All questions of Life on the Earth (Old Syllabus) for Humanities/Arts Exam

Abiotic factors include

A freshwater ecosystem is

Direction: Read the case study given below and answer any three of the questions that follow.

The structure of an ecosystem involves a description of the available plant and animal species. From a structural point of view, all ecosystems consist of abiotic and biotic factors. Abiotic factors include rainfall, temperature, sunlight, atmospheric humidity, soil conditions, inorganic substances (carbon dioxide, water, nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, etc.). Biotic factors include the producers, the consumers (primary, secondary, tertiary) and the decomposers. The producers include all the green plants, which manufacture their own food through photosynthesis. The primary consumers include herbivorous animals like deer, goats, mice and all plant-eating animals. The carnivores include all the flesh-eating animals like snakes, tigers and lions. Certain carnivores that feed also on carnivores are known as top carnivores like hawks and mongooses. Decomposers are those that feed on dead organisms (for example, scavengers like vultures and crows), and further break down the dead matter by other decomposing agents like bacteria and various microorganisms.

The producers are consumed by the primary consumers whereas the primary consumers are, in turn, being eaten by the secondary consumers. Further, the secondary consumers are consumed by the tertiary consumers. The decomposers feed on the dead at each and every level. They change them into various substances such as nutrients, organic and inorganic salts essential for soil fertility. Organisms of an ecosystem are linked together through a food chain. For example, a plant eating beetle feeding on a paddy stalk is eaten by a frog, which is, in turn, eaten by a snake, which is then consumed by a hawk. This sequence of eating and being eaten and the resultant transfer of energy from one level to another is known as the foodchain. Transfer of energy that occurs during the process of a food chain from one level to another is known as flow of energy. However, food-chains are not isolated from one another. For example, a mouse feeding on grain may be eaten by different secondary consumers (carnivores) and these carnivores may be eaten by other different tertiary consumers (top carnivores). In such situations, each of the carnivores may consume more than one type of prey. As a result, the food-chains get interlocked with one another.

This inter connecting network of species is known as food web. Generally, two types of food-chains are recognised: grazing food-chain and detritus food chain. In a grazing food-chain, the first level starts with plants as producers and ends with carnivores as consumers at the last level, with the herbivores being at the intermediate level. There is a loss of energy at each level which may be through respiration, excretion or decomposition. The levels involved in a food chain range between three to five and energy is lost at each level. A detritus food-chain is based on autotrophs energy capture initiated by grazing animals and involves the decomposition or breaking down of organic wastes and dead matter derived from the grazing food-chain.

Which of the following organism have parasitic mode of nutrition?

Tropical grasslands are also known as the

Mineral salts come directly from

Temperate Steppe is a subtype of which biome?

Direction: Read the case study given below and answer any three of the questions that follow.

Nitrogen is a major constituent of the atmosphere comprising about seventy-eight per cent of the atmospheric gases. It is also an essential constituent of different organic compounds such as the amino acids, nucleics acids, proteins, vitamins and pigments. Only a few types of organisms like certain species of soil bacteria and blue green algae are capable of utilising it directly in its gaseous form. Generally, nitrogen is usable only after it is fixed. Ninety per cent of fixed nitrogen is biological. The principal source of free nitrogen is the action of soil micro-organisms and associated plant roots on atmospheric nitrogen found in pore spaces of the soil. Nitrogen cycle be fixed in the atmosphere by lightning and cosmic radiation. In the oceans, some marine animals can fix it. After atmospheric nitrogen has been fixed into an available form, green plants can assimilate it. Herbivorous animals feeding on plants, in turn, consume some of it. Dead plants and animals, excretion of nitrogenous wastes are converted into nitrites by the action of bacteria present in the soil. Some bacteria can even convert nitrites into nitrates that can be used again by green plants. There are still other types of bacteria capable of converting nitrates into free nitrogen, a process known as denitrification.

The type of soil the desert biome has is

Direction: Read the case study given below and answer any three of the questions that follow.

