Microorganisms : friends and foe

Very Short Answer Questions

Question 1.
Name the groups in which microorganisms are broadly classified.
Answer:
Microorganisms are broadly classified in four groups:

 bacteria
 fungi
 protozoa
 algae

Question 2.
Name the type of microorganism that is smaller than bacteria.
Answer:
Virus

Question 3.
Write the name of a bacterium that helps in the formation of curd.
Answer:
Lactobacillus

Question 4.
Write a use of yeast.
Answer:
Yeast is used in the production of alcohol, wine, beer and other beverages.

Question 5.
What does yeast produce during respiration?
Answer:
Yeast produces carbon dioxide gas during respiration.

Question 6.
What are pathogens? Write another name of pathogens.
Answer:
Disease-causing microorganisms are known as pathogens. They are also called germs.

Question 7.
Define food preservation.
Answer:
Food preservation is the method of preserving food from being spoiled by the microbes.

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Question 8.
Write the names of any two antibiotics.
Answer:

 Streptomycin
 Erythromycin

Question 9.
Who discovered the vaccine for small pox?
Answer:
Edward Jenner

Question 10.
What is fermentation?
Answer:
Fermentation is the process of conversion of food into alcohol.

Question 11.
Define refrigeration.
Answer:
The storing of food products at the temperature of 0°C to 5°C is known as refrigeration.

Question 12.
What is vaccine?
Answer:
A substance which is used in the production of immunity against various diseases in the
living body is termed as vaccine.

Question 13.
Name any two human diseases caused by viruses.
Answer:

 Measles
 Polio

Question 14.
Name any three common plant diseases.
Answer:
Rust of wheat, citrus canker and wilt

Question 15.
Name a microorganism which helps in nitrogen fixation.

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Answer:
Rhizobium

Question 16.
Name a disease caused by food poisoning.
Answer:
Botulism

Question 17.
What is the difference between refrigeration and freezing?
Answer:
In refrigeration, the storing of the food is done at a temperature of 0°C to 5°C, whereas
freezing is used to store food at -18°C of temperature.

Question 18.
What is decomposition?
Answer:
Decomposition is the process in which organic materials are broken down into simple
inorganic sub-stances by the microorganisms.

Question 19.
Name the two microbes that are involved in the process of decomposition.
Answer:
Bacteria and fungi

Question 20.
Name the first antibiotic discovered.
Answer:
Penicillin

Short Answer Questions

Question 1.
What are microorganisms? Give four examples.
Answer:
Small organisms that cannot be seen through the naked eyes and can only be seen
under a microscope are called microorganisms or microbes; e.g., Amoeba,
Paramecium, Volvox, Spirogyra, etc.

Question 2.
Classify bacteria on the basis of their shapes.
Answer:
On the basis of their shapes, bacteria are classified into four categories:

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 rod-shaped bacteria (bacilli)

 spherical-shaped bacteria (cocci)
 curved-shaped bacteria (vibrios)
 spiral-shaped bacteria (spirilla)

Question 3.
Define communicable diseases. Give some examples.
Answer:
Communicable diseases are microbial diseases that can spread from an infected
person to a healthy person through air, water, or other physical contacts; e.g., cholera,
chicken pox, tuberculosis, common cold, etc.

Question 4.
Differentiate between viruses and other microorganisms.
Answer:

Viruses Other microbes

(i) They show the characteristics of living organisms (i) They do not need to enter any host organism

or reproduce only by entering the host organisms. reproduce or show any characteristics of life.

(ii) They are non-cellular microbes. (ii) They are cellular microbes.

Question 5.
What do you mean by food spoilage?
Answer:
The process in which food is deteriorated to such extent that it does not remain fit for
human consumption is known as food spoilage.

Question 6.
What role does sugar play in the preservation of food?
Answer:
The role of sugar in food preservation is significant. By adding sugar in the food item,
we reduce its moisture content and hence, it stops the growth of the microorganisms.

