Q1. Which one of the following type of resource is iron ore?
(a) Renewable
(b) Flow
(c) Biotic
(d) Non-renewable
Ans: (d) Non-renewable

Q2. Under which of the following type of resource can tidal energy be put?
(a) Replenishable
(b) Abiotic
(c) Human-made
(d) Non-recyclable
Ans: (a) Replenishable

Q3. Which one of the following is the main cause of land degradation in Punjab?
(a) Intensive cultivation
(b) Over irrigation
(c) Deforestation
(d) Overgrazing
Ans: (b) Over Irrigation

Q4. In which one of the following states is terrace cultivation practiced?
(a) Punjab
(b) Haryana
(c) Plains of Uttar Pradesh
(d) Uttarakhand
Ans: (d) Uttarakhand

Q5. In which of the following states is black soil found?
(a) Jammu and Kashmir
(b) Rajasthan
(c) Gujarat
(d) Jharkhand
Ans: (c) Gujarat

Q6. Name three states having black soil and the crop which is mainly grown in it.
Ans: Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are the three states where black soil is found and cotton is the main crop grown on black soil.

Q7. What type of soil is found in the river deltas of the eastern coast? Give three main features of this type of soil.
Ans: Alluvial soil is found in the river deltas of the eastern coast. Three main features of alluvial soil are:
(a) Alluvial soil consists of various proportions of sand, silt and clay and is the most fertile soil.
(b) Alluvial soil has adequate proportion of potash, phosphoric acid and lime which is ideal for the growth of sugarcane, paddy, wheat, etc.
(c) According to their age alluvial soil can be classified into two: Old alluvial (Bangar) and new alluvial (Khadar).

Q8. What steps can be taken to control soil erosion in the hilly areas?
Ans: Following steps can be taken to control soil erosion in the hilly areas:
(a) Terrace Farming: Steps can be cut out on the slopes making terrace. Terrace farming restricts erosion.
(b) Shelter belts: Planting lines of trees to create shelter which will break the force of the wind.
(c) Contour Ploughing: Ploughing along the contour lines can slow down the flow of water down the slopes.
(c) Control over overgrazing.

Q9. What are the biotic and abiotic resources? Give some examples.
Ans: Biotic Resources: All living things are known as Biotic Resources. These resources are obtained from the Biosphere and they have life. For e.g. Human Beings, Flora, Fauna, fisheries, etc.
Abiotic Resources: All non-living things are known as Abiotic Resources. Resources which are found from the physical or non-living environment. For e.g. Wind, Water, Air, Rocks, Metals, etc.

Q10. Explain land use pattern in India and why has the land under forest not increased much since 1960-61?
Ans: India has total 3.28 million square kilometer. According to the land used data records are available only for about 93% of land of total geographical area. Of the total about 46% of land is used as net sown area, 22% of is forest cover, 5% cultivable land, 8% fallow land, 4% is covered by pastures and 1% is covered by tree crops. The pattern of net sown area varies from state to state. As per National Forest Policy (1952), the forest should be 33% of total geographical area, which is essential to maintain ecological balance but in India the forest cover is only 22%.
Large scale of development, industrialization and urbanization as well as agricultural expansion has widely reduced the forest cover in various parts of the country. Though afforestation and other government policies have lead to a marginal increase in the forest cover area in the country.

Q11. How have technical and economic development led to more consumption of resources?
Ans: Human beings interact with nature through technology and create institutions to accelerate their economic development. Technical and economic development always leads to more consumption of all types of resources (i.e. natural and man-made) because of the following reasons:
(a) Technological progress makes available the knowledge to bring resources under use.
(b) With economic progress, more industries will be setup. With growth in industrialization will lead to increasing demand for all the types of resources (i.e. land, labour, capital, etc.).
(c) With technological and economic development income level of the people will increase due to which demands will increase, which will lead to more services and more consumption of resources.

 

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Differentiate between the following:

Q1. Natural and Human Made Resource.
Ans:

 

Q2. Actual and Potential Resource.
Ans:

 

Q3. Renewable and Non-Renewable Resource.
Ans:

 

Short Answer Questions

Q4. Define ubiquitous and localized resources.
Ans:
(a) Ubiquitous Resource: Resources which are found everywhere are called ubiquitous resource. E.g. air, land, water, etc.
(b) Localised Resource: Resources which are found only in certain places are localised resources, like coal, petrol, iron, etc.

Q5. What do you understand by sustainable development?
Ans: Balancing the need to use resources and also conserve them for the future is called sustainable development.
Development of the resources should be done without damaging the environment and the needs of present generation should not be compromised with those of the future generations, this is known as sustainable development.

