Science-VI

[1] Where does it Come From?

 Ingredient: A substance that forms part of a mixture.
 Edibility: The property of being fit to eat.
 Sprouts: Seeds germinated due to moisture.
 Nectar: A sweet liquid that bees collect from flowers.
 Herbivores: Plant-eaters.
 Carnivores: Animals that eat other animals.
 Omnivores: Eaters of plants & animals.

[2] Components of Food

 Nutrients: Compounds in that are essential for living things.
 6 Major Nutrients: Carbohydrates (CHO), Lipids (fats), Proteins, Vitamins, Minerals, Water.
 Carbohydrates: A biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) & oxygen (O). The sugars,
starches, & dietary fibres.
 Test for Starch: Few drops of dilute iodine solution on the food will turn it blue-black if it contains
starch.
 Test for Protein: Adding 2 drops of copper sulphate & 10 drops of caustic soda to powder or paste of a
food item will make it violet coloured if it has protein.
 Test for Fat: Food items containing fat will turn any piece of paper oily – the paper test.
 Fats & carbohydrates are called energy giving foods. Fat gives us more energy compared to carbs.
 Dietary Fibers: Aka roughage, is mainly produced boy plant items. It helps our body to get rid of
undigested food.
 Our body need protein to grow & repair itself. These are called body building foods.
 Types of Vitamins: ‘Vita’ means life in Greek; It was named by Casimir Funk who believed all substances
to be ‘amine’;
o Vitamin A (Fat-soluble): Retinol.
Sources: Green leafy vegetables, nuts, tomatoes, oranges, ripe yellow fruits, guava, milk, liver,
carrots, broccoli & watermelon.
o Vitamin B1 (Water-soluble): Thiamine.
Sources: Fresh fruits, corn, cashew nuts, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas, wheat, milk, dates, black
beans, etc.
o Vitamin B2 (Water-soluble): Riboflavin.
Sources: Bananas, grapes, mangoes, peas, pumpkin, dates, yoghurt, milk, mushrooms, popcorn,
beef liver, etc.
o Vitamin B3 (Water-soluble): Niacin.
Sources: Meat, eggs, fish, milk products, guava, mushroom, peanuts, cereals, green peas, etc.
o Vitamin B5 (Water-soluble): Pantothenic Acid.
Sources: Meat, kidney, egg yolk, broccoli, peanuts, fish, chicken, milk, yoghurt, legumes,
mushrooms, avocado, etc.
o Vitamin B6 (Water-soluble): Pyridoxine.
Sources: Pork, chicken, fish, bread, wholegrain cereals, eggs, vegetables, soya beans, etc.
o Vitamin B7 (Water-soluble): Biotin.
Sources: Walnuts, peanuts, cereals, milk, egg yolks, salmon, pork, mushroom, cauliflower,
avocados, bananas, raspberries, etc.
o Vitamin B9 (Water-soluble): Folic Acid.
Sources: Citrus fruits, green leafy vegetables, whole grains, legumes, beets, etc.
o Vitamin B12 (Water-soluble): Cobalamin.
Sources: Fish, meat, poultry, eggs, milk, etc.
o Vitamin C (Water-soluble): Ascorbic acid.
 Sources: Fresh citrus fruits such as orange & grapefruit, broccoli, goat milk, black currant &
chestnuts.
o Vitamin D (Fat-soluble): Calciferol.
Sources: Fish, beef, cod liver oil, egg yolk, liver, chicken breast & cereals.
o Vitamin E (Fat-soluble): Tocopherol.
Sources: Potatoes, pumpkin, guava, mango, milk, nuts & seeds.
o Vitamin K (Fat-soluble): Phytonadione.
Sources: Tomatoes, broccoli, mangoes, grapes, chestnuts, cashew nuts, beef & lamb.
 Water helps our body to absorb nutrients from food & to excrete wastes.
 Leguminous: Plants belonging to legume family - beans, peas, & lentils.
 Oilseeds: Edible oil producing seeds.
 Deficiency diseases:
o Vitamin A (Retinol): Night blindness, xerophthalmia.
o Vitamin B1 (Thiamine): Beri-Beri, weak muscles & weight loss.
o Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin): Retarded growth, skin disorder.
o Vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamin): Anemia: extreme fatigue, depression.
o Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid): Scurvy: Bleeding gums, wounds take longer to heal, skin spots & swollen
joints.
o Vitamin D (Calciferol): Rickets: Weakening of bones, joints in particular.
o Vitamin K (Phylloquinone): Excessive bleeding due to injury. It’s important for blood coagulation.
o Calcium: Brittle bones, excessive bleeding.
o Phosphorus: Bad teeth & bones.
o Iron: Anemia.
o Iodine: Goiter, enlarged thyroid gland. It is essential for brain & fetus development.
o Copper: Low appetite, retarded growth. It carries oxygen in the form of hemoglobin.

[3] Fiber to Fabric

 Fiber: A collection of thin strands.
 Natural Fibers: Cotton, jute, silk & wool.
 Synthetic Fibers: Polyester, nylon & acrylic.
 Cotton:
o Fruit (balls) of cotton plant.
o Grinning: Separating fibers from the seed by combing, either done by hands or machines.
 Jute:
o Its fiber is obtained from the stem of the jute plant.
o Grown mainly is eastern India.
o Harvested plant is kept under water for a few days.
o The stem rot & fibers are separated by hands.
o Fibers are converted to yarns.
o Yarns are made up of fabrics.
 Spinning: The process of making yarn from fibers.
 Weaving: The proves of making fabric from yarn. It is done using looms.
 Knitting: Making a fabric using a single yarn, usually by hands.
 GOI set up the Khadi & Village Industries Commission in 1956.
 Cotton was grown by ancient Indians & Egyptians.
 Ancient Indians wore clothes made of unstitched fibers.

[4] Sorting Materials into Groups

 Properties of Materials:
o Appearance: Luster, shine, dullness, color, etc.
o Hardness: Softness & hardness.
 o Soluble or Insoluble: Solids, liquids or gases are completely soluble in water.
o Floatability: Some things float, some sink.
o Transparency: Transparent things can be seen through, opaque things can’t. Translucent things
allow light to pass through, but not images.

[5] Separation of Substances

 Handpicking: Separating large sized impurities by hands. Eg, separation of dirt, stones & husk from
heat rice or pulses.
 Threshing: Separation of grain seeds from stalks by beating them on a hard surface.
 Winnowing: Separating heavier & lighter components of a mixture by wind or by blowing air. Eg,
separating lighter husk particles from heavier seeds of grain.
 Sieving: Filtration using a net of small holes. Eg, filtration of flour & removal of pebbles & stones from
sand.
 Sedimentation: Heavier component added to water is allowed to settle.
 Decantation: When water along with dust is removed.
 Filtration: Removal of impurities through a filter. Eg, separation of paneer.
 Evaporation: The process of conversion of water into its vapor. Eg, separation of salt from water.
 Condensation: The process of conversion of water vapor into its liquid form.
 Saturated solution: A solution in which there is so much solute that if there was any more, it would not
dissolve.
 More of a substance can be dissolved in a solution by heating it.

[6] Changes Around Us

 Some changes are reversible, while some aren’t.
 Heating a substance or mixing it with some other can induce a change.
 Change can either be physical or chemical.

[7] Getting to Know Plants

 Plants can be classified into: Herbs, shrubs & trees.
 Herbs: Green & tender stems. They may be short & branch less.
 Shrubs: Hard, but not very thick stem. They have branches near the base of stem.
 Trees: Tall, hard & thick stem. Stems have branches.
 Creepers: Weak stem; can’t stand upright, but spread on the ground.
 Climbers: They take support of trees & climb them.
 Stem: The middle part of a plant that helps in upward moment of water & minerals.
 Leaf: The part of leaf attached to stem is called petiole. The broad, green part of the leaf is called
lamina.
 Veins: Lines on the leaf.
 Midrib: The prominent middle line on the leaf.
 Leave venation: The design made by veins on a leaf.
 Reticulate venation: Net-like pattern of both sides.
 Parallel venation: Veins are parallel to each other like in grass leave.
 Transpiration: Excretion of water from leaves in the form of vapor.
 Photosynthesis: Leaves make their food in the presence of sunlight using water & carbon dioxide. This
process gives out oxygen.
 Roots: They help in holding plant firmly in soil & absorbing nutrients. They anchor the plant to the soil.
The main root is called tap root & the smaller roots called lateral roots.
 Fibrous root: No main root. All roots seem similar.
 Flowers: Fruit forming & reproductive parts of plants.
 Petals: The prominent part of the open flower. It has different color in different flowers.
 Sepals: The prominent, green, part of the flower just below the petals.
 Stamens: These are covered by petals. Their heads are called anther & bodies are called filament.
 Pistils: It’s surrounded by stamens. Its upper part is call Stigma; its middle part is called Style & its lower
part is called ovary.
 Ovary: The lowermost & swollen part of the pistil. The beadlike structure inside the ovary is called
ovules.

[8] Body Movement

 Joints: It joins two bones.
 Ball & Socket Joins: The bone is fit inside the rounded hollow end of another bone. These joins allow
movements in all directions. Eg, thigh bone.
 Pivotal joints: A cylindrical bone rotates in a ring. Eg, head & neck.
 Hinge Joints: Joints like hinges of door. Eg, knee joint.
 Fixed Joints: The bones can’t move at these joints.
 Humans are born with 305. It decreased to 206 by adulthood as some bones join together.
 The framework of bones is called Skeleton.
 Carples: Bones in your wrist that make it flexibles.
 Rib Cage: A cage of 12 bones in our chest. It protects vital internal organs.
 Back Bone: A long structure pf small bones, called vertebrates, that is connect with the rib cage.
 Shoulder Bones: Prominent bones of your shoulders.
 Pelvic Bones: A structure that encloses the portion of your body below the stomach.
 Skull: The structure of bone holding your brain.
 Cartilage: Not hard as bones & cable of bending. Eg, upper ear, joints of body.
 Muscles: These work in pair & support movement of our body through contraction. A muscle can pull,
but it can’t push. Two muscles have to move together to move a bone.
 Earthworm is made up of may rings joined end to end. It secretes a slimy substance which aid its
movement. It eats its way through the soil.
 Snail: Its shell isn’t made of bone. Its thick structure is its foot, made of strong muscles.
 Cockroach: They have 3 pairs of legs & 2 pairs of wings. It has an exoskeleton.
 Birds: They have hollow bones & aerodynamic bodies.
 Fish: They have streamlined bodies which allow them to overcome the resistance of fluid.
 Snakes: They have long backbones & thin muscles. A snake never moves in a straight line.
 Aristotle wondered about motions of animals in his book ‘Gait of Animals’.
 Yoga Day: UN declared International Yoga Day to be on 21 June.

[9] The Living Organisms: Characteristics & Habitats

 Organism: An individual form of life, such as a plant, animal, bacterium, protist, or fungus; a body
made up of organs, organelles, or other parts that work together to carry on the various processes of
life.
 Habitat: The natural environment of an organism, the type of place in which it is natural for it to live &
grow.
 Terrestrial Habitat: Land.
 Aquatic Habitat: Rivers, lakes & oceans.
 Adaptation: The physical or behavioral characteristic of an organism that helps an organism to survive
better in the surrounding environment. It happens over a long period of time.
 Acclimatization: The changes in an organism over a short period of time to adjust itself to change in its
surroundings.
 Biotic Components: Plants & animals.
 Abiotic Components: Rock, soil, air & water.
 Germination: Germination is usually the growth of a plant contained within a seed; it results in the
formation of the seedling.
 Prey: Animals that are to be eaten.
 Predators: Animals that hunt & eat.
 Delphine & whales are aquatic animals & breath through nostrils or blowholes.

[10] Motion & Measurement of Distance

 Different modes of transport are used to go from one place to another.
 In ancient times, people used length of a foot, the width of a finger, the distance of a step as units of
measurement. This caused confusion & a need to develop a uniform system of measurement arose.
 Now, we use International System of Units (SI units). This is accepted all over the world.
 Meter is the SI unit length.
 Motion in a straight line is called rectilinear motion.
 In circular motion an object moves such that its distance from a fixed point remains the same.
 Motion that repeats itself after some period of time is called periodic motion.

[11] Light, Shadow & Reflection

 Opaque objects do not allow light to pass through them.
 Transparent objects allow light to pass through them & we can see through these objects clearly.
 Translucent objects allow light to pass through them partially.
 Shadows are formed when an opaque object comes in the path of light.
 Pinhole camera can be made with simple materials & can be used to image the Sun & brightly lit
objects.
 Light travels in straight line.
 Mirror reflection gives us clear images.

[12] Electricity & Circuit

 Electric cell is a source of electricity.
 An electric cell has two terminals; one is called positive (+ve) while the other is negative (–ve).
 An electric bulb has a filament that is connected to its terminals.
 An electric bulb glows when electric current passes through it.
 In a closed electric circuit, the electric current passes from one terminal of the electric cell to the other
terminal.
 Switch is a simple device that is used to either break the electric circuit or to complete it.
 Materials that allow electric current to pass through them are called conductors.
 Materials that do not allow electric current to pass through them are called insulators.

[13] Fun with Magnets

 Magnets are named after a Greek shepherd named Magnes.
 Magnetite is a natural magnet.
 Magnet attracts materials like iron, nickel, cobalt. These are called magnetic materials.
 Materials that are not attracted towards magnet are called non-magnetic.
 Each magnet has two magnetic poles: North & South.
 A freely suspended magnet always aligns in N-S direction.
 Opposite poles of two magnets attract each other whereas similar poles repel one another.

[14] Water
 Water is essential for life.
 Water vapor gets added to air by evaporation & transpiration.
 The water vapor in the air condenses to form tiny droplets of water, which appear as clouds. Many tiny
water droplets come together & fall down as rain, snow or hail.
 Rain, hail & snow replenish water in rivers, lakes, ponds, wells & soil.
 The circulation of water b/w ocean & land is known as the water cycle.
 Excessive rains may cause floods while lack of it for long periods may cause droughts.
[15] Air Around Us
 Air is found everywhere. We cannot see air, but we can feel it.
 Air in motion is called wind.
 Air occupies space.
 Air is present in water & soil.
 Air is a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, water vapor & a few other gases. Some dust
particles may also be present in it.
 Oxygen supports burning & is necessary for living organisms.
 The envelope of air that surrounds the earth is known as atmosphere.
 Atmosphere is essential for life on earth.
 Aquatic animals use dissolved air in water for respiration.
 Plants & animals depend on each other for exchange of oxygen & carbon dioxide from air.

[16] Garbage in Garbage Out

 Landfill is an area where the garbage collected from a city or town is dumped. The area is later
converted into a park.
 Converting plant & animal waste including that from kitchen, into manure, is called composting.
 The method of making compost from kitchen garbage using redworms is called vermicomposting.
 Paper can be recycled to get useful products.
 Plastics cannot be converted into less harmful substances by the process of composting.
 We need to generate less waste & find ways of dealing with the increasing amount of garbage in our
surroundings.

Science-VII
[1] Nutrition in Plants
 Nutrients are components that are necessary for our body’s survival.
 Mode of nutrition:
o Autotrophs: Auto = Self; Trophos = Nourishment. They make their food themselves. Eg, plants.
o Heterotrophs: Herero = Others. Beings that nourish on others.
 Photo Synthesis:
o Roots absorb minerals & water from soil. Such materials are transported to leaves by vessel.
o CO2 from air is taken in by pores surrounded by stomata (guard cells) on leaves.
o Leaves produce food through chlorophyll using CO2 & water.
o Besides leave, green stems & branches are also capable of performing photosynthesis.
o It is indicated by the presence of starch in leaves.
 Sun is the ultimate source of energy for all living things.
 Algae contain chlorophyl & are capable of photosynthesis.
 Carbohydrates are made up of carbon, hydrogen & oxygen. Carbs help in synthesis of proteins & fats.
 Proteins are nitrogenous substances that contain nitrogen.
 Plants can’t absorb nitrogen in gaseous form. Bacteria, Rhizobium, present in soil help in fixing
nitrogen.
 Cells:
o Basic building units of living things.
o Thin outer membrane of cells is called cell membrane.
o The tiny spherical structure in the center of the cell in call its nucleus.
o Nucleus is surrounded by a jelly-like substance called cytoplasm.
 Heterotrophic mode of nutrition:
o Parasites plants: Cuscuta or Amar Bel doesn’t have chlorophyll. It takes its food from host plants.
o Insectivorous plants: Pitcher plant.
 Saprotrophs: Fungi absorb nutrition from dead & decaying matter.
 Symbiosis: When two organisms complement each other’s survival. Eg, Lichen, a chlorophyll containing
alga, lives with & a fungus; leguminous plants & rhizobium.

[2] Nutrition in Animals

 Digestion: Breaking of complex substances like carbs into simple forms so that animals can absorb
them.
 Starfish feed on an animal covered by hard shell of calcium carbonate. It pops out its stomach through
its mouth & eats the soft internal parts of that animal.
 Digestion in Humans: The alimentary canal, from mouth to anus, can be divided into the following
parts;
o Buccal Cavity: The process of taking food into body is called ingestion. Teeth crush the food into
smaller parts & saliva breaks down starch into sugars. Tongue allows us to taste the food using
taste buds.
o Food Pipe or Esophagus: A pipe that connects mouth with the stomach.
o Stomach: A J shaped sack that secretes hydrochloric acid, mucus & digestive juices. It breaks down
proteins into simpler substances. Dr. William Beaumont studied it in detail in early 19th century.
o Small Intestine: A 7.5-meter-long meat pipe. It secrets bile that’s stored in the gall bladder. Bile
helps in digestion of fats. Villi helps in absorption of food in the small intestine. Absorption &
transportation of substance via blood vessels to different parts of body is called assimilation.
o Large Intestine: A 1.5-meter-long pipe. It digests water & salts from undigested food. The waste
matter is removed through anus. It is called egestion.
 Digestion if Grass-Eating Animals:
o Such animals swallow the grass & store it in rumen, a part of their stomach.
o The partially undigested material is called cud.
o The process of chewing small lumps of such material is called rumination & such animals are called
ruminants.
o Grass contains cellulose, a type of carbohydrate. Bacteria present in Caecum, b/w esophagus &
small intestine, of such animals help in digesting the cellulose. Humans don’t have such bacteria.
 Feeding & Digestion in Amoeba:
o A single celled organism that lives in lakes & ponds.
o It absorbs it food through vacuoles in its cytoplasm.
o It moves through finger-like projection called pseudopodia.
 Do you Know? Fat in goat’s milk is simpler than cow’s milk. Thus, it’s easier to digest.

[3] Fiber to Fabric

 Wool is obtained from the fleece (hair) of sheep or yak.
 Animal fibers:
o Wool:
 Hair traps air, a poor conductor of heat.
 Two types of fibers form a sheep’s fleece: coarse beard hair & fine soft under-hair.
 Yak wool – Tibet & Ladakh.
 Mohair – Angora goat – Jammu & Kashmir – Pashmina shawl.
 Camel, llama & alpaca – South America.
o Rearing & breeding of sheep:
 Shearing: Removal of fleece from skin.
 Scouring: Washing & cleaning of fleece.
 Sorting: Separation & sorting of hair of different texture.
 Dyeing: May or mayn’t be.
 Rolling: Fibers are straightened combed & rolled into yarn.
 Occupational Hazard: Sorter’s disease caused by a bacterium called anthrax.
o Silk:
  Rearing & production of silk is called sericulture.
 Life cycle of silk moth: Eggs on mulberry leaves > Silkworm > Cocoon > Cocoon with developing
moth.
 The caterpillar secretes fiber made of a protein which hardens on exposure to air & become silk
fiber.
 The silk yarn is obtained from the cocoon of the silk moth.
 Reeling of silk: The taking out of threads from the cocoon.
 Mulberry silk moth: The most common one.
 Types of silk: Tassar silk, mooga silk, kosa silk, mulberry silk, etc.
 Leading producer – China.
 Discovery of Silk: Ancient China by empress Si-Lung-Chi, wife of emperor Huang-Ti.
 India ranks 3rd in terms of number of sheep, behind China & Australia. New Zealand produces the best
quality of wool.

[4] Heat
 Temperature: A reliable measure of heat.
 Thermometer is used to measure temperature.
 Clinical thermometer is used to measure our body temperature. It reads temp. from 35°C to 42°C. It
contains mercury.
 Celsius scale was invented by Swedish astronomer, Anders Celsius in 1742.
 The normal body temperature of human body is about 37°C.
 Laboratory thermometer: Its range is from -10°C to 110°C.
 Mercury is toxic. Thus, use of digital thermometer is advisable.
 The process by which heat is transferred from a hotter end to a colder end is called conduction.
 The material through which heat can passed easily are called conductors of heat.
 Poor conductors are known as insulators.
 Water & air are poor conductors of heat.
 When a fluid, air or water, gets hot – the warm fluid rises up & cold fluid sinks down towards the heat
source – this process, called convections, continues till the whole water.
 Sea breeze: Cold air from the sea takes place of the rising warm air over land.
 Land breeze: The reversal of the sea breeze.
 Radiation: The heat from the sun comes to us as radiation, which doesn’t need any medium. Our body
receives & gives heat to our surroundings by radiation.
 Wool is a poor conductor of heat. Thus, it keeps us warm in winter.

[5] Acids, Bases & Salts

 Acids:
o Sour in taste.
o Latin word acere means sour.
o Natural acids:
 Acetic acid: Vinegar.
 Formic acid: Ant’s sting.
 Citric acid: Citrus fruits.
 Lactic acid: Curd.
 Oxalic acid: Spinach.
 Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C): Sour fruits.
 Tartaric acid: Tamarind, grapes, unripe mangoes, etc.
 Bases:
o Bitter in taste.
o Soapy in feel.
o Natural bases:
  Calcium hydroxide: Lime water.
 Ammonium hydroxide: Window cleaner.
 Sodium hydroxide/ Potassium hydroxide: Soap.
 Magnesium hydroxide: Milk of magnesia.
 Indicators: Substances used to identify acids & bases. Their color changes when they come in contact
with acidic or basic things.
 Litmus – A natural dye:
o A natural indicator extracted from lichens – Mauve (purple) colored in distilled water.
o Acid turns it red & base turns it blue. A neutral substance causes no change in its color.
o It’s generally available as red & blue litmus paper.
 Turmeric paper:
 China Rose: Gudhal petals turn dark pink (magenta) when the substance is acidic & green when the
substance is basic.
 Acid rain:
o Carbon dioxide – carbonic acid.
o Sulphur dioxide – sulphuric acid.
 Neutralization: A reaction b/w an acid & a base. It produces salt, water & heat.
 Phenolphthalein: A laxative; It is brilliant red at high alkalinity & colorless below pH 8.
 Indigestion: It’s caused by hydrochloric acid. Milk of magnesia, containing magnesium hydroxide, can
cure it.
 Ant bite: Formic acid in ant bite can be neutralized by rubbing baking soda (sodium hydrogen
carbonate) on it.
 Soil treatment: Acidic soil can be treated by quick lime (calcium oxide) or slaked lime (calcium
hydroxide). Basic soil came be cured by compost or manure.
 Factory waste containing acid must be treated before being released into waterbodies as it can harm
aquatic lifeforms.

[6] Physical & Chemical Changes

 Two types of changes: Physical & chemical.
 Physical changes:
o Change in physical properties.
o Reversible.
o No new substance is formed.
 Chemical changes:
o Change in chemical property.
o One or more new substances are formed.
o Sound may be produced.
o Color may change.
o Gas may be produced.
o Light or heat may be radiated.
 Examples of chemical changes:
o Rusting: Conversion of iron into rust (ferrous oxide) in the presence of O2 & H2O. Galvanization:
Applying zinc layer of iron.
o Magnesium reacts with O2 to produce Magnesium oxide (MgO).
o Magnesium reacts with water to produce Magnesium hydroxide (Mg(OH)2).
o Iron reacts with blue Copper sulphate turns it into green iron sulphate & copper is deposited on iron.
o Vinegar (Acetic acid) reacts with baking soda (Sodium hydrogen carbonate) to produce CO2 & other
substances.
 Crystallization: A process of obtaining substances in pure state from their solutions.

[7] Weather, Climate & Adaptation of Animal to Climate

 Weather: The day-to-day condition of the atmosphere at a place with respect to elements like
temperature, humidity, rainfall, wind-speed, etc.
 Weather reports are prepared by the Meteorological Department of the govt.
 Maximum & minimum thermometers are used to measure maximum & minimum temperature of a
day.
 All changes in the weather are caused by the sun.
 Climate: The avg. weather pattern of a place taken over a long period of time, say 25 to 30 years.
 Climate & adaptation:
o Evolution: Characteristics & behavior of adapt according to their surroundings.
o Polar animals:
 Extremely cold temperature.
 Polar bears: It has white fur & a layer of fat under skin. It’s so well-insulated that it has to move
slowly to avoid overheating & often goes swimming.
 Penguin: White fur with black strips. Thick skin with fat under it. Streamlined body make them
excellent swimmers.
 Siberian cranes: They migrate to Bharatpur in Rajasthan & Sultanpur in Haryana.
 How to birds migrate? They use their inbuilt sense of direction; or position of stars & sun; or
earth’s magnetic field to find direction.
o Tropical rainforest:
 Annual temperature range 15°C-45°C.
 Regions of high rainfall.
 Intense competition for food.
 Animals adapt to living on trees.
 Location: Western Ghats & Assam in India, Southeast Asia, Central America & Central Africa.
 Red-eyed frog: Sticky pads to climb trees.
 Monkeys: Long arms & tail.
 Toucan bird: Long & large beak.
 Loin-tailed macaque or Bearded Ape: Western Ghats.
 Indian Elephant: Large ears help it too cool down. Strong sense of smell & sound. Its tusks are
modified teeth.
 Tropical animals have excellent sense of smell, eyesight, thick skin & camouflaged fur.
 Rainforest cover about 6% of the earth surface, but they have more than 50% of animal life &
about 2/3rd of flowering plants.

[8] Wind, Storms & Cyclones

 The moving air is called wind.
 Air exerts pressure on objects from within & outside.
 Air expands of heating & contracts on cooling. Thus, warm air is lighter than cold air.
 Increase wind speed is accompanied by reduced air pressure.
 Air moves from the region where the air pressure is high to the region where the air pressure is low. The
greater the difference in pressure, the faster the air moves.
 Wind currents are generated due to uneven heating on the earth:
o Uneven heating b/w the equator & the poles:
 Equator gets maximum heat from the sun.
 The warm equatorial air rises up & the cold air from 0°-30° N&S latitude belt moves in.
 The cold polar winds replace the warm wind at 60° N&S latitude.
 Thus, the wind circulation sets in.
o Uneven heating of land & water:
 Land warms up faster at equator. Thus, cold wind from above the sea flows from ocean to land
in the form of monsoon (derived from Arabic world ‘Mausam’ meaning season.
 Monsoon carried moisture & it rains over the land.
 In winter the direction of the wind flow is reversed.
 Thunderstorms:
o Frequent in hot, humid tropical areas like India.
o Rising temp. produces strong upward rising moist winds.
o At higher altitude the moisture in the wind condenses around condensation nuclei, dust or salt
particles, & falls down again.
o The swift movement of falling droplets along with the rising air creates lightening & sound.
 Thunderstorm can transform into a cyclone:
o Condensation of moisture releases heat into the atmosphere. This warms the surrounding air &
decreases the air pressure causing the cold air to rush to the center of the storm.
o This chain of events ends with the creation of a very-low pressure system with high-speed winds
revolving around it.
o This phenomenon is called a cyclone.
o The central low-pressure zone is called eye of the cyclone. The cloud region of high-speed wind
revolves around it.
o It’s called Hurricane in America & Typhoon is Japan & Philippines.
o This phenomenon ore pronounced in Eastern India.
o Satellites & radars allow govt. agencies to issue cyclone watch or alert 48 hours in advance of any
expected storm. Cyclone warning is issued 24 hrs. in advance.
 Tornadoes:
o Not frequent in India.
o A dark funnel shaped cloud that touched the ground.
o Tornadoes are usually weak.
 Bolt of lightning travels at the spread of more than 400,000 km/hr. It can heat the air around it to
extremely high temperatures.

[9] Soil
 Soil: The mixture of rock particles & humus is called the soil.
 Importance of soil:
o Provides anchorage & nutrients to plants.
o Home of living organisms.
o Essential for agriculture.
o Source of all resources.
 Soul profile: A vertical section of soil from the ground surface to the parent rock. Each layer differs in
texture (feel), color, depth & chemical composition. These layers are called soil horizons.
 Humus: The rotting dead matter in the uppermost layer of the soil.
 A-Horizon or Topsoil:
o Soft, porous & retains more air.
o Dark in color b/c it’s rich in humus & minerals.
o Provides shelter to living organisms.
o Roots or small plants are anchored entirely in this layer.
 B-Horizon or Mid-layer:
o Less humus & minerals.
o Harder & more compact.
 C-Horizon:
o Contain small lump of cracks & crevices.
 Bedrock:
o Hard & rocky.
o The parent material.
 Types of soil:
o Sandy soil:
 Contains greater proportion of big particles.
  Large particles can’t fit together.
 Particles have large space b/w them.
 Water drains quickly.
 Light, well-aerated & dry.
o Clayey soil:
 Contain greater proportion of fine particles.
 Fine particles have little space b/w them.
 Heavy & holds more water.
 Has less air.
o Loamy soil:
 A mixture of sand, clay & silt.
 The best soil for growing plants.
 Has humus.
 Right water holding capacity for the growth of plants.
o Silty soil:
 Occurs as a deposit in riverbeds.
 Size of particles is b/w sand & clay/
 Gram (g) & Kilogram (kg) are actually units of mass.
 Properties of soil:
o Percolation rate of water in soil: It is different in different types of soil. It’s highest in the sandy soil
& least in the clayey soil.
Percolation rate (mL/min) = amount of water (mL)/percolation time(min).
o Moisture in soil: On hot days, the vapor coming out of soil reflect the sunlight & the air above the
soil seems to shimmer.
o Soil & crops:
 Cereals like wheat & gram: Clayey & loamy soil.
 Paddy: clayey soil.
 Lentils & other pulses: Loamy soil.
 Cotton: Sandy-loam or loam.
 Soil erosion: The removal of land surface by water, wind or ice.

[10] Respiration in Organisms

 The food has stored energy, which is released during respiration. Thus, all living beings respire to get
energy from food.
 We breathe in air containing oxygen & breathe out carbon dioxide.
 In cells, oxygen in the air help in the breaking down of the food.
 The process of breaking down of food (glucose) in the cell with the release of energy is called cellular
respiration. It takes places in the cells of all organisms.
 The glucose in broken down into energy, CO2 & water using O2.
 Aerobic respiration: Breakdown of glucose using O2.
 Anaerobic respiration: Breakdown of food without O2.
 Anaerobes: Organisms that can survive in absence of air. Eg, yeast. In the absence of O2, the glucose
breaks down into alcohol & CO2.
 Yeast: A single-celled organism that respires anaerobically & produces alcohol. It’s used to make wine
& beer.
 Our muscle cells can respire anaerobically, but only for a short period of time during temporary
deficiency of O2. The partial breakdown of glucose in absence of O2 in our muscle cells produces energy
& lactic acid. The accumulation of lactic acid causes muscle cramp. Increase in O2 supply by hot bath or
massage increase the supply of O2 to muscles & the lactic acid breaks down into Co2 & water.
 Breathing:
o Taking air rich in O2 = Inhalation.
 o Giving out air rich in CO2 = Exhalation.
o The number of times a person breathes in a minute = Breathing rate.
o One inhalation = One exhalation = Breathing rate.
o O2 is supplied to our cells. It helps in breakdown of food & more energy is released.
 The process of breathing:
o Hair present in our nostrils filter unwanted particles, like dust, smoke, pollen, etc.
o Air is inhaled through the nasal cavity. From there, air reached lungs through the windpipe.
o Lungs are present in the chest cavity.
o Diaphragm, a large muscular sheet, forms the floor of the chest cavity.
o During inhalation diaphragm moves up & during inhalation, it moves down.
 Pranayama: Breathing exercises.
 Breathing in animals:
o Cockroach: It breathes through smaller openings, called spiracles, on the sides of its body. Insects
has a network of air tubes called tracheae for gas exchange.
o Earthworm: It breathes through its slimy & moist skin.
o Frog: It has a pair of lungs, but it can also breathe through is slippery & wet skin.
 Breathing in aquatic beings:
o Fishes take O2 rich water through their mouths & pass it through their gills that are supplied with
blood vessels for exchange of gases.
 Respiration in plants:
o In plants each party can independently take O2 from air & give out CO2.
o Leaves contain tiny pores called stomata for exchange of O2 & CO2.
 For animals that don’t use O2, it is toxic for them. Breathing pure O2 for long time can be dangers for
humans & other organisms.

[11] Transportation in Animals:

 Blood:
o A fluid that flows in blood vessels.
o It transports digested food from small intestine to other parts of body.
o It carries oxygen from lungs to cells.
o It transports waste for removal from the body.
o Red Blood Cells (RBC): It contains hemoglobin, which binds O2 & transports it to other parts of body
& ultimately to all the cells. The presence of hemoglobin makes blood appear red.
o White Blood Cells (WBC): It fight against intruding germs.
o Platelets: It facilitates formation of clots on wounds.
 Blood vessels:
o Two types: Arteries & veins.
o Arteries: They carry O2-rich blood from the heart to all parts of the body. Blood flows at high
pressure & thus, arteries have thick walls.
o Veins: They carry CO2-rich food from all parts of the body to the heart. Valves present in veins allow
blood to flow in a definite direction.
o Capillaries: On reaching the tissue veins are further divided into extremely thin tube called
capillaries that join to form veins which empty into the heart.
o Pulse: The throbbing due to blood flowing in the arteries.
o Pulse rate: The number of beats per minute. Avg. pulse rate in humans is b/w 72-80 beats/min.
 Heart:
o A meat-pump.
o Left side of the chest.
o It has 4 chambers to avoid mixing of O2 blood & CO2 blood.
o The 2 upper chambers are called atria.
 o The two lower chambers are called ventricles.
o The circulatory system.
o From right side of heart, the blood flows to lungs & back to heart from where it is pumped to the
rest of the body.
 Heartbeat:
o Heart muscles contract & relax rhythmically.
o This rhythm is called heartbeat.
o Stethoscope is used to listen to it.
 Animals like sponges & hydra don’t have any circulatory system. Thus, they have no circulatory fluids
like animals.
 Excretion in animals:
o The removal of waste products produced in the cells of living organism.
 Excretory system in humans:
o Blood is filtered by capillaries in the kidneys.
o The waste is dissolved in water & removed as urine.
o From kidney the urine goes to the urinary bladder through tube-like ureters.
o Urine is release from the bladder through urethra.
o Urine consists of 95% water, 2.5% urea & 2.5% other substances.
o Average urine produced by an adult human: 1-1.8 L/24 hrs.
o Sweating: Water evaporates from our skin pore & causes cooling. Sweat contains water & salts.
 Aquatic animals, like fishes, excrete cell waste as ammonia which dissolves directly in water.
 Lizards, snakes & birds excrete a semi-solid, white colored compound (uric acid).
 Dialysis: Artificial filtration of blood outside the body.
 Transportation in plants:
o Root absorbs nutrient & mineral from the soil. Root contains root hair that help is this absorption.
o Xylem: A vascular tissue for transport of water & nutrients in the plants. It forms a network of
channels that connects roots to the leaves through stems & branches.
o Phloem: It transports food synthesized by the leaves to different parts of the body.
 Transpiration:
o Not all water absorbed is utilized by the plants.
o The excess water evaporates through the stomata present on the surface of leaves through
transpiration.
o Evaporation of water from generates suction pull which can pull the water to great heights in tall
trees.
o It cools the plant.
 There is no substitute for blood. There is only one way to get it – through transfusion of blood donated
by doners.

[12] Reproduction in plants:

 The process of creating new individuals.
 Vegetative parts: Roots, stems & leaves.
 Reproductive parts: Flowers & fruits.
 Modes of reproduction:
o Asexual: New plants are obtained without seeds.
o Vegetative propagation: New plants are obtained from roots, stems, leaves & buds. Eg, stem-
cutting in rose & champa; potato, turmeric & ginger are produced using roots; bryophyllum (sprout
leaf plant) has buds in the margins of its leaves.
o Budding: Yeast multiplies through bud-like projection, called a bud, coming out of its cell.
o Fragmentation: Algae multiply by fragmentation by breaking into 2 or more fragments.
o Spore formation: Fungi multiply through spores that are produced in sporangium. The lower part of
sporangium connected with ground is called hypha.
 Sexual reproduction in Plants:
o Plants have two reproductive parts: Stamens (male) & pistil (female).
o Unisexual plants have either only stamens or either pistil.
o Bisexual plants have both stamens & pistil.
o Anther, the upper part of filament of a stamen, contains pollen grains which produce male
gametes.
o A pistil contains stigma, style & ovary. Ovary contains one or more ovules. Female gametes or eggs
are produced in an ovule.
o Male & female gametes fuse to form zygote.
 Pollination:
o The transfer of pollen from the anther to the stigma of a flower is called pollination.
o Self-pollination: Pollination in same flower or another flower of the same plant.
o Cross-pollination: When pollen land of the stigma of a flower of a different plant.
o The process of fusion of male & female gametes to form zygote is called fertilization. The zygote
develops into an embryo.
 Fruit & seed formation:
o After fertilization the ovary grows into a fruit & other parts of the flower fall off.
o Seeds develop from ovules.
o The seed contains an embryo enclosed in a protective seed coat.
 Seed dispersal:
o Dispersed by wind:
 Winged seeds: Drumstick & maple.
 Light seeds: Grass.
 Haired seeds: Aak (madar) & hairy fruit of sunflower.
o Dispersed by water: Coconut.
o Dispersed by animals: Spiny seed of Xanthium & Urena.
o Bursting seeds: Caster & balsam.

[13] Motion & Times

 Motion: Change in position or location of something.
 Speed: The distance covered by an object in a unit of time. Speed = Distance covered/ Total time taken.
 Uniform motion: An object moving along a straight line with a constant speed.
 Non-uniform motion: An object moving along a straight with a changing speed.
 Motion of a simple pendulum: The pendulum is said to have completed on oscillation when its bob,
when it moves back to its initial position.
 The time taken by the pendulum to complete one oscillation is called its time period.
 Unit of time & speed:
o Basic unit of time: Second.
o Basic unit of speed: meter/second.
o Symbols of all units are written in singular.
 Galileo Galilei (16th-17th century) discovered that a pendulum of a given length always takes the same
time to complete one oscillation. This observation resulted in the development of the pendulum clock.
 A microsecond is one millionth of a second.
 A nanosecond is one billionth of a second.
 Measuring speed:
o Speed = distance/time.
o Time = distance/ speed.
o Speedometer records the speed of vehicles in km/h.
o Odometer measures the distance moved by vehicles.
 Motion of objects can be presented in pictorial forms by their distance-time graph.
 The distance-time graph for the motion of an object moving with a constant speed is a straight line.
 The time-keeping services in India is provided by the National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi.
 The most accurate clock in the world is developed by the National Institute of Standards & Technology
in the USA.

[14] Electric Current & its Effects

 Battery: A device that produces electricity; may have several primary or secondary cells arranged in
parallel or series.
 A battery has two terminals: (+) positive & (-) Negative.
 Heating effect of electric current: The wire through which an electric current pass gets heated &
produces light.
 The wire used for making electric circuits don’t become hot.
 Incandescent bulbs give heat. Fluorescent Tube-Lights & Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) are better
electricity efficient lighting source. CFLs contain mercury vapors.
 LED (Light Emitting Diode) bulbs consume less electricity that incandescent & CFL bulbs.
 ISI (Standard Mark) is assigned on products by the Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi.
 Fuse: An electrical device that can interrupt the flow of electrical current when it is overloaded.
 Miniature Circuit Breakers (MCBs) are being increasingly used in place of fuses.
 Hans Christian Oersted was the first person to discover electromagnetism, ie, magnetism produced by
an electric current.
 Electro Magnet: A temporary magnet made by coiling wire around an iron core; when current flows in
the coil the iron becomes a magnet.
 Electric bell: A bell activated by the magnetic effect of an electric current.
 Thomas Alva Edison: He made 1300 inventions including bulb, gramophone, motion picture camera &
carbon transmitter, which facilitated the invention of the telephone.

[15] Light
 Light: Electromagnetic radiation that can produce a visual sensation.
 Reflection: The phenomenon of a propagating wave (light or sound) being thrown back from a surface.
 Image: A visual representation (of an object, scene, person or abstraction) produced on a surface.
 Real image: That can be obtained on a screen.
 Virtual image: That can’t be obtained on a screen.
 An image formed by a plane mirror is erect & of the same size as the object. The image is at the same
distance behind the mirror as the object in front of it.
 Mirrored images show left side of an object on the right side & vice-versa.
 Concave mirror: A real & inverted image. When the object is placed very close to the mirror, the image
formed is virtual, erect & magnified. Eg, used by dentists & doctors, reflectors of torches & headlights.
 Convex mirror: Image is erect, virtual & smaller in size that the object. Eg, sideview mirror.
 Concave lens: Thick in the edges than in the middle. It diverges (bends outwards) the light falling on it.
Image formed by it is always virtual, erect & smaller in size.
 Convex lens: Thick in the middle than in edges. It converges (bends inward) the light falling in it. Image
formed by it is erect & magnified. Eg, spectacles, telescope, microscope, magnifying glass, etc.
 Sunlight: A prism splits a beam of sunlight into seven colors. Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange
& Red are seven colors that make the white light of the sun.
 Archimedes used mirrors as weapons.

[16] Water: A Precious Resource

 World water day: 22 March.
 71% of earth’s surface is covered with water.
 Fresh water is only 0.006% of the total water present of earth.
 Water cycle: The natural cycle of evaporation of water & subsequent condensation & precipitation as
rain & snow.
 Water table: Underground surface below which the ground is wholly saturated with water.
 The process of seeping of water into the ground is called infiltration.
 Aquifer: The place where the ground water is stored b/w layers of hard rock below the water table. This
water is pumped out suing tube wells & handpumps.
 Ground water depletion:
o Ground water might not get replenished due to diverse reasons; scanty rainfall, increased
population, deforestation, industrialization, etc.
o Water hungry industries consume more water. Some industries pollute more water than they
consume.
o Increased population leads to more per person consumption of water. This leads to water scarcity.
The pressure of increasing population for increasing the food production leads to more consumption
of water.
o Less rainfall can result in crop failure which, in turn, can result in famine & mass migration.
 Distribution of water: The global & national distribution of water is highly uneven. It depends on a
number of factors like amount of rainfall, physiography, altitude, latitude, population distribution, etc.
 Plants tend to dry-up & ultimately die in absence of water in few days.
 Water management:
o Rainwater harvesting.
o Drip irrigation.
o Careful use of water.
o Water treatment.
 The watershed management near the village of Kothapallay has yielded dramatic result.

[17] Forest: Our Lifeline

 Forests serve as green lungs & water purifying system in nature.
 Trees from the uppermost layer of forest vegetation & shrubs form the lowermost layer.
 The branchy part of a tree above the stem is called the crown of the tree.
 The canopy is the roof-like structure of branches of the tall trees.
 The part of trees below the brachy part is called the understory.
 Microorganism & mushrooms feed upon dead plants & animal tissues & convert them into a dark
colored substance called humous.
 The microorganisms that convert dead plants & animals into humus are known as decomposers.
 Plants provide O2 to the animals through photosynthesis. This maintains the balance of O2 & CO2 in
the atmosphere.
 Forest provides food & shelter to animals. It provided humans with valuable natural resources.
 Forest influence climate, water cycle & air quality.
 The forest is a dynamic living entity – full of life & volatility.
 Problems caused by deforestation:
o The amount of CO2 in the atmosphere will increase which will result in global warming.
o Animals will lose their shelter & food.
o Soil will not be able to hold water. It will call floods & landslides.
o It will endanger our life & environment.
 Forest cover in India is about 21% of the total area.

[18] Waste Water Story

 Wastewater: Water mixed with waste & sometimes hazardous matter.
 Water, our lifeline:
o Clean drinkable water isn’t available to all.
o Over a billion people have no access to safe drinking water.
o People walk several kms to collect drinkable water.
o Causes of water scarcity: Increasing population, industrialization, mismanagement & other factors.
 o General assembly of UN had proclaimed the period 2005-2015 to be the international decade for
action on ‘water for life’.
o Water day: 22 March.
o Govts are trying many things to preserve water, but nothings positive is happing due to public
negligence.
 The process of removing of pollutants before water enters a water body or is reused is called cleaning
of water. The process of waste water treatment is commonly called sewage treatment.
 Sewage: Waste matter carried away in sewers or drains. It is a liquid waste & carrying harmful biotic &
chemical substances.
 Waste material suspended in sewage:
o Organic impurities: Human feces, animal waste, oil, urea (urine), pesticide, herbicide, fruit &
vegetable waste, etc.
o Inorganic impurities: Nitrates, phosphates, metals.
o Nutrients: Phosphorus & nitrogen.
o Bacteria: Vibrio cholera (causes cholera) & salmonella paratyphoid (causes typhoid).
o Other molecules: Protozoans (cause dysentery).
 Treatment of contaminated water:
o WWTP: Wastewater Treatment Plant.
o Step 1: Removal of rags, sticks, cans, plastic packets, napkins, etc., by passing the wastewater
through bar screens.
o Step 2: Grit & sand removal tank. The decreased speed of incoming wastewater allows sand, grit &
pebbles to settle down.
o Step 3: Water is allowed to settle in a large tank which slopes towards the middle. Solids like feces
settle at the bottom & are removed with a scraper. This semi-solid material is called sludge.
o Step 4: Sludge is transferred to a separate thank where it is decomposed by anaerobic bacteria. The
biogas produced in this process can be used as a fuel & can be used to produce electricity.
o Step 5: Air is pumped into the filtered water to help aerobic bacteria to grow. Bacteria consume
human waste, food waste, soaps & other unwanted matter still remaining in the clarified water.
o After several hours, the suspended microbes settle at the bottom of the tank as activated sludge.
o The activated sludge is 97% water. The water is removed by sand drying beds or machines.
o Dried sludge is used as manure, returning organic matter & nutrients to the soil.
o The clarified water is discharged into seas, rivers, or into the ground.
o Sometimes it is necessary to disinfect water with chlorine or ozone before discharging it.
 Eucalyptus trees absorb all surplus wastewater rapidly & release pure water vapor into the
atmosphere.
 GoI launched the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2016 to provide for proper sewage disposal & toilet to
everyone.
 Vermi-processing toilets:
o Treating human excreta with earthworms.
o Safe & hygienic.
o Consumes less water.
o Converting excreta into vermi cakes – a needed resource for soil.
 To improve sanitation, low-cost onsite sewage disposal systems are being encouraged. Eg, septic tanks,
chemical toilets, composting pits. Septic tanks are suitable for places where there is no sewerage
system. These systems can be used to produce biogas.
 Indus valley civilization had world’s first urban sanitation system.

Science-VIII
[1] Crop Production & Management
 Agricultural practices:
o It means cultivation & production of food crops.
 o Crop: Cultivation of plants of the same kind at one place on a large scale.
o Kharif crops: Grown in rainy season. June to September. Eg, paddy, maize, soyabean, groundnut &
cotton.
o Rabi crops: Winter season; October to March. Eg, wheat, gram, pea, mustard & linseed.
 Basic practices of crop production:
o Preparation of soil:
 Turning the soil & loosening it.
 It allows roots to penetrate deep into soil.
 Loose soil allows the roots to breathe.
 It helps in growth of earthworms & microbes; friends of farmers.
 Only few cms. Of top layer of soil supports plant growth.
 Soil is prepared by tilling or ploughing.
o Agricultural implements:
 Tools used in agriculture.
 Plough, hoe & cultivator.
o Sowing:
 Good quality & healthy seeds are selected.
 Seed drill: It’s used for sowing with the help of tractors.
o Adding Manure & Fertilizers:
 Manure: Decomposed organic manner. It provides humus to the soil & is prepared in fields. It
has relatively less nutritional value.
 Advantages of manure: Enhances soils capacity of holding water; it makes soil porous due to
which exchange of gases becomes easy; increases number of friendly microbes, improves soil
texture; environmentally friendly.
 Fertilizers: Non-organic; urea, phosphate, potash, NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium). If
used in excess, these cause pollution & environmental degradation.
 Continuous cultivation makes the soil poor in nutrients.
 They help to replenish the soil with nutrients.
 Fallow land: Uncultivated land.
 Crop rotation is very good for replenishing the soil with nutrients. Legumes should be planted
after every 2 or 3 crops.
 Rhizobium present in leguminous plants helps in fixing atmospheric nitrogen.
o Irrigation:
 Plant roots absorb water, nutrients & fertilizers.
 Plant contains nearly 90% water.
 Gemination of seed doesn’t take place under dry conditions.
 Supply of water to crops at regular intervals is called irrigation.
 Time & frequency of irrigation varies from soil to soil, crop to crop & season to season.
 Source of irrigation: Wells, tube-wells, ponds, lakes, rivers, dams, & canals.
 Traditional methods of irrigation: Moat (pulley-system), Chain pump, Dhekli & Rahat (bull
rotated wheel).
 Modern methods: Sprinkler system & drip irrigation.
o Protection from weeds:
 Removal of undesirable & harmful plants is called weeding.
 It’s done with khurpi.
 Weedicides: Chemicals used for weeding.
o Harvesting:
 Cutting of mature plants.
 It’s done with sickles or a machine called harvester.
 Threshing: Separation of seed from cut plants.
 Machine called ‘combine’ = harvester + thresher.
 Harvesting festivals: Pongal, Baishakhi, Holi, Diwali, Bihu & Nabanya.
 o Storage:
 Harvested grain has to be protected from moisture, insects, rats & microbes.
 Spoilt seeds are unfit for germination.
 Large scale storage of grains is done in silos & granaries.
 Dried neem leaves are used at home for protecting food grain at home.
 Food & animals:
o Rearing of animals in large scale for animal produces is called animal husbandry.

[2] Microorganisms: Friends & Enemies

 Tiny organisms that can’t be seen with naked eyes is called microorganism or microbes.
 Microbes:
o Classified in four major groups: Bacteria, Fungi, Protozoa & Algae.
o Viruses are microscopic, but different from microbes. They reproduce only inside the cell of their
hosts, which maybe a bacterium, plant or animal. The remain inactive, almost dead, until they enter
the body of their host.
o Dysentery & malaria are caused by protozoans.
o Typhoid & tuberculosis (TB) are bacterial diseases.
 Where to microbes live?
o They may be single-celled like algae or protozoans or multicellular like many algae & fungi.
o They can live even in extreme environmental conditions.
o They are also found inside the bodies of animals including humans.
 Friendly microbes:
o Used for making curd, breads, cake & alcohol.
o Bacterium help is cleaning the environment by decomposing organic was into humus.
o They increase soil fertility by fixing nitrogen.
o Making of curd: Lactobacillus, a bacterium.
o Bread: Yeast reproduces rapidly & produces CO2 during anaerobic respiration.
o Fermentation: Conversion of sugar into alcohol by yeast. Louis Pasteur discovered fermentation in
1857.
o Medicinal uses of microbes: Antibiotics are produced by using bacteria & fungi. Eg, streptomycin,
tetracycline & erythromycin.
o Alexander Fleming, in 1929, discovered that spores of little green mold in his culture plates was
killing bacteria. From this mold penicillin was created.
o Use of antibiotics in excess can kill the beneficial bacteria in the body. They don’t work on viruses.
o Vaccination: Immunogen consisting of a suspension of weakened or dead pathogenic cells injected
in order to stimulate the production of antibodies. This process is called vaccination.
o Edward Jenner discovered the vaccine for smallpox in 1798.
 Harmful microbes:
o Disease causing microbes are called pathogens.
o Communicable diseases.
o Beings carrying pathogens are called carriers.
o Anopheles mosquito: Carrier of malaria (Plasmodium).
o Female Aedes mosquito: Carrier of dengue virus.
o Mosquitos breed in water.
 Some human disease caused by microbes:
o Disease – Microbe – Mode of transmission.
o Tuberculosis – Bacteria – Air.
o Measles – Virus – Air.
o Chicken pox – Virus – Air/Contact.
o Polio – Virus – Air/Water.
o Cholera – Bacteria – Water/Food/
 o Typhoid – Bacteria – Water.
o Hepatitis A – Virus – Water.
o Malaria – Protozoa – Mosquito.
 Disease causing microbes in animals:
o Anthrax is dangerous for human & cattle.
o Bacillus anthracis, the bacterium causing anthrax disease was discovered by Robert Koch in 1876.
 Disease causing microbes in plants:
o Disease – Microbe – Mode of transmission.
o Citrus canker – Bacterium – Air.
o Rust of wheat – Fungus – Air/Seeds.
o Yellow vein mosaic of bhindi (Okra) – Virus – Insect.
 Food poisoning: Ingestion of contaminated food. These microbes produce toxic substances inside our
body. It can lead to death in severe cases.
 Food preservation:
o Substances called preservatives are used to check the growth of microbes in food items.
o Sodium benzoate & sodium metabisulphite are common preservatives.
o Salt is used to preserve dried meat or fish.
o Sugar reduced moisture content which inhibits the growth of bacteria which spoil food.
o Oil & vinegar: Bacteria can’t live is such environment.
o Heat & cold treatment: Milk is boiled then suddenly chilled & stored. It prevents growth of
microbes. This proves is called pasteurization, named after Louis Pasteur who discovered it.
o Storage & packing: Air-tight sealed packaging prevents food items from getting attacked by
microbes.
 Nitrogen fixation:
o Rhizobium lives in the root nodules of leguminous plants – symbiotic relationship.
o Lightening can fix nitrogen.
 Nitrogen cycle:
o Nitrogen forms 78% of atmosphere.
o Nitrogen is essential of all living organisms as part of proteins, chlorophyll, nucleic acids & vitamins.
o Nitrogen can’t be taken directly by plants & animals.
o Blue-green algae & bacterium present in soil fix the atmospheric nitrogen into its compound nitrate.
o Nitrate is used by plants for synthesis of plant protein & other compounds. These are taken by
animals that feed on plants.
o Bacteria present is soil convert nitrogenous wastes present in dead plants & animals into nitrate.
o Thus, the percentage of nitrogen remains more or less constant in the atmosphere.
 Bacteria have lived on earth for much longer than humans & in extreme conditions. There is probably
no environment in which bacteria can’t survive.

[3] Synthetic Fibers & Plastic

 Man-made fibers.
 Polymer:
o A synthetic fiber is a chain of small unit joined together.
o Many such units join together to form a polymer.
o Poly + mer = Many + Parts (in Greek).
o It’s made up of may repeating units
o Polymers do occur in nature. Cotton is a polymer called cellulose which is made up of a large
number of glucose units.
 Types of synthetic fibers:
o Rayon: Artificial silk.
 o Nylon: Discovered in 1931, it’s a strong, elastic, lustrous & easy to wash fiber. Parachutes &
climbing ropes are made up of it. It appears like silk.
o Polyester: It doesn’t get wrinkled easily, is crisp & easy to wash. Terylene is a popular polyester.
o PET (Polyethylene terephthalate), a form of polyester, is used for making bottles, utensils, films,
wires & many other useful products.
o Poly + ester: It’s made up of repeating units of a chemical called ester. Esters are chemical which
gives fruit their smell.
o Acrylic: Artificial wool.
o Synthetic fibers melt of burning is stick to our skin, unlike natural fibers.
o All synthetic fibers are prepared using raw materials of petroleum origin, called petrochemicals.
 Characteristics of synthetic fibers:
o Cheap, durable, readily available, easy to maintain & easy to dry.
 Plastic:
o It’s also a polymer like synthetic fibers.
o Its units can have linear of cross-linked arrangement.
o Its easily moldable.
o Polyethene = Poly + Ethene.
o Thermoplastics: They bend easily of heating. Eg, polythene & PVC.
o Thermosetting plastics: They aren’t softened by heating. Eg, Bakelite & Melamine.
o Bakelite is a poor conductor of heat & electricity. It’s used for making electric switches & handles of
utensils, etc.
o Melamine is versatile, heat tolerant & can resist fire. Thus, it used in kitchenware.
 Plastics as materials of choice:
o They don’t react with air or water.
o They don’t corrode easily.
o They are strong, light-weight & durable.
o They are poor conductor of heat & electricity.
o They are used in health-care industry.
o Plastic cookware are used in microwave ovens.
o Teflon is a special fiber on which oil & water don’t stick.
o Some plastics are fire-resistant.
 Plastic & the Environment:
o Bacteria can’t decompose plastics. Thus, they are non-biodegradable.
o It’s not eco-friendly.
o It releases poisonous fumes when it is burn & causes air pollution.
o Animals swallow plastic garbage which hurts their internal organs & can even choke them to death.
o Plastic garbage thrown here are there are responsible for clogging the drains.
o Micro-plastic is food chair causes deadly disease in animals & humans.
o The average person eats at least 50,000 particles of microplastic a year.
o Plastic came be recycled & reused.
 The 5-R principle: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover & Refuse.

[4] Materials: Metals & Non-Metals.

 Physical properties of metal & non-metal:
o The property of metals by which they can be beaten into thin sheets is called malleability. This
property is absent in non-metals.
o Non-metals are poor conductors of heat & electricity.
o The property of metal by which it can be drawn into wires is called ductility.
o Metals are sonorous, ie, they produce ringing sound when struck hard. This property is absent in
non-metals.
 o Non-metals are soft & dull in appearance. They break down into a powdery mass on tapping with a
hammer.
o Eg of metals: Iron, copper, aluminum, calcium, magnesium, etc.
o Eg of non-metals: Sulphur, carbon, oxygen, phosphorous, etc.
o Metals like sodium & potassium are soft & can be cut with a knife.
o Mercury is the only metal which is liquid at room temperature.
 Chemical properties of metals & non-metals:
o Reaction with oxygen & water:
 On burning metals react with oxygen & produce metal oxide which are basic in nature.
 Non-metals react with oxygen to produce non-metal oxide which are acidic in nature.
 Metals react with water to produce metal hydroxide & hydrogen gas.
 Generally, non-metals don’t react with water.
 Sodium metal is highly reactive with oxygen & water. It produces a lot of heat during this
reaction. Thus, it is kept under kerosine.
 Phosphorus is are very reactive non-metal & catches fire if exposed to air. To prevent its contact
with atmospheric O2, it is stored in water.
o Reaction with acids & base:
 Metals react with acids to produce hydrogen gas that burns with the pop sound.
 Copper doesn’t react with hydrochloric acid even on heating, but it does react with sulphuric
acid.
 Generally, non-metals don’t react with acids.
 Some metals do react with bases to produce hydrogen gas. Reactions on non-metals with bases
are complex.
 Displacement reaction: More reactive metals displace less reactive metals from their
compounds in aqueous solutions.
 Metals & non-metals are used widely every day.
 Uses of non-metals:
o All living beings inhale them during breathing.
o They are used in fertilizers.
o They are used in water purification process.
o They are used in the purple-colored solution which is applied on wounds as an antiseptic.
o They are used in fire crackers.
 Elements:
o New substances formed by chemical reactions are different from their parent substances.
o If substances can’t be broken down further by chemical reaction, cooling, heating or by electrolysis,
it is called elements.
o Sulphur & carbon are elements. The smallest unit of an element is an atom.
o There are no more than 84 naturally occurring elements.
o Elements are classified in terms of metals & non-metals.
o Most of elements are metals & remaining are either non-metals or metalloids.
o Metalloids possess character of both metals & non-metals.
[5] Coal & Petroleum
 Inexhaustible natural resources:
o Present in unlimited quantity is nature.
o Unlimited supply.
o Can’t be exhausted by humans.
o Eg, sunlight, air, water, etc.
 Exhaustible natural resources:
o Limited supply.
o Can be exhausted by humans.
o Eg, forest, minerals, coal, petroleum, natural gases, etc.
 Fossil fuels:
o Formed by dead remains of living organisms (fossils).
o These fuels can’t be produced in laboratories.
o Coal:
 Formed due to compression of prehistoric forests under the ground.
 It contains mainly carbon.
 It produces CO2 when burnt in air.
 It is processed to produce coke, coal tar & coal gas.
 Coke: Tough, porous & black substance. It’s almost a pure form of carbon. It’s used in
manufacture of steel & in extraction of many metals.
 Coal tar: A thick liquid with unpleasant smell & a mixture of about substances. Naphthalene
balls used to repel insects are obtained from it.
 These days, Bitumen, a petroleum produce, is used in place of coal-tar for metaling roads.
 Coal gas: It is obtained during the process of obtaining coke from coal. It was used for the first
time in London & New York for street lighting.
o Petroleum:
 Due to its commercial significance, it is called black gold.
 Petra (rock) + oleum (oil).
 Petrol & diesel are obtained from it.
 It was formed from prehistoric organism living in the sea.
 Their dead bodies were compressed underground in the presence of high temperature, high
pressure & absence of air.
 Thus, these dead organisms got transformed into petroleum & natural gases.
 These are present in pervious rock beds.
 Gas is found above the oil which is found above the water table.
 Worlds first oil well was drilled in Pennsylvania, USA, in 1859.
 First oil well in India was drilled at Makum in Assam in 1867.
 Refining petroleum: Petroleum refineries carry out the process of separating various
constituents/factors of petroleum.
 Hydrogen obtained from natural gas is used to produce fertilizers (urea).
 Petrochemicals are used to manufacture detergents, synthetic fibers, polythene & other plastics.
o Natural gases:
 It is stored under high-pressure as compressed natural gas (CNG).
 It’s a cleaner fuel.
 It can be supplied through pipeline.
 It’s used in making chemicals & fertilizers.
 Some natural resources are limited:
o Fossil fuel reserves will end in a few hundred years.
o Their burning causes air pollution which leads to global warming.
o Petroleum Conservation Association (PCRA).

[6] Combustion & Flame

 A chemical process in which a substance reacts with oxygen to give off heat is called combustion.
 The substance that undergoes combustion is called fuel.
 Light, either as a flame or a glow, is given off during combustion.
 Sunlight is produced by nuclear reactions.
 The lowest temperature at which a substance catches fire is called its ignition temperature. A
substance will not catch fire if its temperature is below its ignition temperature.
 More than 5,000 years ago small pieces of pinewood dipped in Sulphur were used at matches in ancient
Egypt.
 A mixture of antimony trisulphide, potassium chromate & white phosphorus with glue is applied to the
head of matchsticks. White phosphorus is hazardous thus, it’s not used these days.
 The substances which have very low ignition temperature & can easily catch fire with a flame are called
inflammable substance.
 Water reduces the temperature of fuel below its ignition temperature & water vapors cut the supply of
oxygen.
 Co2 is used in fire extinguishers as it prevents the air from reaching the fuel. Its heavier that O2 thus, it
sinks below it.
 Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) or potassium bicarbonate give of CO2 near the fire. Thus, these can
be improvised to stop fire.
 Types of combustion:
o Rapid combustion: Gases burn rapidly & produce heat & light.
o Spontaneous combustion: In this a material suddenly bursts into flames, without application of any
apparent cause. Eg, phosphorous, coal dust.
o Explosion: A large amount of gas is formed in the reaction is liberated.
 Flame:
o The substances which vaporize during the burning gives flames.
o Charcoal doesn’t vaporize & so, it doesn’t produce flame.
 Structure of flame:
o A flame has 3 different zones: Dark zone, luminous zone & non-luminous zone.
o Non-luminous of the flame has highest temperature.
o Goldsmiths blow the outermost zone of a flame with a metallic blow-pipe for melting gold & silver.
 What is a fuel?
o Sources of heat energy.
o A good fuel is cheap & readily available.
o Good fuels burn easily is air at a moderate rate & doesn’t leave behind any undesirable substances.
o Fuels differ in efficiency & cost.
o There is no fuel that can be considered an ideal fuel.
 Fuel efficiency:
o The amount of heat energy produced on complete combustion of 1KG of a fuel is called its calorific
value.
o The calorific value of a fuel is expressed in a unit called kilojoule per kg (kJ/kg).
 Burning of fuels leads to harmful products:
o Carbon fuels produce unburnt carbon particles. These fine pollutants cause respiratory diseases like
asthma.
o Incomplete combustion of these fuels produces carbon monoxide gas that is lethal for us.
o Combustion of most fuels produces carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that causes global warming.
o Global warming is the rise in temperature of the earth’s atmosphere. It results in melting of polar
glaciers & increase in sea-level.
o Industrial gas emission releases Sulphur dioxide. Oxides of Sulphur & nitrogen dissolve in rain water
to produce sulfuric acid & nitric acid (it’s used in fertilizers, explosives & rocket fuel).
o Burning of wood leads to deforestation which results in more CO2 in the atmosphere.
o CNG is replacing petrol & diesel as automobile fuel. It produces harmful substances in smaller
amount. Thus, CNG is a relatively cleaner fuel.

[9] Conservation of Plants & Animals

 The process of removal of trees is called deforestation.
 Deforestation & its causes:
o Procuring land for cultivation.
o Procuring wood or timber for buildings & furniture.
o Making of paper.
 o Procuring wood as a fuel.
o Increase in population.
o Clearing land for settlements.
 Consequences of deforestation:
o Increase in temperature.
o Increase in pollution level.
o Endangerment of fauna & fauna.
o Disruption in water cycle – draughts, floods & famine.
o Increases soil erosion.
o Reduces ground infiltration rate.
o Leads to desertification.
o Reduces soil fertility.
 Conservation of forest & wildlife:
o Biosphere: A part of earth in which living organisms exist or which supports life.
o Protected areas: Wildlife sanctuaries, national parks & biosphere reserves.
o Wildlife sanctuaries: Areas where animals are protected from any disturbance to them & their
habitat.
o National parks: Areas reserved for wildlife where they can freely use the habitat & natural
resources.
o Biosphere reserves: Areas for protected land for conservation of wildlife, plant & animal resources
& traditional life of tribals living in the area.
o The govt. lays down rules, methods & policies to protect & conserve them.
 Biosphere reserves:
o Areas meant for conservation of biodiversity.
o It maintains diversity & culture of a particular area.
o It may contain other protected areas in it.
o Pachmarhi biosphere reserve consists of one national park name Satpura & two wild life sanctuaries
name Bori & Pachmarhi.
 Flora & fauna:
o Plants & animals found in an area are called flora & fauna, respectively, of that particular area.
o Flora of Pachmari biosphere reserve: Sal, teak, mango, jamun, silver ferns, arjun, etc.
o Fauna of Pachmari biosphere reserve: Chinkara, blue-bull, giant squirrel, barking deer, cheetal,
leopard, wild dog, wolf, etc.
 Endemic species:
o Species that are found exclusively in a particular area.
o They aren’t found anywhere else.
o Species: A taxonomic group whose members can interbreed.
 Wildlife sanctuaries:
o Killing (poaching) & capturing of animals is strictly prohibited.
o Provides protection & suitable living conditions to wild animals.
o People living in such sanctuaries are allowed to exploit certain natural resources that they have
traditionally used since ancient times.
o Threatened animals: Black buck, white-eyed buck, elephant, golden cat, pink header duck, gharial,
marsh crocodile, python, rhinoceros, etc.
o Indian sanctuaries have unique landscapes: Broad level forests, mountains forests & bush lands in
deltas of big rivers.
 National Parks:
o Large & diverse enough to protect whole sets of ecosystems.
o They preserve flora, fauna, landscape & historic objects in an area.
 o Grazing, poaching, hunting, capturing of animal, collection of firewood & medicinal plants, etc, is
strictly prohibited.
o Satpura national park is the first reserve forest of India. The finest Indian teak is found here. It also
contains 55 prehistoric rock shelters where rock paintings have been discovered.
o Project tiger was launched by the govt. to protect tigers in the country. Eg, Satpura tiger reserve.
o Endangered animals: Animals that are facing the threat of extinction. Dinosaur & sabretooth tigers
have been long extinct.
 Ecosystem: It is made of all the plants, animals & microorganisms in an area along with non-living
components such as climate, soil, river deltas, etc.
 Red data book:
o A record of all endangered animals & plants maintained nationally & international by an
organization.
 Migration:
o During winter, the natural habitat of migratory birds become inhospitable.
o They fly from extremely cold polar regions to mild tropical regions during winter to lay eggs.
 Recycling paper:
o Paper can be recycled at least 5 to 7 times for use.
o Trees are cut to make paper & pencils.
o Many harmful chemicals are used in the process of papermaking.
 Reforestation:
o Planting of trees of deforested land area.
o This should be done using endemic plants.
o If the deforested areas are left undisturbed, it will naturally regrow itself without any human
support.
o Support of local people should be taken for reforestation. Integration of local communities will
result in change in their attitude & more effective preservation of forests at a local level.
o Communities dependent on forest should be educated on the benefits of reforestation.
o They should be given incentives to plant trees.
 India has more than half of world’s remaining tigers, 65% of Asian elephants, 85% of the great one-
horned rhinoceros & 100% of the Asian lions.
 Indian contains 172 species of animals considered globally threatened or 2.9% of world’s total number
of threatened species.
 Eastern Himalayan hotspot has merely 163 globally threatened species of flora & fauna.
 India contains some of Asia’s rarest animals – Bengal fox, Marbled cat, Asiatic loin, Indian elephant,
Asiatic wild ass, Indian rhinoceros, gaur, wild Asiatic buffalo, etc.

[8] Cell: Structure & Function

 Cell is the basic structural & functional unit of all organisms; they may exist as independent units of life
(as in monads) or may form colonies or tissues as in higher plants & animals.
 Discovery of cells: Robert Hooke discovered cells in a thine slice of cork using microscope in 1665. He
coined the term ‘cell’ for each of boxes that appeared to him.
 Number of cells:
 Unicellular organisms: Organisms having a single-celled body. Eg, amoeba, paramecium, etc.
 Multicellular organism: Organisms made of more than one cell. An organism with billions of cells
begins its life as a single cell which is fertilized in an egg.
 Tissue: Part of an organism consisting of an aggregate of cells having a similar structure & function.
 Shape of cells:
 The shape of an amoeba’s body is irregular. Amoeba moves using pseudopodia which are projection
protruding out of its body.
 A white blood cell (WBC) in humans is another example of a single cell which can change its shape,
but it’s not capable of independent existence like an amoeba.
  Red blood cells of humans are spherical.
 Muscle cells of humans are spindle shaped. They are pointed at both ends.
 Nervous cells are long & branched.
 Components of cells are enclosed in a membrane. In plants these membranes are enclosed by
additional cell walls. Bacterial cells also have such rigid cell walls.
 Size of cells:
 Cells come in various sizes.
 The smallest cell 0.1-0.5 micrometer is in bacteria.
 The largest cell measuring 170mm x 130mm is the egg of an ostrich.
 The size of a cell has no relation with the size of the body of its organism.
 Large animals have larger number of cells than smaller animals.
 Parts of cells:
 Cell membrane:
 Encloses cytoplasm & nucleus.
 It’s aka plasma membrane.
 It is porous & allows movement of substance & materials both inwards & outwards.
 It’s covered by a cell wall in plants. It is because plants are stationery & they are exposed to
hostile environmental conditions.
 Cytoplasm:
 The jelly-like substance present b/w cell membrane & nucleus.
 Organelles, components of cells, are present in it. These are mitochondria, Golgi bodies,
ribosomes, etc.
 Tiny blank-looking structures in the cytoplasm are called vacuoles. Plant cells have larger
vacuoles than animal cells.
 Plant cells have colored bodies called plastids in the cytoplasm of their leaf cells. These plastids
contain chloroplasts where chlorophyll is stored.
 Nucleus:
 The nucleus in the dense round thing in the center of the cell.
 It is surrounded by a nucleus membrane. It is porous & allows exchange of materials b/w
nucleus & cytoplasm.
 A smaller spherical body in the nucleus is called nucleolus.
 Nucleus contains thread like structure called Chromosomes that contain genes. Chromosomes
can be seen only when a cell divides.
 It acts as the control center of activities in cell.
 The entire content of a living cells is known as protoplasm. It is called the living substance of the
cell.
 Organism without cells with nuclear membrane have prokaryotic cells & are called prokaryotes.
 Organism with cells with well-define nuclear membrane are eukaryotic.
 Pro means primitive. Eu means true. Karyon mean nucleus.
 Cells in the outermost layer of our skin are dead. An average adult carries about 2 kg of dead skin. Our
body changes billions of skin cells every day.