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Question 7.
How are carriers harmful to us?
Answer:
Carriers take with them many harmful microorganisms or pathogens. They play a great
role in transferring these pathogens to a healthy person, by sitting on the food items, or
directly transferring the pathogens inside the body of a person. Hence they are harmful
to us.

Question 8.
What is vaccination?
Answer:
The process of putting a vaccine inside the body of a person in order to produce
immunity against some disease is called vaccination.

Question 9.
What do you mean by immunity?
Answer:
Immunity is the ability of a body to develop resistance against diseases.

Question 10.
Give two examples of each of the following types of microorganisms:
(a) Algae
(b) Fungi
(c) Protozoa
Answer:
(a) Algae – Spirogyra, Chlamydomonas
(b) Fungi – Aspergillus, yeast
(c) Protozoa – Paramecium, Amoeba

Question 11.
What are antibodies?
Answer:
Whenever any harmful disease-causing microorganism enters the human body, the
body produces substances to fight with the entered microbe. These substances are
called antibodies.

Question 12.
What is the role of bacteria in increasing the soil fertility?
Answer:
Some bacteria, which are present in the root nodules of leguminous plants or free-living
fix the atmospheric nitrogen in the soil which is ultimately used up by the plants. Hence
they increase the fertility of the soil. For example, Rhizobium, Azotobacter, Azospirillum,
etc.

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Question 13.
Define Ohmic heating.
Answer:
Ohmic heating is the process in which electric current of high voltage is passed through
the food items to kill the microbes that cause the spoilage of food.

Question 14.
What is sterilisation?
Answer:
The process of killing all the microorganisms above the temperature of 100°C is known
as sterilisation. It is one of the widely used methods to preserve food, and is often used
for various food items.

Question 15.
What is pasteurisation?
Answer:
Pasteurisation can be defined as the partial sterilisation of foods at a temperature that
destroys harmful microorganisms without major changes in the chemical property of the
food.

Extra Questions Long Answer Questions

Question 1.
Explain why antibiotics do not work against flu or any infection caused by viruses.
Answer:
Viruses cannot be killed by using antibiotics as their cell pathways are different from that
of bacteria. It means taking antibiotics to get rid of flu or any other viral infection is
useless, because it does not re-duce the strength of the virus, nor does it reduce the
duration of the infection. But, however, antibiotic will work if we get attacks of viral
infection and bacterial disease at the same time. Even then, it will cure bacterial disease
only but not the viral infection.

Question 2.
Mention any three ways through which pathogens are transmitted.
Answer:
Three ways because of which pathogens are transmitted are as follows:

 When a person sneezes or coughs, tiny droplets containing a number of disease-

causing microorganisms come out of the mouth, and are released in the air. They
are transmitted to a healthy person while breathing.
 By making direct contacts with an infected person, pathogens are transferred to a
healthy person.

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 Carriers of pathogens also help in their transmission. For instance, when a fly sits
on animal excreta or garbage, harmful disease-causing microbes stick to its legs.
And when this fly sits on the food items, pathogens get transferred to them. This
contaminated food items cause serious diseases when it is eaten by a healthy
person.

Question 3.
Explain canning.
Answer:
Canning is a process used for food preservation. Heat, at a certain temperature and for
a limited period of time, is used to kill the harmful microorganisms as well as enzymes.
This method also involves the removal of oxygen gas, and to avoid post-process
contamination by airtight sealing of food items.

Question 4.
Explain how malaria is transmitted to humans.
Answer:
A protozoan called Plasmodium is responsible for malaria. It lives in the liver and blood
of the person who has been infected by this disease. A female Anopheles mosquito
when sucks blood from the infected person, Plasmodium along with blood, is taken into
its stomach. The Plasmodium, here, multiplies itself and reaches the salivary gland of
the mosquito. Now, when this mosquito bites a healthy person, it injects Plasmodium
along with saliva to him. The healthy person then gets an attack of malaria.
In this way, malaria is transmitted to humans.

