NCERT Solutions Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures Exploring Their Characteristics

F R E E S T U D Y M AT E R I A L F O R E V E R Y S T U D E N T

CLASS 6 · SCIENCE

NCERT Solutions

Chapter 10: Living Creatures:
Exploring their Characteristics

NCERT Textbook — Curiosity

BOOK PAGES SECTIONS QUESTIONS MEDIUM

183 – 205 21 78 English

Solutions, notes, sample papers & more at 86 pages

Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

CLASS 6 · SCIENCE · CURIOSITY

NCERT Solutions — Chapter 10: Living Creatures:
Exploring their Characteristics
Complete NCERT Solutions for Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics
from the NCERT textbook Curiosity. Every question of the chapter is answered — Activities 10.1 to 10.6 with
their tables filled in, all the in-text questions from pages 184 to 202, and the complete Let us enhance our
learning, Learning further and Let us create exercises on pages 203 to 205.

TEXTBOOK BOOK PAGES

Curiosity (Class 6) 183 – 205

SECTIONS QUESTIONS

21 78

MEDIUM

English

Activity 10.1: Let us record — Page 184

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Living beings and non-living things in our surroundings

ACTIVITY

Q1 List them in Table 10.1 and identify each of them as living or non-living on the basis of
your understanding in column II.

(I) (II) (III) (IV) (V)
NAME MY GUESS REASON/REMARKS CORRECT REASON/REMARKS
(LIVING/NON- ANSWER FOR THE CORRECT
LIVING) ANSWER

Pencil Non-living

Book

Pigeon Living

Car

Plant

Any
other

Table 10.1, page 184 — reproduced as printed in the book, for you to fill in.

Look around your classroom and list whatever you can see. Then put each one in the correct
group. Here is the table filled in for the five things the book names, with two more added from a
real classroom.

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

(I) NAME (II) MY GUESS (LIVING / NON-LIVING)

Pencil Non-living

Book Non-living

Pigeon Living

Car Non-living

Plant (money plant in the corner) Living

Any other — house lizard on the wall Living

Any other — chalk / duster Non-living

Why the book asks for a “guess” first: column II is deliberately called My guess. You
are meant to sort things by what you already believe, before the class works out the
real test. Later, on page 188, you come back and fill columns IV and V with the
correct answer. Being proved wrong in column II is part of the activity, not a mistake.

Tip: Do not throw away a doubtful item — write it down. Things like a seed, a
wooden log, a feather or an egg are exactly the ones that make the class discussion
interesting.

Q2 Write a reason for grouping them as living or non living in column III.

The reason must name a characteristic — not just say “it looks alive”.

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

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(I) NAME (II) MY (III) REASON / REMARKS

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Pencil
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Pigeon Living It flies on its own, eats grain, grows from a chick, breathes, lays eggs and flies away

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Plant Living It grows taller, needs water and air, its leaves turn towards the window, and it

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The rule to follow: a thing is living only if it shows all the characteristics of life

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together. Showing one of them — like the car's movement, or a candle flame's
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“growth” — is never enough.
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In-text Questions — Page 184
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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

10.1 What Sets the Living Apart from the Non-living?

Q1 Look at Table 10.1. Why do you think a pencil is non-living but a pigeon is living?

(I) (II) (III) (IV) (V)
NAME MY GUESS REASON/REMARKS CORRECT REASON/REMARKS
(LIVING/NON- ANSWER FOR THE CORRECT
LIVING) ANSWER

Pencil Non-living

Book

Pigeon Living

Car

Plant

Any
other

Table 10.1, page 184 — reproduced as printed in the book, for you to fill in.

Because the pigeon shows every characteristic of life and the pencil shows none of them.
Compare them side by side.

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

CHARACTERISTIC PIGEON PENCIL

Moves on its own Yes — walks, flies, turns its head No — moves only when you pick it up

Needs food Yes — grain, seeds, water No

Grows Yes — a chick becomes a full-grown No — it only gets shorter
pigeon

Respires Yes No

Excretes Yes — droppings No

Responds to stimuli Yes — flies off when you clap No

Reproduces Yes — lays eggs No — a pencil never makes a small
pencil

Dies Yes No — it can only break or finish

Why the whole set matters: a pencil sharpened to a point does change, and a
pencil rolling off a desk does move — but neither change comes from inside the
pencil. In a living being every one of these activities is carried out by the body itself.

Q2 What do you think are the differences between living beings and non-living things
according to you?

Write the differences as a paired list. These are the ones the chapter builds up.

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

LIVING BEINGS NON-LIVING THINGS

Move by themselves (or at least move parts of the Move only when some outside force or a person moves
body) them

Need food for energy, growth and repair Need no food at all

Grow from within, and the growth is permanent Do not grow; they may only be added to from outside

Respire — take in air and release energy from food Do not respire

Excrete waste products Produce no body waste

Respond to stimuli such as touch, light, heat, sound Give no response of their own

Reproduce and make new ones of their own kind Cannot produce another one like themselves

Have a definite life span and finally die Do not die; they only wear out, break or get used up

Did you know? The chapter's snail shell is a beautiful trap for this question. The
shell does not move, yet it is a part of the body of a living snail — proof that you
must look at the whole animal, not at one still-looking piece of it.

Q3 What similarities do the identified living beings share with each other?

Take the living things from your list — the pigeon, the plant, the house lizard, your classmates
— and look for what they have in common. Every one of them:

shows some movement, of the whole body or of a part;
needs food, water and air to stay alive;
grows from a small young one into an adult;
respires;
gets rid of waste from the body;
responds to a change in the surroundings — light, touch, heat, sound;
reproduces, so its kind continues;
dies after a certain span of life.

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Why this list is so useful: the pigeon and the money plant look nothing alike, and
neither of them looks like you. Yet all three tick the same eight boxes. That is why
these eight are called the characteristics of living beings — they cut across every
difference of shape, size and habitat.

Q4 You may have identified movement as one of the similarities among living beings.
You have also seen cars moving on a road. Does it mean that a car is living? List the
tasks that you can do but a car cannot.

No, a car is not living. It moves, but movement alone does not make a thing alive — and a car
cannot move until a driver turns the key.
Tasks you can do but a car cannot:

WHAT I CAN DO CAN A CAR DO IT?

Eat a roti and use it as food No — petrol is fuel, not food; the car cannot digest it or repair itself
with it

Grow taller every year No — a small car never becomes a big car

Breathe in and out No

Sweat, or pass urine No — its smoke is exhaust from burning fuel, not body waste

Pull my hand back from a hot cup No — it feels nothing

Have a baby brother or sister No — cars are built in a factory, not born

Heal a cut on my knee by myself No — a dent must be beaten out by a mechanic

Start moving on my own, whenever I No — it needs a driver every single time
want

The lesson: movement is a useful clue but a weak test. A river, a fan and a kite all
move and none is living. Always check the full set of characteristics before you
decide.

