Chapter 10: Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics (Biology)
Answers to all "Let us enhance our learning" questions of Chapter 10, Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics (NCERT Class 6 Science, Curiosity, 2026-27): characteristics of living things, life cycles of plants, frog and mosquito, conditions for seed germination, and experiments on growth of roots and shoots. All 9 questions are answered, with the key answer highlighted.
List the similarities and differences in life cycles of plants and animals.
Solution
Similarities:
Both begin as a small form (a seed in plants, an egg or a baby in animals).
Both grow and pass through stages, become adults and reproduce to make new individuals of their kind.
Both need food, water and air, and finally die; the cycle continues through their young ones.
Differences:
Plants
Animals
Start from a seed that germinates
Start from an egg or are born as young ones
Grow throughout their life
Usually stop growing after becoming adults
Make their own food; stay in one place
Depend on others for food; most move about
Stages: seed → seedling → young plant → adult plant with flowers, fruits and seeds
Stages: e.g. egg → tadpole → frog, or egg → larva → pupa → adult; some, like humans, are born looking like small adults
Both start small, grow, reproduce and die. Plants start from seeds and grow all their life; animals start from eggs or are born, many go through stages like larva or tadpole, and stop growing as adults.
Study the table and find examples appropriate for each condition. If you think an example is not possible, explain why. 1. Does not grow, does not respire. 2. Does not grow, respires. 3. Grows, does not respire. 4. Grows, respires.
Solution
S. no.
Grows?
Respires?
Example
Remarks
1
No
No
Stone, chair, pen
Non-living things
2
No
Yes
A dry seed, a fully grown adult animal or person
A dry seed respires very slowly but does not grow until it gets water; adults respire but no longer grow in size
3
Yes
No
No living example
Every living thing respires to get energy, and growth needs energy, so nothing living can grow without respiring. (Non-living things like crystals or a heap of sand may "grow" in size by addition, but that is not true growth.)
4
Yes
Yes
A growing plant, a puppy, a child
Living things
1. stone, chair (non-living) 2. a dry seed or an adult person 3. not possible for living things, since growth needs energy from respiration 4. a growing plant or child.
You have learnt that different conditions are required for seed germination. How can we use this knowledge for proper storage of grains and pulses?
Solution
Seeds need water (moisture), air and a suitable temperature to germinate. To stop grains and pulses from sprouting (and spoiling) in storage, we must keep them dry:
dry them well in the Sun before storing;
store them in airtight, dry containers, in a cool, dry place away from moisture;
avoid wet hands or wet spoons, and do not store them in damp places;
add dried neem leaves to keep away insects.
Since seeds need moisture to germinate, grains and pulses should be dried in the Sun and stored in dry, airtight containers in a cool, dry place.
You have learnt that a tail is present in a tadpole but it disappears as it grows into a frog. What is the advantage of having a tail in the tadpole stage?
Solution
A tadpole lives only in water and has no legs at first. Its tail helps it swim in water, to move about, find food and escape from enemies. When it grows legs and becomes a frog that can live on land and in water, the tail is no longer needed, so it disappears.
The tail helps the legless tadpole swim in water to find food and escape enemies.
Charan says that a wooden log is non-living as it cannot move. Charu counters it by saying that it is living because it is made of wood obtained from trees. Give your arguments in favour of or against the two statements.
Solution
Charan's conclusion is right (the log is non-living), but his reason is wrong: not moving does not make something non-living, because plants do not move from place to place and yet they are living.
Charu is wrong: the wood came from a living tree, but the log is now dead. It does not grow, respire, need food and water, respond to its surroundings or reproduce.
So a wooden log is non-living (it was once part of a living thing) because it shows none of the characteristics of living things.
The log is non-living because it does not grow, respire, take food, respond or reproduce; not moving is not the reason (plants don't move either), and coming from a tree does not make it living now.
What are the similarities and distinguishing features in the life cycles of a mosquito and a frog?
Solution
Similarities:
Both lay eggs in water.
In both, the young ones look very different from the adults and live in water: they change form as they grow (this change is called metamorphosis).
The adults can live outside water (frogs on land, mosquitoes fly in air).
Differences:
Mosquito
Frog
4 stages: egg → larva → pupa → adult
3 stages: egg → tadpole → adult frog
Has a pupa (resting) stage
No pupa stage
Adult is an insect with wings that flies
Adult has four legs, hops and swims
Life cycle is short (about 1–2 weeks)
Life cycle takes several weeks to months
Both lay eggs in water and have young ones living in water that change form. A mosquito has four stages (egg, larva, pupa, adult) and flies; a frog has three (egg, tadpole, frog), with no pupa.
A plant is provided with all the conditions suitable for its growth, in a pot kept along the ground (lying on its side, Fig. 10.9). Draw what you expect to see in the shoot and the root after one week. Write down the reasons.
SolutionAfter a week the shoot has bent upwards (towards light, away from gravity) and the root downwards (towards gravity)
The shoot bends and grows upwards: shoots grow towards light and away from the pull of the Earth (gravity).
The root bends and grows downwards: roots grow towards gravity (and towards water in the soil).
The shoot curves upward (towards light, against gravity) and the root curves downward (towards gravity and water).
Tara and Vijay set up the experiment shown in Fig. 10.10 (seeds placed in different positions in soil). What do you think they want to find out? How will they know if they are correct?
Solution
They want to find out whether the direction in which a seed is placed affects the direction in which its root and shoot grow, i.e. whether roots always grow downwards and shoots upwards.
They should water the pots, keep them in the same conditions, and observe them for a few days. If, in every case, the root bends down and the shoot bends up, no matter how the seed was placed, then their idea is correct: roots always grow towards the Earth and shoots away from it.
Whether roots always grow down and shoots up whatever the seed's position; they will know by observing the seedlings for a few days.
Design an experiment to check if temperature has an effect on seed germination.
Solution
Aim: to find out whether temperature affects the germination of seeds.
Materials: 30 moong (green gram) seeds, three small bowls with wet cotton, a refrigerator.
Method:
Soak the seeds in water overnight. Place 10 seeds in each bowl on wet cotton.
Keep Bowl A in the refrigerator (cold, about 4–8 °C), Bowl B in the room (about 25–30 °C), and Bowl C in a warm place, such as near (not on) a warm kitchen shelf or in sunlight in a covered box (about 35–40 °C).
Keep everything else the same: the same seeds, the same amount of water and air.
Check daily for 4–5 days and count how many seeds have sprouted in each bowl.
Expected result: most seeds germinate in Bowl B (room temperature); few or none germinate in the cold (Bowl A); germination may be slower or seeds may dry out at very high temperature. This shows that seeds need a suitable temperature to germinate.
Keep similar soaked seeds on wet cotton at different temperatures (fridge, room, warm place), with everything else the same, and count sprouts over a few days; most germinate at room temperature, few in the cold.
