls.

· Put five chana in the first bowl and fill it up with water.

· Put a damp piece of cloth or some cotton wool in the second bowl. Now keep the same number of chanas in it. Make sure that the cotton wool or cloth remains wet.

· Put the same number of chanas in the third bowl. Do not anything else in it. Cover all the three levels.

Observe after two days and note the changes in the bowls?

Ans.

	Bowl 1	Bowl 2	Bowl 3
Are the seeds getting air?	No	Yes	Yes
Are the seeds getting water?	Yes	Yes	No
What changes did you see?	Chanas have swelled up	Chanas have sprouted	No
Have the seeds sprouted	No	Yes	No

5. In which bowl did the seeds sprout? What difference did you see between this bowl and other bowls?

Ans. Seeds sprouted in bowl 2 only. In bowl 2, the seeds got both air and water and thus, there sprouted whereas in bowl 1, these got only water but no air and thus these did not sprout. In bowl 3, these got no water and no air and thus did not sprout.

6. Why did Gopal’s mother tie the chana in a damp cloth?

Ans. Gopal’s mother tied the chana in a damp cloth so that they get proper water and air.

7. When you split the whole answer, you will get masoor dal, but then you cannot sprout me! Can you think why?

Ans. It is because after splitting, the sprouting capacity of masoor is lost.

8. Take a ‘clay pot’ or a ‘tin cat’ with a wide mouth. Make a small hole at the bottom of the can. Fill your can with soil. Put four or five seeds of the same kind in the soil and press them gently. Different groups can plant different kinds of seeds such as mustard (sarson), fenugreek (methi), sesame(till) or coriander(dhania).

Ans. Name of the seed: Mustard (sarson)

 The date of which you planted them: January 1,2008

 The day you observe something coming out of the soil start filling the table:

Date	Height of the plant (in cm)	Number of leaves seen	Any other change
January 8	1 cm	2	No
January 9	1.5 cm	3	No
January 10	2.5 cm	4	Stem is getting higher
January 11	4 cm	6	Stem is getting more and more thicker

9. How long did it take for the plant to come out from the soil?

Ans. It took a week for the plant to come out from soil.

10. What was the differences in the height of the plant on the first and second day?

Ans. The differences was of half centimetres.

11. On which day did the height of the plant increase the most?

Ans. On day four i.e. 11^th January, the height of the plant increased the most.

12. Did news leaves come out of the plant every day?

Ans. Yes. Day by day it got thicker.

13. Was there any change in the stem of the plant?

Ans. Yes, day by day it got thicker.

14. Which seeds took the most number of days for the stem to come out of the soil?

Ans. Sesame (til).

15. Which seeds took the least days to come out of the soil?

Ans. Mustard.

16. Which seed did not grow at all? Why?

Ans. All seeds grow up. However, if proper water and air had not been provided, they would not have grown up.

17. Did anyone’s plant dry up to turn yellow? Why did this happen?

Ans. Yes. It happened because that plant may not got proper water and nutrients.

18. What would happen if the plants do not get water?

Ans. They would dry up or turn yellow.

19. What is inside the seed?

Ans. Inside the seed, there are cotlyedons and embryo.

20. How does a big plant grows from a tiny seed?

Ans. The seeding absorbs water and nutrients from the ground and grows into a big plant.

21. Do some plants grow without seeds?

Ans. Yes, come plants like potato, rose, banana etc. grow without seeds.

22. Did you keep aniseed (saunf) and cumin (jeera) in your list?

Ans. Yes.

23. Which was the smallest seed and which was the biggest seed in your collection?

Ans. The smallest seed was of cumin (jeera) and the largest seed was of mango.

24. Seeds that are used as spices in your home.

Ans. Cumin, mustard etc.

25. Seeds of vegetables.

Ans. Lady’s fingers.

26. Seeds of fruits.

Ans. Mango, apple, papaya.

27. Light seeds (check by blowing them).

Ans. Cumin (jeera)m aniseed (saunf).

28. Seeds which are flat.

Ans. Rajma, apple, cumin, aniseed.

29. Make more groups. How many groups of seeds did you make?

Ans. (i) Seeds that are edible.

(ii) Seeds from which oil is extracted.

(iii) Seeds which can float on water.

(iv) Seeds which can float on air.

(v) Seeds which can stick to our body.

30. Do you know any games that you can play with seeds? Discuss with your friends.

Ans. Some seeds have lots of tiny hooks which get attached to clothes or fur. Such seeds are very popular among children. Similarly, a type of flute is made from mango’s seed.