In-text Questions — Pages 185 & 186

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

10.1 — Movement, growth and nutrition
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The characteristics that separate me from ema car are growth, nutrition, respiration,
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“A car does not grow — does it mean it is non-living?” Not by that one fact alone. Many living
beings also stop growing: a full-grown neem tree and a grown-up adult hardly change in size
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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

CHARACTERISTIC HOW YOU CAN IN AN ANIMAL IN A PLANT
SHOW IT

Movement Watch it change position, A sparrow flying off A lotus opening in the morning;
or watch a part of it move the wire a lauki tendril coiling round a
stick

Nutrition See what it takes in as A goat eating leaves Green leaves making food in
food sunlight; Drosera trapping
insects

Growth Measure the same A puppy outgrowing A gram seedling on wet cotton,
individual after some its collar measured daily
weeks

Respiration Count breaths, or watch A cow's flank rising Air moving in and out through
the abdomen move and falling stomata on leaves

Excretion Look for the waste that Sweat patches on a Droplets of water on grass and
leaves the body shirt; urine rose leaves early in the morning

Response to Give a gentle stimulus and You pull your foot Chhui-mui folding its leaves at a
stimuli watch back from a thorn touch

Reproduction Look for young ones of A hen with chicks A bean pod full of seeds
the same kind

Death All these activities stop A dead insect on the A bean plant that yellows and
for good window sill dries after fruiting

Q3 Can we consider movement as one of the characteristics to differentiate between
the living and the non-living? List five things around you that can move on their
own. Do you think that all five things that you have listed can be considered as
living just because they can move on their own?

Yes, movement is one characteristic — but it can never be used alone.
Five things around me that move on their own:

1. A street dog running across the road
2. An ant in a line on the kitchen shelf
3. A ceiling fan (once the switch is on)
4. A river or a stream of rainwater in the drain
5. A clock's second hand (or a wind-up toy car)

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Are all five living? No — only two.

THING LIVING? WHY

Dog Living Eats, grows, breathes, has puppies

Ant Living Carries food, grows from an egg, responds instantly to touch

Fan Non-living Moves only because electricity is supplied; never grows or reproduces

River Non-living Flows because the land slopes; water is pulled downhill

Clock hand Non-living Moves on a wound spring or a cell

The real difference: a living being moves because of a force generated inside its
own body, using energy from its food. A fan, a river and a clock all need a push from
outside — electricity, gravity, a spring.

Q4 However, unlike animals, plants do not move from one place to another. Do you
consider them as living?

Yes — plants are certainly living. They do not walk, but they show plenty of movement, and
they show every other characteristic of life.
Movements you can actually watch in plants:

Flowers opening and closing. A lotus and a sunflower open in the morning sun; raat ki rani
opens after dark.
Insectivorous plants. Drosera has saucer-shaped leaves covered with many hair-like
projections of unequal length with sticky ends. When an insect enters the saucer, the hairs
move inward and trap it with their sticky tips. Drosera depends on insects for its nutrition.
Climbers. A lauki, karela or money-plant tendril winds itself around any object placed near
it.
Sleeping leaves. Chhui-mui folds at a touch; amla and tamarind leaflets close after sunset.
Growth movements. The shoot bends towards light, the root turns downwards (you will
prove this in Activity 10.3).

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Why plants stay put: a plant makes its own food from sunlight, air and water — all
of which come to it where it stands. An animal must go looking for its food, so it
needs to travel. Staying rooted is not a sign of being non-living; it is a different way
of living.

Q5 Try to observe the mechanism of movement in other insectivorous plants.

Insectivorous plants grow in soil that is poor in nitrogen, so they get that part of their nutrition
from insects. Each one traps in its own way.

PLANT WHAT THE TRAP LOOKS LIKE THE MOVEMENT YOU CAN
OBSERVE

Drosera (sundew) Saucer-shaped leaf with many hair-like The hairs bend inward and hold the
projections of unequal length, sticky at insect with their sticky ends
the tips

Nepenthes (pitcher plant, A leaf shaped like a jug with a lid on top The lid closes over the mouth; the
found in Meghalaya) insect slips down the slippery inner
wall

Utricularia (bladderwort, Tiny bladders under water with a trap The door snaps open and sucks in the
in ponds) door tiny creature in a fraction of a second

Venus flytrap (grown in Two hinged halves of a leaf with stiff The two halves shut like a book when
pots) bristles the bristles are touched twice

Check it yourself: If a pitcher plant or a sundew is grown in your school garden,
touch a leaf gently with a matchstick and watch for a few minutes. Do not feed the
plant repeatedly — a trap that closes uselessly wastes the plant's energy.

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Q6 Compare yourself with the picture of your childhood. Can you wear the dress that
you used to wear four years ago?

baby young child older child

Growth of a child — redrawn sketch of the illustration beside this question on page 185
of the textbook.

No. The dress will be far too short and too tight now.
The reason is growth. In four years my arms and legs have become longer, my shoulders wider
and my whole body heavier. This increase in size did not come from outside — my body built the
new parts itself, from the food I ate.

WHAT CHANGED THEN (AGE 7) NOW (AGE 11)

Height about 120 cm about 143 cm

Shoe size small two or three sizes bigger

Teeth milk teeth most replaced by permanent teeth

Why growth is a mark of life: a body cannot make new parts out of nothing. Food
supplies both the raw material and the energy for building. A shirt hanging in the
cupboard for four years is exactly the same size — it has no way to make more of
itself.

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

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Try This: Mark your height on the door frame with a pencil and the date beside it.

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Do it again after six months. The gap between the two marks is growth you have
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Plants and other living beings also grow. Can we consider growth as a characteristic
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Yes. Growth is one of the characteristics of living beings — every living thing grows at some
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and a crystal of copper sulphate
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In-text Questions — Page 186

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10.1 — Nutrition, respiration and excretion

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Every living being needs food. Five from around an Indian home:
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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

LIVING BEING WHAT IT TAKES AS FOOD

Human being (myself) Rice, roti, dal, vegetables, milk

Cow / buffalo Grass, fodder, oil cake, straw

Sparrow Grain, small insects

Ant Sugar, crumbs, dead insects

Mango tree (or any green Makes its own food in its green leaves using sunlight, water and air; takes minerals
plant) from the soil

Why food is needed for growth: food does three jobs — it gives energy to work,
supplies the material to build new parts of the body, and provides what is needed to
repair damage. Stop the food and growth stops with it.

Q2 Now, think of a process without which we cannot live. Count the number of breaths
you take per minute after a normal walk, after a run, and after a few dance steps.
Record the data and observe. Do you notice any difference in the number of breaths
after each situation?

The process is respiration. Do the counting with a watch — one breath is one “in and out”
together.

SITUATION BREATHS PER MINUTE (A TYPICAL CLASS HOW I FELT
6 STUDENT)

Sitting quietly (before about 18–22 Normal
starting)

After a normal walk about 22–26 Slightly faster

After a few dance steps about 26–32 Warm, breathing
deeper

After a run about 35–45 Panting, heart
beating fast

Yes, there is a clear difference. The harder the activity, the more breaths per minute — and
each breath is deeper too.

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Why it happens: muscles get their energy by using food along with the air we take
in. Running uses far more energy than sitting, so the body needs more air, faster.
That is why you pant after a race and why the panting slows down again once you
rest.

Check it yourself: take the readings for three friends and find the average. The
numbers differ from person to person, but the pattern — rest < walk < dance < run —
is the same for everybody.

Q3 Do you notice the process of breathing in other animals like dogs, cats, cows and
buffaloes? Notice the movement of their abdomen while they are taking rest.

Yes. When an animal is resting, its breathing is easy to see even from a distance.

Watch a cow or buffalo lying in the shade — its flank and abdomen rise and fall steadily,
roughly 15 to 25 times a minute.
A sleeping dog shows the same slow rise and fall of the chest and belly. After running in the
sun it pants with its tongue out, breathing very fast.
A cat dozing on a wall breathes so gently that you have to look closely.
A fish in an aquarium opens and closes its mouth and gill covers — that is its way of taking
in air dissolved in water.

Why the abdomen moves: when air is drawn in, the chest cavity is made bigger and
the organs below are pushed down, so the belly bulges out. When the air goes out,
everything comes back. The movement is a direct sign that the animal is respiring —
that is, that it is alive.