Nitrogen is a major constituent of the atmosphere comprising about seventy-eight per cent of the atmospheric gases. It is also an essential constituent of different organic compounds such as the amino acids, nucleics acids, proteins, vitamins and pigments. Only a few types of organisms like certain species of soil bacteria and blue green algae are capable of utilising it directly in its gaseous form. Generally, nitrogen is usable only after it is fixed. Ninety per cent of fixed nitrogen is biological. The principal source of free nitrogen is the action of soil micro-organisms and associated plant roots on atmospheric nitrogen found in pore spaces of the soil. Nitrogen cycle be fixed in the atmosphere by lightning and cosmic radiation. In the oceans, some marine animals can fix it. After atmospheric nitrogen has been fixed into an available form, green plants can assimilate it. Herbivorous animals feeding on plants, in turn, consume some of it. Dead plants and animals, excretion of nitrogenous wastes are converted into nitrites by the action of bacteria present in the soil. Some bacteria can even convert nitrites into nitrates that can be used again by green plants. There are still other types of bacteria capable of converting nitrates into free nitrogen, a process known as denitrification.

Which of the following in biology is the energy currency of cells?

Direction: Read the case study given below and answer any three of the questions that follow.

The sun is the basic source of energy on which all life depends. This energy initiates life processes in the biosphere through photosynthesis, the main source of food and energy for green plants. During photosynthesis, carbon dioxide is converted into organic compounds and oxygen. Out of the total solar insolation that reaches the earth’s surface, only a very small fraction (0.1 per cent) is fixed in photosynthesis. More than half is used for plant respiration and the remaining part is temporarily stored or is shifted to other portions of the plant.

Life on earth consists of a great variety of living organisms. These living organisms exist and survive in a diversity of associations. Such survival involves the presence of systemic flows such as flows of energy, water and nutrients. These flows show variations in different parts of the world, in different seasons of the year and under varying local circumstances. Studies have shown that for the last one billion years, the atmosphere and hydrosphere have been composed of approximately the same balance of chemical components. This balance of the chemical elements is maintained by a cyclic passage through the tissues of plants and animals. The cycle starts by absorbing the chemical elements by the organism and is returned to the air, water and soil through decomposition. These cycles are largely energised by solar insolation. These cyclic movements of chemical elements of the biosphere between the organism and the environment are referred to as bio geochemical cycles. Bio refers to living organisms and geo to rocks, soil, air and water of the earth.

Direction: Read the case study given below and answer any three of the questions that follow.

The structure of an ecosystem involves a description of the available plant and animal species. From a structural point of view, all ecosystems consist of abiotic and biotic factors. Abiotic factors include rainfall, temperature, sunlight, atmospheric humidity, soil conditions, inorganic substances (carbon dioxide, water, nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, etc.). Biotic factors include the producers, the consumers (primary, secondary, tertiary) and the decomposers. The producers include all the green plants, which manufacture their own food through photosynthesis. The primary consumers include herbivorous animals like deer, goats, mice and all plant-eating animals. The carnivores include all the flesh-eating animals like snakes, tigers and lions. Certain carnivores that feed also on carnivores are known as top carnivores like hawks and mongooses. Decomposers are those that feed on dead organisms (for example, scavengers like vultures and crows), and further break down the dead matter by other decomposing agents like bacteria and various microorganisms.

The producers are consumed by the primary consumers whereas the primary consumers are, in turn, being eaten by the secondary consumers. Further, the secondary consumers are consumed by the tertiary consumers. The decomposers feed on the dead at each and every level. They change them into various substances such as nutrients, organic and inorganic salts essential for soil fertility. Organisms of an ecosystem are linked together through a food chain. For example, a plant eating beetle feeding on a paddy stalk is eaten by a frog, which is, in turn, eaten by a snake, which is then consumed by a hawk. This sequence of eating and being eaten and the resultant transfer of energy from one level to another is known as the foodchain. Transfer of energy that occurs during the process of a food chain from one level to another is known as flow of energy. However, food-chains are not isolated from one another. For example, a mouse feeding on grain may be eaten by different secondary consumers (carnivores) and these carnivores may be eaten by other different tertiary consumers (top carnivores). In such situations, each of the carnivores may consume more than one type of prey. As a result, the food-chains get interlocked with one another.