[9] Reproduction in Animals

 Reproduction is essential for the continuation of a species.
 Modes of reproduction: Sexual & asexual.
 Sexual reproduction:
o The fusion of male & female gametes.
o Male reproductive organs:
 Two sperm ducts, called testes, & a penis.
 Testes (singular, testis) produce male gametes called sperms.
 Sperm has three parts: A head, a middle part & a long tail.
 o Female reproductive organs:
 Two ovaries, two oviducts (fallopian tubes) & a uterus.
 Ovaries produce female gamete called ova (eggs).
 A single egg is released into the oviduct by one of the ovaries every month.
 Development of the baby takes place in the uterus.
 Like sperm, an egg is also a single cell.
 Ostrich egg is the largest.
o Fertilization:
 The fusion of the sperm & the ovum.
 During this process nuclei of the sperm & the ovum fuse to produce a single nucleus.
 This results in the formation of a fertilized egg or zygote.
 When it takes place inside the female body it is called internal fertilization. It takes place in
hens too because fertilization takes place inside the bodies of female hens after which they lay
eggs.
 When it takes place outside the female body, usually in water, it’s called external fertilization.
Eg, aquatic animals, frog. The female produces a large number of eggs, out of which only a
small number get fertilized by the male.
 IVF (In Vitro Fertilization): It takes place outside the body. The fusion takes place outside & the
zygote is place in the uterus of the female. Such babies are called test-tube babies, but it
doesn’t mean that they develop inside test-tubes.
o Development of embryo:
 Zygote multiplies & form a ball of cells.
 When this wall develops different tissues & organs of the body, it is called an embryo.
 The embryo gets embedded in the wall of the uterus for further development.
 The stage of embryo in which all body parts can be identified is called fetus.
 When the fetus develops complete, the mother gives birth to the baby.
o Viviparous & oviparous animals:
 Animals which give birth to young ones are called viviparous animals.
 Animals which lay eggs are called oviparous animals.
 From young ones to adults:
o Life cycle of silk worm: Egg > larva or caterpillar > pupa > adult.
o Life cycle of frog: Egg > tadpole (larva) > adult.
o The transformation of the larva into an adult through drastic changes is called metamorphosis.
 Asexual reproduction:
o The type of reproduction in which a single parent is involved is called asexual reproduction.
o Eg, budding in hydra, binary fusion in amoeba.
o The nucleus of the amoeba divides into two parts. This is followed by division of its body into two,
each part receiving a nucleus.
 Cloning:
o Dolly was the first mammal to be cloned successfully by Ian Wilmut & his colleagues at the Roslin
Institute in Edinburgh, Scotland, in July 1996.
o They nucleus of Fin Dorsett sheep was implanted into the egg of Scottish blackface ewe.
o Dolly was absolutely identical to Fin Dorsett ewe.
o Cloning efforts after Dolly weren’t successful.
o Either cloned animals were defective or they died withing a short period of time.
 Reproduction in honey bees:
o Only the queen bee lays eggs.
o Fertilized eggs become female bees, while unfertilized eggs become males.
o Other females are worker bees. They build the hive, look after the young & feed the queen bee.
o Male bees are called drones. Their job is to maintain the temperature of the hive at around 35°C.
[10] Reaching the Age of Adolescence
 Adolescence & puberty:
o The period of life, when the body undergoes changes, leading to reproductive maturity is called
adolescence.
o It lasts from 13 to 18/19 years. Thus, adolescents are called teenagers.
o During this period human body goes through several changes.
o Puberty ends when the subject reached reproductive maturity.
 Changes during puberty:
o Increase in height:
 Girls grow faster at initial stage of puberty, but boys outgrow them in the last stage of puberty.
 Growth might be sudden or gradual.
o Change in body shape:
 Broadening of shoulders in boys.
 Widening of wait & hip is girls.
o Voice change:
 Boys develop voice box or larynx during puberty. The protruding part of their throats is called
Adam’s apple. They develop low-pitched voice.
 Female voice remains same throughout the puberty. There is not much change.
o Increased activities of swear & sebaceous glands:
 The secretion of sweat glands & oil glands increases.
 People develop acne & pimple of their faces.
o Development of sex organs:
 Males develop testes & penis. Sperm production increases.
 Female ovaries enlarge & eggs began to mature. Ovaries start releasing mature eggs.
o Reaching mental, intellectual & emotional maturity:
 This seems to be a myth.
 Secondary sexual characters:
o Changes that occur during the puberty are controlled by hormones.
o Hormones are chemicals secreted by endocrine glands or endocrine system.
 Role of hormones in initial reproductive function:
o Hormones from pituitary stimulate testes & ovaries to release testosterone in males & estrogen in
females.
o These are released in the blood stream & reach parts of the body (target sites).
o They stimulate changes in the body at the onset of puberty.
 Reproductive phase of life:
o Testes are capable of producing throughout the life time of males.
o Females stop producing eggs at 45 to 50 years of age; menopause.
o One ovum matures & is released by one of the ovaries once in about 28 to 30 days.
o During this period, uterus becomes thick to receive eggs which, if fertilized, begins to develop –
resulting in pregnancy.
o If fertilization doesn’t occur, the egg is released & the thickened lining of the uterus along with its
blood vessel shed off. This causes bleeding in women which is called menstruation.
o The first menstruation at the beginning of puberty is called menarche.
 Determination of the sex of baby:
o Chromosomes: A threadlike strand of DNA in the cell nucleus that carries the genes in a linear
order.
o Humans have 22 chromosome pairs plus two sex chromosomes, named X & Y.
o A female has two X chromosomes.
o A male has one X & one Y chromosome.
o The unfertilized egg always has one X chromosome.
o Sperms are of two kinds: one has X chromosome & one has Y chromosome.
 o Sex of the unborn child depends on whether the zygote has XX or XY chromosomes.
 Other hormones:
o Metamorphosis in insects in controlled by insect hormones.
o In frogs, it is controlled by thyroxin. Tadpoles can’t grow if water is deficient in iodine.

[11] Force & Pressure

 In science, a push or pull on an object is called a force.
 A force arises due to the interaction b/w two objects.
 Force has magnitude as well as direction.
 The strength of a force is usually expressed by its magnitude.
 If two forces act in opposite directions on an object, the net force acting on it is the difference b/w the
two forces.
 If force applied on the object is in the direction of its motion, the speed of the object increases.
 If the force is applied in the direction opposite to the direction of motion, then it results in a decrease in
the speed of the object.
 The state of motion of an object is described by its speed & the direction of motion. At the state of rest
the speed of motion is zero.
 Force applied on an object may change its shape.
 The force resulting due to the action of muscles is called muscular force.
 Since muscular force can be applied when it is in contact with an object, it is also called a contact force.
 Friction: The resistance encountered when one body is moved in contact with another. It is always
opposite to the direction of motion.
 The force exerted, without any contact, by a magnet is an example noncontact force.
 The force exerted by a charged body on another charged or uncharged body is known as electrostatic
force. It is also a noncontact force.
 The force of attraction b/w all masses in the universe; especially the attraction of the earth's mass for
bodies near its surface is called gravitational force.
 Pressure: The force applied to a unit area of surface; measured in pascals (SI unit) or in dynes (cgs unit).
Pressure = Force/Area on which it acts.
 Fluids, air & water, exert pressure on the walls of their container.
 Atmospheric pressure:
o The pressure exerted by the atmosphere.
o The rubber sucker sticks to the surface because the pressure of atmosphere acts on it.
o Otto von Guericke, a German scientist of 17th century, joined two hollow metallic hemispheres &
pumped air out of them. Even the force applied by 8 horses on each hemisphere in opposite
direction was not able to pull them apart.

[12] Friction
 The force of friction always opposes the applied force.
 Spring balance is a device used to measure the force acting on an object. The reading on the scale gives
the magnitude of the force.
 Fraction is cause by the irregularities of two surface.
 Force of friction is greater is rough surfaces than smoother ones. It is caused by interlocking of
irregularities in the two surfaces. It can be increasing by making surface rough.
 It depends on how hard the two surfaces are pressed together.
 Static friction comes into play when we try to move an object at rest.
 Rolling friction comes into play when an object is sliding over another. It is smaller than static friction.
 It can be reduced by using lubricant that is a substance capable of reducing friction by making surfaces
smooth or slippery.
 Bearings containing small metal balls or ball bearings are used to reduce friction in machines.
 Fluid, air or water, friction can be reduced by giving suitable shape to the bodies in fluids.
 Objects lose energy in overcoming the friction exerted by fluids.
 The frictional force exerted by fluids is also called drag.

[13] Sound
 Sound: Mechanical vibrations transmitted by an elastic medium.
 Fro or back & forth motion of an object is called vibration.
 Sound produced by humans:
o The sound is produced by voice box or larynx.
o Voice box is the upper end of the windpipe.
o When lungs force air through the slit, the vocal cords vibrate, producing sound.
o The vocal of is 20 mm long in men & 15 mm long in women.
 The sound can’t travel through a vacuum.
 Ears:
o It is funnel shaped.
o Sounds enters it through a canal at the end of which there is a thin & rubber-like stretched
membrane called eardrum.
o Sound vibration make the eardrum vibrate.
o The eardrum sent vibration to the inner ear from where the signal goes to the brain & we hear the
sound.
 Back & forth motion of an object is called vibration which is an oscillatory motion.
 The number of oscillations per second is called the frequency of oscillation. Frequency is expressed in
hertz (Hz).
 Amplitude & frequency are two important features of the sound.
 Amplitude: It is proportional to the square of the amplitude of the vibration producing the sound. If the
amplitude becomes twice, the loudness increases by four (square of two).
 The loudness of the sound is expressed in decibel (dB). Above 80 dB the noise becomes physically
painful.
 The frequency determines the shrillness or pitch of the sound. High frequency vibrations produce a
shriller or high-pitched voice.
 Audible frequency range of human ears is roughly from 20 to 20,000 Hz. Dogs can hear frequencies
above 20.000 Hz.
 Unpleasant sounds are called noise; pleasant sounds are called musical sounds.
 Noise pollution can cause:
o Lack of sleep.
o Hypertension (high blood pressure).
o Anxiety.
o Hearing impairment.
o Depression.
o Anger.
 At Golconda fort, near Hyderabad, a clap at the gate could be heard a kilometer away.
 Reverberation: Fill for a short time with sound & echoes.

[14] Chemical Effects of Electric Current

 Some liquids are good conductors of electricity & some are poor conductors.
 Most liquids that conduct electricity are solutions of acids, bases & salts.
 The passage of an electric current through a conducting liquid causes chemical reactions. The resulting
effects are called chemical effects of currents.
 The process of depositing a layer of any desired metal on another material, by means of electricity, is
called electroplating.
 William Nicholson, in 1815, showed that if electrodes were immersed in water & a current was passed,
bubbles of oxygen & hydrogen were produced. O2 bubbles were formed on the positive terminal &
hydrogen bubbles were formed at the negative terminal.

[15] Some Natural Phenomena

 Lightning:
o Benjamin Franklin, an America scientist, showed that lightning & the spark from your clothes are
essentially the same phenomena.
o Some objects can be charged by rubbing.
o There are two kinds of charges: negative & positive.
o It is a convention to call the charge acquired by a glass rod when it is rubbed with silk as positive.
The other kind of charge is said to be negative.
o Like charges repel & unlike charges attract each other.
o The electric charged produced by rubbing are called static charges.
o When charges move, they constitute a current.
o An electroscope may be used to detect whether a body is charged or not.
o The process of transferring of charge from a charged object to the earth is called earthing.
 Formation of lightning:
o During thunderstorms, the air currents move upward while the water droplets move downwards.
o This vigorous movement causes separation of charges.
o The positive charges collect near the upper edges of the cloud & the negative charges accumulate
near the lower edges.
o There is accumulation of positive charge near the ground too.
o When these accumulated charges become large, the air is no longer able to resist their flow.
o Negative & positive charges meet, producing streaks of lightning & sound.
o This process is called an electric discharge.
o Lightning conductor is a metal rode with its one end above the roof of the building & another end
buried under the ground. It provides an easy route for the transfer of electric charge to the ground.
 Earthquakes:
o An earthquake is a sudden shaking or trembling of the earth.
o Earthquake is caused by a disturbance deep inside the earth’s crust.
o It is not possible to predict the occurrence of an earthquake.
o Earthquakes tend to occur at the boundaries of earth’s plates. These boundaries are known as
seismic or fault zones.
o Seismic waves produced by tremors is measured by a device called seismograph.
o Destructive energy of an earthquake is measured on the Richter scale.
o The earthquake measuring 7 or more on Richter scale can cause severe damage to life & property.
o Like decibel scale, Richter scale is not linear. Thus, an increase of 2 in magnitude means 1000 times
more destructive energy.
o Uri & Tangdhar earthquake: 8 October 2005.
o Bhuj earthquake, Gujarat: 26 January 2001.
o Indian ocean Tsunami: 26 December 2004.
[16] Light
 Light is reflected from all surfaces.
 Regular reflection takes place when light is incident on smooth, polished & regular surfaces.
 Diffused or irregular reflection takes place from rough surfaces.
 Two laws of reflection are:
o The angle of incidence is always equal to the angle or reflection.
o The incident ray, the normal at the point of incidence & the reflected ray all lie in the same plane.
 The light ray, which strikes any surface, is called the incident ray.
 The ray that comes back from the surface after reflection is known as the reflected ray.
 The ray forming a right-angle b/w the two rays is called normal to the reflecting surface.
 The angle b/w the normal & the incident ray is called the angle of incidence (i).
 The angel b/w the normal & the reflected ray is called the angle of reflection (r).
 Lateral inversion: Image formed by a mirror shows left side of the object on the right side.
 Nearly everything we see around is due to reflected right.
 An optical toy in a tube; it produces symmetrical patterns as bits of coloured glass are reflected by
mirrors is called kaleidoscope.
 Splitting of the white light into its original colours is called dispersion of light. Rainbow is a natural
phenomenon showing dispersion.
 Human eyes:
o It’s roughly spherical in shape.
o The outer coat of the eye is white.
o Its transparent front part is called cornea.
o Behind cornea, we find a dark muscular structure called iris.
o In iris there is a small opening called pupil.
o The size of the pupil is controlled by the iris.
o Behind pupil of the eye is a concave lens.
o The lens focuses light on the back of the eye on a layer called retina.
o Retina contains several nervous cells. The sensations felt there is transmitted to the brain through
the optical cell.
o There are two kinds of cells:
 Cones: Sensitive to bright light.
 Rods: Sensitive to dim light.
o At the junction of optic nerves & the retina, there are no sensory cells, so no vision is possible at that
spot. This is called the blind spot.
o The impression of an image doesn’t vanish immediately from the retina. It persists there for about
1/16th of a second.
o So, if still images are flashed on the eyes at a rate faster than 16 per second, then the eyes perceive
this object as moving.
 Louis Braille: French educator who lost his sight at the age of three & who invented a system of writing
& printing for sightless people (1809-1852). His system containing 63 dot patterns or characters was
adopted in 1932.
 Some visually impaired individuals with great achievements:
o Diwakar – Child prodigy & a singer.
o Ravindra Jain – A lyricist. He obtained Sangeet Prabhakar degree from Allahabad.
o Lal Advani – He represented India in Braille problems in UNESCO. He setup an association for
special education rehabilitation of disabled in India.
o Helen A. Keller – An America author & lecturer. She wrote ‘The Story of my Life’ in 1903.
 A person can pledge his eyes to any registered eye bank.

[17] Stars & Solar System

 Entities appearing in sky are called celestial objects.
 The study of celestial objects is called astronomy.
 The various shapes of the bright part of the moon as seen during a month are called phases of the
moon.
 Buddha Purnima & Guru Nanak Jayanti are celebrated on full moon days.
 The time period b/w one full moon & the next full moon is 29 days.
 The moon completes once rotation on its axis as it completes one revolution around the earth.
 Neil Armstrong (USA) landed on Moon on July 21, 1969. He was followed by Edwin Aldrin.
 Stars:
o Made up of gases.
 o Emit their own light.
o Sun is also a star.
o The nearest star is Proxima Centuari.
o The speed of light is 300,000 Km per second.
 The earth rotates on its axis from west to east.
 The stars forming a group that has a recognizable shape is called a constellation. Eg, Ursa Major (aka
Big Dipper or The Great bear of the Sapta Rishi), Orion (or the Hunter), Cassiopeia (shaped like
distorted W or M), Leo Major, etc.
 Sirius, the brightest star, can be located by drawing a straight line passing through the middle star of
the Orion.
 A planet has a definite path, called orbit, in which it revolves around the sun.
 Venus (Shukra) is also called a morning or an evening star. It is the brightest planet of the night sky.
 Mars has two natural satellites.
 India’s first Mars orbiter mission: Mangalyaan; launched on November 5, 2013. It was placed
successfully into an orbit of Mars on Sep, 24, 2014.
 Jupiter is 318 times the size of earth. 1300 earths can be placed into it. It is the largest planet of the
solar system.
 Like Venus, Uranus also rotates from east to west.
 Uranus has so highly tilted rotational axis that it appears rolling to its side.
 Any of numerous small celestial bodies composed of rock & metal that move around the sun (mainly
b/w the orbits of Mars & Jupiter) is called an asteroid.
 A relatively small extraterrestrial body consisting of a frozen mass that travels around the sun in a
highly elliptical orbit is called a comet.
 Halley’s comet appears after every 76 years. It was last seen in 1986.
 A streak of light in the sky at night that results when a meteoroid hits the earth's atmosphere & air
friction causes the meteoroid to melt, vaporize or explode is called meteor. They burn on entering
earth’s atmosphere due to friction.
 Stony or metallic object that is the remains of a meteoroid that has reached the earth's surface is called
a meteorite.
 Aryabhata was the first Indian artificial satellite. Some other Indian satellites are INSAT, IRS, Kalpana-
1, EDUSAT, etc.
 Nicolaus Copernicus, a Polish priest & astronomer, proposed heliocentric model of the solar system in
16th century.
 Galileo designed his telescope in 1609.
 Kalpana Chawla of Karnal in Haryana was first woman astronaut of India origin. She & her 7
crewmates died in Feb, 2003, in Columbia space shuttle crash.

[18] Pollution of Air & Water

 Air pollution is the contamination of air by impurities which may have a harmful impact on the living
organisms & the non-living components.
 Pollutants are the substances which contaminate air & water.
 Carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide, methane & sulphur dioxide are the major pollutants
of air.
 Increasing levels of greenhouse gases like CO2 are leading to global warming.
 Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), used in refrigerators, air conditioners & aerosols sprays, are damaging
ozone layer in the atmosphere.
 Water pollution is the contamination of water by substances harmful to life.
 Sewage, agricultural chemicals & industrial waste are some of the major contaminants of water.
 Water which is purified & fit for drinking is known as potable water.
 25% of world’s population is without safe drinking water.
 Hot water can also be a pollutant. It can kill aquatic organisms.
 Ganga Action plan was launched in 1985.
 National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) was launched in 2016.

Class-IX
[1] MATTER IN OUR SURROUNDINGS
 Everything in this universe is made up of material we call matters.
 Matters occupy space & they have mass & volume.
 The SI unit of mass is kilogram (kg).
 The SI unit of volume is cubic metre (m³).
 The common unite of measuring volume is llitre (L) such that 1L = 1 dm3, 1L = 1000 mL, 1 mL = 1 cm3.
 Physical nature of matter:
o Matter is made up of particles that are so small that they can’t be seen with naked eyes.
o Particles of matter have space b/w them.
o Particles of matter are continuously moving, the possess kinetic energy which increases with the
increase in temperature.
o The intermixing of particles of two different types of matter on their own is called diffusion.
o Particles of matter attract each other.
 State of matter:
o Solids:
 They have definite shape, distinct boundaries & fixed volume.
 They have a tendency to maintain their shape when subjected to outside force.
 They may break under force, but it is difficult to change their shape; they are rigid.
o Liquids:
 They have no fixed shape, but have fixed volume.
 They take the shape of their container.
 They can flow & change their shape; they are not rigid, but can be called fluid.
 Atmospheric gases dissolve in water.
 O2 & CO2 are crucial for survival of aquatic flora & fauna.
 The diffusion rate of liquids in higher than solids.
 Their particles move freely & contains more space b/w them than solids.
o Gases:
 They become liquids when compressed under intense pressure.
 Compressed gases: Liquified petroleum gas (LPG), liquid O2 in oxygen cylinders, CNG, etc.
 Their particles move about randomly in very high speed & have larger space b/w them.
 The diffusion rate of gases is significantly higher.
 Food particles mix with air & the aroma of the food reaches our nose.
 They exert pressure on the walls of their container.
 Effect of temperature on the state of matter:
o Increase in the temperature of solids increases the kinetic energy of the particles.
o This increases kinetic energy makes the particles vibrate with great speed.
o The energy supplied by heat overcomes the force of attraction b/w the particles & they start moving
more freely.
o After reaching their melting points the solids start to melt & they convert to liquids.
o The melting point of ice is 273.15 K.
o The process of melting that changes solids state in liquid state is called fusion.
o Kelvin is the SI unit of temperature. 0°C = 273 K.
o The heat that gets used up in changing the state by over coming the force of attraction b/w the
particles is absorbed by the solid without showing any rise in temperature. This heat is called latent
heat.
 o Particles in water at 0°C have more energy as compared to particles in ice at the same temperature.
o The temperature at which a liquid starts boiling is know as its boiling point. For water it is 100°C or
373 K.
o Particles in steam have more energy than water at 373 K because water vapours have extra energy
in the form of latent heat.
o A change of state directly from solid to gas without changing into liquid state is called sublimation
& the direct change of gas to solid without changing into liquid is called deposition.
 Effect of change in pressure of the state of matter:
o Applying pressure & reducing temperature can liquify gases.
o Solid CO2, aka dry ice, gets converted directly to gaseous state on decrease of pressure to 1
atmosphere without becoming liquid.
o Pressure & temperature determine the state of all three types of matter.
o Atmosphere (atm) is the unit of measuring pressure exerted by a gas. The unit of pressure of Pascal
(Pa): 1 atms = 1.01 x 10⁵ Pa.
 Evaporation:
o A small fraction of particles at the surface of liquids, having higher kinetic energy, is able to break
away from the forces of attraction of other particles & gets converted into vapour.
o An increase in surface areas increase the rate of evaporation.
o An increase in temperature increases the kinetic energy of particles to become vapours.
o A decrease in humidity makes it possible for the air to carry more moisture. Thus, the rate of
evaporation increases.
o An increase in wind speed decreases the humidity. Thus, the air becomes capable of sustaining
more moisture at a given temperature.
 Cooling effect of evaporation:
o The particles of liquid absorb energy from their surroundings to regain the energy lost during the
evaporation.
o This absorption of energy from the surroundings makes the surroundings cooler.
o Acetone (nail polish remover) particles regain energy from your palm or surroundings & evaporate
carousing your palm to feel cool.
o The latent heat of vaporisation of water helps to cool the hot surface.
 Why do we wear cotton clothes in summer?
o We perspire more in summer because of the cooling mechanism of our body.
o The liquid absorbs the heat from our skin & evaporates. Thus, it makes us feel cold.
o Cotton is a good absorber of water & helps in absorbing the sweat & exposing it to the atmosphere
for easy evaporation.
 Plasma:
o A 4th state of matter.
o The state consists of super energetic & super exited particles.
o These particles are in the form of ionized gases.
o The fluorescent tube & neon sign bulbs consist of plasma.
o Inside a neon sign bulb there in neon gas & inside tube & inside a fluorescent tube there is helium
gas or some other gas.
o The gas gets ionized, that is, gets charged when electrical energy flows through it.
o The charging up creates a plasma glowing inside the tube or bulb.
o The plasma glows with a special colour depending on the nature of gas.
o It is present is stars & fusion reactors.
o A gas becomes a plasma when it is heated until the atoms lose all their electrons, leaving a highly
electrified collection of nuclei & free electrons.
 Bose-Einstein condensate:
o Satyendra Nath Bose did some calculation for the 5th state of matter.
 o Building on his calculations, Albert Einstein predicted a new state of matter – the Bose-Einstein
Condensate (BEC).
o 2001, Eric A. Cornell, Wolfgang Ketterle & Carl E. Wieman of USA received the Nobel prize in physics
for achieving Bose-Einstein condensation.
o The BEC is formed by cooling a gas of extremely low density, about one-hundred-thousandth the
density of normal air, to super low temperatures.

