NCERT Class 8 Chapter 7 Reaching The Age Of Adolescence VSAQs
Question 1. XX or XY, state the combination of sex chromosomes that produces a male child?
Answer: XY combination of sex chromosomes produces a male child.
Question 2. The nucleus of a cell contains chromosomes for inheritance. How many chromosomes are there in the nuclei of a human cell?
Answer: The nucleus of each human cell contains 23 pairs of chromosomes.
Question 3. Name the endocrine gland attached to the base of the brain.
Answer: Pituitary gland.
Question 4. Name some endocrine glands other than the pituitary gland.
Answer: Some endocrine glands other than the pituitary are the thyroid, pancreas, and adrenals.
Class 8 Science Reaching the Age of Adolescence very short answer questions
Question 5. Boojho begins wondering how long this period marked by changes in the body would last.
Answer: The period marked by change, i.e. adolescence, begins around the age of 11 and lasts upto 18 or 19 years of age.
Question 6. Paheli, on the other hand, is worried about this period of life when you are neither a child nor an adult. She wondered whether this period between childhood and adulthood had a special name.
Answer: The period oflife between childhood and adulthood is termed adolescence.
Question 7. Both Boojho and Paheli wish to know what initiates changes at puberty.
Answer: The changes that occur at adolescence are controlled by hormones.
NCERT Solutions for Reaching the Age of Adolescence Chapter 7
Question 8. Pahell heard her mother and her aunt talking about her cousin who is going to have a baby. They were discussing whether she would give birth to a boy or a girl. She wonders what makes the fertilised egg develop into either a boy or a girl.
Answer: Inside the fertilised egg or zygote is the instruction for determining the sex of the baby. This instruction is present in the thread-like structures called chromosomes.
Question 8. Are there hormones in other animals also? Do they have any role to play in reproduction?
Answer: Yes, animals also have hormonal secretions. Yes, hormones have their role to play in reproduction.
Question 9. If people do not have enough iodine in their diet, will they get goitre caused by lack of thyroxine?
Answer: Yes, if people do not have enough iodine in their diet, they will get goitre caused by lack of thyroxine
VSAQs for Reaching the Age of Adolescence Chapter 7 Class 8
Question 10. What is the term used for secretions of endocrine glands responsible for changes taking place in the body?
Answer: Hormone is the term used for secretions of endocrine glands responsible for changes taking place in the body.
Question 11. Define adolescence.
Answer: Adolescence is the period of life in which organisms become reproductively active. In other words, it is the period of attaining reproductive maturity in boys and girls, which starts from 11-13 years and lasts upto 18-19 years in humans.