Question 5.
Explain various types of bacteria.
Answer:
Bacteria are classified on the basis of their shapes into the following categories:

 Rod-shaped bacteria (bacilli):

These are aerobic rod-shaped, spore-producing bacteria. They are often occurring
in chain-like formations, and they are found primarily in soil; e.g., Lactobacillus.
 Spherical-shaped bacteria (cocci):
They are spherical or nearly spherical bacteria; e.g., Streptococcus.
 Curved-shaped bacteria (vibrios):
They are curved-shaped bacteria; e.g., Vibrio.
 Spiral-shaped bacteria (spirilla):
They are flagellated, aerobic bacteria, having a spirally twisted rod-like form; e.g.,
Treponema.

Microorganisms: Friend and Foe Class 8 Extra Questions

Higher Order Thinking Skills
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Question 1.
Unscramble the jumbled words underlined in the following statements
(a) Curbossulite is an air-borne disease caused by a bacterium.
(b) Xanrhat is a dangerous bacterial disease.
(c) Yeasts are used in the wine industry because of their property of meronettinaf.
(d) Cells of our body produce santiidobe to fight pathogens.
(e) Aeeessrrwtip are added to food to prevent growth of microorganisms.
Answer:
(a) Tuberculosis
(b) Anthrax
(c) Fermentation
(d) antibodies
(e) Preservatives

Question 2.
What is the difference between Rhizobium and cyanobacteria in the way of fixing
nitrogen for the plants?
Answer:
Rhizobium lives in the root nodules of leguminous plants in a symbiotic relationship
whereas cyanobacteria lives freely in the soil and fixes nitrogen.

Question 3.
It is always suggested that not to eat anything from street hawkers. Why?
Answer:
Most of street hawkers sells food items in an open area which always get contaminated
with the dust and flies carrying germs with them. Such an unhygienic condition lead to
spoilage of food which when consumed can lead to serious illness.

Question 4.
Why oil is added while making pickle?
Answer:
Oil seals off the air from the item that is being pickled and thus inhibit the growth of most
of the microorganisms.

Question 5.
Ria thought of making curd. For this, she took lukewarm milk, mixed some curd into it
and stir well. She kept the mixture in fridge. Next day she observed that curd was not
set. Can you tell why the curd did not set?
Answer:
Curd did not set because she kept the mixture in fridge. Lower temperature of fridge
retarded the growth of Lactobacillus in the mixture.

Question 6.
Why do idli and dosa maker add some yeast or old batter of pervious day to the newly-
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made batter and keep it for one day?

Answer:
For fermentation of idli and dosa yeast or old batter is added. Fermentation makes idli
fluffy and dosa crispy, and change the flavour.

Microorganisms: Friend and Foe Class 8 Extra Questions

Value-Based Questions
Question 1.
Seema got cough and cold badly. Her teacher asked her to take rest at home and use
handkerchief while sneezing and coughing. She obeyed her teacher.
(a) Why should we keep a handkerchief on nose and mouth while sneezing or
coughing?
(b) What are the modes of transfer of diseases from infected to healthy person?
(c) Do you think Seema’s teacher decision was right? Why?
(d) What value of Seema is shown here?
Answer:
(a) We should keep a handkerchief on nose and mouth while sneezing or coughing
because fine drop¬lets carrying thousands of viruses or bacteria spread in the air.
(b) Air, water, food, carriers and physical contact.
(c) Yes, because cough and cold spreads through air and there are chances that other
students may also get infected.
(d) Seema is an obedient girl.

Question 2.
On Rahul’s birthday, his mother prepared many dishes for him. After having their meal,
they found that many food items were left over. Rahul’s mother kept these leftovers in a
air-tight container and refrigerate them.
(a) What is food preservation?
(b) What will happen to the food if it is not refrigerated?
(c) What is the role of refrigeration in food preservation method?
(d) What value of Rahul’s mother is shown here?
Answer:
(a) The methods used for prevention of spoiling of food by the action of microbes is
called food preservation.
(b) The food will get spoil and emit bad smell with changed colour or taste.
(c) Refrigeration retards or slow down the growth of microorganisms and enzyme
activity on food. Thus, it prevents spoilage of food.
(d) Rahul’s mother is intelligent, economical, have scientific aptitude towards
preservation of food.

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