BACHELOR'S DEGREE PROGRAMME (BDP)
Term-End Examination
December, 2012
FST-01 : FOUNDATION COURSE IN SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY
Maximum Marks : 100
Time : 3 hours
Note : All questions of Section-A are compulsory. In Sections-B and C, give answers as per instructions given.
SECTION-A
1. Fill in the blanks : 5
(a) Our main rabi crop is _____
(b) The technique of making rust-proof iron, and copper alloys belongs to ___ period.
(c) ____ neurons help in taking messages from sensory organs to central nervous system.
(d) Flyash is used as valuable material for ____
(e) As a result of soil erosion, we not only lose soil but also many ____
2. State if the following statements are True (T) or False (F) : 5
(a) In Iron age, Indians knew how to make steel.
(b) Insulin, a drug to combat diabetes, is now prepared synthetically.
(c) The effect of hormones is faster than the nervous action.
(d) Intelligence is to find a single solution to a problem, and creativity is to look many possible solutions.
(e) Emergence of a centralised state power in Mauryan empire led to technical developments of those time.
3. Give short answers for the following questions (in not more than 50 words).
(a) What are the causes of alkalinity and salinity of soil ? 5x2=10
(b) What observations led to the discovery of Neptune and Pluto ? Why is the search planet X still on ?
(c) State the reasons why there were such few developments in science in British India.
(d) What features in Indian society led to the decline of science in post-Gupta period ?
(e) Explain the term artificial intelligence.
SECTION-B
Answer any eight questions. Limit your answer to 100 words for each question.
4. Describe the achievements of Bronze age in broad areas of quantitative science. 5
Ans: Scientific and Technical Achievements of Bronze Age: The discovery and the use of metals like copper, bronze, etc. led to the scientific and technical achievements calculating and counting the numbers form the basis of quantitative science in the Bronze Age.
- The Use of Metals: Metals like gold and copper were used as ornaments. Some metals like copper was used to make pottery, also alloy of copper was hardened to make tools and weapons.
- Transport: With the development of transport, the problem of distance was also solved. Trade became an important activity as the goods produced were traded in different parts of the world. Trade as well as the desire to control large territories led to the need for efficient transport.
- Quantitative Science: Trade and the exchange of goods became a part of life, some standards such as numbers and measure of amount of grains, etc. and weights became necessary for the proper and fair exchange of goods. Simple calculations like addition or subtraction also developed with the increase in trading activities. Counting and calculating led to the making of calendars and also in the development of astronomy. Thus, we can say that with the increase in the socio-economic needs and the trade between cities led to the rise in quantitative science such as measurement, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and medicine, etc.
- Indus Valley Civilization: The excavation in certain cities in India shows a remarkable growth in the Indus Valley. Technologists during this era were masters in construction. The inhabitants of Indus Valley possessed a considerable knowledge of geometry. Also they had a high level of scientific and technical know-how.
- Decline of the Bronze Age Civilization: With the increase in the population and the demands of the people, pressure was created on the city culture. The classes started conflicting between themselves and the expansion of the territory to feed the population led to the decline of the Bronze Age. The science and the techniques led to the foundation of the new age called as the Iron Age.
5. Explain the terms producers, consumers and decomposers by giving appropriate examples. Discuss their relationships. 5
6. What are the important environmental considerations that should be taken into account while implementing technology policy ? 5
7. Name two types of waste products that can be reused after recycling. Describe the process of recycling for any one of the products mentioned by you. 5
8. Comment briefly on the advancements made in Indian agriculture in : 2.5+2.5=5
(a) Arid zones
(b) Hilly regions.
9. What is meant by lead times of a scientific discovery ? Explain giving two examples. 3+2=5
10. Explain how vaccination helps to resist diseases. 5
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.
11. State the developments that helped the advances of science and technology during Renaissance. 5
12. What is the ideal way of pest management ? 5
13. Discuss the factors that affect the psychological stability of an astronaut in space. 5
SECTION-C
Answer any four questions. Limit your answer upto 200 words for each question.
14. What is biotechnology ? Describe its main techniques. List any two applications each in the fields of agriculture and medicine. 2+4+4=10
15. State and explain the ways by which communication media can help minimize inequalities in society. 10
16. "Science influences social adifice, an in turn society influences scientific developments." Justify the statement. 10
Ans: Society does not shape the future of science, because science instead shapes the future of society. Historically, society has changed because of scientific discoveries. Galileo was considered a heretic because he believed that the Earth revolved around the sun. The Industrial Revolution, based on new science, changed the world forever. Face book, instant messaging, and text messaging have changed the way we use the English language, in my opinion.