Some Principles of Sustainable Development:
1. Respect and care for all forms of life.
2. Improve the quality of human life.
3. Conserve the earth's vitality and diversity.
4. Minimise the depletion of natural resources.
5. Change personal attitude and practices toward the environment.
6. Enable communities to care for their own environment.

Q6. What are Abiotic Resources? Give examples.
Ans: Resources which are found from the physical or non-living environment. Thus, all non-living things are known as Abiotic Resources, such as Wind, Water, Air, Rocks, Metals, etc.

 

Long Answer Questions

Q7. Hoe does the human beings use the natural resources?
Ans: Resources that are drawn from Nature and used without much modification are called natural resources. The air we breathe, the water in our rivers and lakes, the soils, minerals are all natural resources. Many of these resources are free gifts of nature and can be used directly. In some cases tools and technology may be needed to use a natural resource in the best possible way. For e.g. we get petrol, diesel, etc. from the crude petroleum after refining. Thus, we can say that most of the natural resources provide us with raw materials and we have to process them into useful products that are fit for human consumption.
With this we come on to the conclusion that human beings use natural resources directly or indirectly through out their life and as a whole we cannot imagine life without natural resources.

Q8. Human beings are the most valuable resources of the world. Explain.
Ans. Human resource consists of people. Human resource and its proper development are of great importance. The creative mind of humans and the desire to satisfy their need helped them to produce different products and services that we see, feel and observe in our day-to-day life. For example: iron ore was used to build tools, machines, etc.
People with healthy mind and body have great potential to produce anything that they desire. People can make the best use of nature to create more resources when they have the knowledge, skill and the technology to do so. That is why human beings are a special resource and they are the most valuable resource of the present time.

Q9. What do you understand by conservation of resources? Why is it essential for us?
Ans. Using resources carefully, judicially and giving them time to get renewed is called resource conservation. It is very necessary to use the resources very carefully as they are part of our life support system. With the rapid growth of population, urbanization and industrialization there has been an increased demand and consumption of resources. This has led to the overexploitation and depletion of resources. To prevent misuse, overexploitation and depletion, the conservation of resources is necessary and it's the need of the hour. Incase if we don't conserve these resources than in our near future we will not be left be left with these resources which will make the survival of the human beings very difficult.

Q10. Classify and explain resources on the basis of origin.
Ans. On the basis of the origin of resources, the resources are classified into two types: i.e. Biotic & Abiotic.
(a) Biotic Resource: All living things are known as Biotic Resources. These resources are obtained from the Biosphere and they have life. For e.g. Human Beings, Flora, Fauna, fisheries, etc.
(b) Abiotic Resource: All non-living things are known as Abiotic Resources. Resources which are found from the physical or non-living environment. For e.g. Wind, Water, Air, Rocks, Metals, etc.

 

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Important term to remember:

1.      Environment: The immediate natural surroundings of man is called environment. E.g.: Plants, Air, Water, Landforms, Wildlife, etc.......

The word Environment has been derived from a French word "Environner" which means "Neighborhood".

2.      Components of Environment:

 (a) Natural Environment               (b) Human Environment        (c) Human Made Environment

 

3.      Biotic Components: All living things are known as Biotic Components. E.g.: Plants, Animal Kingdoms including man, etc....

4.      Abiotic Components: All non-living things are known as Abiotic Components. E.g.: Air, Water, Land, etc.....

5.      Ecosystem: Interrelation between plants and animals in the natural environment is called Ecosystem.

6.      Ecology: The Science with studies the relationship between living and non-living environment is termed as Ecology.

7.      Domains of Earth: The Four domains or realms of the Earth which jointly support life are: -

         (a) Atmosphere     (b) Hydrosphere         (c) Lithosphere          (d) Biosphere

8.     Biosphere: Plant and animal kingdom together make Biosphere or the living worlds. It is a narrow zone of the Earth where Air, Water and Land interact with each other to support life.

 

Geography studies the interrelationship between human beings and the environment.

 

Natural Environment:

1. Lithosphere

• It is the solid crust or the hard top layer of the earth.
• It is made up of rocks and minerals and covered by a thin layer of soil.
• It is an irregular surface with various landforms such as mountains, plateaus, plains, valleys, etc. Landforms are found over the continents and also on the ocean floors.
• Lithosphere is the domain that provides us forests, grasslands for grazing, land for agriculture and human settlements. It is also a source of mineral wealth.

