NCERT Solutions Curiosity Chapter 1 Asking “Why?” — Activity 1.3: Let us think and write (2026-27)

Q1.

If you have to ask “Why?” about something, what would you ask about?

Answer

Choose something you have actually seen with your own eyes — a “why” about your own surroundings is always better than one copied from a book.

Good questions you could ask:

Why does the sky look blue in the day and red at sunset?
Why does a slice of apple turn brown after some time, but a slice of lemon does not?
Why do sunflowers turn to face the Sun?
Why does an earthen matka keep water cool without any electricity?
Why do ants always walk in a single line?
Why does a wet floor dry faster when a fan is on?
Why does the Moon appear to change its shape through the month?
Why does a puri swell up in hot oil?

Sample answer: I would ask, “Why does a cut apple turn brown when it is left on the plate?” I have seen this every time my mother cuts an apple, and the brown colour appears only on the cut surface, not on the skin.

What makes a question a good scientific question: it should be about something you can observe, it should be specific (not “why is the world like this?”), and it should be possible to test at least partly by yourself. “Why does a cut apple turn brown?” passes all three tests.

Q2.

Try to write down how you would attempt to find an answer to your question.

Answer

Write your plan as the five steps of the scientific method. Continuing the apple question:

Step	What I would do
1. Observation	The white cut face of an apple slowly turns brown when kept in the open; the part still covered by the skin stays white.
2. Question	Why does the cut surface of an apple turn brown?
3. Guess	Something in the air — probably the air itself — acts on the cut surface and changes its colour. If air is kept away, the apple should stay white.
4. Test	Cut one apple into four equal pieces. Leave piece A open on a plate. Wrap piece B tightly in cling film. Dip piece C in lemon juice. Keep piece D in a bowl of water. Look at all four after 10, 30 and 60 minutes and note what you see.
5. Analysis	Piece A turns brown first. Pieces B and D, which touch little or no air, stay much lighter. Piece C with lemon juice stays whitest of all. So the browning really is caused by contact with air, and lemon juice slows it down.

Why the four pieces matter: piece A is the control — the ordinary case you compare everything else with. Without it you could not tell whether the cling film made any difference at all. Changing one thing at a time and keeping a control is how a fair test is designed.

Tip: If you cannot test your question at home — say, “why is the sky blue?” — then plan the other honest routes: observe it at different times of day, read about it in a reliable book, ask your science teacher, and discuss it with friends. The chapter reminds us that scientists across the world work together in large teams, so asking for help is part of the method, not a shortcut.