[2] IS MATTER AROUND US PURE?

 Mixtures are constituted by more than one kind of pure form of matter.
 Sodium chloride is a pure substance & can’t be separated by physical process into its chemical
constituents.
 Sugar is a substance which contains only one kind of pure matter.
 Types of mixture:
o Homogenous mixtures:
 They have a uniform composition throughout.
o Heterogenous mixtures:
 They contain physically distinct parts & have non-uniform compositions.
 Solution: A solution is a homogenous mixture of two or more substances. A solution has a solvent & a
solute as its component.
 The component of the solution that dissolves the other component in it (usually the component present
is large amount) is called the solvent.
 The component of solution that is dissolved in the solvent (usually present is lesser quantity) is called
the solute.
 Properties of a solution:
o A homogenous mixture.
o Particles are so small that can’t be seen with naked yes.
o Particles are so small that they don’t scatter a beam of light passing through the solution. Thus, the
path of light is not visible in the solution.
o The solute particles can’t be separated from the mixture by the process of filtration.
o The solute particles don’t settle down when left undisturbed, ie, a solution is stable.
 Concentration of a solution:
o At any particular temperature, a solution that has dissolved as much solute as it is capable of
dissolving, is called a saturated solution. It can dissolve no more solute at a given temperature.
o The amount of the solute present in the saturated solution at this given temperature is called its
solubility.
o If the amount of solute contained in a solution is less than the saturation level, it is called an
unsaturated solution.
o Different substances in a given solvent have different solubilities at the same temperature.
o The concentration of a solution is the amount (mass or volume) of solute present in a given amount
(mass or volume) of solution.
 Suspension: A suspension is a heterogeneous mixture in which the solute particles don’t dissolve, but
remain suspended throughout the bulk of the medium.
 Properties of a suspension:
o A heterogenous mixture.
o Particles can be seen with naked eyes.
o Particles of suspension scatter a beam of light passing through it & makes its path visible.
o The solute particles settle down when a suspension is left undisturbed, ie, it is unstable.
o Particles can be separated by the process of filtration.
o When the particles settle down, the suspension breaks & it doesn’t scatter light anymore.
 Colloidal solution:
o The particles of a colloid or colloidal solution are uniformly spread throughout the solution.
 o Due to the relatively smaller size of particles, as compared to that of a suspension, the mixture
appears to be homogeneous. These particles can’t be seen with naked eyes.
o But actually, it is a heterogenous mixture, eg, milk.
o The scattering of bean by such solutions is called Tyndall effect named after John Tyndall.
o This effect is also observed when a fine beam of light enters a room through a small hole. This
happens due to the scattering of light by the particles of dust & smoke in the air.
o It can be observed when sunlight passes through the canopy of a dense forest.
o They don’t settle down when left undisturbed, ie, a colloid is quite stable.
o Colloids can’t be separated from the mixture by the process of filtration, but can be by
centrifugation.
o They can be solids, liquids or gases.
 Alloys: Alloys are mixtures of two or more metals or a metal & a non-metal & can’t be separated into
their components by physical methods. Brass is an alloy of approximately 30% zinc & 70% copper.
 Separating the components of a mixture:
o Obtaining coloured component (dye) from blue/black ink: We can separate the volatile component
(solvent) from its non-volatile solute by the method of evaporation.
o Separation of cream from milk: The process of separating substances of different densities by the
use of a centrifuge. Denser particles settle at the bottom & light particles stay at the top.
o Application of centrifugation:
 Urine & blood tests.
 Separation of butter from cream.
 Squeezing out water from wet clothes in washing machines.
o Separation of a mixture to two immiscible liquids: Immiscible liquids separate out in layers
depending on their densities.
o Separation of salt from camphor: To separate a mixture that contains a subliminal volatile
component from a non-subliminal impurity, the sublimation process is used.
o Solids which sublime are ammonium chloride, naphthalene & anthracene.
o Separation of a mixture of two or more colours: The process of separation of colours is called
chromatography. It is the technique used for separation of those solutes that dissolve in the same
solvent.
o Application of chromatography:
 To separate colours in dye.
 To separate pigments from natural colours.
 To separate drugs from blood.
o Separation of a mixture of two miscible liquids:
 Distillation is used for separation of a mixture containing two miscible liquids that boil without
decomposition & have sufficient difference in their boiling points.
 The process of purifying a liquid by boiling it & condensing its vapours is called distillation.
 The difference of boiling points b/w the two miscible liquids shouldn’t be less than 25 K.
o Separation of gases from air:
 Air is a homogenous mixture & can be separated into its components by fractional distillation.
 First air is compressed by increasing pressure & cooled by decreasing temperature.
 This liquid air is warmed up slowly in a fractional distillation column, where gases get separated
at different heights depending upon their boiling points.
o Obtaining pure copper sulphate from an impure sample:
 The crystallization method is used to purify solids.
 It’s better than simple evaporation as it doesn’t decompose or contaminate solids.
o Application of crystallization:
 Purification of salt that we get from oceans.
 Separation of crystal of alum(fitkari) from impure samples.
 One the basis of their chemical composition, pure substances can be classified either as elements or
compounds.
 Elements:
o Robert Boyle was the first scientist to use the term element in 1661.
o Antonine Lauren Lavoisier (French) was the first to established an experimentally useful definition
of an element.
o He defined an element as a basic form of matter that can’t be broken down into simpler substances
by chemical reaction.
o Elements are normally divided into metals, non-metals & metalloids.
o Mercury & bromine are only elements that are liquid at room temperature.
o Elements, gallium & caesium become liquid at a temperature slightly above room temperature (303
K).
 Compounds:
o A compound is a substance composed of two or more elements, chemically combined with one
another in a fixed proportion.
o Hydrogen is a colourless, odourless & combustible gas.
o Hydrogen sulphide is colourless gas with the smell of rotten eggs.
 Mixture v/s compound:
o No new compound is formed in mixtures. But elements react to form new compounds.
o A mixture has a variable composition. But a compound has a fixed composition.
o Mixtures shows properties of the constituent substance. But compounds have totally different
properties.
o The constituents of a mixture can be separated easily by physical methods. But the constituents of a
compound can be separated only by chemical or electrochemical reactions.

[3] ATOMS & MOLECULES

 Kanad developed the idea of divisibility of matter around 500 BC.
 Pakudha Katayama elaborated Kanad’s doctrine & said that these particles normally exist in combined
form which gives us various forms of matter.
 Democritus & Leucippus developed the idea of atomicity in ancient Greece.
 Democritus gave the name of atoms (indivisible) to the indivisible particles.
 Antoine Lavoisier laid the foundation of chemical science by establishing two important laws of
chemical combination:
 Laws of chemical combination:
o These were established after experimentations by Lavoisier & Joseph Proust.
o Law of conservation of mass:
 It states that mass can neither be created nor be destroyed in a chemical reaction.
o Laws of constant or definite proportions:
 This law was stated by Proust as “In a chemical substance the elements are always present in
definite proportions by mass”.
 John Dalton’s atomic theory:
o The adopted the name ‘atom’ that was used by ancient Greek philosophers to denote the smallest
indivisible particle.
o This theory was based on the laws of chemical combination.
o According to this theory:
 Atoms are indivisible & they can’t be destroyed or created.
 Atoms of a given element are identical in mass & chemical properties:
 Atoms of different elements differ in mass & chemical properties.
 Atoms combine in the ration of small whole numbers to form compounds.
 The relative number & kinds of atoms are constant in a given compound.
 Atomic radius is measured in nanometres.
 Dalton was the first scientist to use symbols for elements in a very specific sense.
 Berzelius suggested that the symbols of elements be made from one or two letters of the name of the
element.
 IUPAC (International Union of Pure & Applied Chemistry) is an international scientific organisation
which approves names of elements, symbols & units.
 The first letter of a symbol is always written as a capital letter (uppercase) & the second letter as a small
letter (lowercase).
 Atomic mass:
o The mass of an atom of a chemical element expressed in atomic mass units.
o The most remarkable concept of Dalton’s atomic theory.
o It is written a ‘u’ – unified mass, according to IUPAC’s recommendations.
o Scientists use the relative atomic mass scale to compare the masses of different atoms of elements.
o Atoms of carbon-12 isotopes are assigned a relative atomic mass of 12 & the relative masses of all
other atoms are obtained by comparison with the mass of a carbon-12 atom.
 Symbols of some elements: Aluminium: Al; Argon: Ar; Barium: Ba; Boron: B; Bromine: Br; Calcium: Ca;
Carbon: C; Chlorine: Cl; Cobalt: Co; Copper: Cu; Fluorine: F; Gold: Au; Hydrogen: H; Iodine: I; Iron: Fe;
Lead: Pb; Magnesium: Mg; Neon: Ne; Nitrogen: N; Oxygen: O; Potassium: K; Silicon: Si; Silver: Ag;
Sodium: Na; Sulphur: S; Uranium: U; Zinc: Zn.
 Atoms of most elements aren’t able to exist independently. Atoms form molecules & ion.
 Molecules:
o A group of two or more atoms that are chemically bonded together, ie, held together by attractive
forces.
o The smallest particle of an element or a compound that is capable of an independent existence &
show all the properties of that substance.
o The number of atoms constituting a molecule is known as its atomicity.
o Atomicity of some elements: Argon & Helium are monoatomic. Oxygen, Hydrogen, Nitrogen &
Chlorine are diatomic. Phosphorus is tetratomic & Sulphur is polyatomic.
o Molecules of some compounds:
 Water (H2O): Hydrogen & Oxygen (1:8).
 Ammonia (NH3): Nitrogen & Hydrogen (14:3).
 Carbon dioxide (CO2): Carbon & Oxygen (3:8).
 Ion:
o Compounds composed of metals & non-metals contain charged species.
o The charges species are known as ions.
o A negatively charge ion is called an anion.
o A positively charged ion is called cation.
o Sodium chloride (NaCl) contains particles of positively charged sodium ions (Na+) & negatively
charged chloride ions (Cl-).
o A group of atoms carrying a charge is know as a polyatomic ion.
o Some ionic compounds:
 Calcium oxide: Calcium & Oxygen (5:2).
 Magnesium sulphide: Magnesium & Sulphur (3:4).
 Sodium Chloride: Sodium & Chlorine (23:35.5).
 The combining power (or capacity) of an element is known as its valency. It can be thought of as hands
or arms of that atom.
 Some metallic ions: Sodium (Na+), Potassium (K+), Silver (Ag+), Copper (I) (Cu+), Magnesium (Mg²+),
Calcium (Ca²+), Zinc (Zn²+), Iron (II) (Fe²+), Copper (II) (Cu²+), Iron (III) (Fe³+).
 Some non-metallic ions: Hydrogen (H+), Hydride (H-), Chloride (CI-), Bromine (Br-), Iodine (I-), Oxide
(O²-) Sulphide (S²-).
 Some polyatomic ions: Ammonium (NH4+), Hydroxide (OH-), Nitrate (NO3-), Hydrogen carbonate
(HCO3-), Carbonate (CO3²-), Sulphite (SO3²-), Sulphate (SO4²-), Phosphate (PO4³-).
 Molecular mass: The molecular mass of a substance is the sum of the atomic masses of all the atoms in
a molecule of the substance. It is the relative mass of molecule expressed in atomic mass units (u).
 Formula unit mass: It is the sum of the atomic masses of all atoms in a formula unit compound.
 Mole concept: The mole is the amount of substance of a system that contains 6.02214076 × 10²³
specified elementary entities.
 Mole (mol) is the SI unit of amount of substance. The word ‘mole’ was introduced around 1896 by
Wilhelm Ostwald. It means heap or pile in Latin.
 The Avogadro constant 6.022 × 10²³ is defined as the number of atoms in exactly 12 g of carbon-12.
 Mass of 1 mole of a substance is called its molar mass.
 Avogadro constant or Avogadro number was named in honour of Italian scientist, Amedeo Avogadro.

[4] STRUCTURE OF THE ATOM

 Thomson’s model of an atom:
o JJ Thompson – He won Nobel prize in Physics in 1906.
o The Christmas pudding model.
o He proposed that: An atom consists of a positively charged sphere & the electrons are embedded in
it; & the negative & positive charges are equal in magnitude, So, the atom as a whole is electrically
neutral.
 Rutherford’s model of an atom:
o Ernest Rutherford – He got the Nobel prize in chemistry in 1908 – The father of nuclear physics.
o He passed fast moving alpha fast moving alpha (a) particles through a thin gold foil.
o He proposed that:
 Atoms have a positively charged centre called nucleus which contains nearly all the mass of an
atom.
 The electrons revolve around the nucleus in circular paths.
 The size of the nucleus is very smalls.
o This model failed to explain the stability of the atoms.
 Bohr’s model of an atom:
o Neil Bohr – He won Nobel prize for his work on the structure of atom in 1922.
o His books: The Theory of Spectra & Atomic Constitution, (ii) Atomic Theory and, (iii) The Description
of Nature.
o He proposed that:
 Only certain special orbits know as discrete orbits of electrons, are allowed inside the atom.
 While revolving in discrete orbits the electrons do not radiate energy.
o These orbits or shells are called energy levels.
o These orbits or shells are represented by the letter K, L, M, N,….. or the numbers, n=1, 2, 3, 4,…..
 Neutron:
o J Chadwick discovered another subatomic particle which had no charge & a mass nearly equal
to that of a proton.
o It was eventually named neutron.
o Neutrons (n) are present in all atoms, except Hydrogen.
 Distribution of electrons in different orbits (shells) of an atom:
o It was suggested by Bohr & Bury.
o The maximum number of electrons present in a shell is given by the formula 2n²; where n is the
orbit or energy level index.
o The maximum number of electrons that can be accommodated in the outermost shell is 8.
o Electrons are not accommodated in a given shell, unless the inner shells are filled. That is, the shells
are filled in a step-wise manner.
 Valency: The electrons present in the outermost shell of an atom are known as valence electrons.
 Atomic number: The total number of protons present in the nucleus of an atom.
 Protons & neutrons are called nucleons since they are present in the nucleus of an atom.
 Mass number: The sum of the total number of protons & neutrons that are present in the nucleus of an
atom. It’s denoted by A.
 Isotopes:
o The atoms of the same element, having the same atomic number, but different mass number.
o Three isotopes of hydrogen atom are protium, deuterium & tritium.
o Each isotope of an element is a pure substance.
o The chemical properties of isotopes are similar, but their physical properties are different.
o Chlorine occurs in nature in two isotopic forms, with masses 35 u & 37 u in the ration 3:1.
 Applications of isotopes:
o An isotope of uranium is used as a fuel in nuclear reactors.
o An isotope of cobalt is used in the treatment of cancer.
o An isotope of iodine is used in the treatment of goitre.
 Isobars: Atoms of different elements with different atomic numbers, but the same mass number.

[5] THE FUNDAMENTAL UNIT OF LIFE

 Robert Hooke discovered cells in 1665 with the help of a primitive microscope.
 Leeuwenhoek discovered, with the help of improved microscope, free living cells in pond water for the
first time in 1674.
 Robert Brown discovered nucleus in the cell in 1831.
 Purkinje, in 1839, coined the term protoplasm for the fluid substance of the cell.
 The cell theory was proposed by Schleiden (1838) & Schwann (1839).
 Virchow (1855) suggested that all cells arise from pre-existing cells.
 Electron microscope was discovered in 1940.
 Unicellular organisms: Amoeba, Chlamydomonas, Paramecium & bacteria.
 Multicellular organisms: Some fungi, plants & animals.
 Plasma membrane or cell membrane:
o Selectively permeable membrane.
o The outermost lining of cells.
o Allows entry & exit of substance in & out of the cell.
o It prevents movement of some other materials.
o Some substances like CO2 & O2 can move across the cell membrane by a process called diffusion.
There is spontaneous movement of a substance from a region of high concentration to a region of
low concentration.
o Water also obeys the rule of diffusion. The movement of water through the cell membrane is called
osmosis.
o It is flexible & made of organic molecules called lipids & proteins.
o Amoeba acquires its food through the process of endocytosis.
 What will happen if we put an animal cell or a plant cell into a solution of sugar or salt.
o Hypotonic solution: If the medium surrounding the cell has a higher water concentration than the
cell, ie, the outside solution is very dilute the cell will gain water by osmosis. The cell is likely to swell
up.
o Isotonic solution: If the concentration of water in the solution is same as the cell, then there will be
no movement of water across the cell membrane. The cell will stay the same size.
o Hypertonic solution: When the solution has more water concentration than the cell, the cell will
lose water by osmosis. The cell will shrink in size.
 Cell wall:
o In plants, the plasma membrane is covered by a cell wall made up of cellulose.
o The movement of water in an out of plant cells is called plasmolysis.
o Fungi & bacteria also have cell walls.
 Nucleus:
 o It has a double-layered covering called the nucleus membrane that contains pores which allow the
transfer of materials to & from the cytoplasm.
o Nucleus contains thread-like structures called chromosomes.
o Chromosomes contain DNA (Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid). Genes are the functional segments of DNA.
o Some undefined nuclear regions containing only nucleic acids are called nucleoids.
 Cytoplasm:
o Fluid inside the cell membrane.
o It contains specialized cell organelles that perform specific functions for the cell.
o Prokaryotes lack well-define nucleus & cell organelles, but eukaryotes don’t.
o Viruses lack membranes & remain inactive until they enter a living body & use its cell machinery to
multiply.
 Cell organelles:
o Endoplasmic reticulum (ER):
o A large network of membrane-bound tubes & sheets.
o Its structure is similar to the plasma membrane.
o ER is of two types: Rough ER (RER) & Smooth ER (SER).
o RER looks, with ribosomes attached to its surface, looks rough under microscope.
o Ribosomes are the sites of protein manufacture.
o SER helps in the manufacturing of fat molecules or lipids that are important for cell function.
o Proteins & lipids help in building the cell membrane; membrane biogenesis.
o In liver cells of vertebrates, the SER plays a crucial role in detoxifying many poisons & drugs.
 Golgi apparatus:
o It was discovered by Camillo Golgi using the method known as the black reaction.
o It consists of membrane-bound vesicles (flattened sacs) arranged in stacks called cisterns.
o Its function is storage, modification & packaging of products in vesicles.
o It is also involved in the formation of lysosomes.
 Lysosomes:
o Membrane-bound sacs filled with digestive enzymes.
o These enzymes are made by RER.
o Lysosomes help to keep the cell clean by digesting any foreign material as well as worn-out cell
organelles.
o They may burst & the enzymes digest their own cell. Thus, these are called suicide bags of a cell.
 Mitochondria:
o Powerhouse of the cell.
o Covered by two membered. The outer one is porous & the inner one id deeply folded.
o These folds increase the surface area of ATP-generating chemical generation.
o The energy in the form of ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) molecules is released by the mitochondria.
o ATP is known as the energy currency of the cell.
o Mitochondria have their own DNA & ribosomes. They are also able to make some of their own
proteins.
 Plastids:
o These are present only in the plant cells.
o Two types: chromoplast (coloured) & leucoplast (white).
o Chlorophyll containing chromoplast are called chloroplasts that contain numerous membrane layers
embedded in a material called the stroma.
 Vacuoles:
o Storage sacs for solid or liquid content.
o Small in animal cells; large in plant cells.
o They provide turgidity & rigidity to the cell.
o Amino acids, sugars & various organic acids & some proteins are stored in plant cells’ vacuoles.
 o Amoeba takes its food using food vacuoles.
 Cell division:
o The process in which new cells are made.
o Old & injured cells have to be replaced.
o Growth of organisms require formation of new cells.
o The process of cell division by which most of cells divide for growth is called mitosis. Each mother
cell divides itself into two daughter cells containing same number of chromosomes.
o Meiosis: Cell division that produces reproductive cells in sexually reproducing organisms; the
nucleus divides into four nuclei each containing half the chromosome number (leading to gametes
in animals & spores in plants).

[6] TISSUES
 A group of cells that are similar in structure & work together to achieve a particular function forms a
tissue.
 Blood, phloem & muscles are examples of tissues.
 Plants are stationary, so they have large number of supportive tissues in the form of dead cells.
 Plant tissues:
o Meristem tissues:
 The growth of plants occurs only in specific regions because meristematic tissue (divide tissues)
is located at these points.
 Depending on the region where they are present, meristematic tissues are classified as apical,
lateral & intercalary.
 Apical meristem: It is present at the growing tips of stems & roots & increases the length of the
stem & the root.
 Lateral meristem: It increases the length of stem or root. It’s also known as cambium.
 Intercalary meristem: It’s located in some plants near the node.
 Cells of meristematic tissues are very active, they have dense cytoplasm, thin cellulose walls &
prominent. They lack food vacuoles.
o Permanent tissues:
 They have specific roles & lose the ability to divide.
o Simple permanent tissues:
 A few layers of cell beneath the epidermis. Parenchyma is the most common simple permanent
tissue that consists of relatively unspecialized living cells with thin cell walls. It stores food.
 If it contains chlorophyll & performs photosynthesis, then it is called chlorenchyma.
 Large air cavities are present in parenchyma of aquatic animals to help them float. Such a
parenchyma is called aerenchyma.
 The flexibility of plants is due to another permanent tissue called collenchyma.
 Another permanent tissue, sclerenchyma, makes the plant & hard. The husk of coconut is made
up of sclerenchymatous tissue. The cells of this tissue are dead & there is no internal space b/w
them.
 The outmost layer of cells is called epidermis. It’s made of a single layer of cells. Most epidermal
cells are relatively flat.
 Epidermis of leaves have tiny pores called stomata that are enclosed by two kidney-shaped
guard cells. Transpiration takes place through these cells.
 Epidermis of desert plant secretes a thick waxy coating of cutin, a chemical substance with
waterproof quality.
 Cells of cork are dead. They have a substance called suberin in their walls that makes them
impervious to gases & water.
o Complex permanent tissues:
 These tissues are made up of more than one type of cells.
 Xylem consists of tracheids, vessels, xylem parenchyma & xylem fibres.
  Phloem is made up of sieve cells, sieve tubes, companion cells, phloem fibres & the phloem
parenchyma. Except phloem fibres, other cells are living.
 Animal tissues:
o Epithelial tissues:
 The covering or protective tissues in the animal body.
 Epithelium covers most organs & cavities within the body.
 Epithelial tissue cells are tightly packed & form a continuous sheet.
 Squamous epithelial (scales of skin): Oesophagus, lining of blood vessels or lung alveoli.
 Stratified squamous epithelium: The skin that protects our body is arranges in many layers to
prevent wear & tear.
 Long (columnar) epithelial cells: Inner lining of intestines, respiratory tract (cilia).
 Cuboidal epithelium: Kidney tubes & ducts of salivary glands.
o Connective tissues:
 Blood is a type of collective tissue.
 Tissues loosely space & embedded in an intercellular matrix which may be jelly-like, fluid, dense
or rigid.
 Bone is another example of connective tissue.
 Bone cells are composed of calcium & phosphorus compounds.
 Two bones can be connected to each other by an elastic ligament.
 Tendons, fibrous tissues, connect muscle to bones & are another type of connective tissue.
 Cartilage, another collective tissues, is present at joints, nose, ears, trachea & larynx.
 Areolar connective tissue is found b/w the skin & muscle, around blood vessels & nerves & in the
bone marrow.
 Fat-storing adipose tissue is found below the skin b/w internal organs. The cells of this tissue
are filled with fat globules.
o Muscular tissue:
 It consists of elongated cells, aka muscle fibres.
 This tissue is responsible for the movement of our body.
 Muscles contain special proteins called contractile proteins, which contracts & relax to cause
movement.
 Voluntary muscles are also called skeleton muscles & straited muscles. The cells of this tissue
are long, cylindrical, unbranded & multinucleate.
 Smooth muscles or involuntary muscles control unconscious movements. The cells are long with
pointed ends (spindle-shaped) & uninucleate. They are also called untreated muscle. Cells of
cardiac muscle are cylindrical, branded & uninucleate.
o Nervous tissue:
 Specialized for being stimulated.
 They transmit the stimulus from one place to another within the body.
 The cells of this tissue are called nerve cells or neurons. An individual neuron may be a metre
long.
 Each neuron has a single long part called axon which is connect to the cell body that contains
nucleus & dendrites. Root-like nerve ending at the end of axon.
 The signal that passes along the nerve fibre is called a nerve impulse.

