Chapter 1 Environment

Question 1.
What all are the part of our environment?
Answer:
Our Surroundings constitute environment. Buildings furniture like tables, chairs, open field, road, garbage
etc. are all part of our environment. Some things like mountains, rivers, trees are created by nature. Others
like chair, table, roads and clothes are made by man.
Question 3.
Why is our environment changing?
Answer:
 It is all because of our needs.
 They are increasing day by day.
 We are therefore modifying and at times even destroying our natural surroundings.
Question 4.
How do human beings modify the environment?
Answer:
Environment provides the basic life support system like air, water, food and land. The man made things like
car pollute the air, factories build on land, containers for food and water are the examples of modification of
environment.
Question 5.
Distinguish between biotic and abiotic environments.
Answer:
Biotic Environment
 The world of living organisms is called biotic environment.
 Examples: Plants and animals.
Abiotic Environment
 The world of non-living elements is called abiotic environment.
 Example: Land.
Question 6.
Explain with examples the different components of environment.
Answer:
Major Components of environment are – Man-made, natural and Human beings.
Major Components of the Environment:
Natural Components:
 Land (Lithosphere).
 Water (Hydrosphere).
 Air (Atmosphere).
 Living things (Organisms).
Human-made Components:
 Buildings.
 Parks.
 Bridges.
 Roads.
 Monuments.
 Industries.
Humans
 Individuals
 Family
 Community
 Religion
 Education
 Economic
 Political situation
Examples of Human-made Environment:
 Buildings
  Parks
 Bridges
 Roads
 Monuments
 Industries

Question 7.
What is environment?
Answer:
The surrounding in which we live forms environment. It is the basic life support system having natural and
man-made components.
 The people, the place, the things, the nature and the living organisms that surround us are called
environment.
 It is a combination of natural and human made phenomena.
 The natural environment refers to both biotic and abiotic conditions existing on the earth.
 Human environment reveals the activities, creations and interactions among human beings.
Natural Environment
Question 1.
What comprises natural environment?
Answer:
Land, air, water, plants and animals are all the part of natural environment.
Question 2.
Describe lithosphere and hydrosphere.
Answer:
Lithosphere
 It is the solid crust or the hard top layer of the earth.
 It is made up of rocks and minerals.
 It is covered by a thin layer of soil.
 It is an irregular surface with various landforms like mountains, plateaus, plains, valleys etc.
 Landforms spread over the continents and also on the ocean floors.
Lithosphere provides us the following:
 Forests.
 Grasslands for grazing.
 Land for agriculture and
 Human settlements.
 It is also a source of mineral wealth.
Hydrosphere is the domain of water.
 It comprises various sources of water.
 The different types of water bodies like rivers, lakes, seas, oceans, etc. are its major components.
 It is essential for all living organisms.
Question 3.
Give an account of the atmosphere.
Answer:
 The atmosphere is the thin layer of air that surrounds the earth.
 The gravitational force of the earth holds the atmosphere around it.
 It protects us from the harmful rays and scorching heat of the sun.
 It consists of numerous gases, dust and water vapour.
 The changes in the atmosphere produce changes in the weather and climate.
Question 4.
Define the term ‘Biosphere’.
Answer:
Biosphere: Plants and animals found in the narrow strip at the junction of lithosphere, atmosphere and
hydrosphere together make biosphere.
What is Ecosystem?
Question 1.
What do you understand by the term “Ecosystem”?
Answer:
Ecosystem: An ecosystem is formed by the interaction of all living organisms with one another and with the
physical and chemical factors of the environment in which they live. All are linked by transfer of energy and
material. They are interdependent.
Question 2.
Compare and contrast the climatic conditions of Kerala and Rajasthan.
Answer:
Kerala, a southern state of India gets ample rainfall. It has lush green vegetation and coconut plantations.
Rajasthan, on the other hand, gets very less rainfall. It has thorny bushes, kikar and babul as vegetation.
Question 3.
Name some animals found in deserts.
Answer:
Camels, snakes, lizards, insects are found in deserts.
Question 4.
Why do the animals and vegetation vary from place to place?
Answer:
Animals and vegetation vary from place to place because
 They are dependent on their immediate surroundings.
 They depend on the environmental conditions like climate, soil, water etc.
 All of them sire interdependent on each other.
Question 5.
What forms the ecosystem? Give some examples of ecosystems.
Answer:
The relationship between the living organisms and their surroundings form the ecosystem. Rain forest,
grassland, deserts, mountains, lake, river, ocean and pond are some of the examples of ecosystems.
Human Environment
Question 1.
Define barter system.
Answer:
Barter system is the exchange of goods without the use of money.
Question 2.
What has brought a change in interaction between humans and their surroundings?
Answer:
Human being modifies nature according to their need. Early humans adapted themselves to their natural
surroundings. They led a simple life fulfilling their needs from nature.
With changes in needs new methods and technologies were invented. Settled life brought agriculture
domestication of animals. Invention of wheel, surplus food led to development of trade and commerce.
Barter system emerged.
Industrial revolution, changes in transportation increased production. Growth in communication system
made life easier and speedy. Humans learned new ways to use and change the surroundings.
Question 3.
What is important for a harmonious life?
Answer:
Certain things are used in a certain way like watermelon in summer or roasted peanuts in winter. We need a
balance between natural and human environment. Human beings must use their natural environment in a
sustainable way to maintain the balance.
Chapter 2 Inside Our Earth
Question 1.
How is the earth a dynamic planet?
Answer:
 The earth is our homeland.
 It is a dynamic planet.
 It is constantly undergoing changes inside and outside.
Interior of the Earth
Question 1.
Have you ever wondered what lies in the interior of the earth? What is the earth made up of?
Ans.
 Yes, The interior has three major layers of rocks of different densities.
 The earth is made up of rocks.
Question 2.
Describe the interior of the earth.
Answer:
Interior of the Earth:
The earth is made up of several concentric layers with one inside another, just like an onion.
Crust:
 The uppermost layer on the earth’s surface is called the crust.
 It is the thinnest of all the layers.
 It is about 35 km, thick on the continental masses and only 5 km thick on the ocean floors.
 Main minerals constituent of the continental mass are silica and alumina.
 It is thus called sial (si – silica and al – alumina).
 The oceanic crust mainly consists of silica and magnesium.
 It is therefore called sima (si – silica and ma – magnesium).
Mantle
 Just beneath the crust is the mantle.
 It extends up to a depth of 2900 km below the crust.
Core
 The innermost layer is the core with a radius of about 3500 km.
 It is mainly made up of nickel and iron.
 Hence it is called nife (ni—nickel and fe—ferrous i.e., iron).
 The central core has very high temperature and pressure.
Rocks and Minerals
Question 1.
What is earth’s crust made up of?
Answer:
Earth’s crust is made up of different type of rocks. Rock is a natural mass of mineral matter. It is of different
sizes, colours and texture and shapes. Earth is made up of sedimentary, igneous or metamorphic rocks.
Question 2.
Describe igneous rocks.
Ans.
Igneous Rocks
 The molten rock material is called magma.
 When it cools, it becomes solid.
 Rocks formed in this way are called igneous rocks.
 They are also called primary rocks because other rocks are formed out of these rocks.
There are two types of igneous rocks.
 Intrusive Rocks and
 Extrusive Rocks
Formation of Extrusive and Intrusive Rocks:
 Due to extreme heat in the interior of the earth, rocks are found in the form of molten material called
magma.
  When magma comes out on the surface of the earth, it cools down and turns into solid rocks. Such
rocks are termed as extrusive rocks.
Examples:
 Basalt.
 Deccan Trap is built of basalt.
When the molten magma cools down within the interior of the earth, it becomes solid to form intrusive
rocks.
Examples:
 Granite
 Garbo
Question 3.
What is lava?
Answer:
Lava is the hot red magma coming out from the interior of the earth to the surface. It cools down and
become solid.
Question 4.
What are two types of Igneous rocks?
