This post, “The Making of a Scientist NCERT Solutions Class 10 English,” provides comprehensive NCERT solutions for Class 10 English Footprints Without Feet Chapter 6: The Making of a Scientist (Robert W. Peterson). We recommend reading the summary of The Making of a Scientist first to understand the chapter’s questions much better!
READ AND FIND OUT (Page 32)
Q.1. How did a book become a turning point in Richard Ebright’s life?
Ans. By the second grade Ebright had collected all the twenty-five species of butterflies found around his hometown, and that would probably have been the end of his butterfly collecting. Then his mother gave him a children’s book called The Travels of Monarch X, which told how monarch butterflies migrate to Central America. At the end of the book readers were invited to help study butterfly migrations by tagging butterflies for Dr Frederick A. Urquhart. This opened the world of science to the eager young collector and set him on the path of research.
Q.2. How did his mother help him?
Ans. His mother was his only companion until he started school, and she encouraged his interest in learning in every way. She took him on trips, bought him telescopes, microscopes, cameras and mounting materials, and spent almost every evening with him at the dining table. If he had nothing to do, she found learning work for him. She also wrote to Dr Urquhart so that he could start tagging butterflies, and later brought friends home for him.
READ AND FIND OUT (Page 34)
Q.1. What lesson does Ebright learn when he does not win anything at a science fair?
Ans. In the seventh grade he entered a county science fair with slides of frog tissues and lost. He felt very sad sitting there without a prize while everyone else had won something. He learnt that the winners had done real experiments, not merely made a neat display. So he understood that real science means experimenting and finding out, not just showing things.
Q.2. What experiments and projects does he then undertake?
Ans.
- In the eighth grade he tried to find the cause of a viral disease that killed monarch caterpillars, thinking it might be carried by a beetle. He got no real results, but won a prize for trying the experiment.
- The next year he tested the theory that viceroy butterflies copy monarchs, and showed that a starling would eat monarchs. This project was placed first in the zoology division and third overall.
- In high school he studied the purpose of the twelve tiny gold spots on a monarch pupa and, with another student, built a device which proved that the spots produced a hormone necessary for the butterfly’s full development.
- In his senior year he grew cells from a monarch’s wing and showed that they developed into normal wing scales only when fed the hormone from the gold spots.
- Later he identified the chemical structure of the hormone and finally developed a new theory on how a cell can ‘read’ the blueprint of its DNA.
Q.3. What are the qualities that go into the making of a scientist?
Ans. A first-rate mind, a driving curiosity, and the will to win for the right reasons. A scientist must also be a keen observer, hardworking, and ready to give that extra effort. He should compete not for prizes but to do the best job he can. Richard Ebright had all these qualities, along with the guidance of a loving mother and inspiring teachers.
The Making of a Scientist Think About It Question Answer
Q.1. How can one become a scientist, an economist, a historian…? Does it simply involve reading many books on the subject? Does it involve observing, thinking and doing experiments?
Ans. Reading books alone cannot make anyone a scientist, an economist or a historian. Books give only the existing knowledge; they do not create new knowledge. One must have curiosity, the habit of careful observation, and the ability to think independently. A scientist must design and perform experiments, a historian must examine records and evidence, and an economist must study data and analyse trends. Richard Ebright’s life proves this. He learnt real science not from books but by raising butterflies, tagging them, performing experiments and testing his ideas again and again.
Q.2. Discuss Richard Ebright’s work in the light of what you have studied about cells and DNA. If you got an opportunity to work like Richard Ebright, which field would you like to work on and why?
Ans. DNA is the substance in the nucleus of a cell that controls heredity and determines the form and function of the cell; it is the blueprint for life. Ebright’s work on the hormone from the gold spots of a monarch pupa led him to a new theory about how a cell can ‘read’ this blueprint. If the theory proves correct, it will help us understand the processes of life and may even lead to new ways of preventing some types of cancer and other diseases. (This part is a personal answer. Sample:) If I got such an opportunity, I would like to work in the field of medical science and genetics, because research in this field can help cure serious diseases and save millions of lives.
The Making of a Scientist Talk About It Question Answer
Q.1. Answers to the children’s questions:
(i) What is DNA fingerprinting? What are its uses?
Ans. DNA fingerprinting is a technique of identifying a person from the unique pattern of certain parts of his DNA. Except in identical twins, this pattern differs in every individual, and a sample can be taken from blood, hair, saliva or skin. Its uses: identifying criminals from evidence found at the scene of a crime, settling disputes about parentage, identifying bodies in accidents or disasters, and studying inherited diseases as well as the ancestry of plants and animals.
(ii) How do honeybees identify their own honeycombs?
Ans. Honeybees identify their own hive mainly by smell. Every colony has its own particular chemical odour, produced by the bees and the wax of the comb. Guard bees at the entrance check this smell and drive away any bee that does not belong to the colony. Bees also use landmarks and the position of the sun to find their way back to the exact spot.
(iii) Why does rain fall in drops?
Ans. Water vapour in a cloud condenses on tiny dust particles to form minute droplets. These droplets collide and join together, and when a drop becomes heavy enough for gravity to overcome the upward push of the air, it falls. Because of surface tension, the water pulls itself into a rounded drop rather than a sheet or a thread. Very large drops are broken up by air resistance into smaller ones, so rain always reaches us as separate drops.
Q.2. Questions I have wondered about.
Ans. (Personal answer. Sample questions to share in class:)
- Why is the sky blue during the day and red at sunset?
- Why do we see lightning before we hear thunder?
- How do birds know the way when they migrate thousands of kilometres?
- Why do leaves change colour and fall in autumn?
Glossary (Quick Revision)
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| leagues | groups of sports clubs or teams playing among themselves |
| county | a region or district |
| starling | a common European bird that is a good mimic |
| entomology | the study of insects |
| eureka | a cry of triumph at a discovery |
| canoeist | a person who paddles a canoe |
| pupa | the stage between caterpillar and adult butterfly |
| migrate | to travel from one region to another with the seasons |
| adhesive | sticky |
| tedious | boring and tiresome |
| ornamental | serving only for decoration |
| hormone | a chemical substance that controls growth in a living body |
| heredity | the passing of qualities from parents to children |
| DNA | the substance in a cell’s nucleus that controls heredity |
| straight-A student | a student who gets top grades in every subject |