This inter connecting network of species is known as food web. Generally, two types of food-chains are recognised: grazing food-chain and detritus food chain. In a grazing food-chain, the first level starts with plants as producers and ends with carnivores as consumers at the last level, with the herbivores being at the intermediate level. There is a loss of energy at each level which may be through respiration, excretion or decomposition. The levels involved in a food chain range between three to five and energy is lost at each level. A detritus food-chain is based on autotrophs energy capture initiated by grazing animals and involves the decomposition or breaking down of organic wastes and dead matter derived from the grazing food-chain.

Direction: Read the case study given below and answer any three of the questions that follow.

The sun is the basic source of energy on which all life depends. This energy initiates life processes in the biosphere through photosynthesis, the main source of food and energy for green plants. During photosynthesis, carbon dioxide is converted into organic compounds and oxygen. Out of the total solar insolation that reaches the earth’s surface, only a very small fraction (0.1 per cent) is fixed in photosynthesis. More than half is used for plant respiration and the remaining part is temporarily stored or is shifted to other portions of the plant.

Life on earth consists of a great variety of living organisms. These living organisms exist and survive in a diversity of associations. Such survival involves the presence of systemic flows such as flows of energy, water and nutrients. These flows show variations in different parts of the world, in different seasons of the year and under varying local circumstances. Studies have shown that for the last one billion years, the atmosphere and hydrosphere have been composed of approximately the same balance of chemical components. This balance of the chemical elements is maintained by a cyclic passage through the tissues of plants and animals. The cycle starts by absorbing the chemical elements by the organism and is returned to the air, water and soil through decomposition. These cycles are largely energised by solar insolation. These cyclic movements of chemical elements of the biosphere between the organism and the environment are referred to as bio geochemical cycles. Bio refers to living organisms and geo to rocks, soil, air and water of the earth.

Freshwater ecosystem includes

Direction: Read the case study given below and answer any three of the questions that follow.

Nitrogen is a major constituent of the atmosphere comprising about seventy-eight per cent of the atmospheric gases. It is also an essential constituent of different organic compounds such as the amino acids, nucleics acids, proteins, vitamins and pigments. Only a few types of organisms like certain species of soil bacteria and blue green algae are capable of utilising it directly in its gaseous form. Generally, nitrogen is usable only after it is fixed. Ninety per cent of fixed nitrogen is biological. The principal source of free nitrogen is the action of soil micro-organisms and associated plant roots on atmospheric nitrogen found in pore spaces of the soil. Nitrogen cycle be fixed in the atmosphere by lightning and cosmic radiation. In the oceans, some marine animals can fix it. After atmospheric nitrogen has been fixed into an available form, green plants can assimilate it. Herbivorous animals feeding on plants, in turn, consume some of it. Dead plants and animals, excretion of nitrogenous wastes are converted into nitrites by the action of bacteria present in the soil. Some bacteria can even convert nitrites into nitrates that can be used again by green plants. There are still other types of bacteria capable of converting nitrates into free nitrogen, a process known as denitrification.

Direction: Read the case study given below and answer any three of the questions that follow.

The structure of an ecosystem involves a description of the available plant and animal species. From a structural point of view, all ecosystems consist of abiotic and biotic factors. Abiotic factors include rainfall, temperature, sunlight, atmospheric humidity, soil conditions, inorganic substances (carbon dioxide, water, nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, etc.). Biotic factors include the producers, the consumers (primary, secondary, tertiary) and the decomposers. The producers include all the green plants, which manufacture their own food through photosynthesis. The primary consumers include herbivorous animals like deer, goats, mice and all plant-eating animals. The carnivores include all the flesh-eating animals like snakes, tigers and lions. Certain carnivores that feed also on carnivores are known as top carnivores like hawks and mongooses. Decomposers are those that feed on dead organisms (for example, scavengers like vultures and crows), and further break down the dead matter by other decomposing agents like bacteria and various microorganisms.

