Class 5 Science - Plant Life - Question Answers

Q1: What are the two main types of plants based on their lifespan? Provide examples for each type.
Ans: There are two main types of plants based on their lifespan. The first type is long-living plants, like trees and shrubs, which live for many years and bear fruits and flowers. The second type is short-living plants, like herbs, which live only for a few months or one season.

Q2: Explain the two important systems of a plant's body.
Ans: A plant's body has two important systems: the shoot system and the root system. The shoot system includes parts like leaves, flowers, fruits, and stems that grow above the soil to get air and sunlight. The root system consists of roots, tubers, and rhizomes, and it grows below the soil.

Q3: What are taproots and fibrous roots? Provide examples of plants with each type of root.
Ans: Taproots have one main root that grows downwards, with lateral roots branching from it. Examples include sugar beet and carrots. Fibrous roots are dense masses of slender roots that grow downward and outward from the stem. Examples include lilies, grasses, and palm trees.

Q4: What are modified roots? Give examples of different types of modified roots.
Ans: Modified roots are roots that have changed in structure to perform specific tasks. Examples of modified roots include storage roots (e.g., carrots), aerial roots (e.g., banyan trees), and aquatic roots (e.g., water lilies).

Q5: Explain the shoot system of a plant. What are the main parts of the shoot system?
Ans: The shoot system of a plant is the part above the ground, helping the plant grow taller and capture sunlight. It includes erect stems, leaves, flowers, branches, and buds. Leaves are attached to the stem at nodes.

Q6: What is the role of stems in a plant? Are there any types of modified stems?
Ans: Stems support the upper parts of plants and transport water, nutrients, and food between the roots and leaves. Some modified stems include tendrils (in climbing plants), runners or stolons (horizontal stems), water-storing stems (as seen in cacti), and underground stems (like potatoes and ginger).

Q7: How do leaves help plants make food? What is the role of chlorophyll in leaves?
Ans: Leaves are like the food factories of plants because they make food through photosynthesis. Chlorophyll, the green pigment in leaves, uses sunlight energy to turn water and carbon dioxide into sugar and oxygen. This process helps plants produce their own food.

Q8: What are stomata on leaves, and why are they important?
Ans: Stomata are tiny openings on the surface of leaves that help in the exchange of gases. They allow carbon dioxide to enter the leaf for photosynthesis and release oxygen and water vapor. Stomata are crucial for a plant's respiration.

Q9: Can you name some examples of modified leaves and explain their functions?
Ans: Yes, some examples of modified leaves include spine leaves (in cacti for protection), tendrils (for support, like in peas), storage leaves (protecting the base of onions), and needle-like leaves (seen in pine and fir trees).

Q10: What is pollination, and how does it help in the reproduction of plants?
Ans: Pollination is the process by which pollen is transferred from the anther to the stigma of a flower. It helps plants reproduce by enabling the fertilization of the ovary, which usually becomes the fruit. Pollinators like insects, wind, birds, mammals, and water play a vital role in this process.