2

CHAPTER
Control and
Coordination
 NCERT Corner
1. What is the difference between a reflex action 6. What are plant hormones?
and walking?
Ans. Plant hormones are the chemical substances which
Ans. help in controlling plant activities such as growth,
Reflex action Walking flowering, height, fruiting, development of plants
and their responses to the environment.
This is a sudden It is a voluntary action in
involuntary, and which the information is Auxins, gibberllins, cytokinins, abscisic acid
spontaneous transmitted by nerve to and ethylene are the different examples of plant
response. muscles of the legs.
hormones.
It is controlled and It is controlled by brain.
coordinated by 7. How is the movement of leaves of the sensitive
spinal cord. plant different from the movement of a shoot
towards light?
2. What happens at the synapse between two
neurons? Ans
Ans. At the synapse, a chemical substance, i.e., Movement of leaves Movement of a shoot
of sensitive plant towards light
neurotransmitter is released as electrical impulse
reaches at the end of axon of one neuron. After this, It is a nastic movement. It is a tropic movement.
the impulse is received to the other neuron through It does not depend It depends on the
on the direction of direction of stimulus
the dendrites. Thus, information is transmitted from
stimulus applied. applied.
one neuron to other neuron by synapse.
The stimulus is touch. The stimulus is light.
3. Which part of the brain maintains posture and
It is caused by the It is caused by the
equilibrium of the body?
sudden loss of water unequal growth on the
Ans. Cerebellum maintains the posture and balance of the from the swellings at two sides of the shoot.
body. the base of leaves.
4. How do we detect the smell of an agarbatti Growth does not takes Growth takes places.
(incense stick)? place.

Ans. As the incense stick burns, the odour molecules 8. Give an example of a plant hormone that
spreads in air. It is detected by olfactory receptors promotes growth.
present in the nose. This information is sent to
Ans. Auxin promotes growth.
olfactory lobe in the forebrain by sensory nerves.
Forebrain interprets the smell by putting it 9. How do auxins promote the growth of a tendril
together with information from other receptors and around a support?
information that is already stored in the brain.
Ans. When the tip of a tendril touches a support, then the
5. What is the role of the brain in reflex action? auxins present in its tip move to that side of tip which
Ans. Brain has limited role in reflex action as most of the is away from the support. Due to accumulation of
reflex action are controlled by the spinal cord which auxins, the side of tendril away from the support
occurs spontaneously without thinking of how to grows faster and becomes longer than the side which
respond to the stimuli. Auditory and visual reflex is in contact with the support and allows the tendril
are handled by some parts of brain. to bend around the support.

2 UDAAN Study Material Class-X PW

 10. Design an experiment to demonstrate 11. How does chemical coordination take place in
hydrotropism. animals?
Ans. Take two glass troughs A and B and fill each one Ans. Chemical coordination in animals happens via
of them two-thirds with soil. In trough A and B, chemical messengers called hormones secreted by
place a tiny seedling. In trough B, place a clay pot endocrine tissue or organs. These endocrine tissues
inside the soil. Water the soil in trough A daily and or organs lacks ducts and release their secretion in
uniformly. Do not give water to the soil in trough their blood directly.
B but keep some water in the clay pot. Leave both
the troughs for a 2-3 days. 12. Why is the use of iodised salt advisable?
Ans. Thyroid gland needs iodine to maintain normal
A
levels of thyroxine hormone. Thyroxine hormone
controls all the metabolic activities of our body by
regviating of BMR. Due to the deficiency of iodine,
a disease called Goitre is caused.
13. How does our body respond when adrenaline is
secreted into the blood?

B Ans. When adrenaline is secreted into the blood stream,

the heart beat increases, so that more oxygen is
supplied to our muscles. The blood supply to the
digestive system and skin decreases because the
small arteries around the muscles of these organs
contract. This turns the direction of blood towards
our skeletal muscles. The breathing rate also
After few days, dig up the seedlings carefully from increases due to the contraction of the diaphragm
both the troughs without damaging their roots. and rib muscles. All these responses enable us to
This has been found that the roots of seedling in
face the situations of fear and danger.
trough A grows straight while the roots of seedling
in trough B is found to be bent to the right side, i.e., 14. Why are some patients of diabetes treated by
towards the clay pot containing water. giving injections of insulin?
This occurs because in trough A, the root of the Ans. Insulin regulates blood sugar levels. If insulin is
seedling gets water from both sides but in trough not secreted in adequate amounts, the sugar level in
B, the roots get water oozing out from the clay pot the blood increases. This leads to a disorder called
which is kept on the right side. Therefore, the roots diabetes mellitus.
of seedling in trough B grows and bends towards the
source of water to the right side. This experiment To treat harmful effects of increased level of blood
shows that the root of a plant shows hydrotropism, sugar, the diabetic patients are treated by giving
i.e., grows towards water. injections of insulin.