The producers are consumed by the primary consumers whereas the primary consumers are, in turn, being eaten by the secondary consumers. Further, the secondary consumers are consumed by the tertiary consumers. The decomposers feed on the dead at each and every level. They change them into various substances such as nutrients, organic and inorganic salts essential for soil fertility. Organisms of an ecosystem are linked together through a food chain. For example, a plant eating beetle feeding on a paddy stalk is eaten by a frog, which is, in turn, eaten by a snake, which is then consumed by a hawk. This sequence of eating and being eaten and the resultant transfer of energy from one level to another is known as the foodchain. Transfer of energy that occurs during the process of a food chain from one level to another is known as flow of energy. However, food-chains are not isolated from one another. For example, a mouse feeding on grain may be eaten by different secondary consumers (carnivores) and these carnivores may be eaten by other different tertiary consumers (top carnivores). In such situations, each of the carnivores may consume more than one type of prey. As a result, the food-chains get interlocked with one another.

This inter connecting network of species is known as food web. Generally, two types of food-chains are recognised: grazing food-chain and detritus food chain. In a grazing food-chain, the first level starts with plants as producers and ends with carnivores as consumers at the last level, with the herbivores being at the intermediate level. There is a loss of energy at each level which may be through respiration, excretion or decomposition. The levels involved in a food chain range between three to five and energy is lost at each level. A detritus food-chain is based on autotrophs energy capture initiated by grazing animals and involves the decomposition or breaking down of organic wastes and dead matter derived from the grazing food-chain.

The boundaries of different biomes on land are determined mainly by

Direction: Read the case study given below and answer any three of the questions that follow.

The sun is the basic source of energy on which all life depends. This energy initiates life processes in the biosphere through photosynthesis, the main source of food and energy for green plants. During photosynthesis, carbon dioxide is converted into organic compounds and oxygen. Out of the total solar insolation that reaches the earth’s surface, only a very small fraction (0.1 per cent) is fixed in photosynthesis. More than half is used for plant respiration and the remaining part is temporarily stored or is shifted to other portions of the plant.

Life on earth consists of a great variety of living organisms. These living organisms exist and survive in a diversity of associations. Such survival involves the presence of systemic flows such as flows of energy, water and nutrients. These flows show variations in different parts of the world, in different seasons of the year and under varying local circumstances. Studies have shown that for the last one billion years, the atmosphere and hydrosphere have been composed of approximately the same balance of chemical components. This balance of the chemical elements is maintained by a cyclic passage through the tissues of plants and animals. The cycle starts by absorbing the chemical elements by the organism and is returned to the air, water and soil through decomposition. These cycles are largely energised by solar insolation. These cyclic movements of chemical elements of the biosphere between the organism and the environment are referred to as bio geochemical cycles. Bio refers to living organisms and geo to rocks, soil, air and water of the earth.

Direction: Read the case study given below and answer any three of the questions that follow.

The sun is the basic source of energy on which all life depends. This energy initiates life processes in the biosphere through photosynthesis, the main source of food and energy for green plants. During photosynthesis, carbon dioxide is converted into organic compounds and oxygen. Out of the total solar insolation that reaches the earth’s surface, only a very small fraction (0.1 per cent) is fixed in photosynthesis. More than half is used for plant respiration and the remaining part is temporarily stored or is shifted to other portions of the plant.

