Nutrition in Animals

Question 56:  
Mention the simplest form for the following components of food.  
a. carbohydrates  b. proteins    c. fats

Answer:

The carbohydrates get broken into simple sugars such as glucose, fats into fatty acids and glycerol, and proteins into amino acids.

Question 57:  
What do you mean by assimilation?

Answer: 

The absorbed substances are transported via the blood vessels to different organs of the body where they are used to build complex substances such as the proteins required by the body. This is called assimilation.

Question 58:  
What is ORS? When it is given to the patient? How can you prepare ORS at home?

Answer: 

Boiled and cooled water with a pinch of salt and sugar dissolved in it is called Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS). It is given to prevent and treat dehydration due to diarrhea. At home the ORS can be prepared by dissolving a teaspoonful of sugar and pinch of salt in a glass of clean water.

Question 59:  
Where is the bile produced? Which component of the food does it help to digest?

Answer: 

Bile is produced in liver. The bile plays an important role in the digestion of fats.

Question 60:  
What are ruminant animals?

Answer: 

The grazing animals like cows, buffaloes and deer are known as ruminants.

Question 61:  
Where is the pancreas located in human body?

Answer: 

The pancreas is a large cream colored gland located just below the stomach.

Question 62:  
How does an amoeba capture its food?

Answer: 

Amoeba captures its food with the help of finger-like projections, called pseudopodia or false feet.

Question 63:  
What do pancreatic juices digest?

Answer: 

The pancreatic juice acts on carbohydrates, fats and proteins and changes them into simpler forms.

Question 64:  
What is absorption in terms of digestion?

Answer: 

The digested food passes into the blood vessels in the wall of the intestine. This process is called absorption.

Question 65:  
What do you mean by rumination?

Answer: 

A process in which partially digested food returns to the mouth in small lumps and the animal chews it is called rumination.

Question 66:  
What is cud?

Answer: 

Cud is partly digested food returned from stomach (called rumen) of ruminants to the mouth for further chewing.

Question 67:  
What is the role of mucus secreted by stomach?

Answer: 

The mucus protects the lining of the stomach from the action of hydrochloric acid secreted by stomach lining.

Question 68:  
How is small intestine accommodated within small space in our body?

Answer: 

Small intestine is about 7.5 metres long. It is accommodated in coiled form within small space in our body.

Question 69:  
What are milk teeth?

Answer: 

The first set of teeth grows during infancy and they fall off at the age between six to eight years. These are termed milk teeth.

Question 70:  
What are the major culprits of tooth decay?

Answer: 

Chocolates, sweets, soft drinks and other sugar products are the major culprits of tooth decay.

Question 71:  
Why do we get instant energy from glucose?

Answer: 

In the cells, glucose breaks down easily with the help of oxygen into carbon dioxide and water, and energy is released.

Question 72:  
Why animals like cows, buffaloes etc. cannot chew food properly at the time they take it in?

Answer: 

Animals like cow cannot chew their food properly due to the presence of cellulose in their diet.

Question 73:  
Name the solution of sugar and salt in water. Why is it given to a person suffering from diarrhoea?

Answer: 

The solution is called Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS). It is given to a person suffering from diarrhoea to prevent excessive loss of water and salts from the body.

Question 74:  
What is the alimentary canal?

Answer: 

The alimentary canal is a muscular hollow continuous tubular organ that starts at the mouth and ends at the anus and is responsible for the digestion and absorption of the ingested food and liquids.

 




Question 75:   
What are the main parts of the alimentary canal?

Answer: 

The canal can be divided into various compartments: (1) the buccal cavity, (2) foodpipe or oesophagus, (3) stomach, (4) small intestine, (5) large intestine ending in the rectum and (6) the anus.

Question 76:  
How is food prevented from entering the windpipe?
Or
What would happen if the food particles enter into the windpipe instead of food pipe? 

Answer: 

During the act of swallowing a flap-like valve closes the passage of the windpipe and guides the food into the foodpipe. If, by chance, food particles enter the windpipe, we feel choked, get hiccups or cough.

Question 77:  
What is small intestine?

Answer: 

The small intestine is highly coiled and is about 7.5 metres long. It receives secretions from the liver and the pancreas. Besides, its wall also secretes juices.

Question 78:  
Why we cannot digest cellulose like the cattle do?

Answer: 

Ruminants have a large sac-like structure called rumen between the oesophagus and the small intestine. The cellulose of the food is digested here by the action of certain bacteria which are not present in humans.

Question 79:  
‘A’ got her gall bladder removed surgically as she was diagnosed with stones in her gall bladder. After the surgery, she faced problems in digestion of certain food items when consumed in bulk. Can you tell which kind of food items would they be and why?

Answer: 

The food items would be fats because bile juice stored in the gall bladder helps in the digestion of fats. Thus, removal of gall bladder leads to difficulty in digestion of fats.

Question 80:  
Can we survive only on raw, leafy vegetables/grass? Discuss.

Answer: 

No, human cannot survive only on raw, leafy vegetables, or grass because they are rich in cellulose, which is a type of carbohydrate that humans are not able to digest due to the absence of cellulose-digesting enzymes.

Question 81:  
How does swallowed food move downwards in the alimentary canal?

Answer: 

The swallowed food passes into the foodpipe or oesophagus. Food is pushed down by movement of the wall of the foodpipe. Actually this movement takes place throughout the alimentary canal and pushes the food downwards. 

Question 82:  
Ruminants such as cows and buffaloes swallow their food hurriedly and then sit restfully and chew their food. Can you reason why?

Answer: 

Cows and buffaloes quickly swallow the grass and store it in a part of the stomach called rumen. Here the food gets partially digested and is called cud. But later the cud returns to the mouth in small lumps and the animal chews it.

Question 83:  
Open your mouth, look into a mirror and try to count the different types of teeth in your mouth. Compare them with figure 2.3 on page 13 of your NCERT textbook. Record your observations in the given table

Answer: