BACHELOR'S DEGREE PROGRAMME
Term-End Examination,
June, 2010
FST-01 : FOUNDATION COURSE IN SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY
Time : Li hours Maximum Marks : 100
Note : All the questions of Section A are Compulsory. Your answers should be brief and to the point.
SECTION – A
1. Fill in the blanks : 5
(a) The disease scurvy is caused by the deficiency of ____
(b) The theory of universal gravitation was given by ____
(c) Endocrine glands are glands without ____
(d) Nuclear ____ is the splitting of a large nucleus into two small nuclei.
(e) The distance travelled by light in one year is called ____
2. State if the following statements are True (T) or False (F). 5
(a) Pythagoras contributed in the development of astronomy in the iron age.
(b) Some energy is always lost during its transfer from one trophic level to the next.
(c) Telephone is a device mainly used for mass communication.
(d) Causative agent for dengue fever is a virus.
(e) Wind is a non - renewable energy resource. False
3. Give short answers for the following (in not more than 50 words) : 10
(a) Write any two applications of optical fibres.
(b) Any two adverse effects 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.
(c) List any two achievements of Bronze Age.
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.
(d) What is meant by essential amino acids?
(e) What are persistent pollutants ?
SECTION – B
Answer any eight questions. Limit your answer to 100 words for each question.
4. The separation of theory from practice becomes an impediment in the growth of science. Justify the statement with an example. 5
5. In what ways development of horse - collar and mills helped the transformation of medieval economy ? 5
6. What is a neuron ? List the three types of neurons citing one function of each. 5
7. Describe any two evidences that support the Big Bang Theory of creation of universe. 5
Ans: 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.
The spiral galaxy - M51
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.
Cosmic Microwave Background
8. List any four non - conventional sources of energy. Briefly describe any two of these. 5
9. What is Carbon dating ? How is it used to determine the age of fossils ? 5
10. With the help of an example, explain various aspects of cognitive learning. 5
11. Draw a schematic diagram of carbon cycle. In what way human activities have caused intrusion into the carbon cycle? 5
12. Briefly describe the technique of genetic engineering. 5
13. List the three ways of technology transfer. Briefly describe any one of them. 5
SECTION – C
Answer any four questions. Limit your answers upto 250 words for each question.
14. Describe the Life Story of a star. 10
15. In the present condition, why is it important to manage our resources ? Suggest ways to manage our forest and water resources. 10
16. With the help of an appropriate example, explain various aspects of method of science. 10
17. With the help of a suitable example, describe the concept of systems view of life. 10
18. Describe the three basic resources needed for agriculture. Discuss any two problems associated with modern agriculture. 10
19. 'Science influences social edifice, and in turn society influences scientific developments”.Justify the statement. 10
Ans: 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.