Try This: Lie flat on your back, place a light book on your stomach and watch it rise
and fall. Then count the rises for one minute — you have measured your own
breathing rate without touching yourself.

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Q4 In the process of breathing, when we inhale, the air moves from outside to inside
our body. When we breathe out, the air moves from inside our body to outside.
Breathing is part of a process called respiration. Do plants also respire?

Yes — all living beings respire, and plants are no exception.
How a plant does it: there are tiny pores called stomata on the surface of the leaves. These
pores let air move in and out of the plant. Roots take in the air present in the spaces between
soil particles, and woody stems have tiny openings of their own.

WE DO IT A PLANT DOES IT

Opening used Nose and mouth Stomata on the leaf surface (and root surfaces)

Any visible movement? Chest and abdomen rise and fall None — the exchange is silent and very slow

Does it stop at night? No No — a plant respires day and night

Try This — the activity the book suggests: ask the senior students of your school
to show you stomata under a microscope. Peel the thin lower skin off a fresh leaf (a
Rhoeo, money plant or lily leaf works well), put it on a slide with a drop of water and
look. You will see tiny mouth-shaped pores, each between two curved cells.

A common confusion cleared: a plant makes food in sunlight, and it respires all the
time. These are two different processes. In bright sunlight the food-making is much
faster, which is why we usually notice only that one.

Q5 Have you noticed white patches forming on shirts around the armpits during
summers?

Yes — and those patches are proof of excretion.
The patches are formed by sweat. Sweat consists of water and salts removed by the body as
waste products. When the water dries off in the summer heat, the salt is left behind on the cloth
as a whitish ring.

Removal of waste products from the body = excretion

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

In animals, urine is also formed as a product of excretion.
The waste air we breathe out is removed too.

Why the body must throw waste out: the chemical work going on inside a living
body constantly produces substances that are of no further use, and some are
harmful if they collect. Excretion clears them out. A pencil or a chair produces no
such waste, because nothing is happening inside it.

Did you know? Sweating also cools you. As the water evaporates it takes heat away
from the skin — the same reason a matka keeps water cool.

Q6 Do you know that plants also excrete?

Yes. The book points to a sight you have almost certainly seen on a winter or monsoon
morning.
Plants excrete excess water and minerals in the form of small droplets on the leaves — you
can notice this on grasses and roses. Look at a lawn just after sunrise: tiny beads of water sit
along the tip and edges of every blade of grass.

HOW PLANTS GET RID OF WASTE WHERE YOU SEE IT

Droplets of excess water with dissolved minerals at leaf tips Grass, rose, colocasia (arbi) leaves in the early
and margins morning

Waste gases released through the stomata Not visible

Waste stored in old leaves and bark, which are then shed Fallen leaves in autumn; peeling bark of eucalyptus
and arjuna

Gum and resin oozing out of the trunk Gum on a babool or neem trunk; resin on a pine

Check it yourself: do not confuse these droplets with dew. Dew forms all over a cold
surface, even on a stone or a scooter seat. Excretion droplets sit in a neat row at the
tip and edges of the leaf, where the veins end — and they appear even when the air
is not cold.

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The conclusion the chapter draws: all living beings excrete. Animals do it

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In-text Questions — Pages 186 & 187 om
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10.1 — Response to stimuli, reproduction and death
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What is your reaction if you unexpectedly step on a sharp object, such as a thorn,

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A stimulus is anything or any event that prompts living beings to respond.
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What the body does about it is the response.

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STIMULUS MY BODY'S INSTANT RESPONSE

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Stepping on a thorn The foot is lifted away instantly; I shout

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Pepper or dust in the nose A sneeze

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already away from the hot cup before you say “ouch”.
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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Q2 Do plants also respond to stimuli? Find a few more plants in your neighbourhood
which fold their leaves after sunset.

Yes, plants also respond to stimuli. The book gives two clear examples.

Touch-me-not (mimosa, chhui-mui, lajjalu) — the leaves fold up the moment you touch
them, and open again after some minutes.
Sleeping leaves — the leaves of certain plants facing each other tend to come together after
sunset. This is seen in the amla (Indian gooseberry) tree.

Other plants in an Indian neighbourhood whose leaves fold after sunset:

PLANT WHERE YOU FIND IT

Tamarind (imli) Roadsides, school grounds

Rain tree (gulabi siris) Parks and avenues — the whole canopy droops at dusk

Gulmohar Along roads; the tiny leaflets close in pairs

Sesbania (agasti / hadga) and subabul Field bunds and hedges

Groundnut, bean and gram plants Kitchen gardens and fields

Clover / oxalis (khatti-booti) Lawns and damp corners

Check it yourself: pick one branch of an amla or imli tree that you can see from
your window. Draw it at 5 p.m. and again at 7 p.m. on the same day. The second
drawing will show the leaflets pressed together in pairs.

Q3 Why do the leaves of chhui-mui and amla plants respond in this way? Which
stimulus could be responsible for their behaviour?

The two plants respond to two different stimuli.

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

PLANT STIMULUS RESPONSE HOW IT HELPS THE PLANT

Chhui-mui Touch — and also a Leaflets fold and the A grazing animal suddenly sees a
(touch-me- shake, a hot object or a whole leaf droops within a shrivelled, dried-up looking twig
not) strong wind second or two instead of fresh green leaves and moves
away; insects sitting on the leaf are
shaken off

Amla (and Darkness — the fall of Leaflets facing each other Less water is lost at night, the delicate
imli, rain light at sunset, along with come together and the leaf leaflets are protected from cold, dew
tree) the drop in temperature folds up for the night and wind, and the folded leaf offers less
surface for insects

How the movement is produced: at the base of each leaflet there is a small swollen
cushion of cells. When the stimulus arrives, water moves out of the cells on one side
of the cushion. That side goes limp, the other side stays firm, and the leaflet is pulled
shut. When water returns, the leaf opens again — which is why chhui-mui reopens
after a few minutes and amla opens again at sunrise.

Did you know? This response of plants to stimuli was proved with instruments by
the Indian scientist Jagadish Chandra Bose, whom you meet on page 194 of this
chapter.

Q4 Have you seen young ones of cats, dogs or other animals? List young ones of five
different animals. Have you seen young ones of any non-living things such as a
pencil, a chair or an electric bulb?

Yes, I have seen young ones of animals — and no, non-living things never have young
ones.

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

ANIMAL ITS YOUNG ONE

Cat Kitten

Dog Puppy

Cow Calf

Hen Chick

Goat Kid

Frog Tadpole

Butterfly Caterpillar (larva)

Non-living things: a pencil has never produced a small pencil, a chair has never produced a
stool and a bulb has never produced a little bulb. New pencils, chairs and bulbs are all made in
a factory by people — they are not born from an older one.

All living beings reproduce. Reproduction is the process of producing new ones of one's

own kind.

Q5 Why is reproduction necessary?

It is necessary for the continuity of life. That is the book's own answer, and it is worth
unpacking.

Every individual has a fixed life span and finally dies — an adult mosquito lives 10 to 15
days, a bean plant a few months, a person several decades.
If no new individuals were produced, each kind of living being would disappear from the
Earth within one lifetime.
Reproduction replaces the individuals that die, so the kind continues generation after
generation — the seeds of this year's bean plant become next year's bean plants.

Notice what reproduction does not do: it does not keep the individual alive. The
parent bean plant still yellows and dries after fruiting. What survives is the kind.
That is exactly why the summary of this chapter says “the process of reproduction
maintains the continuity of its kind”.

