BACHELOR'S DEGREE PROGRAMME (BDP)
Term-End Examination
June, 2014
FST-01 : FOUNDATION COURSE IN SCIENCE
AND TECHNOLOGY
Time : 3 hours Maximum Marks : 100
Note : Question no. 1 is compulsory. Attempt any seven questions from Q. No. 2 to Q. No. 9.
1. (a) What are the following ? (Answer in one 5 word or one sentence). 5
(i) Susruta Samhita
(ii) Stone age
(iii) Museum of Alexandria
(iv) Totem poles
(v) A food chain
(b) Match the names of the Indian Scientists with their field of contribution given below in columns A and B respectively:5
Column A
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Column B
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(i)
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P.C. Ray
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(A)
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Paleobotany
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(ii)
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P.C. Mahalanobis
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(B)
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Physics and Botany
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(iii)
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J.C. Bose
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(C)
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Chemistry
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(iv)
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Birbal Sahni
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(D)
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Statistics
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(v)
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S.Ramanujan
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(E)
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Zoology
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(F)
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Mathematics
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(c) Give short answers for the following questions (in not more than 50 words) : 20
(i) What is the relevance of the statement, 'Science and Technology were founded when humans acted to procure food and water' ?
(ii) A recent development in Computer Science is to endow computers with "artificial intelligence". What kind of computers will be required for this ?
(iii) Some psychologists consider aggression as 'natural instinct' while others call it 'learned response'. State one argument in favour of each.
(iv) What is 'algal bloom' ?
(v) Who is 'Lucy' ?
(vi) State the difference between 'Inductive logic' and 'deductive logic'.
(vii) Name one disease each spread by air, water, food and contact.
(viii) Justify that 'livestock are our mainstay for providing agricultural operations and transport'.
(ix) Why is Mars called red planet and in what ways is it similar to earth ?
(x) How does photochemical smog form ?
2. Observe carefully the above picture and answer the following questions based on it : 10
(a) What does the picture depict ? Define it.
(b) Name three abiotic and three biotic components seen in the picture.
(c) Name three animals seen here and use the names to construct a food chain.
(d) Name the principal source of energy which keeps the system alive.
(e) State the ecological role of plants seen here.
(f) What happens to the dead bodies and wastes of the organisms seen here ?
3. State achievements of Indian Science during medieval period in the fields of astronomy and physical sciences, chemistry and medicine. 10
Ans: Science and Technology in Medieval India
During the medieval times in India, the greatest Indian contribution was in the use of decimal system. The Indians also tried to calculate latitudes of some places which were based on the timings of the eclipse at different places.
Achievements in Science: Achievements in scientific areas like astronomy and medicine continued from the Delhi Sultans as well as from Mughal Emperors and their nobility. Besides using astronomy in making calendars, it was also used for casting horoscopes. The kings of the Mughal period made many astronomical observations which in turn led to the construction of large sized observational instruments for fixing time and determining latitudes. In the field of geography, advancement was made in the form of World Atlas in which maps of different countries were prepared.
In chemistry, zinc was isolated; brass which is an alloy of copper and zinc was developed. Copper vessels were developed. Soldering and tin-coating of copper and brass were other important features in the area of chemistry.
In medicine Unani (Greek) system of medicine became popular. Hakims and vaids worked for the emperor. Surgery and orthopedics were regularly practiced.
From the study above we learnt that science in medieval India was at a slow pace as the learning was restricted only to a small elite group.
Technical Innovations and Inventions: Technology was very advanced during the medieval period. Some technical devices like gearing, belt-drive, weaving, paper manufacturing, distillation, architecture, military technology, and metal screws, ship-building and in some areas of agriculture were invented or improved in the medieval India.
4. (a) Describe the various ways by which the human body battles against germs. 7+3
(b) How does vaccination protect us from disease?
Ans: Vaccines protect us from diseases by preparing our immune system to recognize and fight serious, and sometimes deadly, diseases. A vaccine contains a specific part of a germ (bacteria or virus), called an antigen. The antigen is killed or disabled before it's used to make the vaccine, so it can't make us sick. Vaccines, and the antigens they contain, stimulate our immune system's B cells to develop protective substances called antibodies. These antibodies are responsible for killing germs that enter our body. Once activated, B cells can stay in our body for a lifetime and allow our body to remember the germ that stimulated their creation. Throughout our life, these cells will recognize and fight the actual disease caused by the germ when and if we come into contact with it.
5. (a) How do forests regulate precipitation ? 4+6
(b) State the various consequences of deforestation.
Ans: Consequences of Deforestation:
1. Climate Imbalance: Deforestation also affects the climate in more than one ways. Trees release water vapor in the air, which is compromised on with the lack of trees. Trees also provide the required shade that keeps the soil moist. This leads to the imbalance in the atmospheric temperature further making conditions for the ecology difficult. Flora and fauna across the world are accustomed to their habitat. This haphazard clearance of forests has forced several of these animals to shift from their native environment. Due to this several species are finding it difficult to survive or adapt to new habitats.