Society is the organizational form in which individuals of a species live together. The animal world contains many examples of different societies. Bears have a large daily food intake requirement but live in an environment where the food supply is scattered over a wide region; as a consequence bears live solitary lives through most of the year. Lions and wolves rely on collaborative hunting and therefore live in small hunting parties. In both cases the internal structure of their societies is determined by the environmental conditions and the survival needs of the species. Their societies cannot evolve; bears could not survive in groups, nor could lions live solitary lives.
Other animal societies show more complicated forms with a developed division of labour. Bee and ant societies have workers, soldiers, drones and queens. Observation shows that ants have in fact several types of societies. Some ant species raid the nests of other ant species to obtain slaves for their own colony. Because they work their slaves to death they have to go out on raids again and again. Other ant species practice husbandry; they keep colonies of aphids, protect them against predators and milk them regularly.
Although different ant species live in very different societies, the fact remains that these societies are as static as bear or lion societies: Each species of ant acquired its own society structure in the course of evolution and cannot survive outside it. Humans are the only creatures that live in evolving societies, because the structure of their societies responds not only to changes in environmental conditions but adapts to evolving economic conditions as well.
The earliest human society was the hunter-gatherer society. It relied on food availability from the land and could therefore only support very small kinship groups. Larger gatherings of many people could be sustained only on festive (religious) occasions and then only for a few days. Remnants of the hunter-gatherer society can still be found in extreme environments. Examples are the Inuit (Eskimo), who go on long Arctic hunting trips in extremely small family groups, and the Australian desert Aborigines who live at outstations. Division of labour is an early development in these societies; the hunt is the duty of the male, while the female is responsible for fruit collection, food preparation, clothing and child-rearing.
The introduction of seed planting and animal husbandry changed the structure of human society. Humans now lived in village settlements, which could support more than a single family. The associated social organization, known as the agricultural society, took various forms. Villages of the Pacific region became structured into men's houses and women's houses, and children grew up with little notion of a particular pair of adults as their father and mother. European villages developed the system of the "extended family" in which several generations live under one roof. All village structures continued and redefined the division of labour inherited from the hunter-gatherer society: In European agricultural societies the male ploughed the fields and planted the crops, the female looked after the animals and after the house; in African agricultural societies the male looks after the animal herd, the female after the garden.
The agricultural society is still widespread today and probably the most common society structure across the globe. It coexists with the more advanced form of the urban society, which developed when the division of labour reached the stage where individuals specialized in trades and had to receive food and other subsistence in exchange for products of their work.
17. What do you understand by biological evolution ? Explain, with the help of appropriate diagram, how biological evolution has taken place. 10
18. What are the reasons for declining forest area in our country ? Discuss the problems associated with depletion of forest cover. Name the states in India where maximum deforestation has occurred. 5+3+2=10
Ans: Causes of Deforestation (Declining forest)
1. Agricultural activities: As earlier mentioned in the overview, agricultural activities are one of the major factors affecting deforestation. Due to overgrowing demand for food products, huge amount of tress are fell down to grow crops and for cattle gazing.
2. Logging: Apart from this, wood based industries like paper, match-sticks, furniture etc also need a substantial amount of wood supply. Wood is used as fuel both directly and indirectly, therefore trees are chopped for supplies. Firewood and charcoal are examples of wood being used as fuel. Some of these industries thrive on illegal wood cutting and felling of trees.
3. Urbanization: Further on order to gain access to these forests, the construction of roads are undertaken; here again trees are chopped to create roads. Overpopulation too directly affects forest covers, as with the expansion of cities more land is needed to establish housing and settlements. Therefore forest land is reclaimed.
4. Desertification of land: Some of the other factors that lead to deforestation are also part natural and part anthropogenic like Desertification of land. It occurs due to land abuse making it unfit for growth of trees. Many industries in petrochemicals release their wastes into rivers which results in soil erosion and make it unfit to grow plants and trees.
5. Mining: Oil and coal mining require considerable amount of forest land. Apart from this, roads and highways have to be built to make way for trucks and other equipment. The waste that comes out from mining pollutes the environment and affects the nearby species.
6. Fires: Another example would be forest blazes; Hundreds of trees are lost each year due to forest fires in various portions of the world. This happens due to extreme warm summers and milder winters. Fires, whether causes by man or nature results in huge loss of forest cover.
Problems associated with 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.
Maximum deforestation: Maximum deforestation has been occurred in Andhra Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur in our country.
19. Enumerate the various features of scientific knowledge. Elaborate each one of them giving suitable examples. 10