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

In-text Questions — Pages 187 & 188
10.1 — Putting it all together

Q1 Now that you know how to identify a living being, fill up the remaining two columns
(IV and V) of Table 10.1 and complete the activity.

(I) (II) (III) (IV) (V)
NAME MY GUESS REASON/REMARKS CORRECT REASON/REMARKS
(LIVING/NON- ANSWER FOR THE CORRECT
LIVING) ANSWER

Pencil Non-living

Book

Pigeon Living

Car

Plant

Any
other

Table 10.1, page 184 — reproduced as printed in the book, for you to fill in.

Now use the eight characteristics as a checklist. Here is the completed Table 10.1.

Page 23 of 86

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

(I) (II) MY (III) REASON (IV)
. c om
(V) REASON / REMARKS FOR

a s em
com
NAME GUESS / REMARKS CORRECT THE CORRECT ANSWER

m. agl

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Pencil Non-living Does not move or
grow by itself
Non-living Shows none of the eight characteristics
— no nutrition, growth, respiration,
excretion, response or reproduction
m
coNon-living
e m . ag
as
Book Non-living It just lies where Made from paper, which came from a

a g l
it is kept tree — but the paper itself no longer
grows, respires or responds

Pigeon Living
co m
m.
It flies away Living Moves, eats grain, grows from a chick,

e
when disturbed respires, excretes, responds, lays eggs

m l as
.co g
and finally dies

m a
l a se
Car Non-living It moves, but Non-living Movement alone is not life. It takes

a g only with a driver fuel, not food; never grows; never
reproduces

m a s
Plant Living It becomes taller
m .co Living Grows, makes its own food, respires
agl
l a se through stomata, excretes droplets,

a g bends towards light, produces seeds,
and dies

House Living It runs across the Living
. c om
Catches insects, grows, respires,

s e m to light and sound,
m lays a
lizard wall responds instantly

. co agl
eggs

m
seSeed (the
l a
ag tricky
Non-living (a It lies still and Living It holds a tiny living embryo. Given
common first does nothing water and air it germinates, grows and
one) guess) becomes a whole plant
se m
com g l a
m . a
ase
agl
Why columns II and IV may differ: that difference is the whole point of the activity.
A first guess is based on how a thing looks; the correct answer is based on testing it
against the characteristics of life. The seed usually changes sides between column
co m
II and column IV.
m .
m as e
.co a g l
a s em
agl In which category would you place a seed—living or non-living? Why?
c
Q2

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A seed is living.
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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Why it looks non-living at first: a dry seed does not move, does not visibly grow, shows no
response and eats nothing. It can lie in a tin for a year and look exactly the same. In this state
the seed is said to be dormant — its life activities are running at an extremely low level.
Why it is really living:

Inside the seed coat there is a tiny embryo — a baby plant, complete with a small root and
shoot.
Give it the right conditions — water and air — and it germinates: the coat softens, the root
pushes down, the shoot pushes up.
It then grows, respires, responds to light and gravity, and finally produces flowers, fruits and
new seeds.

A dead or roasted seed given the same water and air never germinates → so germination

proves the ordinary seed was alive all along.

Check it yourself: take ten gram seeds from the kitchen and ten roasted gram
(bhuna chana). Keep both sets on wet cotton for three days. The ordinary seeds
sprout; the roasted ones only swell and then rot. Roasting killed the embryo.

Activity 10.2: Let us experiment — Pages 188 & 189

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

10.2 Essential Conditions for Germination of a Seed

ACTIVITY

Q1 Indicate the availability of air, sunlight and water for the seeds in each of these cases in
10.2.

(a) Pot A kept in direct (b) Pot B kept in direct (c) Pot C with moist soil, (d) Pot D with mois
sunlight, no water sunlight, excess water kept in the dark kept in direct sun

Fig. 10.1, page 188 — redrawn sketch of the four pots of bean seeds kept in different condit

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

POT AVAILABILITY OF SEED GERMINATION POSSIBL
WITH REASON
BEAN THE
AIR SUNLIGHT WATER PREDICTION OBSERVATION
SEEDS OBSERV

A: In No
direct
sunlight
and
without
water

B: In
direct
sunlight
and
excess
water

C: In
complete
dark and
moist
soil

D: In
direct
sunlight
and
moist
soil

Table 10.2, page 189 — reproduced as printed in the book, for you to fill in.

Read each pot carefully and mark what actually reaches the seed.

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

POT WITH BEAN SEEDS AIR SUNLIGHT WATER

A: In direct sunlight and without water Yes Yes No

B: In direct sunlight and excess water No Yes Yes (too much)

C: In complete dark and moist soil Yes No Yes (right amount)

D: In direct sunlight and moist soil Yes Yes Yes (right amount)

The one entry students usually get wrong is air in Pot B. Nobody removed the air
from Pot B. But water always stands above the soil there, so water has filled all the
spaces between the soil particles and pushed the air out. The seed is under water
and cannot get air. That single change is what makes Pot B different from Pot D.

Tip: notice how the four pots are designed. D has everything. A is D minus water, C is
D minus sunlight, B is D with too much water (and so no air). Changing one thing at a
time is what makes this a fair test.

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

co m
m.
When a seed turns into a sprout, it is said to have germinated. Predict whether the see
se
Q2

o m l a
pot will germinate. Record your predictions for each pot kept under different condition
g of germination of the
m .c
10.2. Regularly a
observe the pots for 7–10 days to check the status

l a se your observations in Table 10.2. Compare your predictions with your observatio
Record
a g possible reasons in favour of your observations in Table 10.2.

co m
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POT AVAILABILITY OF
g l as SEED GERMINATION POSSIBL
WITH
BEAN
a REASON
THE
AIR SUNLIGHT WATER PREDICTION OBSERVATION

com
SEEDS OBSERV

m .
om ase
agl
A: In No

. cdirect
e m sunlight
g l as
a and
without

m a s
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water

m.co
B: In
l a se
direct
sunlight a g
m
and
excess
. co
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as
water
m l
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l a se
g
complete
a dark and
moist
se m
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.
soil

m a
ase
agl
D: In
direct
sunlight
and
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e
moist

com l as
soil

. a g
m
ase
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Table 10.2, page 189 — reproduced as printed in the book, for you to fill in.

.c
s e m
m a
e m . co agl
g l as
Here is Table 10.2 completed after 7 to 10 days.
a

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

POT AVAILABILITY OF SEED GERMINATION POSSIBLE
WITH REASON FOR
BEAN THE
AIR SUNLIGHT WATER PREDICTION OBSERVATION
SEEDS OBSERVATION

A: In Yes Yes No No No germination Without water the
direct seed coat does not
sunlight soften and the
and embryo cannot
without start its life
water processes. The
seeds stayed hard
and dry.

B: In No Yes Yes No No germination; Standing water
direct (excess) the seeds became filled the spaces
sunlight soft, swollen and between soil
and began to rot and particles and drove
excess smell out the air. Seeds
water need air for
germination, so
they died and
decayed.

C: In Yes No Yes Many students The seeds did Bean seeds do not
complete (right predict “No” germinate. The need light to
dark and amount) seedlings were germinate — water
moist tall, thin and pale and air are enough.
soil yellow instead of Light is needed
green only after
germination, for
the seedling to
become green and
grow properly.

D: In Yes Yes Yes Yes Best germination All three
direct (right — healthy green requirements are
sunlight amount) seedlings met: the right
and amount of water,
moist plenty of air in the
soil soil spaces, and
sunlight for the
seedling that
follows.