2.Hydrosphere

• The water bodies on the earth's surface together form the Hydrosphere. E.g. Seas & Oceans, Rivers, Lakes, etc.
• Earth is also known as "Watery Planet", because 71% of it's surface is covered with water.
• Water is used for various purposes, i.e. domestic, agriculture, industries, transportation, generating electricity, etc.

3.Atmosphere

• The gaseous envelope around the earth's surface consisting of mixture of gases, water vapour and tiny dust particles is called atmosphere.
• Atmosphere is endless with no visible boundary.
• Atmosphere is composed of various gases. Major gases present are: Nitrogen – 78%, Oxygen – 21%, Argon - .93%, Carbon Dioxide – 0.03%, Other Gases – 0.04% (like – helium, hydrogen, methane, ozone, etc. and water vapours & dust particles.
• Ozone layer protects us from harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun.
• It acts as a blanket which prevents the earth from becoming too hot during day and too cold during night.

4.Biosphere

• Plant and animal kingdom together make biosphere or the living world.
• It is a narrow zone of the earth where Land (Lithosphere), Water (Hydrosphere) and Air (Atmosphere) interact with each other to support life.
• Biosphere makes the earth a unique planet in the solar system.

 

 

ECOSYSTEM

• All plants, animals and human beings depend on their immediate surroundings. Often they are also interdependent on each other.
• This relation between the living organisms, as well as the relation between the organisms and their surroundings form an ecosystem.
• There could be an ecosystem of large rain forest, grassland, desert, mountains, lake, river, ocean and even a small pond.
• In every ecosystem, there is a perfect balance in the transfer of energy and matter among the different components. This is known as Ecological Balance. 

 

ELEMENTS OF BIOSPHERE

 1.  Elements of Biosphere:Basically there are three elements of Biosphere: -

(a)  Producers      (b)  Consumers        (c)  Decomposers

(a) Producers: Plant Kingdom.

(b) Consumers:

     (i)   Herbivores: First consumers, plant eating animals. E.g. goat, dear, etc. They are large in number and reproduce faster.

     (ii)  Carnivores: Second level consumers. Flesh eating animals. E.g. lion, tiger, etc. They have sharp teeth and claws and reproduce at a slower rate.

     (iii) Omnivores: Consumers. They eat both plants and animals. E.g. man, ant, etc

(c) Decomposers: Microorganisms like bacteria get their food from dead plants and animals by decomposing them and are known as Decomposers. They keep the natural environment clean because they convert the dead matter of plants and animals into simple compound which then enter the soil and air.

 2.      Food Chain: In the process of consuming plants by herbivores and herbivores by carnivores, there is a transfer of energy from one level to another, which is called Food Chain.

 

 

HUMAN ENVIRONMENT

• Human beings are the most important part of environment. They not only interact with the environment but also modify it according to their needs.
• Early humans adapted themselves to the natural surroundings. They led a simple life and fulfilled their requirements from the nature around them. With time needs grew and became more varied.
• Modifications done by human beings have disturbed our ecosystem. Man is responsible for degrading the environment. Deforestation, Soil Erosion, etc. are some of the important factors.
• Humans must maintain balance between natural and human environment. Resources to be used wisely and should be preserved for future.

 

World Water Day: World Water Day is celebrated on 22 March every year.

World Environment Day: World Environment Day is celebrated on 05 June every year.

 

"LET'S JOIN OUR HANDS TOGETHER TO MAKE OUR ENVIRONMENT CLEAN AND GREEN"

 

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Q1. Why has 82⁰30' E selected as standard meridian of India?

Q2. Why is the difference between the duration of the day and night hardly felt in Kanyakumari but it is not so in Kashmir?

Q3. The sun rises two hours earlier in Arunachal Pradesh as compared to Gujarat in west. Explain in brief.

Q4. Which countries together make the Indian subcontinent? Name all the neighboring countries of India.

Q5. Write the significance of 'Silk route'.

Q6. Distinguish between latitudes and Longitude.

Q7. What is meant by Standard meridian?

Q8. Describe the location and size of India.

Q9. The central location of India at the head of the Indian Ocean is considered of great significance. Why?

Q10. How has the strategic location of India contributed to the exchange of ideas and commodities, through land and sea, since ancient times?

 

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1. The island groups of India lying in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal.

2. The countries constituting Indian Subcontinent.

3. The states through which the Tropic of Cancer passes.

4. The northernmost latitude in degrees.

5. The southernmost latitude of the Indian mainland in degrees.

6. The eastern and the western most longitudes in degrees.

7. The place situated on the three seas.

8. The strait separating Sri Lanka and India.

9. The Union Territories of India.

 

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