[7] DIVERSITY IN LIVING ORGANISMS

 Greek thinker Aristotle classified animals according to whether they lived on land, water or in the air.
 Charles Darwin first described the idea of evolution in 1859 in his boon, ‘The Origin of Species’.
 Biodiversity means the diversity of life forms. It is a world commonly used to refer to the variety of life
forms found in a particular region.
 Earnest Haeckel (1894), Robert Whittaker (1969) & Carl Woese (1977) have tried to classify all living
organisms into broad categories, called kingdoms.
 Whittaker proposed five kingdoms: Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae & Animalia.
 Woese divided the Monera into Archaebacteria (Archaea) & Eubacteria (Bacteria).
 Kingdom > Phylum (animals)/Division (plants) > Class > Order > Family > Genus > Species.
 Monera:
o No defined nucleus or organelles.
o Autotrophic or heterotrophic.
o Eg, Bacteria, blue-green algae or cyanobacteria & mycoplasma.
 Protista:
o Unicellular eukaryotic animals.
o Use of cilia or whip-like flagella for moving around.
o Autotrophs or heterotrophs.
o Eg, Algae, diatoms & protozoans.
 Fungi:
o Heterotrophic eukaryotic organism.
o Saprotrophs: They feed on decaying matter.
o Parasites: They feed on living protoplasm of a host organism.
o They become multicellular at certain stage in their lives.
o Their cells walls are made of a tough complex sugar called chitin.
o Symbiotic life forms: Lichen; grow on bark of trees.
 Plantae:
o Multicellular eukaryotes with cell walls.
o Autotrophs.
o Incudes all plants.
 Animalia:
o Multicellular eukaryotes without cell walls.
o Heterotrophs.
 Classification of Plantae kingdom:
o Thallophyta:
 No well-differentiated body.
 Plants called algae.
 Predominantly aquatic.
 Eg, Spirogyra, Ulothrix, Cladophora, Ulva & Chara.
o Bryophyta:
 The amphibians of plant kingdom.
 Differentiated body with stems & leaf-like structures.
 No specialized tissued for conduction of water & other material.
 Eg, moss (Funaria) & Marchantia.
o Pteridophyta:
 Plant body is differentiated into roots, stems & leaves.
 Specialized tissues from conduction of water & other substances
 Eg, Marsilea, ferns & horse-tails.
 Cryptogams; because reproductive organs are hidden.
 Parts that make seeds are called phanerogams
 These are further classified into two groups on the basis of whether seeds are naked or enclosed
in fruits.
o Gymnosperms:
 Gymo means naked; & sperm means seed.
 Perennial, evergreen & woody plants.
 Eg, pines & deodar.
o Angiosperms:
 Angio means covered & sperm means seed.
 These are also called flowering plants.
  Seed develop inside food.
 Plant embryos in seed have structure called cotyledons, aka seed leaves, that become active
when seeds germinate.
 Plants with seeds having a single cotyledon are called monocotyledonous or monocots. Those
with two cotyledons are called dicots.
 Classification of Animalia kingdom:
o Porifera:
 It means organisms with holes.
 Non-motile animals attached to some solid support.
 They have holes on their bodies.
 Canal system for circulation of water, food & oxygen.
 Hard exoskeleton.
 Minimal differentiation & division into tissues.
 They are commonly called sponges & are mainly found in marine habitats.
o Coelenterata (Cnidaria):
 These animals live in water.
 More body differentiation.
 There is a cavity in the body.
 Body is made up of two layers of cells: inner & outer.
 Eg, corals, hydra, jellyfish & sea anemones.
o Platyhelminthes:
 Complex body design.
 Bilaterally symmetrical.
 Three layers of cells; differentiated tissues.
 Some degree of tissue formation.
 No true internal body cavity or coelom in which well-developed organs can be accommodated.
 Body is flattened dorsoventrally (from top to bottom; that’s why they are called parasitic.
 Eg, Free-living organism like planarians or parasitic organism like liver-flukes.
o Nematoda:
 Bilaterally symmetrical & triploblastic.
 Cylindrical bodies.
 There are tissues, but nor real organs.
 A sort of body cavity or a pseudo-coelom.
 Eg, parasitic worms causing elephantiasis (filarial worms) & intestinal worms (roundworm or
pinworms).
o Annelida:
 Bilaterally symmetrical & triploblastic.
 A true body cavity containing true organs.
 Extensive organ differentiation in segmental fashion.
 Eg, leeches & earthworms.
o Arthropoda:
 The largest group of animals.
 Bilaterally symmetrical & segmented.
 Open circulatory system; no well-define blood vessels.
 The coelomic cavity is blood-filled.
 The have joined legs (arthropods means jointed legs).
 Eg, pawns, butterflies, houseflies, spiders, scorpions & carbs.
o Mollusca:
 Bilateral symmetry.
 The coelomic cavity is reduced.
 There is little segmentation.
 Open circulatory system & kidney-like organs for excretion.
  Eg, snails, octopus & mussels.
o Echinodermata:
 Echinos means hedgehog (spiny mammal) & derma means skin.
 Free-living marine animals.
 Triploblastic & a coelomic cavity.
 Use of water-driven tube system to mover around.
 Hard calcium carbonate exoskeleton.
 Eg, sea-stars & sea urchins.
o Protochordata:
 Bilaterally symmetrical, triploblastic & have a coelom.
 Notochord: A long rod-like support structure that runs along the back of the animal separating
the nervous tissue from the gut. It provides space to attach for ease of movement.
 Strictly marine animals.
 Eg, Balanoglossus, Herdmania & Amphioxus.
o Vertebrata:
 True vertebrate column & internal skeleton.
 Have a notochord.
 Have a dorsal nerve cord.
 Are triploblastic.
 Have paired gill pouches.
 Are coelomate.
 Classification of Vertebrata:
o Cyclostoma:
 Jawless vertebrates.
 Elongated eel-like body, circular mouth, slimy skin & are scaleless.
 They are ectoparasites or borers of other vertebrates.
 Eg, Petromyzon (Lamprey) & Myxine (Hagfish).
o Pisces:
 Fishes.
 Exclusively aquatic animals.
 Streamlined body.
 Scales on skins.
 Cold-blooded.
 Two-chambered hearts.
 They lay eggs.
o Amphibia:
 They lack scales & have mucus glans in the skin.
 Three-chambered heart.
 Breathe through gills, lungs or skin.
 They lay eggs in water
 Eg, frogs, toads & salamanders.
o Reptilia:
 Cold-blooded.
 Scaled body.
 Breathe through lungs.
 Most of them have three-chambered heart, but crocodiles have four-chambered heart.
 They don’t lake eggs in water.
 Eg, turtles, lizards & crocodiles.
o Aves:
 Warm-blooded animals & have a four-chambered heart.
 Bodies are covered with feathers.
 They lay egg.
  Lungs to breathe.
 Eg, Birds.
o Mammalia:
 Warm-blooded animals with four-chambered hearts.
 Mammary glands for milk production.
 Hairy skin.
 Sweat & oil glands.
 The give birth to offspring, but platypus & echidna lay eggs. Kangaroo give birth to poorly
developed offspring.
 Nomenclature:
o The system of scientific naming was introduced by Carlos Linnaeus.
o Scientific names are used in Latin form.
o Certain conventions are followed while writing the scientific names:
o The name of the genus begins with a capital letter.
o The name of the species begins with a small letter.
o When printed, the scientific name is given in italics.
o When written by hand, the genus name & the species name have to be underlined separately.

[8] MOTION
 Motion is a change of position; it can be described in terms of the distance moved or the displacement.
 The shortest distance measured from the initial to the final position of an object is known as the displacement.
 The motion of an object could be uniform or non-uniform depending on whether its velocity is constant or
changing.
 Uniform motion: An object cover equal distance in equal interval of time.
 The SI unit of speed is metre per second.
 The speed (v) of an object is the distance covered (s) per unit time (t).
 Velocity is the speed of an object moving in a definite direction. The velocity of an object can be uniform or
variable. Average velocity is the average of initial & final velocity.
 Speed & velocity have the same unit.
 The acceleration of an object is the change in velocity per unit time.
 Uniform & non-uniform motions of objects can be shown through graphs.
 The motion of an object moving at uniform acceleration can be described with the help of the following equations,
namely
v = u + at
s = ut + ½ at2
2as = v2 – u2
where u is initial velocity of the object, which moves with uniform acceleration a for time t, v is its final velocity &
s is the distance it travelled in time t.
 If an object moves in a circular path with uniform speed, its motion is called uniform circular motion.

[9] FORCE & LAWS OF MOTION

 First law of motion: An object continues to be in a state of rest or of uniform motion along a straight line unless
acted upon by an unbalanced force.
 The natural tendency of objects to resist a change in their state of rest or of uniform motion is called inertia.
 The mass of an object is a measure of its inertia. Its SI unit is kilogram (kg).
 Force of friction always opposes motion of objects.
 Second law of motion: The rate of change of momentum of an object is proportional to the applied unbalanced
force in the direction of the force.
 The SI unit of force is kg m s–2. This is also known as newton & represented by the symbol N. A force of one
newton produces an acceleration of 1 m s–2 on an object of mass 1 kg.
 The momentum of an object is the product of its mass & velocity & has the same direction as that of the velocity.
Its SI unit is kg m s–1.
 Third law of motion: To every action, there is an equal & opposite reaction & they act on two different bodies.
 In an isolated system (where there is no external force), the total momentum remains conserved.
[10] GRAVITATION
 The law of gravitation states that the force of attraction b/w any two objects is proportional to the
product of their masses & inversely proportional to the square of the distance b/w them. The law
applies to objects anywhere in the universe. Such a law is said to be universal.
 Gravitation is a weak force unless large masses are involved.
 The force of gravity decreases with altitude. It also varies on the surface of the earth, decreasing from
poles to the equator.
 The weight of a body is the force with which the earth attracts it.
 The weight is equal to the product of mass & acceleration due to gravity. F = m x g.
 The weight may vary from place to place but the mass stays constant.
 The thrust on unit areas is called pressure. Pressure = Thrust/Area.
 All objects experience a force of buoyancy when they are immersed in a fluid.
 Objects having density less than that of the liquid in which they are immersed, float on the surface of
the liquid. If the density of the object is more than the density of the liquid in which it is immersed then
it sinks in the liquid.

[11] WORK & ENERGY

 Work done on an object is defined as the magnitude of the force multiplied by the distance moved by
the object in the direction of the applied force. The unit of work is joule: 1 joule = 1 newton × 1 metre.
 Work done on an object by a force would be zero if the displacement of the object is zero.
 An object having capability to do work is said to possess energy. Energy has the same unit as that of
work.
 An object in motion possesses what is known as the kinetic energy of the object. An object of mass, m
moving with velocity v has a kinetic energy of 1/2mv².
 The energy possessed by a body due to its change in position or shape is called the potential energy.
The gravitational potential energy of an object of mass, m raised through a height, h from the earth’s
surface is given by m g h.
 According to the law of conservation of energy, energy can only be transformed from one form to
another; it can neither be created nor destroyed. The total energy before & after the transformation
always remains constant.
 Energy exists in nature in several forms such as kinetic energy, potential energy, heat energy, chemical
energy etc.
 The sum of the kinetic & potential energies of an object is called its mechanical energy.
 Power is defined as the rate of doing work. The SI unit of power is watt. 1 W = 1 J/s.
 The energy used in one hour at the rate of 1kW is called 1 kW h.

[12] SOUND
 Sound is produced due to vibration of different objects.
 Sound travels as a longitudinal wave through a material medium.
 Sound travels as successive compressions (C) & rarefactions (R) in the medium.
 In sound propagation, it is the energy of the sound that travels & not the particles of the medium.
 Sound cannot travel in vacuum.
 The change in density from one maximum value to the minimum value & again to the maximum value
makes one complete oscillation.
 The distance b/w two consecutive compressions or two consecutive rarefactions is called the
wavelength, λ. The SI unit of wavelength is meter.
 The time taken by the wave for one complete oscillation of the density or pressure of the medium is
called the time period, T.
 The number of complete oscillations per unit time is called the frequency (n). The SI unit of frequency is
hertz.
 The speed v, frequency n, & wavelength l, of sound are related by the equation, v = ln.
 The speed of sound depends primarily on the nature & the temperature of the transmitting medium.
 The law of reflection of sound states that the directions in which the sound is incident & reflected make
equal angles with the normal to the reflecting surface at the point of incidence & the three lie in the
same plane.
 For hearing a distinct sound, the time interval b/w the original sound & the reflected one must be at
least 0.1 s.
 The persistence of sound in an auditorium is the result of repeated reflections of sound & is called
reverberation.
 Sound properties such as pitch, loudness & quality are determined by the corresponding wave
properties.
 Loudness is a physiological response of the ear to the intensity of sound.
 The amount of sound energy passing each second through unit area is called the intensity of sound.
 The audible range of hearing for average human beings is in the frequency range of 20 Hz – 20 kHz.
 Sound waves with frequencies below the audible range are termed “infrasonic” & those above the
audible range are termed “ultrasonic”.
 Ultrasound has many medical & industrial applications.
 The SONAR (Sound Navigation & Ranging) technique is used to determine the depth of the sea & to
locate under water hills, valleys, submarines, icebergs, sunken ships etc.

[13] WHY DO WE FALL ILL?

 Robin Warren & Barry Marshal won a Nobel Prize for physiology & medicine 2005 in relation to peptic
ulcer.
 Edward Jenner developed a vaccine for smallpox. He deliberately gave cowpox (vaccinia) to people in
order to make them resistant to smallpox.
 Health is a state of physical, mental & social well-being.
 The health of an individual is dependent on his/her physical surroundings & his/her economic status.
 Diseases are classified as acute or chronic, depending on their duration.
 Disease may be due to infectious or non-infectious causes.
 Infectious agents belong to different categories of organisms & may be unicellular & microscopic or
multicellular.
 The category to which a disease-causing organism belongs decides the type of treatment.
 Infectious agents are spread through air, water, physical contact or vectors.
 Prevention of disease is more desirable than its successful treatment.
 Infectious diseases can be prevented by public health hygiene measures that reduce exposure to
infectious agents.
 Infectious diseases can also be prevented by using immunisation.
 Effective prevention of infectious diseases in the community requires that everyone should have access
to public hygiene & immunisation.

[14] NATURAL RESOURCES

 Life on Earth depends on resources like soil, water & air, & energy from the Sun.
 Uneven heating of air over land & water-bodies causes winds.
 Evaporation of water from water-bodies & subsequent condensation give us rain.
 Rainfall patterns depend on the prevailing wind patterns in an area.
 Various nutrients are used again & again in a cyclic fashion. This leads to a certain balance b/w the
various components of the biosphere.
 Water cycle:
o The whole process in which water evaporates & falls on the land as rain & later flows back into the
seas via rivers is know as the water cycle.
 Nitrogen cycle:
o Nitrogen makes up 78% of our atmosphere.
 o It’s a part of proteins, nucleic acids & some vitamins.
o It’s found in alkaloids & urea too.
o Only few bacteria are able to used nitrogen directly.
o Plants can’t make use of nitrogen its natural form.
o Nitrogen-fixing bacteria live in the roots of legumes & dicot plants.
o Bacteria convert nitrogen to nitrates & nitrite that can be used by other living organism, plants in
particular.
o Lightening, high temperature & pressure can convert nitrogen into oxides of nitrogen.
o Dead plants & animals enrich the soil with nitrogen.
 Carbon cycle:
o Plants convert CO2 & water into energy into energy through photosynthesis.
o Animal respire oxygen & release CO2.
 Oxygen cycle:
o It forms 21% of our atmosphere.
o It’s used in combustion, respiration & in formation of oxides of nitrogen.
o Oxygen is returned to atmosphere through photosynthesis.
 Ozone layer:
o O3 is made up of 3 atoms of Oxygen.
o It’s poisonous & unstable.
o It absorbs harmful solar radiations.
o CFCs in atmosphere destroys the ozone layer.
o Ozone hole over Antarctica is due to geological causes.
 Pollution of air, water & soil affect the quality of life & harm the biodiversity.
 We need to conserve our natural resources & use them in a sustainable manner.
[15] IMPROVEMENT IN FOOD RESOURCES
 There are several nutrients essential for crops. Of these, some are required in large quantities & are
known as macro-nutrients whereas rest of the nutrients are required in small quantities & are known as
micro-nutrients.
 Manure & fertilizers are the main sources of nutrient supply to crops.
 Organic farming is a farming system with minimal or no use of chemicals as fertilizers, herbicides,
pesticides etc. & with a maximum input of organic manures, recycled farm wastes, & bio-agents, with
healthy cropping systems.
 Mixed farming is a system of farming on a particular farm which includes crop production, raising of
livestock etc.
 Mixed cropping is growing of two or more crops simultaneously on the same piece of land.
 Growing two or more crops in definite row patterns is known as inter-cropping.
 The growing of different crops on a piece of land in pre-planned succession is called crop rotation.
 Varietal improvement is required for higher yield, good quality, biotic & abiotic resistance, shortening
the maturity duration, wider adaptability & desirable agronomic characteristics.
 Farm animals require proper care & management such as shelter, feeding, breeding & disease control.
This is called animal husbandry.
 Poultry farming is done to raise domestic fowls. Poultry production includes egg production & broiler
production for poultry meat.
 To enhance poultry production, cross breeding is done b/w Indian & exotic breeds for variety
improvement.
 Fish may be obtained from marine resources as well as inland resources.
 To increase production of fish, they can be cultured in marine & inland ecosystems.
 Marine fish capture is done by fishing nets guided by echosounders & satellites.
 Composite fish culture system is commonly used for fish farming.
 Bee-keeping is done to get honey & wax.
Class-X
[1] Chemical Reactions & Equations
 Whenever a chemical change occurs, we say that a chemical reaction has taken place.
 Magnesium ribbon burns with a white flame & changes into a white powder called magnesium oxide.
 Determinants of chemical reaction:
o Change in state.
o Change in colour.
o Evolution of a gas.
o Change in temperature.
 Chemical equations:
o Writing the description of chemical equations in short form.
o Reactants are written on the LHS.
o Products are written on the RHS.
o The arrowhead points towards the product.
 Types of chemical reactions:
o Combination reaction:
 A reaction in which a single product is form from two or more reactants.
 Calcium oxide reacts with water to produce slaked lime (calcium hydroxide) releasing a large
amount of heat.
 Calcium hydroxide reacts slowly with CO2 in air to for calcium carbonate.
o The reaction in which heat is produced is called exothermic reaction.
o The reaction in which heat is absorbed is called endothermic reaction.
o Decomposition reaction:
 A single reactant breaks down to give simpler products.
 When it’s carried out by heating, it is called thermal decomposition.
 Ferrous sulphate breaks down into ferric oxide & other products on heating.
 Limestone breaks into quick lime & CO2 on heating.
 White silver chloride turns grey in sunlight. This is due to decomposition of silver into silver &
chlorine. Silver bromide also behaves in the same way.
o Displacement reaction:
 Stronger substance displaces the weaker substance.
 The iron nail becomes brownish in colour & the blue copper sulphate solution fades because
iron displaces or removes the cooper from the copper sulphate solution.
o Double displacement reaction:
 Any reaction that produces an insoluble substance (precipitate) is called to be a precipitation
reaction. This reaction produces insoluble salt.
 A reaction in which there is exchange of ions b/w the reactants are called double displacement
reactions.
o Oxidation & reduction:
 Copper reacts with oxygen to form copper oxide.
 If a substance gains oxygen during a reaction, it is said to be oxidized.
 If a substance loses oxygen during a reaction, it is said to be reduced.
 A reaction in which one substance gains oxygen & one substance loses oxygen is called
oxidation-reduction or redox reaction.
 Corrosion: A state of deterioration in metals caused by oxidation or chemical action. Eg, black coating
on silver & green coating on copper.
 Rancidity: The state of being rancid; having a rancid scent or flavour (as of old cooking oil). When fats
& oils are oxidised, & their smell & taste change. It can be prevented by using antioxidants.
[2] Acids, Bases & Salts
 Natural indications: Litmus paper, turmeric, petals of hydrangea, petunia & geranium.
 Litmus, a purple dye, is obtained from lichen, a plant belonging to the division Thallophyta.
 These indicators tell us whether a substance is acidic or basic.
 Olfactory indicators: There are some substances whose odour changes in acidic or basic media. Eg,
Vanilla, onion & clove.
 All metal carbonates & hydrogen carbonates react with acids to give a corresponding salt, carbon
dioxide & water.
 The reaction b/w an acid & a base to give salt & water is called neutralization reaction.
 Metal oxides react with acids to form salt & water. Metallic oxides are said to be basic oxides.
 Alcohol & glucose solutions don’t conduct electricity.
 Acids contain H+ ions a cation & anion. These ions in acidic solutions are capable of carrying currents.
 All bases don’t dissolve in water. An alkali is a base that dissolves in water. It is soapy to touch, bitter &
corrosive. Tasting or touching these can be harmful.
 The process of dissolving an acid or a base in water is highly exothermic one.
 Mixing an acid or base with water results in decrease in the concentration of ions per unit volume. Such
a process is called dilution & the acid or the base is said to be diluted.
 The pH scale measures pH generally from 0 (very acidic) to 14 (very alkaline). The pH of a neutral
solution is always 7.
 Acidic nature of a substance is due to the formation of H+(aq) ions in solution. Formation of OH–(aq)
ions in solution is responsible for the basic nature of a substance.
 Acids that give more H+ ions are said to be strong & acids that give less H+ ions are said to be weak.
 pH of human body is within the range of 7.0 to 7.8.
 When pH of rain water is less that 5.6, it is called acid rain.
 The atmosphere of Venus is made up of thick white & yellowish clouds of sulphuric acids.
 The excess hydrochloride acid in our stomach can ne neutralized using antacid. Magnesium hydroxide
(milk of magnesia) or a mild base.
 Tooth decay starts when the pH of the mouth is lower than 5.5.
 Tooth enamel is made up of hydroxyapatite (a crystalline form of calcium phosphate) & it is the
hardest substance in the body.
 Bee sting contains an acid which causes pain & irritation.
 Stinging hairs of nettle leaves inject methanolic acid causing burning pain. It is an herbaceous plant.
 Some naturally occurring acids:
o Vinegar: Acetic acid.
o Orange: Citric acid.
o Tamarind: Tartaric acid.
o Tomato: Oxalic acid.
o Sour milk (curd): Lactic acid.
o Lemon: Citric acid.
o Ant sting: Methanolic acid.
o Nettle sting: Methanolic acid.
 Salts of a strong acid & a strong base are neutral with pH value of 7.
 Strong acid/base + weak base/acid = strong acid/base.
 Common salt (sodium chloride) is a raw material for sodium hydroxide, baking soda, washing soda,
bleaching power & many more.
 Brine: An aqueous solution of sodium chloride. Chlorine is produced during the electrolysis of aqueous
sodium chloride.
 Bleaching power: It is produced by the action of chloride on dry slake lime. (CaOCl2). It’s used for
bleaching cotton & line; washed cloths & wood pulps. It is used to make drinking water free of germs. It
is used as an oxidising agent in many chemical industries.
 Baking soda: NaHCO3 or sodium hydro carbonate. It is used for baking breads with a mild edible acid
such as tartaric acid. It’s an ingredient in the ant acid & is used in soda-acid fire extinguishers.
 Washing sods: It is a basic salt. Recrystallization of sodium carbonate gives washing soda. It is used in
glass, soap & paper industries. It is used to make sodium compounds such as borax. It’s used for
domestic cleaning & removing permanent hardness of water.
 Plaster of Paris: It is produced by heating gypsum at 373 K. Calcium sulphate hemihydrate
(CaSO4.1/2H2O) is called plaster of Parsi. It’s a white powder that changes to gypsum on mixing with
water.