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

The surprise of this activity is Pot C. Most students predict that seeds in the dark
will not sprout. They do. The value of the experiment is exactly this — it corrects a
wrong belief with evidence. This is also why farmers sow seeds under the soil, in the
dark, and not on top of it.

Try This: keep the pale seedlings of Pot C in sunlight for two more days. They turn
green and stop being so leggy. Now you have seen the difference between
germination and growth.

In-text Questions — Page 190
10.2 — What the four pots teach us

Q1 Do you think sunlight is necessary for germination of seeds?

No — sunlight is not necessary for the germination of bean seeds.
The evidence: Pot C was kept in complete darkness with moist soil, and the seeds in it
germinated. Only water and air were available, and that was enough.

Pot C: air ✓ water ✓ sunlight ✗ → germination happened

The book states the general rule: most seeds do not require light for germination. But after
germination, sunlight is required for the further growth of the seedling — that is why the
Pot C seedlings were pale and weak while those in Pot D were green and sturdy.

Did you know? There are exceptions in both directions. Seeds of Coleus and
Petunia need light to germinate, so covering them with soil stops them from
sprouting. Seeds of Calendula and Zinnia need darkness, so they must be covered
with enough soil.

Q2 Do the seeds in all the pots receive air, water and sunlight? Is there any pot in which
air is not available to the seeds? If so, why is it not available?

No, no pot except D received all three in the right amounts.

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Pot A — air and sunlight, but no water.
Pot B — sunlight and plenty of water, but no air.
Pot C — air and water, but no sunlight.
Pot D — air, water and sunlight, all in the right amount.

The pot in which air is not available is Pot B.

Why air is missing there: normal soil is not solid — there are countless tiny spaces
between the soil particles, and these spaces are full of air. That is the air the seed
uses. In Pot B water is kept standing above the soil all the time, so it seeps into
every one of those spaces and pushes the air out. The seed then sits in
waterlogged soil with no air to respire, and it rots instead of sprouting.

Where you see this outside the classroom: after very heavy rain, a field where
water stands for several days turns yellow and the young plants die. Farmers cut
drainage channels for exactly this reason — to let the air back into the soil.

Q3 What happens to the seeds in the pot where water is provided in excess?

They do not germinate. They swell up, become soft, turn dark, start to rot and give off a
bad smell.

Excess water → soil spaces filled → no air for the seed → seed cannot respire → seed

decays

Two things happen together:

The seed cannot get the air it needs to release energy, so the embryo dies.
A dead, soft seed in warm wet soil is quickly attacked by moulds and bacteria, which is what
makes it slimy and smelly.

Check it yourself: soak ten rajma seeds in a bowl of water and leave them fully
under water for four days. Keep another ten on damp cotton. The soaked-under-
water lot will smell sour and go soft; the ones on damp cotton will sprout. Same
seeds, same water, different amount of air.

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Q4 Which seeds receive both air and water? Identify the pots where you can notice the
germination of seeds.

The seeds in Pot C and Pot D receive both air and water.

POT AIR WATER DID THE SEEDS GERMINATE?

A Yes No No

B No Excess No

C Yes Yes Yes — but the seedlings are pale and thin

D Yes Yes Yes — healthy green seedlings

Germination is seen in Pots C and D — exactly the two pots that got both air and water.
That is the answer the experiment was designed to produce.

How to read an experiment like this: line up the pots that gave the same result
and see what they share. C and D both germinated, and the one thing they have in
common is air + the right amount of water. A and B failed, and each of them is
missing one of those two. Sunlight varies between C and D without changing the
result — so sunlight is not the deciding factor.

Q5 Based on your observations, state the conditions which favour seed germination.
Which of the following are essential for seed germination – air, water and sunlight?

Conditions that favour germination: the right amount of water, enough air, and a suitable
(warm) temperature. Sunlight is not essential.

Essential → Water (the right amount) + Air

Not essential for bean seeds → Sunlight

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

co m
m.
CONDITION ESSENTIAL? WHICH POT PROVES IT

m as e
.co
Water — in the right amount Yes
a g l
Pot A had none and failed; too much in Pot B also failed

se m
g
Air
l a
a
Yes Pot B had none and failed

Sunlight No (for bean seeds) Pot C had none and still germinated

. c om ag
s e m seeds requires the right amount of water
In the book's own words: germination of bean
a
agl
and air.

Tip: say “the right amount of water”, not just “water”. Both too little (Pot A) and too
co m
much (Pot B) stop germination — that is one of the neatest results in this chapter.
e m.
m l as
m .co a g
l a se
g
a Q6 Why do seeds require these conditions for germination? Do you think that the

s
absence of one or more of these conditions will affect seed germination?
m a
m.co agl
l a se
a g
Each condition does a specific job, so yes — if even one is missing, germination is affected
or stops altogether.

. c om
IFm
CONDITION WHAT IT DOES FOR THE SEED
s e IT IS ABSENT

. co m
ag la
m
ase
Water Softens the seed coat (the outer covering of the seed) so it can The coat stays hard, the

agl
split, and enables the seed to carry out the processes necessary embryo stays dormant,
for growth. It helps the tiny embryo inside develop into a nothing happens (Pot A)
plant.
se m
com g l a
m . a
ase
Air Seeds use the air present in the spaces between soil particles The seed cannot respire; it

gl
to respire and release the energy needed for germination. rots (Pot B)
a
Soil with Besides holding that air, the spaces between soil particles Roots struggle in hard,
spaces allow the roots to grow easily.
co m
compacted soil

m .
a se germination is slow or does
com l
Suitable The life processes inside the seed work only in a moderate Too cold or too hot —

. a g
m
temperature

ase
range of warmth.

agl
not occur

.c
m
Light / dark Not needed for germination in most seeds, but sunlight is Seedlings become pale, thin

m a s e
co agl
needed after germination for the seedling to grow. and weak (Pot C)

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Why this is exactly like a balanced diet: the chapter reminds you that human
beings need a balanced diet for good health and proper growth. In the same way,
plants need favourable conditions and nutrients. Neither a person nor a plant can
manage with just one requirement supplied in plenty while another is missing.

In-text Questions — Page 191
10.2 — Other conditions, and the seed once again

Q1 What other conditions do you think would affect seed germination?

Besides water, air and light, several other conditions decide whether a seed will sprout.

CONDITION HOW IT AFFECTS GERMINATION EVERYDAY PROOF

Temperature Most Indian crop seeds germinate best between about 20 Moong sprouts in a day in
°C and 35 °C. Very cold or very hot conditions slow it June but takes three days in
down or stop it. December

Quality and age A damaged, insect-eaten, roasted or very old seed has a Roasted chana never sprouts
of the seed dead embryo and will never germinate

Depth of sowing Sown too deep, the shoot runs out of stored food before Farmers sow small seeds
reaching the surface; left on top, the seed dries out shallow and big seeds deeper

Type of soil Loose loamy soil holds both water and air; hard clay Seeds do better in a well-tilled
holds water but little air; pure sand drains away too fast field than on a beaten path

Nutrients Not needed for germination itself, but essential for the Compost added to a kitchen
(manure) seedling that follows garden bed

Salinity of water Very salty water stops the seed from taking in water Nothing grows on a salt-
and soil crusted patch of ground

Try This: design a fair test for any one of these — say, depth. Sow bean seeds at 1
cm, 3 cm and 8 cm in three identical pots and keep water, air and sunlight the same.
Only then will the difference you see be due to depth alone. (Question 9 of the
exercise asks you to do exactly this for temperature.)

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Q2 In Activity 10.1, what are the characteristics of living beings which made you place
plants in living beings? Do plants show growth in Activity 10.2? Are there any other
characteristics of living beings that these plants show?

