CBSE Important Questions Class 6 Science Chapter 10 – Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics

Class 6 Science Chapter 10 Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics is part of the new NCERT textbook Curiosity. It teaches students how to tell living things from non-living things. Students learn the main characteristics of living beings: growth, nutrition, respiration, response to stimulus, movement, excretion, reproduction and a fixed life span. They also study the life cycles of a plant, a frog, a mosquito and a silk moth, and see how the young and the adult of the same animal can look very different.

These CBSE important questions for Class 6 Science Chapter 10 cover the stages in the life cycle of a plant, frog, mosquito and silk moth, how tadpoles and adult frogs are adapted differently, why we must not let water stand near our homes, the job of the seed coat, response to stimulus in humans and plants, and the link between photosynthesis and respiration. Every question has a clear step-by-step answer in simple English, so students can practise on their own, parents can check the working, and teachers can use them for class tests. A free printable PDF of these important questions is also available on this page.

Q1. a. How does the seed of a mango and a bean seed differ from each other based on their location in a fruit?
b. State the different stages in the life cycle of a plant.
c. When is a plant considered dead? Explain.

Answer: a. A mango seed lies inside a thick, fleshy fruit, while a bean seed lies inside a pod.
b. A plant begins as a seed. The seed germinates into a young plant (seedling), the plant grows and matures, then it bears flowers, which turn into fruits and seeds, and finally the plant dies.
c. A plant is considered dead when it stops growing and all its life activities slowly come to an end, even though water, air, sunlight and soil are still available to it.

Q2. Mosquito larvae feed on algae. During a cleaning drive, a chemical that kills algae was sprayed. As a result, the larvae starved and died.
a. Which stage in the life cycle of a mosquito does a larva indicate?
b. Mention another method that can be used to kill larvae.
c. How does this method work?

Answer: a. The larva is the second stage in the life cycle of a mosquito (egg → larva → pupa → adult).
b. Larvae live in stagnant (still) water, so kerosene oil can be sprayed on such water.
c. The kerosene oil spreads as a thin layer over the water surface. This layer stops air from entering the water, so the larvae and pupae cannot breathe and they die.

Q3. The different body features and adaptations of a tadpole and an adult frog play a significant role in their survival. Justify this notion.

Answer: The life cycle of a frog has four stages: egg, tadpole, froglet and adult frog. As the tadpole grows into an adult, its home also changes.
A tadpole lives in water and has a tail, which helps it swim, and gills to breathe in water. An adult frog lives on land as well as in water and has strong hind legs for jumping, and lungs to breathe air.
Because the young and the adult live in different places and eat different food, they do not compete with each other for space and food. This helps more of them survive.

Q4. State whether the given statements are true or false. Rewrite the false statements correctly.
a. A mosquito appears the same during different stages of its life cycle.
b. Maturation of plants is a single-step process.

Answer: a. False. A mosquito looks different at different stages of its life cycle — the egg, larva, pupa and adult all look quite different from one another.
b. False. Maturation of plants is a multi-step process, going from seed to seedling to a full-grown plant that bears flowers and fruits.

Q5. Explain how silk is obtained from a silk moth.

Answer: A silk moth passes through four stages: egg, larva (called a silkworm), pupa and adult moth.
The larvae hatch out of the eggs in about 10 to 12 days. The larva eats mulberry leaves and grows. Then it gives out a long, fine thread from its mouth and wraps itself completely in it. This covering is called a cocoon, and the insect inside is now a pupa.
These cocoons are collected and the thread is unwound and processed to make silk.

Q6. What role do seed coats play in the life cycle of a plant?
(a) They facilitate photosynthesis.
(b) They protect the embryo inside the seed.
(c) They absorb food.
(d) They attract pollinators.

Answer: (b) They protect the embryo inside the seed.
The seed coat is the hard outer cover of a seed. It keeps the tiny baby plant (embryo) and its stored food safe from injury, from drying up and from insects, until the seed gets the right conditions to grow.

