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NCERT Solutions for Class 9th Science Chapter 2 Project work — The Journey Beyond

Book page 27 Updated on2026-09-08

Q1.
Use selected software or digital tools to create animations or simulations of cell division and share them in the class.
Answer

Build the animation around what the chromosomes are doing, because that is the only thing that really changes from stage to stage.

  1. Choose a tool. Free options that work on a school computer or phone: Scratch (drag-and-drop, good for beginners), Tinkercad or Blender for 3D, Canva or Google Slides with the ‘morph’/animation feature for a simple sequence, or a stop-motion app photographing clay models.
  2. Storyboard first, on paper. Draw six frames for mitosis: (1) a cell with a nucleus and diffuse chromatin; (2) chromatin condensing into rod-shaped chromosomes, nuclear membrane disappearing; (3) chromosomes lined up along the middle; (4) chromosomes pulled to opposite ends; (5) two new nuclei forming; (6) two identical daughter cells.
  3. For meiosis, use nine frames and colour the chromosome pairs differently — one from each parent. Show the first division reducing the number to half, then a second, mitosis-like division giving four cells.
  4. Label and count. Put the chromosome number on screen in every frame (46 → 46, 46 for mitosis; 46 → 23, 23 → four cells of 23 for meiosis). This is the point most animations get wrong.
  5. Add a 20-second commentary and share it in class. Ask your classmates one question afterwards, such as “at which frame did the chromosome number change?”
Tip: keep the two animations to the same length and the same colours, and play them side by side. The single visual difference — one division against two, and the number halving — is what your audience should remember.
Q2.
Create a model of any type of a ‘synthetic cell’ using low-cost eco-friendly material.
Answer

A ‘synthetic cell’ model works best when every material you choose says something true about the part it stands for.

Cell partLow-cost eco-friendly materialWhy the material fits
Cell membraneA thin transparent sheet of banana bark, or a cellophane/agar layerThin and lets some things through — selectively permeable
Cell wall (plant model)A cardboard or dried-bamboo frame around the outsideRigid but with gaps — freely permeable
CytoplasmSet agar-agar, sabudana kheer or thin clay slurry in a shallow boxSemi-fluid and jelly-like
NucleusA whole walnut or a clay ball with wool ‘chromatin’ insideDense, round, with a covering that has openings — nuclear pores
MitochondriaRolled brown paper with a folded paper strip pushed insideThe folds show the cristae that increase surface area
ChloroplastsGreen leaf pieces or green-painted seed podsRod-shaped and green
ER and GolgiFolded and stacked strips of old newspaper; rice grains stuck on for ribosomesSheets and stacks; the rough ER carries ribosomes
VacuoleA water-filled polythene pouch or a coconut shellA large sac holding fluid

Label each part with a paper flag that names it and its function. Then add one extra card explaining what the chapter says about real synthetic cells: in 2010 J. Craig Venter's team chemically synthesised a copy of the complete DNA of Mycoplasma mycoides and inserted it into another bacterium whose own DNA had been removed. The cell grew and divided following the new instructions — proving that DNA controls the structure and activities of a cell. But only the DNA was synthetic; the rest of the cell came from a living one.

Tip: avoid thermocol and plastic bottles. Use dried leaves, coconut shell, clay, cardboard, jute and old newspaper — the model then illustrates the sustainability point as well as the biology.
Q3.
Build a mitosis or meiosis model with your classmates for your science project or exhibition. How did teamwork contribute to the success of the activity? Did this activity change your perspective or understanding of the cell division topic in any way? If so, explain how?
Answer

How to build it. Use coloured pipe cleaners, woollen yarn or clay ropes as chromosomes, and stiff paper or shallow trays as cells. Make each chromosome as a pair of identical arms joined at a point, and use two colours for the two parents' chromosomes so that meiosis can be told apart from mitosis at a glance. Lay out the stages left to right on a board, with a caption and the chromosome number under each.

Sample answer — on teamwork

Our group of four split the work: two of us shaped the chromosomes and cells, one wrote the captions and checked the chromosome number at every stage, and one presented the model. The division of labour mattered more than we expected. While making the meiosis model, the person writing captions noticed that we had drawn four daughter cells but had given each of them the full number of chromosomes. Because someone was checking rather than building, the mistake was caught before the exhibition. Explaining the model out loud to visitors also forced each of us to understand every stage, not only the one we had built.

Sample answer — on how it changed my understanding

Yes. Before making the model I thought of mitosis and meiosis as two lists of stages to be memorised. Handling the chromosomes changed that. I could see that the whole of mitosis exists to give each daughter cell one complete copy, and that the whole of meiosis exists to halve the number before fertilisation puts two gametes together. I also understood for the first time why chromosomes become visible only when a cell is about to divide — when we tried to move loose woollen threads they tangled at once, and only after we twisted them into short thick ropes could we move them without breaking. That is exactly what chromatin condensing into chromosomes achieves.

Why it happens: a model forces a decision at every step that a diagram lets you avoid. A picture can be vague about how many chromosomes are in a daughter cell; a physical model cannot, because you have to put a definite number of threads into each tray. This is why building a model so often exposes a misunderstanding that reading did not.
Q4.
Develop a nukkad natak for community awareness in simple dialogues about the different functions of cell organelles.
Answer

Cast each organelle as a worker in a factory or a resident of a village, and let the plot be what happens when one of them stops working.

CharacterRole in the playLine to say
NucleusThe sarpanch / manager“Every instruction in this village is written in my register — the DNA.”
Cell membraneThe gatekeeper“Water may pass. Salt and sugar, stand back — I decide who enters.”
Cell wallThe boundary wall“I am rigid, but I hide nothing — everything passes through me.”
MitochondrionThe power station“No ATP from me, and this whole village goes dark.”
ChloroplastThe kitchen“Give me sunlight and I will cook food for everyone.”
RibosomeThe weaver“Send me the message and I will weave the protein.”
Golgi apparatusThe post office“Pack it, label it, address it — then it can be delivered.”
LysosomeThe safai karamchari“Bring me the broken and the useless. Nothing here is wasted.”
VacuoleThe village water tank“As long as I am full, the plant stands tall.”

A simple plot in three scenes (about 8 minutes):

  1. An ordinary day. Each character introduces itself in one line while the village works smoothly.
  2. The crisis. The lysosome falls ill and stops clearing waste. Rubbish piles up, the ribosome cannot find space, the mitochondrion is choked, and work stops. Alternatively, the mitochondrion goes on strike and everything grinds to a halt for lack of ATP.
  3. The lesson. The nucleus explains that no single worker runs the village — the cell is a coordinated system, and every part depends on the rest. End with a chorus line the audience can repeat: “Har kaam ka ek karmachari — yehi hai koshika ki taiyari.”
Tip: keep sentences short, use one prop per character (a register for the nucleus, a broom for the lysosome, a lantern for the mitochondrion), and speak facing the audience. In a nukkad natak the message must survive traffic noise, so repeat the key line at the beginning and the end.
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