Why plants were placed among living beings in Activity 10.1: they grow, they need water, air
and nutrients, they respire through stomata, they excrete droplets on their leaves, they respond
to stimuli such as touch and light, they reproduce through seeds, and they finally die.
Do plants show growth in Activity 10.2? Yes, very clearly.

DAY WHAT YOU SEE IN POT D

Day 0 A dry, hard bean seed under the soil

Day 2–3 The seed has swollen; the coat has split; a small white root pushes downwards

Day 4–5 A shoot appears above the soil, bent like a hook

Day 7–10 The shoot straightens, the first green leaves open, the root branches out

Other characteristics visible in the same activity:

Nutrition — the seedling first uses the food stored inside the seed, then makes its own food
once the green leaves open.
Respiration — the seeds needed air; that is why Pot B failed. This is respiration made visible.
Response to stimuli — the root turned downwards and the shoot upwards without anyone
guiding them; the pale Pot C seedlings turned green when brought into light.
Death — the seeds in Pot B decayed, and a plant that is denied its conditions dies.

The point of asking again: in Activity 10.1 you called a plant living because of what
you already believed. After Activity 10.2 you can say it because you watched it
happen. That is the difference between an opinion and evidence.

Q3 How would you now categorise a seed, as living or non-living?

Living — and now I can prove it instead of only saying it.

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

CHARACTERISTIC OF LIFE SHOWN BY THE SEED IN ACTIVITY 10.2?

Growth Yes — it swelled, sent out a root and a shoot, and became a seedling

Respiration Yes — it needed air; the seeds without air (Pot B) died

Nutrition Yes — it used the food stored inside itself, then made its own

Movement Yes — the root moved down and the shoot moved up

Response to stimuli Yes — it responded to water, to gravity and later to light

Reproduction Yes — the grown plant will produce fresh seeds

Death Yes — the seeds in the waterlogged pot died and rotted

Why the dry seed fooled us: a dormant seed keeps its life processes running so
slowly that nothing shows on the outside. It is like a lamp turned down almost to
nothing — the flame is small, but it has not gone out. Add water and air and the
flame flares up again.

In-text Questions — Page 191
10.3 Growth and Movement in Plants

Q1 How do plants respond to sunlight? Does sunlight affect the direction of growth of
different parts of plants?

Plants respond to sunlight by growing towards it — and yes, sunlight does affect the
direction of growth, but only of the shoot.

A shoot bends and grows towards the light. Keep a money plant beside a window for a
fortnight and all its leaves face the window.
A root does not follow the light at all. It keeps growing downwards, into the soil where the
water and minerals are.
Leaves turn so that their flat surface faces the light and catches as much of it as possible.
A sunflower head follows the Sun from east to west during the day while it is young.

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Why the shoot chases light and the root ignores it: the shoot carries the leaves,
and leaves must have sunlight to make food — so bending towards light is directly
useful. The root has a different job: to anchor the plant and take in water and
minerals. Both are found below, so the root answers to gravity instead of light.
Activity 10.3 is designed to demonstrate exactly this split.

Check it yourself: put a potted tulsi on a window sill and turn the pot half-way
round every fourth day. The shoot tips will keep re-bending towards the glass each
time. Nobody is moving them — the plant is responding.

Q2 In which direction would the root and shoot of a plant grow and move if the plant is
placed inverted? How would you design an activity to find answers to these
questions?

My prediction: even if the plant is turned upside down, the root will bend and grow
downwards and the shoot will bend and grow upwards. The plant will “correct” itself.
How to design the activity — the plan the book follows in Activity 10.3:

1. Grow the seedlings. Germinate bean or gram seeds on a moist cloth until each has a small
root and a small shoot.
2. Make three identical set-ups so that the comparison is fair — label three glass beakers A, B
and C.
3. Mount one seedling on each glass plate lined with thick blotting paper, tied with soft cotton
thread so the plant is not damaged. The wet blotting paper supplies moisture.
4. Change only one thing in each — that is the heart of the design:

A — seedling upright, sunlight from all directions. This is the control.
B — seedling inverted (shoot pointing down, root pointing up), sunlight from all
directions. Tests the effect of the plant's own position.
C — seedling upright, but light entering through one small hole in a cardboard box. Tests
the effect of the direction of light.

5. Predict first, then observe for several days and record both in a table, so you can honestly
compare the two.

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co m
m.
Why three set-ups and not one: with only beaker B you could not tell whether the

m l a se
bending was caused by the inversion or was just how that seedling grew. A is the
o g direction from
.c to compare against, and C separates the effect of alight
m
ordinary case
se of plant position. Change one factor at a time — that is what makes it an
theaeffect
l
g
aexperiment rather than a demonstration.

co m
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la 192 & 193
Activity 10.3: Let us design —gPages
se
a

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

10.3 — Direction of growth of root and shoot

ACTIVITY

Q1 Fill Table 10.3 with your predictions and observations.

Hole on the back side of the box

In
o

(a) (b) (c)
(a) Upright plant kept in sunlight from all directions
(b) Inverted plant kept in sunlight from all directions
(c) Upright plant kept in sunlight from one direction

Fig. 10.2, page 192 — redrawn sketch of the set-up: three beakers with a seedling fixed on a
plate, kept in different conditions.

BEAKERS DIRECTION DIRECTION DIRECTION OF GROWTH OF ROOT AND SHO
OF OF PLANT
SUNLIGHT SHOOT/ROOT PREDICTIONS OBSERVA

A All Upright Shoot
directions
Root

B All Inverted Shoot
directions
Root

C Only from Upright Shoot
one
direction Root

Table 10.3, page 193 — reproduced as printed in the book, for you to fill in.

Here is Table 10.3 completed. Fill your predictions before you set the beakers aside, and the

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

observations after 4 to 7 days.

BEAKERS DIRECTION DIRECTION SHOOT PREDICTIONS OBSERVATIONS
OF OF PLANT / ROOT
SUNLIGHT

A All directions Upright Shoot Grows upwards Grew straight
upwards

Root Grows downwards Grew straight
downwards

B All directions Inverted Shoot May keep growing Bent and turned
downwards upwards

Root May keep growing Bent and turned
upwards downwards

C Only from Upright Shoot Grows upwards Grew upwards and
one direction bent towards the hole
through which light
entered

Root Grows downwards Grew downwards,
ignoring the light

Tip: keep the blotting paper wet throughout and make sure the seedling itself stays
above the water level. A seedling standing in water will rot — exactly what happened
to Pot B in Activity 10.2.

Q2 What is the direction of growth of root and shoot in beakers A, B and C based on
your observations? Do your predictions match your observations? What do you
conclude from this activity?

The results, as the book records them:

1. When the plant is kept upright, the root grows downwards and the shoot grows upwards.
(Beaker A)
2. When the plant is kept inverted, the root bends and grows downwards. Also, the shoot
bends and grows upwards. (Beaker B)
3. When the plant gets sunlight only from one direction, the shoot grows in the direction of
light while the root continues to grow downwards. (Beaker C)

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A — upright B — inverted C — light from one side

shoot up, root down both bend and correct themselves shoot bends to the light, root still
down
Green = shoot • Purple = root • Dotted line = level of the seed

What Activity 10.3 shows: whichever way the seedling is placed, the root ends up growing downwards
and the shoot upwards.

Do the predictions match? For beaker A they usually do. For beaker B most students predict
wrongly — they expect the inverted plant to carry on growing the wrong way round. It does not.
Being proved wrong here is the most valuable part of the activity.

