Class 10 Science Chapter 7 (formerly Chapter 8), How do Organisms Reproduce?, explores why DNA copying and variation are essential for the survival of species, compares six modes of asexual reproduction in unicellular and multicellular organisms, and details sexual reproduction in flowering plants and human beings alongside reproductive health.
What Class 10 Science Chapter 7 Covers
7.1 & 7.2 Do Organisms Create Exact Copies & Modes of Reproduction Used by Single Organisms explains how DNA copying during cell division introduces slight variations that enable species survival over time, then illustrates binary and multiple fission (*Amoeba*, *Leishmania*, *Plasmodium*), fragmentation (*Spirogyra*), regeneration (*Hydra*, *Planaria*), budding (*Hydra*, yeast), vegetative propagation (stem cuttings, layering, grafting, *Bryophyllum* leaf buds, tissue culture) and spore formation (*Rhizopus*).
7.3.1 & 7.3.2 Why the Sexual Mode & Sexual Reproduction in Flowering Plants shows how meiosis halves chromosome number in germ cells before fertilisation, traces unisexual (*papaya*, *watermelon*) and bisexual (*Hibiscus*, *mustard*) flowers (sepals, petals, stamen with anther and filament, pistil with stigma, style and ovary), self- and cross-pollination, pollen tube growth, fertilisation in the ovule, and seed germination (plumule, radicle, cotyledon).
7.3.3 Sexual Reproduction in Human Beings & Reproductive Health covers puberty changes, the male reproductive system (testes in scrotum producing sperm and testosterone, vas deferens, prostate and seminal vesicles, urethra), the female reproductive system (ovaries, fallopian tubes/oviduct where fertilisation occurs, uterus, placenta, menstruation when the egg is not fertilised), STDs (bacterial: gonorrhoea, syphilis; viral: warts, HIV-AIDS), and contraceptive methods (mechanical barriers, oral pills, Copper-T, surgical vasectomy/tubectomy).
Exercises in Chapter 7
- In-text Questions cover the importance of DNA copying, why variation is beneficial to the species but not necessarily to the individual, how binary fission differs from multiple fission, and how pollination differs from fertilisation.
- Chapter Exercises (11 Questions) test the functions of the testis, why menstruation occurs, labelled diagrams of the longitudinal section of a flower, and contraceptive methods.
Read Class 10 Science Chapter 7 Online
More Chapters
- Previous: Chapter 6: Control and Coordination
- Next: Chapter 8: Heredity
- Hindi medium: Class 10 Science Chapter 7 PDF in Hindi (Vigyan)
- All Science chapters and the other Class 10 books: Class 10 NCERT books 2026-27
- All Class 1 to 12 NCERT Textbooks: NCERT Books PDF (Class 1–12)
FAQ
What is the role of the placenta in human reproduction?
The placenta is a disc-like special tissue embedded in the uterine wall with villi on the embryo’s side and blood spaces on the mother’s side. It provides a large surface area for glucose and oxygen to pass from mother to embryo, and transfers waste substances from the embryo into the mother’s blood.
How is the process of pollination different from fertilisation?
Pollination is the physical transfer of pollen grains from the anther of a stamen to the stigma of a carpel (by wind, water or insects). Fertilisation is the subsequent fusion of the male germ-cell with the female gamete inside the ovule to form a zygote.