[3] Metals & Non-metals

 Physical properties of metal:
o Metals, in their pure state, have a shining surface. This property is called metallic lustre.
o Metals can be beaten into thin sheets. This property is called malleability. Silver & gold are the
most malleable metals.
o Metals are generally hard. The hardness varies from metal to metal.
o The ability of metals to be drawn into thin wire is called ductility. Gold is the most ductile metal.
o Metals are good conductor of heat & have hight melting point. Silver & copper are the best
conductors of heat. Lead & mercury are comparatively poor conductors of heat.
o Wire come with a coating of polyvinylchloride (PVC) or a rubber-like material.
o Metals that produce a sound on striking are called sonorous.
 Physical properties of non-metals:
o They are either solids or gases, except bromine which is a liquid.
 All metals except mercury exist as solids at room temperature.
 All metals except gallium & caesium have very low melting points. They will melt if you keep them on
your palm.
 Iodine is a non-metal, but it is lustrous.
 Carbon is a non-metal that can exist in different forms called allotrope. Diamond, an allotrope of
carbon, is the hardest substance know & has a very high melting & boiling point. Graphite, another
allotrope, is a conductor of electricity.
 Alkali metals (lithium, sodium, potassium) are so soft that they can be cut with a knife. They have low
density & low melting point.
 Most non-metals produce acidic oxides when dissolve in water. On the other hand, most metals, give
rise to basic oxides.
 Chemical properties of metals :
o All metals combine with O2 to form metal oxides.
o Amphotic oxides: Metal oxides that react with both acids & bases. Aluminium oxide & zinc oxide
show both acidic as well as basic behaviour.
o Most metals oxides are insoluble in water, but some of them dissolve in water to form alkalis. Eg,
sodium oxide & potassium oxide.
o Metals like sodium & potassium are highly reactive with oxygen so, they are kept immersed in
kerosine oil.
 o At normal temperature, surfaces of metals such as magnesium, aluminium, zinc, lead, etc., are
covered with thin layer of oxides.
o Iron doesn’t burn on heating, but iron filings burn vigorously when sprinkled in the flame of the
burner.
o Copper doesn’t burn, but the hot metal is coated with a black coloured layer of copper(II) oxide.
o Silver & gold do not react with oxygen even at high temperatures.
o Sodium is the most reactive metal.
o Anodising: The process of forming a thick oxide layer of aluminium.
o Metals react with water to produce metal oxide & hydrogen gas. Metals that are soluble in water
form metal hydroxides.
o Sodium & potassium react violently with water. In case of potassium, the reaction is so violent &
exothermic that the evolved hydrogen catches fire.
o Calcium reacts with water to form less heat.
o Magnesium doesn’t react with cold water, but it does react with hot water.
o Lead, copper, silver & gold don’t react with water at all.
o Hydrogen is not evolved when a metal reacts with nitric acid.
o The reactivity with acids decreases in this order: Mg > Al > Zn > Fe.
o Copper doesn’t react with dilute HCL.
o Aqual regia (royal water): A mixture of hydrochloride acid & nitric acid in the ration 3:1. It is a
highly corrosive & fuming liquid that is able to dissolve gold & platinum.
o When metals react with solution of other metals, the reactive metal displaces the less reactive
metal from their compound in solution or molten form.
 Reactivity series:
o K – Potassium (Most reactive).
o Na – Sodium.
o Ca – Calcium.
o Mg – Magnesium.
o Al – Aluminium.
o Zn – Zinc (Reactivity decreases).
o Fe – Iron.
o Pb – Lead.
o [H] – [Hydrogen].
o Cu – Copper.
o Hg – Mercury.
o Ag – Silver.
o Au – Gold (Least reactive).
 When metals & non-metals react, they can have a give-&-take relation b/w them – give & take of
electrons.
 The reactivity of elements can be explained as their tendency to attain a completely filled valence shell.
 The compounds formed by the transfer of electrons from a metal to a non-metal are known as ionic
compounds or electrovalent compounds.
 Properties of ionic compound:
o Ionic compounds are solids & somewhat hard because of the strong force of attraction b/w the
positive & negative ions.
o These are generally brittle & break into pieces when pressure is applied.
o They have high melting & boiling points.
o They are soluble in water & insoluble in solvents such as kerosene, petrol, etc.
 o They don’t conduct electricity in solid state because movement of ions in solid is not possible.
o The conduct electricity in molten state since heat overcomes the electrostatic force of attraction
b/w the oppositely charged ions.
 Occurrence of metals:
o Metals of top reactivity series (K, Na, Ca, Mg & Al) are never found in nature as free elements. They
are obtained in their pure form by electrolysis of molten ore.
o Moderately reactive metals (Zn, Fe, Pb, etc) are found in earth’s crust as oxides, sulphides of
carbonates. Ores of many metals are oxides. Carbonate ores – Calcination; Sulphide ores –
Roasting.
o Metals of low reactivity (Ag & Au) are found in their native state.
 Enrichment of ores:
o Ores mined from the earth are usually contaminated with large amounts of impurities like soil,
sand, etc., called gangues.
o It is easier to obtain a metal from its oxide, as compared to its sulphides & carbonates.
o Prior to reduction, the metal sulphides & carbonates must be converted into metal
o oxides.
o Calcination: The carbonate ores are changed into oxides by heating strongly in limited air. This
process is known as calcination.
o Roasting: The sulphide ores are converted into oxides by heating strongly in the presence of excess
air. This process is known as roasting. Metals of high reactive series are reduced by electrolytic
reduction. The metals are deposited at the cathode (the negatively charged electrode), whereas,
chlorine is liberated at the anode (the positively charged electrode). Eg, sodium, magnesium &
calcium.
 Refining of metals:
o Many metals, such as copper, zinc, tin, nickel, silver, gold, etc., are refined electrolytically.
 Corrosions:
o Silver articles become black after some time when exposed to air. It reacts with the sulphur in the
air to form the coating of silver sulphide.
o Copper reacts with atmospheric CO2 & slowly gains a green coal of basic copper carbonate.
o Iron reacts with moist air & acquires a brown coating of rust.
o Galvanisation is a method of protecting steel & iron from rusting by coating them with a thin layer
of zinc.
 An alloy is a homogeneous mixture of two or more metals, or a metal & a non-metal.
 Alloys of mercury are called amalgams.
 Electric conductivity & melting point of an alloy is less than that of pure metals.
 Bras = copper (Cu) + zinc (Zn).
 Bronze = copper (cu) + tin (Sn).
 Solder = lead (Pp) + tin (Sn).

[4] Carbon & its Compounds

 The atomic number of carbons is 6.
 The reactivity of elements is explained as their tendency to attain a completely filled outer shell, ie,
attain the noble gas configuration.
 Carbon has four electrons in its outermost shell & needs to gain or lose four electrons to attain noble
gas configuration.
 Bonds that are formed by sharing of an electron pair b/w two atoms are known as covalent bonds.
These bonds are strong within the molecules, but inter-molecular forces are weak. This gives rise to low
melting & boiling points of these compounds. Such covalent compounds are poor conductor of heat.
 The element carbon occurs in different forms in nature with widely varying physical properties.
 Catenation: Carbon has the unique property to form bonds with other atoms of carbons, giving rise to
large molecules.
 Compounds of carbon, which are linked by only single bonds b/w the carbon atoms are called saturated
compounds.
 Compounds of carbon having double or triple bonds b/w their carbon atoms are called unsaturated
compounds.
 Tetravalency: Since carbon has a valency of four, it is capable of bonding with four other atoms of
carbon or atoms of some other mono-valent element.
 Formulae & structure of saturated compounds of carbon & hydrogen:
o Methane: CH4.
o Ethane: C2H6.
o Propane: C3H8.
o Butane: C4H10.
o Pentane: C5H12.
o Hexane: C6H14.
 Nomenclature of some organic compounds:
o Halo alkane – prefix: chloro, bromo, etc.
o Alcohol – suffix: ol.
o Aldehyde – suffix: al.
o Keton – suffix: one.
o Carboxylic acid: suffix: oic acid.
o Alkenes: suffix: ene.
o Alkynes: suffix: yne.
 Saturated hydrocarbons will generally give a clean flame while unsaturated carbon compounds will give
a yellow flame with lots of black smoke.
 Alkaline potassium permanganate or acidified potassium dichromate are oxidising alcohols to acids.
 Vegetables oils have long unsaturated carbon chains, while animal fat have saturated carbon chains.
Animal fat contains saturated fatty acid which is harmful for heath.
 Ethanol, commonly called alcohol, is liquid at room temperature. Alcohol reacts with sodium to give
hydrogen ethanol & sodium ethoxide.
 Alcohol as a fuel: Sugar cane juice, an efficient convertor of sunlight into chemical energy, is fermented
to give alcohol (ethanol). Alcohol as an additive in petrol since it is a cleaner fuel which gives rise to only
carbon dioxide & water on burning in sufficient air (O2).
 Ethanoic acid are commonly called acetic acid & belong to a group of acid called carboxylic acids.
These are weaker acids.
 5-8% of acetic acid in water is called vinegar. It freezes in winter & is called glacial acetic acid.
 Esters are most commonly formed by reaction of an acid & an alcohol. It’s a sweet-smelling substance
used in perfume making.
 Saponification: A chemical reaction in which an ester is heated with an alkali (especially the alkaline
hydrolysis of a fat or oil to make soap).
 Ethanoic acid reacts with a base such as sodium hydroxide to give a salt (sodium ethanoate or sodium
acetate) & water.
 Ethanoic acid reacts with carbonates & hydrogen carbonates to give sodium acetate.
 Soap & detergents:
o Molecules of soap are sodium or potassium salts of long-chain carboxylic acids.
o The ionic-end salt end of soap interacts with water while carbon chain interacts with oil.
 o Soap molecules, thus, form structures called micelles where one end of the molecules in toward the
oil droplet while the ionic-end faces outside.
o Thus, oil & dirt get trapped in micelles.
o The tail of micelles is hydrophobic.
o The head of micelles is hydrophilic.

[5] Periodic Classification of Elements

 Elements are classified on the basis of similarities in their properties.
 Johan Wolfgang Döbereiner (German), in 1817, grouped the elements into triads & John Newlands
(British) gave the Law of Octaves in 1866.
 Newlands compared this to the octaves found in music.
 Dimitri Ivanovic Mendeleev arranged the elements in increasing order of their atomic masses &
according to their chemical properties in 19th century.
 Mendeleev even predicted the existence of some yet to be discovered elements on the basis of gaps in his
Periodic Table, published in a German journal in 1872.
 Anomalies in arrangement of elements based on increasing atomic mass could be removed when the
elements were arranged in order of increasing atomic number, a fundamental property of the element
discovered by Henry Moseley in 1913.
 Modern Periodic Law can be stated as follows: ‘Properties of elements are a periodic function of their
atomic number.’
 Elements in the Modern Periodic Table are arranged in 18 vertical columns called groups & 7
horizontal rows called periods. Elements thus arranged show periodicity of properties including atomic
size, valency or combining capacity & metallic & non-metallic character.

[6] Life Processes

 Autotrophic nutrition:
o Carbon & energy requirement – fulfilled by photosynthesis.
o Carbon dioxide & water are converted into carbohydrates in the process of sunlight & chlorophyl.
o Unused carbs are stored in the form of starch.
o The exchange of gases occurs through stems, roots & leaves – stomata (tiny pores surrounded by
guard cells).
o Note: Humans store unused energy in the form of glycogen.
 Heterotopic nutrition:
o Getting food from outside sources.
o Killing – animals – snakes, loins, bats, etc.
o Not killing – parasites – cuscuta (Amar bel), ticks, leeches & tape worm.
o Amoeba – Takes its food using food vacuoles.
o Paramecium – Takes its food at a definite spot. It uses its hair-like extensions, called cilia, for
walking.
 Human digestive system:
o Alimentary canal:
 Teeth crushed the food & mixed it with saliva, produced by salivary amylase, which breaks
complex starch into simple sugars.
 Food pipe or oesophagus takes the food to stomach.
o Stomach:
 It mixes food with digestive enzymes.
 Gastric glands secrete hydrochloric acid, pepsin (a protein digesting enzyme) & mucus.
 Acidity in stomach allows pepsin to act on the food.
  The exit of food from stomach is regulated by sphincter muscle that release the food in small
amounts.
o Small intestine:
 The longest part of alimentary canal.
 Longer in herbivores – Cellulose takes longer to digest.
 Shorter in carnivores – Meat digests easily.
 The site of complete digestion of carbs, proteins & fats.
 Bile juice makes food alkaline for pancreatic enzymes to act.
 Pancreatic enzyme trypsin helps in digesting proteins; lipase breaks down fats.
 Bile salts break down small globules of food into smaller globules.
 Digestive enzymes convert proteins into amino acids, complex carbs into glucose & fats into
fatty acid & glycerol.
 Inner lining of the small intestine has finger-like outgrowths called villi that increase the surface
area of absorption.
 Blood vessels in villi take the absorbed food to each & every part of the body.
o Large intestine:
 Unabsorbed food is sent to large intestine – it absorbs more water from this waste material.
 The remaining waste material is excreted from the body via anus.
 The excretion of waster out of anus is regulated by anal sphincter.
 Human respiratory system:
o Anaerobic respiration:
 In cytoplasm, glucose (a six-carbon molecule) breaks down into pyruvate (a three-carbon
molecule) which may be converted into ethanol or CO2 (in yeast) in mitochondria.
 Muscles cells convert pyruvate into lactic acid (3 carbons).
o Aerobic respiration:
 In presence of O2.
 Greater release of energy.
o Cellular respiration:
 Energy released during cellular respiration is used to synthesize a molecule called ATP, the
energy currency of cellular processes.
 The breakdown of ATP gives fixed amount of energy which drives endothermic reaction taking
place in the cell.
o Plants excrete gases through stomata;
 CO2 & O2 are exchanged by diffusion.
 CO2 exchange takes place at night when no photosynthesis takes place.
 O2 exchange takes place during day.
o Aquatic animals:
 Dissolved O2 in water.
 Breathing rate is much faster than terrestrial animals.
 Fish takes water through its mouth & pass it through its gills, were dissolved O2 is taken up by
blood vessels.
 Human respiratory system:
o Air is taken in through nostrils.
o The upper part of respiratory tract is provided with small hair-like
o structures called cilia.
o Exchange of gases takes place inside lungs in a balloon-like structure called alveoli.
o Alveoli contain extensive blood vessels.
o Diffusion pressure alone can’t take O2 to all parts of the body.
 o A respiratory pigment, haemoglobin, is the carrier of O2.
o CO2 is more soluble in water than O2.
 Transportation in humans:
o Blood:
 A fluid connective tissue.
 Cells are suspended in a fluid medium called plasma.
 Plasma transports food, CO2 & nitrogenous waster in dissolved food.
 O2 is carried by red blood capsules.
 Circulatory system:
o Heart:
 A muscular pump.
 Four chambers to prevent mixing of O2-rich & CO2-rich blood;
 O2 blood: Left chamber – Left atrium.
 CO2 blood: Right chamber – Right atrium.
 Thick-muscled ventricles pump the blood into various organs through vessels called arteries.
 Smallest vessels, one cell thick, called capillaries join to form veins.
 Fish has two-chambered heart.
 Amphibians & reptiles have three-chambered hearts.
 Double circulation takes place in all vertebrates other than fishes.
 Blood pressure: The pressure exerted by blood on the walls of the vessels. The pressure of blood
inside the artery during ventricular systole (contraction) is called systolic pressure & pressure
in artery during ventricular diastole (relaxation) is called diastolic pressure. It is measured
using sphygmomanometer.
 Platelets: Clotting agents that are helpful in healing of wounds.
 Lymph: A fluid involved in transportation. This is called lymph or tissue fluids. Its similar to
plasma, but is colourless & contains less protein. It contains white blood cells.
 Transportation in plants:
o Xylem tissues carry nutrients & minerals to all parts of the plant.
o The transport of soluble products of photosynthesis is called translocation & it occurs in the part of
the vascular tissue known as phloem.
o Sucrose, a complex carbohydrate found in many plants & used as a sweetening agent, is transferred
into phloem tissue using energy from ATP.
 Excretion in human beings:
o Human excretory system includes: a pair of kidneys, a pair of ureters, a urinary bladder & a
urethra.
o Urine produced in the kidneys passes through the ureters into the urinary bladder where it is stored
until it is released through the urethra.
o The purpose of making urine is to filter out waste products from the blood.
o The basic filtration unit in the kidneys, like in the lungs, is a cluster of very thin-walled blood
capillaries. This cluster is associated with a cup-shaped end of a coiled tube called Bowman’s
capsule that collects the filtrate.
o Each kidney has large numbers of these filtration units called nephrons packed close together.
o Ureters, two pipes, transport urine from kidneys to urinary bladder.
o Urinary bladder is under nervous control & it release urine through a narrow opening called
urethra.
o Artificial kidney (Haemodialysis): When kidney become defective, they process of filtration can be
done outside the body using dialysis machine.
 Excretion in plants:
 o Plants get rid of excess O2 through transpiration.
o Many plant waste products are stored in cellular vacuoles.
o Waste product may be stored in the leaves that fall of.
o Other waste products are stored as resins & gums, especially in old xylem.

[7] Control & Coordination

 Animal Nervous System:
o Nervous tissues.
o Specialized nervous cells detect information from our environment.
o Sensory information – Sensory receptors.
o Taste: Gustatory receptors.
o Smell: Olfactory receptors.
o Nervous cells carry this information is electrochemical form.
o Information passes through one cell to another. It travels throughout our bodies through a chain of
electrochemical reactions.
o Impulse must be converted into a chemical signal for onward transmission.
 Reflex Action:
o Sudden unconscious action in response change in environment.
o Reflex arc in spinal cord is responsible for this.
 Human Brain:
o The brain & the spinal cord constitute the central nervous system.
o The communication b/w the CNS & other parts of body is facilitated by the peripheral nervous
system, consisting of cranial & spinal nerves.
o Brain has three major regions.
o Fore Brain: Responsible for thinking, sensory impulse & control of voluntary motor areas.
o Mid Brain:
o Hind Brain: Involuntary actions – controlled by medulla. Maintaining posture & balance of the body
– cerebellum.
o Brain is protected by a strong bony structure called the skull.
 Coordination in Plants:
o No specialized tissues, but information is carried in electrochemical form.
o Light or gravity will change the direction in which the plant will grow – Tropic movements.
o Phototropism: The growth towards light.
o Geotropism: The growth of plant towards gravity & the growth to stem away from gravity.
o Chemotropism: The growth of pollen tubes towards ovules.
o Auxin: The growth hormone in plants.
o Gibberellins: Helps in the growth of stem.
o Cytokinin: It promotes cell division is plants – concentrated highly in seeds & fruits.
o Abscisic Acid: Inhabits growth & responsible for wilting of leaves.
 Hormones in Animals:
o The Endocrine System.
o Hypothalamus – plays an important role in release of many hormones.
o Adrenaline – Adrenal glands; Increase heartbeat, breathing rate & pumps more blood to muscles
to face a situation of danger.
o Thyroxin – Thyroid; regulates metabolism of carbs, fats & proteins.
o Growth Hormone – Pituitary gland; promotes growth & development of the body.
o Testosterone – Testicles; manliness.
 o Estrogen – Ovaries; unmanliness.
o Insulin – Pancreas; regulates blood sugar level.

[8] How do Organisms Reproduce?

 Reproduction: Basically, making copies of the blueprint of the body design.
 DNA: Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid; It’s contained in the chromosome present withing the nucleus of a cell.
It is the source for making proteins.
 Cells use chemical reactions to build copies of their DNA.
 Identicalness of two cells depends on the accuracy of copying reactions. Copies of DNA might have
some variations.
 Modes of reproduction used by single organisms:
o Fission in unicellular organisms: The division of a cell, following the division of its nucleus. Eg,
bacteria, protozoa, amoeba, fission in definite direction in Leishmania that causes Kala-azar,
development of buds that frow further in yeast & multiple fission in Plasmodium (a parasite).
o Fission in multicellular organisms: Pieces of Spirogyra grow into new individuals. Multicellular
organisms, however, are more complex & hence, they can’t reproduce in this way.
o Regeneration: Hydra & Planaria; it’s carried by specialized cells; such organisms cut themselves into
a number of pieces, all of which develops individually.
o Budding: Hydra; buds, which detach after attaining maturity, grow into parent’s body.
o Vegetative propagation: Growing plants using parts other than their seed. Eg, roses, grapes,
sugarcane, mint, etc. Buds grow on leaves of Bryophyllum.
o Tissue culture: Growing plants by removing tissues of separating cells from growing plants;
commonly used for ornamental plants.
o Spore formation: Fungus. Eg, Rhizopus.
 Sexual reproduction:
o DNA copying mechanism isn’t fully accurate.
o In this process combing DNA from two or more individuals creates new combination of variant.
o Meiosis: Nucleus divides into four nuclei each containing half the chromosome number.
o Motile germ cell = Male gamete.
o Germ cell containing stored food = Female gamete.
 Sexual reproduction in Flowering Plants:
o Angiosperm: The reproductive part of the plant located in the flower.
o Stamens & pistil are the reproductive parts of a flower which contain the germ-cells.
o Unisexual plants: Papaya, watermelon; contains either stamen or pistil.
o Bisexual: Hibiscus, mustard; contains both stamen & pistol.
o The male germ-cell produced by pollen grain fuses with the female gamete present in the ovule. It
produces zygotes, capable of growing into new plants.
o Self-pollination: Transfer of pollen occurs in the same flower.
o Cross-pollination: Transfer of pollen occurs from one flower to another.
 Reproduction in Humans:
o Sexual mode.
o Humans achieve sexual maturity after puberty.
o Male reproductive system:
 Germ cells or sperms are produced in testes; it requires lower body temperature.
 Urethra forms common passage for both sperm & urine.
o Female reproductive system:
 Female germ cells or eggs are produced in ovaries.
 Girls are born with thousands of immature eggs.
Fallopian tube or oviduct carried eggs from ovary to womb.
2 oviducts unite into an elastic sack-like structure called uterus that opens into vagina through
the cervix.
 Fertilized egg is called Zygote & it develops into embryo which is implanted in the lining of the
uterus.
 Fetus = Embryo with identifiable body parts.
 Embryo gets nutrition from mother’s blood through a special tissue called placenta.
 Gestation period in humans is nine months.
 Mensuration: Uterus, every month, prepares itself to receive a fertilized eggs & its lining
becomes thick & spongy. When the egg is not fertilized this lining breaks & comes out oy vagina
as blood & mucous. It’s called mensuration & it can last for 2 to 8 days.
o Reproductive health:
 Condoms, contraception, copper-T, vasectomy etc.
 Danger of STI or pregnancy.

[9] Heredity & Evolution

 Variation, inherited during the process of reproduction, can increase the chances of survival of &
individual.
 Law of inheritance was propounded by Gregor Johan Mendel in 19th century. It states that two copies
of factors (genes) controlling traits are present in sexually reproducing animals.
 Dominant traits: Traits that gets expressed in the progeny.
 Recessive traits: Traits that don’t express themselves in the progeny.
 XY Chromosome: The offspring will be male.
 XX Chromosome: The offspring will be female.
 Theory of evolution was propounded by Charles Robert Darwin in 19th century.
 Variation in species may confer survival advantages of merely contribute to the genetic drift.
 A non-living material must be the ancestor of all life forms.