Conclusion: shoots of plants grow upward and move towards sunlight, but roots of
plants grow downwards.

Why the plant behaves like this: the shoot must lift its leaves into the light and air
to make food, so it grows away from the pull of the earth and towards light. The root
must find water, minerals and a firm hold, all of which lie below, so it grows towards
the pull of the earth and takes no notice of light. This is why a seed thrown carelessly
into a field still comes up the right way round.

Know a scientist: Jagadish Chandra Bose (1858–1937), an Indian scientist, built a
machine called the crescograph to record how plants respond to stimuli such as
light, heat, electricity and gravity. With it he could measure how fast plants grow,
and he showed that plants can sense and respond to stimuli.

Activity 10.4: Let us explore — Pages 194 & 195

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

10.4 Life Cycle of a Plant

ACTIVITY

Q1 How long does it take for any change to occur? Make sketches of various changes
that you observe in Table 10.4.

DATE OBSERVATIONS SKETCHES

Seeds are sown

Table 10.4, page 195 — reproduced as printed in the book, for you to fill in.

Sow one bean seed, water it regularly and watch it for three months. Write the date every time
something new appears. Here is Table 10.4 filled in with typical timings for a bean plant in
Indian weather.

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DATE (DAY OF THE OBSERVATIONS SKETCH TO DRAW
ACTIVITY)
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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

PLANT DAYS FROM SOWING TO THE FIRST FLOWER

Bean / rajma about 40–55 days

Moong about 30–35 days

Sunflower about 55–65 days

Marigold (genda) about 45–60 days

Mustard (sarson) about 40–50 days

Why flowering takes so long: before it can flower, the plant must first build a big
enough body — a good root system and enough leaves to make plenty of food.
Flowering, and then filling the seeds, needs a large store of food. That is why a plant
flowers only after weeks of leafy growth, never in the first few days.

Q3 After some parts of the flower have dried, can you see any further growth? Which
structure do the remaining parts of flower develop into? Can you notice a pod or a
fruit with seeds develop from a flower?

Yes — growth continues even after the flower dries. Watch one flower carefully and do not
pluck it.

1. The coloured petals wither and fall off first. It looks as if the flower has finished.
2. The small green part at the base of the flower stays behind and starts to swell.
3. That part grows into the fruit — in a bean plant, a pod.
4. Inside the pod, seeds develop and get bigger.
5. Finally the pod dries, turns brown and can be split open to show the new bean seeds.

Flower → petals dry and fall → the remaining part swells → fruit (pod) → seeds inside

Yes, the pod with seeds does develop from the flower. That is the most important
observation of this activity: the seeds you started with and the seeds you end with are the same
kind, one generation apart.

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Check it yourself: tie a small thread loosely around the stalk of the very first flower
on your plant. Come back after two weeks and you will find your thread now tied
below a young pod — clear proof that the pod grew out of that flower.

Q4 What happens to the plant after the fruits containing seeds are formed?

The plant slowly stops growing, turns yellow, dries up and dies — even though you keep
watering it.

Leaves lose their green colour and become yellow, then brown and papery.
New leaves and flowers stop appearing.
The stem becomes dry and brittle; the pods rattle when shaken.
Finally all the activities of life come to an end and the plant is considered dead.

Why the plant dies after fruiting: a bean plant lives for only one season. Almost all
the food it makes is poured into filling the seeds. Once that is done, its work is
finished — the next generation is already packed inside the pods. This is very
different from a mango or a neem tree, which flowers and fruits year after year for
decades.

A plant is said to be dead when it stops growing and all activities of life gradually come

to an end, even though all the necessary conditions are still available.

Q5 What changes do you observe after the fruits are formed? Does the plant become
yellow and dry even when you continue watering it? Sow the seeds obtained from
your bean plant. Watch how the seeds give rise to a new generation of bean plants.

Yes — the plant becomes yellow and dries up in spite of regular watering. Water alone
cannot keep a plant alive once it has finished its life cycle.
Then sow the seeds from your own pods. In about a week they germinate and the whole story
starts again. That completes the circle and shows you what a life cycle means.

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Seed → young plant → mature plant → flowers → fruit (pod) with seeds → new generation

of plants

In the book's words: the entire process from a seed to a plant, and then, to the next
generation of seeds is called the life cycle of a plant. The five stages of Fig. 10.4 are:

STAGE WHAT IS SEEN

Stage I Seed

Stage II Seed germination

Stage III Appearance of leaves

Stage IV Appearance of flowers

Stage V Appearance of fruits — a pod with seeds — followed by the death of the plant

The big idea: the individual plant dies, but the kind does not. The seeds carry the life
forward. This is the same idea you met when you asked why reproduction is
necessary — it is needed for the continuity of life.

In-text Questions — Page 196
10.5 Life Cycle of Animals — 10.5.1 Life cycle of a mosquito

Q1 Have you ever observed how animals grow over time? Draw sketches of their young
ones and name them.

Yes. Some young ones look like small copies of their parents; others look completely different.
Draw them and write both names.

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

ANIMAL YOUNG ONE DOES THE YOUNG ONE LOOK LIKE THE ADULT?

Cow Calf Yes — a small cow with long legs

Hen Chick Yes — a fluffy little bird

Cat Kitten Yes

Goat Kid Yes

Frog Tadpole No — a tailed swimmer with no legs at all

Butterfly Caterpillar No — a crawling, leaf-eating worm-like larva

Mosquito Larva (wriggler) No — it lives in water and cannot fly

Silk moth Larva (silkworm) No

Why the difference matters: where the young one looks like the adult, growth is
simply an increase in size. Where it looks completely different — mosquito, butterfly,
frog — the animal goes through significant changes in appearance, body shape
and structure, and sometimes even changes its home from water to land. Those are
the life cycles this chapter studies in detail.

Try This: in your notebook draw two columns — “young one” and “adult”. Sketch a
chick beside a hen, and a tadpole beside a frog. The two columns tell the whole story
at a glance.

Q2 We are advised not to allow water to stagnate anywhere in our surroundings. Why
is it so? Does stagnant water have any relation with mosquitoes laying eggs?

Yes — there is a direct relation. Mosquitoes need stagnant water to breed, so stagnant
water anywhere near a house means mosquitoes in the house.

The adult female mosquito lays her eggs directly on or near water.
The larvae and pupae live in water — they cannot develop anywhere else.
They need still water. In a flowing river or a fast drain the eggs and larvae are washed away,
which is why it is stagnant water that is dangerous.
Female mosquitoes are blood-sucking insects that transmit several diseases such as
malaria, dengue and chikungunya.

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Common places where stagnant water gathers — check these in a safety audit of your home
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and school: desert coolers, planted pots and their trays, any open container, old tyres, discarded
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pupae go with it — no adults are ever produced.
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Do this at home: once every week, empty and dry the cooler tray, the flower-pot
saucers and any bucket that has been standing. A week is short enough — a
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In-text Questions — Page 197
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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

10.5.1 — Larvae, pupae and how to stop them

Q1 You may find two different types of worm-like creatures (Fig. 10.5). They are larva
and pupa, two distinct life stages during the development of mosquito. What
differences do you observe in the shape of larvae and pupae?

Pupa Larva

Fig. 10.5, page 197 — redrawn sketch: larvae and pupae of mosquitoes in a stagnant
water body, with each one magnified.

Both wriggle in the water, but a hand lens shows they are quite different.

