BACHELOR'S DEGREE PROGRAMME
Term-End Examination
December, 2011
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 9.
1. (a) Fill in the blanks: 5
(i) Micro, mini and monsters are types of _____
(ii) Excessive organification of a lake is called _____
(iii) Laser beams travel large distances without spreading apart due to a property called _____
(iv) A sudden release of a large amount of energy from the surface of the sun is called _____
(v) ____ flow in an ecosystem is unidirectional.
(b) State whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F). 5
(i) DPT stands for Diphtheria, Pertussis, and Tetanus.
(ii) In relay cropping, a crop is sown before the preceding crop is harvested.
(iii) MIC was responsible for Bhopal disaster.
(iv) Stars have fixed positions in space.
(v) Deficiency of vitamin D causes rickets in children.
(c) Write short answers (in not more than fifty words each) for any ten of the following: 20
(i) In a food chain explain why the numbers of trophic levels are seldom more than four and five.
(ii) List the four types of resource maps.
(iii) Which two factors determine the energy requirement of a person in a day?
(iv) Classify the following as infectious or non - infectious diseases: Leprosy, haemophilia, mumps, arthritis.
(v) What is the difference between a red giant and a neutron star?
(vi) What factors decide the broad areas of scientific activity?
(vii) What are fossils? Where have the first human fossils been found?
(viii) Briefly mention any two popular means of mass communication in India.
(ix) State two examples where biotechnology has helped Indian agricultural produce.
(x) What is ergonomics? Give one example.
Ans: Ergonomics (or human factors) is the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies theory, principles, data and methods to design in order to optimize human well-being and overall system performance. In normal everyday language, ergonomics concerns itself with making you perform better and think better, walk/ run/ sprint better.
(xi) Briefly mention the development of implements and tools during the Stone Age.
(xii) Briefly discuss the advances in the areas of Chemistry and Botany during Iron Age.
2. (a) What is the theory of Spontaneous Generation? 5
(b) Describe the theory of chemical evolution that explains the origin of life on earth. 5
3. What is a hypothesis? Giving suitable examples, describe the inductive and deductive logic to frame a hypothesis.
4. (a) What features in Indian society led to the decline of science in the post - Gupta period? 5
(b) List five significant scientific and technical developments during the Renaissance. 5
5. With the help of suitable examples, discuss the social function of science. 10
Ans: Scientific and technological progress define the world in which we live-its everyday landscape as well as its future resources-but, while no one can minimize modem society’s indebtedness to this progress, today reasons for concern often prevail over reasons for optimism. The panegyric of the benefits of science in the 20th century is not as unconditional as it was in the positivist 19th century. It looks almost as though the promises of science were too good to be true.
The “social function of science,” it is well to remember J. D. Bemal’s book of that title, if only to consider it as a measure of the distance covered since its publication in 1939. In spite of the imminence of World War II, it was a deeply optimistic book. Bemal regretted the general public’s lack of interest in scientific research and the lack of resources allotted to it, but he doubted neither the immense strides that science would take nor the services that it could render to society. If its promises were to be fulfilled, he believed that at least two conditions needed to be met: the mobilization of more abundant resources and the implementation of well-defined science policies.’
These two conditions have, indeed, been met, but not as steps towards the benevolent ends that Bemal, like all rationalists of his generation, attributed to science; World War II and the atomic bomb together made the State the foremost producer and, at the same time, the foremost consumer, of scientific research.
Science policies were born of war, not peace. They developed in a strategic context, and-at least until 1967-it was this context that determined the direction of national research and development efforts. In this atmosphere of technological competition and one-upmanship, science policy-in the strictest sense of the word-inevitably got the leftovers from the priority programs that were imposed by defense and prestige considerations-that is to say, what was left after the army, the atom, and the space program had taken their shares.
Bernal did pioneering work, not only in such sciences as X-ray crystallography and molecular biology. He was founder of an altogether new discipline, the "science of science." His book, The Social Function of Science, quickly came to be regarded as a classic in this field.
The cause of science was, for Bernal, inextricably intertwined with the cause of socialism. As he put it in an autobiographical essay, from an early age he saw science as holding the key to the future and the forces of socialism alone as gathering to turn it. By the time he wrote The Social Function of Science, he had come to believe that: "In its endeavour, science is communism." Needless to say, Bernal saw science as a social activity, integrally tied to the whole spectrum of other social activities, economic, social and political.
6. What do you mean by alternate food resources? Briefly discuss the advancements our country has made in their production. 10
7. (a) Discuss the aspects of management of water resources. 5
(b) Describe the notable contributions in science during Freedom Movement. 5
Ans: Science and technology have profoundly influenced the course of human civilization. Science has provided us remarkable insights into the world we live in. The scientific revolutions of the 20th century have led to many technologies, which promise to herald wholly new eras in many fields. As we stand today at the beginning of a new century, we have to ensure fullest use of these developments for the well being of our people.
Science and technology have had unprecedented impact on economic growth and social development. Knowledge has become a source of economic might and power. This has led to increased restrictions on sharing of knowledge, to new norms of intellectual property rights, and to global trade and technology control regimes. Scientific and technological developments today also have deep ethical, legal and social implications. There are deep concerns in society about these. The ongoing globalization and the intensely competitive environment have a significant impact on the production and services sectors.
By the early twentieth century, the Indian society had started witnessing the first stirrings for freedom from colonial rule. While their political aspirations led to a demand for self-rule, the frustration resulting from economic stranglehold found expression in their insistence on using only goods made in India. Swadeshi Movement provided further impetus for: promotion of education along national lines and under national control with special reference to science and technology, industrialization of the country. In 1904, an Association for the Advancement of Scientific and Industrial Education of Indians was formed. The object was to send qualified students to Europe, America and Japan for studying science-based industries.
As mentioned earlier, in colonial India the environment was not conducive to higher studies, much less to research. Indians were allowed only. subordinate posts and even those who had distinguished themselves abroad were given less salary than the Europeans of the same grade and rank. This 'apartheid' in science made the Indians react strongly. J.C. Bose, the first noted Indian physicist, refused to accept this reduced salary for three years. Not only this, till the Royal Society recognized Bose, the college authorities refused him any research facility and considered his work as purely private. J.C. Bose was unorthodox in one more sense. He was one of the first among the modem scientists to take to interdisciplinary research. He started as a physicist but his interest in electrical responses took him to plant physiology." Whether it be education, agriculture or mining, the Congress touched several problems under its wide sweep.
8. (a) Why has Global warming become a serious issue? 5
(b) What is aging ? Discuss different symptoms of aging. 5
9. (a) What has been the impact of population increase on environment ? 5
(b) What is AIDS ? Discuss different modes of HIV transmission. 5