Control and Coordination 3

 NCERT Exercise
1. Which of the following is a plant hormone? (ii) Axons
(a) Insulin (b) Thyroxine (iii) Cell body
(c) Oestrogen (d) Cytokinin
Ans. (d) Cytokinin is a plant hormone.
Cell body
2. The gap between two neurons is called: Nucleus
(a) Dendrite (b) Synapse
(c) Axon (d) Impulse Dendrite
Ans. (b) Synapse is also known as neuronal junction. It Axon
is the site of transmission of impulses between two
neurons.
3. The brain is responsible for:
Nerve
(a) Thinking ending
(b) regulating the heart beat
(c) Balancing of the body
(d) All of the above Function: The function of neuron is to transmit
information in the form of electrical signals from one
Ans. (d) The brain is responsible for thinking, regulating the neuron to other neuron.
heart beat and balancing of the body.
6. How does phototropism occur in plants?
4. What is the function of receptors in our body?
Think of situations where receptors do not work Ans. The growth-driven movement of any part of a plant in
properly. What problems are likely to arise? response to light stimulus is called phototropism.
Ans. All information from the environment is detected by Phototropism in plants occurs due to the phyto -
the specialised cells called receptors. They are located hormone "Auxin". When light falls on one side of a
in our sense organs like ear, nose, skin, tongue and plant, the auxin hormone is accumulated on the darker
eyes or even within our organs (e.g., stomach). side causing it to expand and grow faster. So, the plant
appears to bend towards light.
Different types of receptors can detect different
stimuli, e.g., gustatory receptors detects taste while The shoot of plant grows towards the source of light.
olfactory receptors detects smell. Thus, stem shows positive phototropism and roots
grow away from the source of light and light thus,
This information is passed on to integration centers and show negative phototropism.
for processing.
7. Which signals will get disrupted in case of a spinal
If receptors do not work properly, the changes in the
cord injury?
environment could not be perceived and the necessary
action could not be undertaken. This may bring harm Ans. Spinal cord serve as a link between brain and the body
to us or prevent us from acquiring a resource. For besides being the center for integration for several
example, if skin receptors are damaged, and if one reflex arcs. In case of a spinal cord injury:
person accidentally touches an extremely hot object, (i) Most of voluntary actions associated with the site
then hands might get burned as the damaged receptor of injury will get impacted as messages to and from
cannot perceive the external stimuli of heat and pain. brain will be interrupted.
5. Draw the structure of a neuron and explain its (ii) Reflex actions that have spinal cord as its
function. integration center will not take place.
Ans. Neuron is the structural and functional unit of nervous 8. How does chemical coordination occur in plants?
system. Three main parts of neuron: Ans. Chemical coordination in plants takes place with
(i) Dendrites. the help of plant hormones. Five most studied plant
4 UDAAN Study Material Class-X PW
 hormones are: Auxin, cytokinin, gibberellin, abscisic 11. Compare and contrast nervous and hormonal
acid and ethylene. mechanisms for control and coordination in
They are secreted in response to changes in animals.
environment which drive several processes in plants. Ans.
Light stimulates the formation of auxin which drives
growth of plants. Hence, stimulating the plant to grow Nervous mechanism Hormonal mechanism
in a particular direction. Cytokinin promotes cell The signals travel The signals travel
division. Gibberellin is responsible for the growth of quickly, hence, it is a fast slowly, hence, it is a
the stem. Ethylene stimulates fruit ripening. process but the effects slow process but effects
9. What is the need for a system of control and are short-lived. are prolonged.
coordination in an organism? Signals travel via Signals travel through
Ans. An organism needs control and coordination system the neurons. blood.
for the following reasons: It transmits information It transmits information
(i) To perceive the availability of resource (food, in the form of electrical in the form of chemical
sunlight) and organise necessary action to procure impulses. messengers (hormones).
it. e.g., plants need to detect sunlight and grow in It does not control It controls metabolism.
that direction to photosynthesise. Animals need to metabolism.
see/smell food to procure it for their energy needs.
Growth is not affected. Growth is affected.
(ii) To protect the body of the organisms from the
harmful changes in the environment. 12. What is the difference between the manner in
which movement takes place in a sensitive plant
10. How are involuntary actions and reflex actions
and the movement in our legs?
different from each other ?
Ans.
Ans. Differences between involuntary and reflex actions
are as follows: Movement in a Movement in legs of a
Involuntary actions Reflex actions sensitive plant human
These actions can take These actions are sudden The leaves of a sensitive Movement in legs is
place without any responses to stimuli plant like Mimosa in control of nerves
conscious thinking but without any conscious pudica are sensitive delivering commands to
are controlled by brain. thinking or integration to touch and these muscles
by the brain movements are called
Involuntary actions are Reflex actions may nastic movements.
controlled by brain. include paths inside They are controlled It is controlled by brain
spinal cord or brain by changes in turgor and spinal cord and
Example: Breathing, Example: Sneezing, pressure of the cells. can involve conscious
beating of heart, etc. coughing, blinking of thinking or can be the
eyes, etc. result of a reflex action.

Control and Coordination 5