Q7. Unlike a hen's egg, the eggs of frogs do not have a hard shell. Even in the absence of any hard shell, the eggs are safe in water. How?
(a) Eggs are glued together by a jelly-like substance
(b) Eggs are laid in water
(c) Eggs are laid in hundreds
(d) Eggs are produced in the rainy season

Answer: (a) Eggs are glued together by a jelly-like substance
Frog eggs are covered in a slippery, jelly-like layer that sticks them together in a cluster. This jelly keeps the eggs from drying out, cushions them from knocks, and makes them slippery so that many animals cannot easily eat them.

Q8. Read the given statements carefully and select the correct option.
Assertion (A): We should not allow water to stagnate in our surroundings.
Reason (R): Mosquitoes lay eggs in stagnant water.
(a) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A.
(c) A is true, but R is false.
(d) A is false, but R is true.

Answer: (a) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
Mosquitoes lay their eggs in still water, where the larvae and pupae then grow. That is exactly why we should not let water collect and stand in coolers, pots or tyres around our homes. So the Reason explains the Assertion.

Q9. After a downpour, you must have seen frogs hopping around. Why do frogs come out when it rains?
(i) The rainy season creates an ideal environment for laying eggs
(ii) Frogs are more active in an environment that is high in moisture
(iii) Abundance of food
(iv) Abundance of predators
(a) (i) and (ii)
(b) (i), (ii) and (iii)
(c) (i) and (iv)
(d) (ii) and (iv)

Answer: (b) (i), (ii) and (iii)
After rain there is plenty of still water, which is where frogs lay their eggs. Frogs have moist skin and are more active when the air is damp. Rain also brings out many insects, which are the frogs' food. Statement (iv) is wrong, because frogs do not come out because of predators.

Q10. Identify the correct sequence of the stages in the life cycle of a frog.
(a) Egg – Tadpole – Frog – Froglet
(b) Frog – Tadpole – Egg – Froglet
(c) Egg – Tadpole – Froglet – Frog
(d) Froglet – Egg – Tadpole – Frog

Answer: (c) Egg – Tadpole – Froglet – Frog
The frog lays eggs in water. Each egg hatches into a tadpole with a tail. The tadpole slowly grows legs and becomes a froglet, which still has a short tail. Finally the tail disappears and it becomes an adult frog.

Q11. You must have commonly seen birds feeding on grains on the ground suddenly fly to a safer place on hearing fireworks or loud noises.
a. Mention the characteristic of living organisms involved in this case.
b. What is the firework or loud noise in this case?
c. Give two examples of this characteristic as observed in humans.
d. Give two examples of this characteristic as observed in plants.

Answer: a. The characteristic shown here is response to stimulus. All living things react to changes around them.
b. The firework or loud noise is the stimulus, that is, the change that causes the reaction.
c. In humans: 1. We pull our hand back at once on touching a hot object. 2. We close our eyes when a bright light suddenly falls on them.
d. In plants: 1. The leaves of the touch-me-not (chhui-mui) plant fold up when touched. 2. The leaves of the amla tree fold up after sunset.

Q12. Read the given paragraph and answer the following questions.
To perform different life processes, we need energy. This energy is obtained by consumption of food. Green plants prepare their own food. All other life forms depend on plants directly or indirectly to obtain energy.
a. Which characteristic feature of living beings is depicted here?
b. Name the process by which green plants prepare food.
c. How is this process linked to respiration?

Answer: a. The characteristic shown here is nutrition, that is, taking in food to get energy.
b. Green plants prepare their food by the process of photosynthesis, using sunlight, water, carbon dioxide and the green colouring matter in their leaves.
c. The two processes are linked. The oxygen given out during photosynthesis is used up during respiration, and the carbon dioxide given out during respiration is used during photosynthesis. In this way the gases in the air stay balanced.

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