NCERT Exemplar Solutions Class 6 Science Getting to Know Plants

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)

Question 1:  Which of the following combination of features would you observe in grass?
(a) Parallel venation and fibrous root
(b) Parallel venation and tap root
(c) Reticulate venation and fibrous root
(d) Reticulate venation and tap root

Solution 1:  The right thing for which selection is made is (a) Parallel venation and fibrous root.

Grass has parallel venation in leaves (means leaves veins of grass are arranged parallel to each other). It has also fibrous root (system that is made up of many threadlike members of more or less equal length).

Question 2:  Which of the following is the correct match between the characteristics of stem and the category of plant?
(a) Weak stem which cannot stand upright: Creeper.
(b) Green tender stem: Shrub.
(c) Thick, hard stem with branching near the base: Tree.
(d) Thick, hard stem with branches high on the plant: Herb.

Solution 2:  The right thing for which selection is made is (a) Weak stem which cannot stand upright: Creeper. 

A creeper is a plant that grows very low to the ground or close to a wall or fence. Because they have thin, long and weak stem which cannot stand upright. Example of creeper: Money Plant and Strawberry.

Shrub has a hard woody stem with branching near the base. Tree has a hard, thick stem with branches high on the plant. And Herbs are small plants with soft delicate, green tender stem.

Question 3:  Which of the following is not the primary function of stem?
(a) Conduction of water
(b) Photosynthesis
(c) Formation of branches
(d) Bears flowers and fruits

Solution 3:  The right thing for which selection is made is (b) Photosynthesis.

Photosynthesis is not the primary function of stem. It is a function of leaves to produce food for the plant by photosynthesis.

The primary functions of the stem are to conduct water and minerals from roots to other parts, formation of branches, bears flowers and fruits and to transport usable products from the leaves to other parts of the plant, including the roots.

Question 4:  Which of the following is not a correct match?
(a) Petiole: attaches leaf to stem
(b) Lamina: green flat part of leaf
(c) Margin: gives shape to the leaf
(d) Veins: transpiration

Solution 4:  The right thing for which selection is made is (d) Veins: transpiration. 

Veins are composed of xylem and phloem cells. The vein xylem transports water from the petiole throughout the lamina mesophyll, and the phloem transports sugars out of the leaf to the rest of the plant.

The water, warmed by the sun, turns into vapor (evaporates), and passes out through thousands of tiny pores called stomata that mostly on the underside of the leaf surface. This is transpiration.

Question 5:  Read the following sentences about photosynthesis.

1. Sunlight, carbon dioxide, chlorophyll and water are necessary.
2. Oxygen is absorbed.
3. Leaves carry out photosynthesis.
4. Proteins are made during photosynthesis.

Choose the correct pair of sentences that is true to photosynthesis.
(a) (3) and (4)
(b) (1) and (3)
(c) (2) and (4)
(d) (1) and (4)

Solution 5:  The right thing for which selection is made is (b) (1) and (3). 

Photosynthesis is the process by which plants make substances like carbohydrates. It is a chemical process that uses sunlight to turn carbon dioxide into sugars and oxygen is released during this process. The sugars are used by the cell as energy. This process is done by leaves to produce food for plant.

Question 6:  Which of the following terms constitute the female part of the flower?
(a) Sepals, petal and stamen
(b) Stigma, style and ovary
(c) Ovary, stamen and stigma
(d) Ovary, style and stamen

Solution 6:  The right thing for which selection is made is (b) Stigma, style and ovary.

The female part of a flower is called pistil or carpel which has three parts:

i)        Stigma: The top part of the pistil where pollen germinates. 

ii)       Style: The middle part of pistil that connects stigma to ovary.

iii)     Ovary: The enlarged basal portion of the pistil where ovules are produced. 

Very Short Answer Type Questions

Question 7:

1. The small green leaves at the base of flowers are known as ………..
2. The swollen basal part of the pistil is the ……….. Which bears the …………..
3. Stamen has two parts called ………….. and ………….
4. The young unopened flower is termed as ……… 

Solution 7:

1. sepals
2. ovary; ovules
3. anther; filament
4. bud

Question 8:  Solve the riddles given below:
(a) I have a green tender stem and I am much shorter than you. Who am I?’
(b) I come out first from the seed when it is soaked in water. I provide anchorage to plants. Who am I? Write another function that I perform.

Solution 8:

a)      Herbs are small plants with a green, tender, soft and delicate stem. They are shorter in size, and they may grow between 2 to 3 meters tall.

b)      The root is the first to emerge from the seed and provides anchorage to plant. As it grows, it anchors the plant to the ground, and begins absorbing water through the root. Its primary functions are absorption of water and dissolved minerals and conduction of these to the stem, and storage of reserve foods. 

Short Answer Type Questions

Question 9:  Match the parts of plant given in Column I with their function in Column II.

Solution 9:  The correct matching is as given:

Important Note: plants do not have specialized excretory organs. Excess carbon dioxide and oxygen are excreted from the plant through the stomata in the leaves.

