Category Science

Do all leaves have the same basic functions?

Have you ever collected leaves as a hobby? Even if you have not, just observing plants would make you wonder at the variety of leaves of various plants. Leaves range from the miniscule to the massive, the thinnest to the thickest and the simplest to the strangest. They all do one fundamental job for the plant: manufacture food. However, there are some structural differences among the different kinds of leaves.

An important distinction among leaves is in the way their veins, which carry water and nutrients to the leaves are deployed, and distribute the food manufactured by them. In some leaves, the veins form a network of branches in some leaves. However, in some others, they angle out from a prominent central vein originate from the base of the leaf and are evenly arranged.

There is also a contrast in the way leaves are attached to twigs. Some leaves grow opposite one another or in an alternating pattern. Some trees have compound leaves. The drumstick plant, for example, has small leaflets attached to a central stem, which in turn, is joined to the twig. Leaflets extend to the sides in some trees. However, in some others, the leaves spread out like a fan.

Leaves appear in an incredible variety of sizes and shapes. However, they are all united by a basic function: the production of food for the plant.

 

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For art’s sake

 

My niece is in her final year of fine arts at Stella Maris, Chennai. Her passion is doodling. What are her career options? What can she further do academically? And which are the institutions in India that offer courses in such areas?

My daughter is a student of ICSE board. She is interested in craftwork and has done a craft course. Her extra-curricular activities included decoupage, – , flower making, cards and Chinese ceramics. What should she take up at +2 level? What are the options available, and the institutions for the same? She is an all-rounder and tops in all subjects. But her passion is crafts. She is always with scissors and paper. What is NID and what does it offer?

First, about your niece. Since your niece is already a student of fine arts, she is already in the right place. Doodling might be her passion, but as a fine arts student she would be having a larger career goal. She can do a masters in fine arts, and then proceed to do a PhD in a related field. She can take up the teaching profession and teach at the school or college level. She can even hold exhibitions of her paintings, or else she could be an art curator and join a big museum.

As regards your daughter, she should take up arts to pursue her interest in crafts. She can join a college that offers bachelor of fine arts thereafter. or else, she can pursue graduation in any other subject and pursue in a polytechnic.

 

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Mood swings

I am a student of class XII. There are days when I am very depressed and feel that nothing can go right. There is no particular reason for this. I want to know how to overcome depression. I also want to know why one trends to have an unknown fear of others while in school, while travelling in a bus or walking in a public place?

Occasional depression and swings in mood are but quite common as we go through disappointments, frustrations, etc. You can get over depression if you get to the root causes for it. Once you know the cause, you can get rid of the problem effectively. You appear to be studying in Delhi. Almost every school in the city has a counsellor who can help you to overcome depression.

 

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Fertile minds

 

I am a non-medical student studying in class XI in a public school. I wish to become a director of agriculture. I want to take admission in Punjab University (LDH). Could you tell me the exact procedure?

Our best wishes are with you in your career dream. However, your journey will have to begin with a graduation in agriculture sciences. Punjab Agricultural University is a state university offering a number of courses like B.Sc. Agri. (Hons.) of four years’ duration, bachelor of veterinary science and animal husbandry of five years, and B.Sc. (Hons.) Home Science 4-year (for girls only). However, it’s the first course that would interest you. For admission to Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, one should have done 10+2 or equivalent in science/agriculture with physics, chemistry and mathematics/ biology/agriculture with at least 50% marks in aggregate. Admission is done on the basis of Common Admission Test, held sometime in June.

 

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Creative corridors

                                                                                                I am a student of class XII and want to pursue a career in animation. I want to know about the entrance procedure of NID, Ahmadabad. Please give me guidance about how to prepare for the examination.

In the entrance test you will be asked to do things that will test your sense of color, your understanding of proportion , and your ability to visualize. Say, you might be asked to make a color paper collage. You might be asked to draw an object, or you might be asked to visualize something fifty years from now. You should also start maintain a portfolio: preserve properly whatever you draw or make; get in the habit of observing: critically viewing ads, movies, photographs or any other art object. This understanding will also be put to test.

 

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What is migration?

            Migration is a fascinating phenomenon that Nature repeats every year. It is the seasonal movement of some animals, from one place to another, year after year, usually across vast distances.

            Birds, fishes, mammals, insects and reptiles all migrate. Animals migrate for many reasons. It may be to find food, or to escape harsh weather. Some may travel thousands of miles in the spring, and then, thousands of miles back in the fall.

            Animals also migrate in search of better food supplies, or a safe place to give birth to their young. Such migrations happen on a regular basis. Irregular migrations are sometimes triggered by famine or over-population.

            The Arctic tern, the sea bird, travels from one end of the world to the other end every year! This is the longest migration undertaken by any bird. This bird flies in zigzagging routes between breeding grounds in the Arctic and Antarctica each year, a distance of around 70,900 kilometres. They will spend about four or five months in Antarctica, before heading back to the Arctic. Scientists have extensively studied the evolution of migration. But no single theory has been fully accepted.

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