Q5. Sugarcane has supporting roots growing from the lower nodes of its stem. Name them and say whether they are tap or adventitious roots.
Stilt roots; they are adventitious, because they arise from the stem and not from the radicle (definition on NCERT page 58; the sugarcane example is beyond the 2026–27 NCERT text).
Q6. Pneumatophores grow upwards, against gravity. What is this response called, and through what do they take in air?
They are negatively geotropic; air enters through lenticels (beyond the 2026–27 NCERT text).
Q7. From which part of the plant do the prop roots of the banyan tree arise?
From its branches; they hang down and enter the soil (beyond the 2026–27 NCERT text).
Q8. Assertion: the roots of sweet potato are adventitious. Reason: they arise from the stem and not from the radicle. Are both true, and does the reason explain the assertion?
Both are true, and the reason explains the assertion: roots arising from parts other than the radicle are adventitious (NCERT page 58; the sweet potato example is beyond the 2026–27 NCERT text).
Q9. A student says the potato and the sweet potato are both modified roots. Correct the statement.
The sweet potato is a modified (adventitious) root (beyond the 2026–27 NCERT text), but the potato is an underground stem (NCERT page 68).
Q10. Which of the four main functions of the root system becomes the chief function in a carrot?
Storing reserve food material (NCERT page 58).
Q11. Which two kinds of root modification give mechanical support?
Prop roots and stilt roots (beyond the 2026–27 NCERT text; NCERT’s Summary names mechanical support as one purpose, page 69).
Q12. Why can roots buried in waterlogged mud run short of oxygen?
Water fills the air spaces in the soil, and oxygen dissolves only sparingly in water and diffuses through it slowly (beyond the NCERT Biology text).