Life on earth consists of a great variety of living organisms. These living organisms exist and survive in a diversity of associations. Such survival involves the presence of systemic flows such as flows of energy, water and nutrients. These flows show variations in different parts of the world, in different seasons of the year and under varying local circumstances. Studies have shown that for the last one billion years, the atmosphere and hydrosphere have been composed of approximately the same balance of chemical components. This balance of the chemical elements is maintained by a cyclic passage through the tissues of plants and animals. The cycle starts by absorbing the chemical elements by the organism and is returned to the air, water and soil through decomposition. These cycles are largely energised by solar insolation. These cyclic movements of chemical elements of the biosphere between the organism and the environment are referred to as bio geochemical cycles. Bio refers to living organisms and geo to rocks, soil, air and water of the earth.

Direction: Read the case study given below and answer any three of the questions that follow.

Nitrogen is a major constituent of the atmosphere comprising about seventy-eight per cent of the atmospheric gases. It is also an essential constituent of different organic compounds such as the amino acids, nucleics acids, proteins, vitamins and pigments. Only a few types of organisms like certain species of soil bacteria and blue green algae are capable of utilising it directly in its gaseous form. Generally, nitrogen is usable only after it is fixed. Ninety per cent of fixed nitrogen is biological. The principal source of free nitrogen is the action of soil micro-organisms and associated plant roots on atmospheric nitrogen found in pore spaces of the soil. Nitrogen cycle be fixed in the atmosphere by lightning and cosmic radiation. In the oceans, some marine animals can fix it. After atmospheric nitrogen has been fixed into an available form, green plants can assimilate it. Herbivorous animals feeding on plants, in turn, consume some of it. Dead plants and animals, excretion of nitrogenous wastes are converted into nitrites by the action of bacteria present in the soil. Some bacteria can even convert nitrites into nitrates that can be used again by green plants. There are still other types of bacteria capable of converting nitrates into free nitrogen, a process known as denitrification.

Direction: Read the case study given below and answer any three of the questions that follow.

The structure of an ecosystem involves a description of the available plant and animal species. From a structural point of view, all ecosystems consist of abiotic and biotic factors. Abiotic factors include rainfall, temperature, sunlight, atmospheric humidity, soil conditions, inorganic substances (carbon dioxide, water, nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, etc.). Biotic factors include the producers, the consumers (primary, secondary, tertiary) and the decomposers. The producers include all the green plants, which manufacture their own food through photosynthesis. The primary consumers include herbivorous animals like deer, goats, mice and all plant-eating animals. The carnivores include all the flesh-eating animals like snakes, tigers and lions. Certain carnivores that feed also on carnivores are known as top carnivores like hawks and mongooses. Decomposers are those that feed on dead organisms (for example, scavengers like vultures and crows), and further break down the dead matter by other decomposing agents like bacteria and various microorganisms.

The producers are consumed by the primary consumers whereas the primary consumers are, in turn, being eaten by the secondary consumers. Further, the secondary consumers are consumed by the tertiary consumers. The decomposers feed on the dead at each and every level. They change them into various substances such as nutrients, organic and inorganic salts essential for soil fertility. Organisms of an ecosystem are linked together through a food chain. For example, a plant eating beetle feeding on a paddy stalk is eaten by a frog, which is, in turn, eaten by a snake, which is then consumed by a hawk. This sequence of eating and being eaten and the resultant transfer of energy from one level to another is known as the foodchain. Transfer of energy that occurs during the process of a food chain from one level to another is known as flow of energy. However, food-chains are not isolated from one another. For example, a mouse feeding on grain may be eaten by different secondary consumers (carnivores) and these carnivores may be eaten by other different tertiary consumers (top carnivores). In such situations, each of the carnivores may consume more than one type of prey. As a result, the food-chains get interlocked with one another.

This inter connecting network of species is known as food web. Generally, two types of food-chains are recognised: grazing food-chain and detritus food chain. In a grazing food-chain, the first level starts with plants as producers and ends with carnivores as consumers at the last level, with the herbivores being at the intermediate level. There is a loss of energy at each level which may be through respiration, excretion or decomposition. The levels involved in a food chain range between three to five and energy is lost at each level. A detritus food-chain is based on autotrophs energy capture initiated by grazing animals and involves the decomposition or breaking down of organic wastes and dead matter derived from the grazing food-chain.