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

FEATURE LARVA PUPA

Overall shape Long, slender and worm-like, clearly Short and comma-shaped — a big rounded head-
divided into segments end with a small curved tail

Head A small distinct head at one end Head and chest fused into one large rounded part

Body covering Bristles or hair-like projections along the Smooth, without bristles
body

How it hangs in Hangs head-down from the surface Floats head-up, curled like a comma
water

How it moves Wriggles actively from side to side — Tumbles or somersaults away when disturbed;
hence “wriggler” otherwise fairly still

Does it feed? Yes, it feeds and grows No — it is a resting stage in which the body is
being rebuilt

Safety first: observe them in the container with a hand lens, do not touch the water
with bare hands, and report to your teacher. Then empty the water on to dry ground.

Q2 Mosquito larvae and pupae observed in water bodies repeatedly come to the water
surface. What can be the reason for this?

They come up to breathe.
Mosquito larvae and pupae live in water but require air to respire. They cannot take in the air
dissolved in the water the way a fish does, so they must move to the surface of the water for
air. Each has a short breathing tube which it pokes just above the water film before sinking
again.

Live in water + need air → must keep returning to the surface

Why this single fact is so useful: it is the weak point in the mosquito's life. Anything
that seals the water surface off from the air will kill every larva and pupa in that
container, without harming anyone outside it. The next question shows exactly how
that is done.

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Q3 How can the life cycle of a mosquito be disrupted?

Break the cycle at any one stage and no adult mosquito is produced. The easiest stages to
attack are the ones that live in water.

STAGE WHAT TO DO WHY IT WORKS
ATTACKED

Egg Do not let water stagnate; empty coolers, pots, trays, tyres The female has nowhere to lay
and tanks every week; cover water storage her eggs

Larva and Spray a thin layer of kerosene oil on standing water that The layer cuts them off from the
pupa cannot be emptied air and they die

Larva Keep guppy or gambusia fish in ponds and tanks The fish eat the larvae

Adult Use mosquito nets, screens on windows, full-sleeved Fewer bites, so fewer diseases
clothes, repellents; keep the surroundings clean spread and fewer eggs laid

Did you know? This is why municipal workers fog the drains and spray oil on ponds
before the monsoon, and why schools hold a “dry day” once a week to empty every
container.

Q4 I have seen my mother spraying kerosene oil on stagnant water. Why does she do
so?

To kill the mosquito larvae and pupae growing in that water. The book gives the reason in
one clear sentence.

Kerosene oil forms a thin layer over the water surface.

This layer separates water from air, and does not allow larvae and pupae to inhale air.

As a result, they die.

Why kerosene spreads like that: kerosene is lighter than water and does not mix with it, so
even a small quantity spreads out into a film covering the entire surface. The larva pushes its
breathing tube up as usual, meets oil instead of air, and cannot breathe.

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A caution worth adding: kerosene should be used only on water that nobody will
drink or use — a blocked drain, a disused pit, a waterlogged corner. Never on a
drinking-water tank or a pond used by cattle. For household containers, the safest
step is simply to empty and dry them.

Activity 10.5: Let us analyse — Pages 198 & 199
10.5.1 — Which stage comes first?

ACTIVITY

Q1 How will you decide which stage (larva or pupa) comes immediately after the egg
stage? Suppose you are given a container with water from a puddle containing
larvae and pupae. Design an activity to find out the correct sequence of these
stages.

Separate the two kinds of creature and watch which one turns into the other. Whatever
changes into the other must come first.
Here is the plan, following Avadhi's design in the book:

STEP WHAT I WILL DO

Step I have a water container with mosquito larvae and pupae.
1

Step I will separate 4–5 larvae and 4–5 pupae into two separate containers with the same water. Label them L and
2 P.

Step I will observe them every day until I see them changing to the next stage.
3

Step If the larvae change into pupae, it would mean that the larval stage comes before the pupal stage — or, if the
4 opposite happens, the other way round.

Step I will keep watching both containers to see in which one a mosquito appears first.
5

What you will actually find: container L shows larvae turning into pupae after a few days;
container P shows adult mosquitoes emerging first. So the sequence is

Egg → Larva → Pupa → Adult mosquito

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Why the “which appears first” test in Step 5 clinches it: the pupa is nearer the

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Larvae ↓ Pupae ↑ then ↓ Adults ↑ → Larva comes before pupa

A second, simpler clue in the same container: if you can mark one individual —
for example by keeping a single larva in a transparent glass tube open at the top
and floating it in the same container — you can watch that one creature change.
Watching one individual change is the strongest evidence of all, because nothing
else can explain it.

Q3 Significant changes occur in the appearance, body shape and structure during the
various stages in the life cycle of a mosquito. Is it easy to imagine that a mosquito
emerges from a pupa?

No — it is very hard to imagine, and that is exactly why the life cycle of a mosquito is
worth studying.

STAGE WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE WHERE IT LIVES HOW IT FEEDS

Stage I — A tiny dark speck, floating alone or in a On or near water Does not feed
Egg raft

Stage II — A long, segmented, bristly wriggler with In water; comes to the Feeds and grows
Larva a distinct head surface for air

Stage III — Short and comma-shaped, no bristles In water; comes to the Does not feed — a
Pupa surface for air resting stage

Stage IV — A slender flying insect with wings, six In air and on land The female sucks
Adult legs and long feelers blood

The book puts it plainly: the shape of the egg is quite different from the larva; the larva appears
very different from the pupa; and the pupa appears very distinct from the adult mosquito.
The adult that emerges from the pupa rests briefly on the surface of the water and then
flies away. It may survive for 10 to 15 days. The adult female then lays eggs directly on or
near water, and the cycle continues.

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Why such a complete change is useful to the mosquito: the larva and the adult
live in totally different places and eat totally different things, so they never compete
with each other for food. The pupa is the quiet workshop in between, where the
swimming body is rebuilt into a flying one.

Activity 10.6: Let us analyse — Pages 199 & 200

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10.5.2 Life cycle of a frog

ACTIVITY

Q1 Observe the features of all the stages of a frog shown in Fig. 10.7. How will you
decide the sequence of the given stages (A, B, C, D, E, F)? Some of the stages show
distinct changes in their initial and final shapes. Record these changes in Table 10.5.

A E
F

B C

D

Fig. 10.7, page 200 — redrawn sketch: the six stages A to F of a frog seen in and around a
pond.

A B C D E F

It is similar to ‘C’ but it has two legs.

Table 10.5, page 200 — reproduced as printed in the book, for you to fill in.

How to decide the sequence: arrange the stages by how much of the frog's body has been
built — start with the one that has no body parts at all and end with the one that has them all.

1. Find the stage with only eggs — that must be first.
2. Find the one where the eggs have a dark shape developing inside — that comes next.
3. Then look for a tail but no legs, then tail with two legs, then tail with four legs, and finally
four legs and no tail.
4. Use the clue printed in the table: D is similar to C but it has two legs. So C must come before D.

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Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Here is Table 10.5 completed, reading Fig. 10.7 from the printed page.

A B C D E F

A jelly-like A small frog A tiny dark It is similar A full-grown A few large
cluster of many with four legs creature with a to ‘C' but it green spotted transparent eggs
small black eggs and a tail still rounded head has two legs. adult frog with a dark comma-
floating at the attached. It and a long tail, A tadpole sitting on a shaped body visible
edge of the pond swims near the no legs at all with a tail leaf out of the inside — the
— this is the surface — a — an early and a pair of water. Four embryo developing
spawn. No body froglet. tadpole. hind legs. strong legs, no within the egg.
parts yet. tail.

Correct sequence: A → F → C → D → B → E

Tip: the two easiest anchors are A (only eggs, so first) and E (a complete adult, so
last). Fix those two, and the middle four fall into place by counting legs.

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