Question 10:  Boojho wanted to test the presence of starch in leaves. He performed the following steps:

1. He took a leaf and boiled it in water.
2. He placed the leaf in a petti dish and poured some iodine over it.

He did not get the expected result. Which step did he miss? Explain.

Solution 10:   Boojho did not get the expected result because in the first step, he boiled leaf in the water which is not correct step. The correct step is, firstly boil leaf in alcohol to remove chlorophyll because it interferes with the test for starch. After that on adding iodine, the decolorized leaf turns blue-black and showing the presence of starch.

Question 11: Will a leaf taken from a potted plant kept in a dark room for a few days turn blue-black when tested for starch? Give reason for your answer.

Solution 11:  No, a leaf taken from a potted plant kept in a dark room for a few days, will not turn blue-black when tested for starch because, it was kept in a dark room where there was no sunlight and without sunlight,  plant was not able to prepare the food through photosynthesis. And starch is the product of photosynthesis.

Question 12:  Can the stem of a plant be compared with a street with two ways traffic? Give reason.

Solution 12:   The stem of a plant can be compared with a street with two ways traffic because the stem transfers water and minerals to the leaves in upward direction for the photosynthesis and at the same time; in downward direction it transfers the food from the leaves to other parts of the plant   . That's why it is called a two way street.

Long Answer Type Questions

Question 13:  Read the function of parts of a plant given below:
(a) fixes plant to the soil
(b) prepares starch
(c) takes part in reproduction
(d) supports branches and bears flowers
In the diagram, write the names of the parts whose function you have just read at the appropriate space.

Solution 13:

Solution 14:  The veins of leaves and their type of venation are following:

(a) Label the parts (1), (2), (3) and (4) in the figure.

(b) What type of venation does the leaf has?
(c) What type of venation is seen in grass leaves?

Solution 15:

(a) In the given figure, the following parts are as:

(1) Petiole (2) Mid rib (3) Lamina (4) Vein

(b) The leaf has reticulate venation. In this, the veins are interconnected to form a web-like network.

(c) Grass leaves have parallel venation. In this, the veins (or the nerves) are arranged parallel to one another all over the leaf blade or lamina.

Question 16:  Observe the figure of an activity given as figure, carried out with leaves of plants and polythene bag. Now answer the following.

1. Which process is demonstrated in the activity?
2. When will this activity show better results on a bright sunny day or a cloudy day?
3. What will you observe in the polythene bag after a few hours of setting up the activity?

Solution 16:

1. The transpiration process demonstrated in this activity.
2. In this process, the water that is warmed by sun turns into vapor (evaporates), and passes out through thousands of tiny pores of leaves of the plants called stomata that mostly on the underside of the leaf surface. So, this activity will show better results on a bright sunny day.
3. After a few hours of setting up the activity, the water drops will appear inside the polythene bag as a result of a loss of water from the stomata. This is due to transpiration. Because, when plastic bag wrapped around the leaves of a plant, the water vapor cannot get away into air and keeps on collecting inside the polythene bag.
4. Some major precautions that must take, while performing this activity is following:

• The mouth of the polythene bag should be tied properly to the leaves of plant i.e. not allowing air to escape or pass through it during this process.
• Polythene bag should be clean and dry.
• Also, the branch of plant that is used in this activity should be fresh with leaves.

Question 17:  Identify the wrong statements and correct them.
(a) Anther is a part of the pistil.
(b) The visible parts of a bud are the petals.
(c) Lateral roots are present in a tap root.
(d) Leaves perform the function of transpiration only.

Solution 17:

(a) It is a wrong statement.

 The correct statement is “Anther is a part of stamen”.

(b) It is wrong statement.

The correct statement is “Visible part of a bud are the sepals”.

(c) It is a correct statement which means lateral roots that are smaller side roots is part of the tap root called main root.

(d) It is a wrong statement.

The correct statement is “Leaves perform three main functions that is photosynthesis, transpiration and respiration”. 

Across­­:
1. The term that describes upward movement of water in a stem.
3. The part of leaf, which is attached to the stem.
5. This part is attached to the tip of filament.
Down:
1. Plants that are weak and spread on the ground.
2. Ovules are present in this part of flower.
4. It is the broad part of leaf.

Solution 18:

Across:
1. Conduction.
3. Petiole.
5. Anther.

Down:
1. Creepers.
2. Ovary.
4. Lamina.

Question 19:  Fill in the blanks with the terms that are listed below:

 [anther, male, ovary, ovule, petals, pistil, stamen, filament]

Sepals (a)………., stamens and (b)……….. are the parts of a flower.

Stamen is made up of (c)........... and (d)……… and it represents the (e)………. part of the flower.

The female part of the flower is called the (f)………..

The basal, swollen part of the pistil is called the (g)…….. which contains the (h)………..

Solution 19:

(a) petals
(b) pistil
(c) anther
(d) filament
(e) male
(f) pistil
(g) ovary
(h) ovules