2. Increase in Global Warming: Trees play a major role in controlling global warming. The trees utilize the green house gases, restoring the balance in the atmosphere. With constant deforestation the ratio of green house gases in the atmosphere has increased, adding to our global warming woes.
3. Soil Erosion: Also due to the shade of trees the soil remains moist. With the clearance of tree cover, the soil is directly exposed to the sun, making it dry.
4. Floods: When it rains, trees absorb and store large amount of water with the help of their roots. When they are cut down, the flow of water is disrupted and leads to floods in some areas and droughts in other.
5. Wildlife extinction: Due to massive felling down of trees, various species of animals are lost. They lose their habitat and forced to move to new location. Some of them are even pushed to extinction. Our world has lost so many species of plants and animals in last couple of decades.
6. (a) Use examples to explain the roles of memory, reasoning, analysis and synthesis in learning process. 8+2
(b) Do you think award and punishment help in learning ? Justify your opinion.
7. (a) Inspite of having the best iron ores and low labour costs, why is the unit cost of steel production in India higher than that in developed countries ? 3+7
(b) Taking help of the diagram given below, explain how research and development help to create wealth continuously.
8. What is the 'Big bang' theory regarding the origin of the universe ? Explain the various evidences favouring this theory. 10
Ans: According to the big bang theory, the universe began by expanding from an infinitesimal volume with extremely high density and temperature. The universe was initially significantly smaller than even a pore on your skin. With the big bang, the fabric of space itself began expanding like the surface of an inflating balloon – matter simply rode along the stretching space like dust on the balloon's surface. The big bang is not like an explosion of matter in otherwise empty space; rather, space itself began with the big bang and carried matter with it as it expanded. Physicists think that even time began with the big bang. Today, just about every scientist believes in the big bang model. The evidence is overwhelming enough that in 1951, the Catholic Church officially pronounced the big bang model to be in accordance with the Bible.
Evidence for the Big Bang theory:
1. Redshift of Galaxies: The redshift of distant galaxies means that the Universe is probably expanding. If we then go back far enough in time, everything must have been squashed together into a tiny dot. The rapid eruption from this tiny dot was the Big Bang.
2. Microwave Background: Very early in its history, the whole Universe was very hot. As it expanded, this heat left behind a "glow" that fills the entire Universe. The Big Bang theory not only predicts that this glow should exist, but that it should be visible as microwaves - part of the Electromagnetic Spectrum. This is the Cosmic Microwave Background which has been accurately measured by orbiting detectors, and is very good evidence that the Big Bang theory is correct.
3. Mixture of Elements: As the Universe expanded and cooled down, some of the elements that we see today were created. The Big Bang theory predicts how much of each element should have been made in the early universe, and what we see in very distant galaxies and old stars is just right.
4. Looking back in time: The main alternative to the Big Bang theory of the Universe is called the Steady State theory. In this theory, the Universe does not change very much with time. Remember that because light takes a long time to travel across the Universe, when we look at very distant galaxies, we are also looking back in time.
9. Write short notes on any four of the following: 10
(a) Social Forestry
Ans: Social forestry is the forestry by the people and for the people, whose main purpose is to fulfill the needs of forestry which are - manure, food, fruit, fibre and productive capacity. As a whole social forestry's main objective is to reconstruct the ecosystem and conserve the environment. The main objective of it is to cooperate soil conservation and to prevent spoiling the productive capacity of soil.
(b) Agricultural biotechnology
Ans: Agricultural biotechnology is an area of agricultural science involving the use of scientific tools and techniques, including genetic engineering, molecular markers, molecular diagnostics, vaccines, and tissue culture, to modify living organisms: plants, animals, and microorganisms. Use of biotechnology is very much popular in our country but is harmful for health.
(c) Chemical evolution
Ans: Chemical evolution describes chemical changes on the primitive Earth that gave rise to the first forms of life. The first living things on Earth were prokaryotes with a type of cell similar to present-day bacteria. Prokaryote fossils have been found in 3.4-million-year-old rock in the southern part of Africa, and in even older rocks in Australia, including some that appear to be photosynthetic. All forms of life are theorized to have evolved from the original prokaryotes, probably 3.5-4.0 billion years ago.
(d) Scientific method
Ans: The Scientific Method is a logical and rational order of steps by which scientists come to conclusions about the world around them. The Scientific Method helps to organize thoughts and procedures so that scientists can be confident in the answers they find. Scientists use observations, hypotheses, and deductions to make these conclusions, just like you will use the Scientific Method in your science fair project.
(e) Mathematics in ancient India
Ans: Indian mathematics emerged in the Indian subcontinent from 1200 BC until the end of the 18th century. In the classical period of Indian mathematics (400 AD to 1200 AD), important contributions were made by scholars like Aryabhata, Brahmagupta, and Bhaskara II. The decimal number system in use today was first recorded in Indian mathematics. Indian mathematicians made early contributions to the study of the concept of zero as a number, negative numbers, arithmetic, and algebra. In addition, trigonometry was further advanced in India, and, in particular, the modern definitions of sine and cosine were developed there. These mathematical concepts were transmitted to the Middle East, China, and Europe and led to further developments that now form the foundations of many areas of mathematics.