[10] Light – Reflection & Refraction

 Light seems to travel in straight lines.
 Mirrors & lenses form images of objects. Images can be either real or virtual, depending on the position
of the object.
 The reflecting surfaces, of all types, obey the laws of reflection. The refracting surfaces obey the laws of
refraction.
 New Cartesian Sign Conventions are followed for spherical mirrors & lenses.
 Mirror formula, 1/v + 1/u = 1/f, gives the relationship b/w the object-distance (u), image-distance (v),
& focal length (f) of a spherical mirror.
 The focal length of a spherical mirror is equal to half its radius of curvature.
 The magnification produced by a spherical mirror is the ratio of the height of the image to the height of
the object.
 A light ray travelling obliquely from a denser medium to a rarer medium bends away from the normal. A
light ray bends towards the normal when it travels obliquely from a rarer to a denser medium.
 Light travels in vacuum with an enormous speed of 3×108 m s-1. The speed of light is different in
different media.
 The refractive index of a transparent medium is the ratio of the speed of light in vacuum to that in the
medium.
 In case of a rectangular glass slab, the refraction takes place at both air-glass interface & glass-air
interface. The emergent ray is parallel to the direction of incident ray.
 Lens formula, 1/v + 1/u = 1/f, gives the relationship b/w the object-distance (u), image-distance (v), &
the focal length (f) of a spherical lens.
 Power of a lens is the reciprocal of its focal length. The SI unit of power of a lens is dioptre.

[11] The Human Eye & the Colourful World

 Human eye:
o It’s like a camera.
o Its lens system forms an image on a light-sensitive screen called retina.
o Light enters it through a thin membrane called cornea.
o It’s almost spherical with a diameter of 2.3 cm.
o Iris is a dark muscular structure behind the cornea. It controls the size of the pupil.
o The eye lens forms an inverted image of the object on the retina.
o The eye lens is composed of a fibrous, jelly-like material.
o The ability of the eye lens to adjust its focal length is called accommodation.
o The near vision or the least distance of distinct vision is about 25 cm.
o The farthest point up to which the eye can see objects clearly is called the far point of an eye. It’s
near infinity for human eyes.
o Sometimes, the crystalline lens of people at old age becomes milky & cloudy. This condition is called
cataract.
o A human being has a horizontal field of view of 150° about with one eye & of about 180° with two
eyes.
 Defects of eyes & their correction:
o Myopia: Myopia is also known as near-sightedness. A person with myopia can see nearby objects
clearly, but can’t see distant objects distinctly. This defect can be corrected by using concave lens of
suitable power.
o Hypermetropia: Far-sightedness. A person with hypermetropia can see distant objects clearly but
cannot see nearby objects distinctly. The near point, for the person, is farther away from the normal
near point. This defect can be correct using convex lens.
o Presbyopia: The loss of ability to see both nearby & far objects clearly. Such people often require bi-
focal lenses. A common type of bi-focal lenses consists of both concave & convex lenses.
 Refraction of light through a prism:
o The angle b/w its two lateral faces is called the angle of the prism.
 Dispersion of white light by a glass prism:
o Newton observed that a beam of white light emerging through other side of the prism is made up of
seven colours.
o A rainbow always formed in a direction opposite to that of the Sun.
o Water droplets present in atmosphere act like small prisms & disperse the sunlight.
 Atmospheric refraction:
o Refraction: The change in direction of a propagating wave (light or sound) when passing from one
medium, non-stationary in case of atmosphere, to another.
o Twinkling of star:
 It’s due to atmospheric refraction.
 Atmosphere bends the starlight towards the normal. Thus, the star appears slighting higher
than its actual position.
o Advance sunrise & delayed sunset:
 The sun appears to us 2 minutes before the actual sunrise & 2 minutes after the actual sunset,
because of atmospheric refraction.
 The actual & apparent position of sun with respect to the horizon is different.
  The apparent flattening of the sun’s disc at the sunset & the sunrise is due to the same
phenomenon.
 Scattering of light:
o Tyndall effect:
 The earth’s surface is a heterogenous mixture of minute particles.
 The scattering of light by the colloidal particles gives rise to Tyndall effect.
 It is seen when sunlight enters a smoke-filled room through a small hole.
 The scattering of light makes the particles visible.
 Colour of scattered light depends upon the size of the scattering particles.
 Fine particles scatter blue light.
 Larger particles scatter light of longer wavelength. If the size of the scattering particles is large
enough, the light can even appear white.
o Blue colour of the clear sky:
 Fine atmospheric particles scatter blue light more strongly than red.
 At higher altitude the sky appear dark as scattering is not prominent at such heights.
 The redlight is least scattered by fog or smoke. Thus, it’s used is the danger signal light.
o Colour of sun at sunrise & sunset:
 Sun appears reddish at sunrise & sun set.
 At these two times, the light of the sun passed through thicker layer of atmosphere before
reaching our eyes.
 Near horizon, most of the blue light & short wavelengths are scattered away by the atmospheric
particles.
 The light that reaches our eyes is of longer wavelengths.
 This gives rise to the reddish appearance of the sun.

[12] Electricity
 Flowing water constitute water current in rivers.
 Similarly, the electric charge flowing through a conductor is called electric current.
 A switch makes a conducting link b/w the cell & the bulb.
 A continuous & closed path of an electric current is called an electric circuit.
 Conventionally, the direction of current is taken opposite to the direction of flow of electrons.
 Current (I) = Net Charge (Q)/Time (t).
 The SI unit of electric charge is coulomb (C), which is equivalent to the charge contained in nearly 6 ×
1018 electrons.
 The electric current is expressed by a unit called ampere (A), named after the French scientist, Andre-
Marie Ampere.
 An instrument called ammeter measures electric current in a circuit.
 Electric potential & potential difference:
o Unlike the flow of water in pipes, gravity has not role in the flow of electric currents.
o The electrons move only if there is a difference of electric pressure – called the potential difference
– along the conductor.
o The electric potential difference b/n two points in an electric circuit carrying some current is the
work done to move a unit charge from one point to the other.
o Potential difference (V) b/w two points = Work done (W)/Charge (Q).
o The SI unit of electric potential difference is volt (V), named after Alessandro Volta, an Italian
physicist.
o The Voltmeter is used to measure the potential difference.
 Ohm’s law:
 o George Simon Ohm, a German physics (1827).
o This law states that the potential difference across the ends of a resistor is directly proportional to
the current through it, provided its temperature remains constant.
o V/I = R or V = IR.
o Resistance (R) is a property that resists the flow of electrons in a conductor. It controls the
magnitude of the current. The SI unit of resistance is ohm (W).
o R = V/I.
o A device called rheostat is often used to change the resistance in the circuit.
o A conductor having some appreciable resistance is called a resistor.
 The resistance of a conductor depends directly on its length, inversely on its area of cross-section, &
also on the material of the conductor.
 The equivalent resistance of several resistors in series is equal to the sum of their individual
resistances.
 The rate at which electric energy is dissipated or consumed in an electric circuit. This is also termed as
electric power. The SI unit of electric power is watt (W). P = V/I.
 The electrical energy dissipated in a resistor is given by W = V × I × t.
 One watt of power is consumed when 1 A of current flows at a potential difference of 1 V.
 The commercial unit of electrical energy is kilowatt hour (kWh). 1 kW h = 3,600,000 J = 3.6 × 106 J.

[13] Magnetic Effects of Electric Current

 Hans Christian Oersted (19th century) discovered electromagnetism.
 A magnet has two points: North-seeking & south-seeking.
 The region surrounding a magnet, in which the force of the magnet can be detected, is said to have a
magnetic field. It’s a quantity that has both direction & magnitude.
 The magnitude of the magnetic field produced at a given point increases as the current through the wire
increases.
 The magnetic field produced by a given current in the conductor decreases as the distance from it
increases.
 Right-hand thumb rule: A metallic wire carrying an electric current has associated with it a magnetic
field. The field lines about the wire consist of a series of concentric circles whose direction is given by
the right-hand rule.
 The pattern of the magnetic field around a conductor due to an electric current flowing through it
depends on the shape of the conductor. The magnetic field of a solenoid carrying a current is similar to
that of a bar magnet.
 An electromagnet consists of a core of soft iron wrapped around with a coil of insulated copper wire.
 Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) – Magnetism is medicine.
 Electric motor: A current-carrying conductor when placed in a magnetic field experiences a force. If the
direction of the field & that of the current are mutually perpendicular t0 each other, then the force
acting on the conductor will be perpendicular to both & will be given by Fleming’s left-hand rule. This
is the basis of an electric motor.
 An electric motor is a device that converts electric energy into mechanical energy.
 Electromagnetic induction: The phenomenon of electromagnetic induction is the production of induced
current in a coil placed in a region where the magnetic field changes with time. The magnetic field may
change due to a relative motion b/w the coil & a magnet placed near to the coil. If the coil is placed
near to a current-carrying conductor, the magnetic field may change either due to a change in the
current through the conductor or due to the relative motion b/w the coil & conductor. The direction of
the induced current is given by the Fleming’s right-hand rule.
 A galvanometer is an instrument that can detect the presence of a current in a circuit.
 In 1831, Michael Faraday made an important breakthrough by discovering how a moving magnet can
be used to generate electric currents.
 Faraday made several path-breaking discoveries that include electromagnetic induction & the laws of
electrolysis.
 Flemings right hand rule:
 Electric generator: A generator converts mechanical energy into electrical energy. It works on the basis
of electromagnetic induction.
 Domestic electric circuits: In our houses we receive AC electric power of 220 V with a frequency of 50
Hz. One of the wires in this supply is with red insulation, called live wire. The other one is of black
insulation, which is a neutral wire. The potential difference b/w the two is 220 V. The third is the earth
wire that has green insulation & this is connected to a metallic body deep inside earth. It is used as a
safety measure to ensure that any leakage of current to a metallic body does not give any severe shock to
a user.
 Fuse is the most important safety device, used for protecting the circuits due to short-circuiting or
overloading of the circuits.

[14] Sources of Energy

 Features of a good source of energy:
o Produces large amount of work per unit volume or mass.
o Easily accessible.
o Easy to store & transport.
o Economical.
 Conventional sources of energy:
o Fossil fuels:
 Exploitation of coal as a source of energy made industrial revolution possible.
 These sources helped in technological development.
 Non-renewable. Hence, must be conserved.
 Need to find alternative sources of energy.
 Burning fossil fuels releases oxides of carbon, nitrogen & sulphur.
 These lead to acid rain & air pollution.
 Increased green-house gases lead to global warming.
o Thermal power plant:
 Fossil fuels ae burn in power stations to heat up water to produce steam which further runs the
turbine to generate electricity.
 It is based on the principle of conversion of heat energy into electrical energy.
o Hydro power plant:
 The potential energy of falling water is converted into electricity.
 Creating hydro power projects result in loss of ecosystem.
 Submerged vegetation rots under anaerobic condition & gives rise to large amount of methane,
a greenhouse gas.
 Rehabilitation of people is difficult.
 Improvements in technology for using conventional sources of energy:
o Bio-Mass:
 Use of animal & plant waste to generate energy.
 Charcoal burns smokeless, without flames & generated higher heat.
 It’s popularly called gobar-gas.
 Microbes in the bio-gas plant break down the waste material (slurry) into methane, carbon
dioxide, hydrogen & hydrogen sulphide.
  It contains up to 75% methane.
 Benefits: Waste disposal + energy & manure.
o Wind energy:
 Use of the kinetic energy of wind.
 Use of windmills.
 Effective in coastal & arid regions.
 Denmark is called the county of winds.
 The largest wind energy farm in India is near Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu (capacity of 380 MW).
 High installation & maintenance costs.
 Alternative or non-conventional sources of energy:
o Solar Energy:
 High potential in India.
 It’s estimated that India receives more than 5,000 trillion kWh energy per year.
 Solar cooker is a black box covered with a glass plate (like a greenhouse).
 Solar cells can be used to convert solar energy into electricity.
 Silicon is used to make solar cells. It’s abundant in nature.
 Silver is used for interconnections of the cells in the panel.
 High installation cost & maintenance cost. Comparatively low efficiency.
 Domestic use is uneconomical.
o Tidal Energy:
 It’s harnessed by constructing a dam across a narrow opening of the sea.
 A turbine fixed at dam converts tidal energy to electricity.
 Only feasible in coastal areas where tides occur frequently.
o Wave Energy:
 Feasible only in coastal areas.
 Waves are used to rotate turbines.
 Wave energy is converted to electricity.
o Ocean thermal energy:
 Water at ocean surface is heated by the sun.
 Water at deeper layers of oceans remains cold.
 This temperature can be exploited to generate electricity.
o Geothermal energy:
 Feasible in geological hotspots.
 The steam trapped b/w the underground rock is used to rotate turbines.
 It’s operational in New Zealand & United States of America.
o Nuclear energy:
 Nuclear fission.
 The nucleus of heavy atoms (Uranium, plutonium or thorium) when bombarded with low-energy
neutrons, can be spilt apart into lighter nuclei.
 This produces tremendous amount of energy.
 The released energy can be used to produce steam & further generate electricity.
 E = Dmc2; where Dm is difference in the mass b/w original nucleus & the product nuclei, E is
energy & c is the speed of light in vacuum. This equation was discovered by Albert Einstein in
1905.
 It accounts for less than 3% to total energy output of India.
 Nuclear power reactors located at Tarapur (Maharashtra), Rana Pratap Sagar
 (Rajasthan), Kalpakkam (Tamil Nadu), Narora (UP), Kakrapar (Gujarat) & Kaiga (Karnataka).
 It produces harmful radiations.
  Nuclear waste is harmful for environment.
 Its production is costly.
o Nuclear fusion:
 Joining lighter nuclei to make a heavier nucleus, most commonly hydrogen or hydrogen to
create helium.
 It’s the source of energy in Sun & other stars.
 It requires extreme temperature.
 Hydrogen bomb is based on the thermonuclear fusion reaction.

[15] Our Environment

 Ecosystem: All the interacting organisms in an area together with the non-living constitutes of the
environment form an ecosystem.
 In ecosystem consists of biotic components comprising living organisms & abiotic components
comprising physical factors like temperature, rainfall, wind, soil & minerals.
 Organisms can be grouped as producers, consumers & decomposers according to the manner in which
they obtain their sustenance from the environment.
 All green plants & certain bacteria which can produce food by photosynthesis come under this category
& are called the producers.
 These organisms which consume the food produced, either directly from producers or indirectly by
feeding on other consumers are the consumers.
 Consumers can be classed variously as herbivores, carnivores, omnivores & parasites.
 The microorganisms, comprising bacteria & fungi, break-down the dead remains & waste products of
organisms. These microorganisms are the decomposers as they break-down the complex organic
substances into simple inorganic substances that go into the soil & are used up once more by the plants.
 Food Chain:
o The series of organisms taking part at various biotic levels form a food chain.
o Each step or level of the food chain forms a trophic level.
o The autotrophs or the producers are at the first trophic level. They fix up solar energy & make it
available for heterotrophs or the consumers.
o The herbivores or the primary consumers come at the second, small carnivores or the secondary
consumers at the third & larger carnivores or the tertiary consumers form the fourth trophic level.
o We know that the food we eat acts as a fuel to provide us energy to do work.
o Thus, the interactions among various components of the environment involves flow of energy from
one component of the system to another.
o The autotrophs capture the energy present in sunlight & convert it into chemical energy. This
energy supports all the activities of the living world.
o The energy available at each trophic level gets diminished progressively due to loss of energy at
each level.
 The flow of energy b/w various components of the environment has been extensively studied & it has
been found that:
o The green plants in a terrestrial ecosystem capture about
o 1% of the energy of sunlight that falls on their leaves & convert it into food energy.
o When green plants are eaten by primary consumers, a great deal of energy is lost as heat to the
environment, some amount goes into digestion & in doing work & the rest goes towards growth &
reproduction. An average of 10% of the food eaten is turned into its own body & made available for
the next level of consumers.
o Therefore, 10% can be taken as the average value for the amount of organic matter that is present at
each step & reaches the next level of consumers.
 o Since so little energy is available for the next level of consumers, food chains generally consist of
only three or four steps. The loss of energy at each step is so great that very little usable energy
remains after four trophic levels.
o There are generally a greater number of individuals at the lower trophic levels of an ecosystem, the
greatest number is of the producers.
o The length & complexity of food chains vary greatly. Each organism is generally eaten by two or
more other kinds of organisms which in turn are eaten by several other organisms. So instead of a
straight-line food chain, the relationship can be shown as a series of branching lines called a food
web.
 Pesticides & other harmful chemical pollutants get absorbed in the soil from where they enter our food
chain.
 As these chemicals are not degradable, these get accumulated progressively at each trophic level.
 As human beings occupy the top level in any food chain, the maximum concentration of these chemicals
get accumulated in our bodies. This phenomenon is known as biological magnification.
 Ozone layer depletion:
o Ozone (O2) is a molecule formed by three atoms of oxygen.
o Unlike oxygen, ozone is a deadly poison.
o It shields the surface of earth from ultraviolet (UV) radiations from the sun.
o UV radiation caused skin cancer in humans.
o UV radiation splits two molecules of Oxygen (O2) into free Oxygen (O).
o These atoms then combine with molecular oxygen to form ozone (O3).
o The amount of O3 began to drop sharply in the atmosphere in 1980s due to use of synthetic
chemicals like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) which are used in refrigerants & fire extinguishers.
o In 1987, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) succeeded in forging an agreement to
freeze CFC production at 1986 levels.
o Now, it’s mandatory for all the manufacturing companies to make CFC-free refrigerators
throughout the worlds.
 Garbage or waste management:
o Humans generate a lot of both organic & inorganic wastes.
o Many artificial manmade materials can’t be broken down by the action of bacteria or other
saprophytes.
o Substances that are broken down by biological processes are said to be biodegradable.
o Substances that aren’t broken down in this manner are said to be nob-biodegradable. These
substances may be inert & may simply persist in the environment for a long time or may harm the
various members of the eco-system.
 Disposable cups in trains:
o Disposable cups have harmful impact on our environment.
o Kulhads, that is, disposable cups made of clay, are a better alternative.
o But making Kulhads on large scale will result in the loss of the fertile topsoil.
o So, now disposable paper cups are being used.

[16] Sustainable Management of Natural Resources

 Sustainable living has always been a part of Hindu tradition & culture.
 ‘Vasudhaic kutumbaka’, a phrase mention in Mahaopanishada (a part of Atharva Veda), proves it.
 Environmental problems are global problems.
 Large scale exploitation of natural resources has been a fairly recent problem in our society.
 The blind & cruel exploitation of natural resources is strictly of western origin.
 Ganga action plan (1985):
o Coliform, a bacterial found in human intestines, was found is Ganges’ water in very large number.
o It was due to dumping of human excreta into the river.
o Ganges became so toxic due to industrial waste that its toxicity was killing fishes.
 Namami Gange program (2014):
 o An Integrated Conservation Mission approved as a flagship program by the Modi govt.
o Twin objective: Effective abatement of pollution; Conservation & rejuvenation of Ganges.
o The National Mission for Clean Ganges is the implementation wing set up in Oct, 2016.
 Five Rs to save our environment:
o Refuse:
 Don’t buy things you don’t need.
 Refuse gifts that you don’t require.
 Refuse products that harm environment.
o Reduce:
 Use less, ie, save.
 Save electricity, water, food & money.
o Reuse:
 Use things that can be recycled.
 Don’t buy new things unless old things become completely non-functional.
 Plastic & paper can be recycled.
 New doesn’t necessarily means good.
o Repurpose:
 Find alternatives use for a single product.
o Recycle:
 Collect plastic, paper, glass & metals items & recycle these materials to make required things.
 Recycle is possible only when we segregate the waste materials according to their nature &
uses.
 The core concept of sustainable development is to encourage forms of growth that meet current basic
humans need, while preserving the resources for the needs of future generations. It implies change in
all aspects of life.
 Resource management:
o We need to manage our resources because these are not unlimited & with human population
increasing at a tremendous rate due to improvement in health-care, the demand for all resources is
increasing at an exponential rate.
o Mgt. of resources require looking at things with a long-term perspective.
o It should ensure equitable distribution of resources.
o Use of resources causation pollution & so does the unsafe disposal of waste resources.
o Principles of conservation & sustainable mgt. are well established in Brahmanical literature.
o Vedas emphasize protective as well as productive aspects of forest vegetation.
 Forests & wildlife:
o Forests are ‘biodiversity hotspots.
o One measure of the biodiversity of an area is the number of species found there.
o Stakeholders:
 People who live in & around forests.
 Forest department of govt.
 Industries that obtain their raw materials from forests. Eg, ‘tendu’ leaves are used to make
bidis; paper mills, etc.
 Wildlife & nature.
 Entire humanity.
 Chipko Andolan: The tree-hugging movement that started in Reni village of Garhwal in 1970 against
the contractors who were cutting the trees in the forest. Women used their standard manipulation
tactics of shaming the men by hugging the tree. Unfortunately, the contractors had to withdraw.
 People’s participation in the mgt. of forests: Western Bengal Forest dept. failed to regrow sal trees in
Arabari forest range in Midnapore district in 1972. Govt. alienated local people by placing strict
restrictions of them so, they had to resort of Naxalite terrorism. Govt., realizing its mistake, changed its
policy & started employing local pheasants to grow sal trees in exchange of 25% of final harvest & fuel
& fodder on payment of a nominal fee. Due to the efforts of forest officer, AK Banerjee, the value of the
forest went up to ₹12.5 crores in 1983.
 Kuhl irrigation in Himachal Pradesh: An indigenous irrigation system that uses narrowing dug canals to
transport water from small stream or rivers to fields. The water was shared by the entire village
community. Introduction of modern irrigation system has made these kuhls defunct & today, nobody
shares water as our ancestors once did.
 Dams:
o Large dams can ensure storage of drinkable water.
o It can meet the water requirement of agriculture & industries.
o Canals system leading from these dams can supply water to distant areas.
o Indira Gandhi canal is successfully meeting the water requirements of people of Rajasthan.
o Dams can be hazardous for flora & fauna. They can cause devastating floods.
o Narmada Bachao Andolan was about raising the height of Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada
River.
o Social problems: It leads to displacement, mass migration, landlessness & victims don’t get
adequate compensations. The outsees of the Tawa Dam built in 1970s are still fighting for the
benefits they were promised.
o Economic problems: Dams are mostly unbeneficial investment of public money & generate neither
required electricity no revenue.
o Environmental problems: Their constructions lead to enormous deforestation & loss of biodiversity.
 Water harvesting:
o Watershed management emphasizes scientific soil & water conservation in order to increase the
biomass production.
o India’s waterman, Dr. Rajendra Singh, built 8,600 johads & other structures to collect water in
Rajasthan. He made more than 1,000 villages across Rajasthan self-sufficient in terms of water
resource. He won Stockholm Water Prize in 2015.
o Stockholm water prize is given the most prestigious award which honors a person who contributes
to the conservation & protection of water resources for the wellbeing of plant & its inhabitants.
o Traditional water harvesting methods:
 Rajasthan: Khadins, tanks & nadis.
 Maharashtra: Bandharas & tals in Maharashtra.
 Madhya Pradesh & UP: Bundhis.
 Bihar: Ahars & pynes.
 Himachal Pradesh: Kuhls.
 Jammu: Ponds in the Kandi belt.
 Tamil Nadu: Eris (tanks).
 Kerala: Surangams.
 Karnataka: Kattas.
o Mismanagement & over-exploitation of water resources have to be reduced.
 Coal & petroleum:
o Reserves of coal & petroleum are being exploited.
o Carbon produced by burning of these fuels leads to global warming.
o Using public transport instead of public vehicles will help in reducing atmospheric CO2 level.
o Use of cycles & electric vehicles will help is reducing air pollution.
o Using solar cooker or biogas to cook food will be beneficial.
o Instead of burning coal during winter, try to wear extra clothes.