31. Have your ever seen any seeds that can fly?

Ans. Yes.

32. What is it called in your area?

Ans. Budhiya ke baal.

33. Look at your seed collection. Guess how many of those have travelled by flying?

Ans. I think seeds of cumin, aniseed and mustard may have been spreading by flying.

34. Did you get any new idea from the seeds?

Ans. Yes these seeds can be used play many games and also for discorative purpose.

35. Look at the pictures given on textbook page 49 and guess how the seeds travel and reach different places?

Ans. In the first figure, the seed is spreading by a squirrel, in the second by a bird, and in the third by water.

36. Some plants spreads their seeds over long distances. When the soyabean pods are ripe, they burst and the seeds are thrown out. Have your ever heard their sound?

Ans. Yes, I have heard their sound.

37. Think what would happen, if seeds did not spread and remained at one place only?

Ans. If the seeds did not spread out, they would fall in the parent bed itself leading into struggle for water, minerals and sunlight. As a result, none of the plants would grow properly or survive.

38. Make a list of the different ways by which seeds are spread.

Ans. Seeds are spread by:

(i) Birds and animals

(ii) Humans

(iii) Wind

(iv) Water

39. What all was grown in India long ago? Were mangoes and bananas grown here? What came from other countries? Imagine food without potatoes or tomatoes?

Ans. Tea, mango, orange, radish, methi, spinach etc. were grown in India long ago. Yes, Mangoes and bananas were grown there. Tomato, potato, green chilli, cabbage, pea, coffee bean, bhindi, etc. came from other countries. If there had been no chillies in our food, the food would have been tasteless.

40. Reena has drawn this picture of the seed sprouted by her. What do you think the seeds need for sprouting? Write in your own words. How would Reena’s look of they did not get the things needed.

Ans. Seeds need water and air for sprouting. If the seeds do not get water, there would be no change in them. And if they got water but not air, they would not sprout at all though they would swell up.

41. How do seeds spread to far off places? Write your own words.

Ans. Seeds are spread by birds, animals, air and water. Birds and animals throw out seeds after eating the fruit. Thus the seeds spread out. Similarly, some light seeds are spread our by wind. Some fruits are carried out by water, thus seeds are spread out.

 

Question. Which of the following statements about plants is FALSE?
(a) Plants help maintain the level of oxygen in the atmosphere.
(b) All plants supply nutrients and enrich the soil.
(c) Plants are the only organisms that produce their own food.
(d) Plants help prevent soil erosion.

Answer : B

Question. Shown here are some cactus plants. These plants grow in places where there is very little water. Most of these plants have no leaves.

(a) The leaves dry up and disappear in the heat.
(b) The cactus does not need food, so leaves are not needed.
(c) Loss of water through leaves is minimised.
(d) The cactus looks beautiful if there are no leaves.

Answer : C

Question. Seeds have special features that help them to be spread far and wide (This is called seed dispersal) Seeds are dispersed through wind, water, animals, birds or self-explosion. Here is a drawing of a seed.
The features of the seed shown above make it most suited for dispersal through ____________.

(a) wind
(b) water
(c) birds
(d) animals

Answer : A

Question. A potted plant was kept in a black box having a hole to allow sunlight. The plant was watered everyday. This is how the plant looked in the beginning: How is the plant likely to look after 10 days?

Answer : C

Question. Saplings planted along streets and roads are often fenced. Why?
(a) To provide them shade from the sunlight.
(b) To collect rain water.
(c) So that stray animals will not eat them. 
(d) To make them look better.

Answer : C

Question. Which one of the following has been placed under the wrong heading?

From Plants	From Animals
Coconut	Eggs
Bamboo	Paper
Cork	Cheese
Sugar	Milk

(a) Cork
(b) Paper
(c) Sugar
(d) Bamboo

Answer : B

Question. The products above are all got from __________.

(a) animals
(b) oceans
(c) plants
(d) Soil

Answer : C

Question. Why should plastic NOT be put into a compost pit?
(a) Plastic will decompose if put in a compost pit.
(b) Plastic cannot be decomposed easily.
(c) Plastic will decompose in the open itself.
(d) Plastic may change into poisonous chemicals.

Answer : B

Question. The edible part of the carrot plant is the __________.
(a) root
(b) stem
(c) fruit
(d) seed

Answer : A

Question. At which of these times would a plant be making its own food?
(a) 9:00 AM
(b) 3:00 AM
(c) 8:00 PM
(d) At all times of the day and night.

Answer : A