Patterns in Life: Diversity and Classification MCQs (Class 9 Science, NCERT)
135 practice questions on Patterns in Life: Diversity and Classification, a chapter in the NCERT Class 9 Science textbook, organised into 2 topics. Every question includes a written explanation. Pick a topic below, or try the samples first.
A farming community grows nine traditional varieties of rice. Some tolerate drought, some resist pests and some grow in poor soil. Consider these two statements. (I) Growing many varieties lowers the risk that one bad season destroys the whole harvest. (II) The nine varieties together form part of the biodiversity of that region. Which is correct?
ABoth (I) and (II) are correct
BOnly (II) is correct
CNeither (I) nor (II) is correct
DOnly (I) is correct
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A - Both (I) and (II) are correct
Diversity within a crop spreads the risk, because if drought strikes, the drought-tolerant varieties still yield, which is why diversity strengthens food security. Variety among living forms of one crop is itself part of a region's biodiversity. Both statements therefore hold, and neither contradicts the other.
Q2
medium
Why are bryophytes called the amphibians of the plant kingdom?
AThey can change from a plant form into an animal form
BThey grow on land but still need water for reproduction
CThey possess both gills and lungs at different stages of life
DThey live in water but come out on to land in order to reproduce
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B - They grow on land but still need water for reproduction
Bryophytes grow on damp land, yet their male reproductive cells must swim through a film of water to reach the female cells, so like amphibians they remain tied to moisture. They are not aquatic plants that come ashore to breed. A plant never turns into an animal, and gills and lungs are animal organs.
Q3
medium
Mangoes, peas and tomatoes all carry their seeds inside a fleshy or pod-like covering. What is the main advantage of this to the plant?
AThe covering lets the seed photosynthesise and store extra food before it germinates
BThe covering removes the need for the plant to produce flowers
CThe covering protects the seeds and helps animals carry them away to new places
DThe covering allows fertilisation to take place in the water held inside the fruit
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C - The covering protects the seeds and helps animals carry them away to new places
A fruit shields the developing seeds and, when eaten or carried off by animals, spreads them far from the parent plant. A seed inside a fruit is not photosynthesising. Fruits develop from flowers rather than replacing them, and angiosperm fertilisation does not depend on water at all.
Q4
hard
Three worms are described. (I) A flattened worm bearing hooks and suckers, attached inside a host's gut. (II) A cylindrical unsegmented worm living in soil, with a mouth at one end and an anus at the other. (III) A cylindrical worm of moist soil, divided into many segments, with muscles for movement and a nerve cord. Which groups do they belong to, in that order?
AAnnelida, Nematoda, Platyhelminthes
BPlatyhelminthes, Nematoda, Annelida
CPlatyhelminthes, Annelida, Nematoda
DNematoda, Platyhelminthes, Annelida
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B - Platyhelminthes, Nematoda, Annelida
Hooks and suckers on a flattened parasitic body mark a platyhelminth, an unsegmented cylindrical worm with two gut openings is a nematode, and a segmented cylindrical worm with muscles and a nerve cord is an annelid. Any order beginning with a roundworm or a segmented worm contradicts the flattened parasitic description, and swapping the last two ignores the presence of segments.
Q5
easy
Thallophytes are plants whose body shows which of the following?
ARhizoids together with simple stem-like and leaf-like parts
BFlowers that develop into fruits
CA simple thallus that is not divided into root, stem and leaf
DTrue roots, a true stem and true leaves
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C - A simple thallus that is not divided into root, stem and leaf
A thallus is an undifferentiated plant body with no separate root, stem or leaf, and that is what defines Thallophyta. True roots, stems and leaves appear first in pteridophytes. Rhizoids with simple stem-like and leaf-like parts describe bryophytes, and flowers and fruits belong to angiosperms.
Q6
medium
Aristotle grouped animals as those of land, those of water and those of air. What was the main limitation of a system like this?
AIt required a knowledge of DNA, which was not available then
BIt placed every animal in one single group, so no comparison was possible
CIt rested on easily seen outward features, which can be alike in quite unrelated animals
DIt depended on the microscope, which was not accurate enough at the time
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C - It rested on easily seen outward features, which can be alike in quite unrelated animals
Sorting by habitat and outward appearance places a bat with a bird and a whale with a fish, because it captures surface resemblance rather than real relationship. Aristotle had no microscope at all, his system did form several groups rather than one, and it never claimed to use genetic information.
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