Answer:
Igneous rocks are formed by cooling of the lava. When the lava cools down on the crust it forms extrusive
igneous rock for example basalt. They have grained structure.
Sometimes when it cools down deep inside the crust it forms intrusive igneous rocks. They have large grains
for example Granite. Grinding stones are made of granite.
Question 5.
Define the term sediment.
Answer:
Rocks due to cracks and hitting, breakdown into smaller fragments called sediments.
Question 6.
Give an account of sedimentary rocks.
Answer:
Sedimentary Rocks
The small particles are called sediments.
 These sediments are transported and deposited by wind, water etc. in low areas.
 These loose sediments are compressed and hardened to form layers of rocks.
 These layered rocks are called sedimentary rocks.
Examples:
 Sandstone.
 These rocks also contain fossils of plants, animals and other micro-organisms that once lived on
them.
Question 7.
What are Fossils?
Answer:
Fossils:
The remains of dead plants and animals trapped in the layers of rocks are known as fossils.
Question 8.
How are metamorphic rocks formed?
Answer:
Igneous and Sedimentary rocks changes into metamorphic rocks under heat and pressure.
Metamorphic Rocks:
When under heat and pressure igneous rocks and sedimentary rocks change their form and more precious
rocks are formed to be known as metamorphic rocks.
Examples:
 Clay into slate.
 Limestone into marble.
Limestone is changed into marble due to the following reasons:
 The overlying layers of rocks put pressure on the underlying rocks.
  From surface to interior of the earth, temperature and heat go on increasing.
 Due to pressure and heat, the original limestone changes into marble.g
Question 9.
What are the uses of rocks?
Answer:
Uses of Rocks:
 Hard rocks are used in making buildings and barrages.
 Houses and buildings are built of rocks (stones, slates, granite, marble).
 Stones are used in numerous games:
 Seven stones (phitthoo).
 Hopscotch (stapu, kit kit).
 Five stones (gitti).
 Rocks (stones and slates) are used in building bridges, embankments.
Question 10.
Briefly describe the ‘rock cycle’.
Answer:
One rock changes into another under certain conditions in a cyclic manner.
Molten magma cools down and solidify to form igneous rocks. These rocks are broken down due to pressure
and climatic conditions into sediments.
These are transported and deposited to form sedimentary rocks. The igneous and sedimentary rocks under
heat and pressure change into metamorphic rocks.
These metamorphic rocks under great heat and pressure melt down to form molten magma. This again cools
down to form igneous rocks. This process of transformation of rocks is called ‘rock cycle’.
Question 11.
What are minerals? How are minerals important to us?
Answer:
Minerals:
 Rocks are made up of different minerals.
 Minerals are naturally occurring substances which have certain physical properties and definite
chemical composition.
 Minerals are very important to us.
 Some are used as fuels.
Examples:
 Coal.
 Natural gas.
 Petroleum.
They are also used in industries as energy and raw material.
Examples:
 Iron.
 Aluminium.
 Gold.
 Uranium.
They are used in medicine, in fertilisers etc.
Chapter 3 Our Changing Earth
Question 1.
What are lithospheric plates?
Answer:
 The lithosphere is broken into numerous pieces.
 These big pieces are called lithospheric plates.
 The earth’s crust consists of several large and small, rigid, irregularly shaped plates/pieces.
 The movement of these plates causes changes on the surface of the earth.
Question 2.
Why do the lithospheric plates move slowly?
Answer:
The lithospheric plates move slowly because of the slow movement of molten magma inside the earth in a
circular manner.
Question 3.
What are the two types of the earth’s forces?
Answer:
 The earth’s movements are divided on the basis of the forces which cause them.
 The forces which act in the interior of the earth are called endogenic forces.
 The forces that work on the surface of the earth are called exogenic forces.
 Endogenic forces sometimes produce sudden movements.
 At other times they produce slow movements.
 Sudden movements are earthquakes and volcanoes.
 They cause mass destruction over the surface of the earth.

Question 4.
Define a volcano.
Answer:
A volcano is a vent or a hole in the earth’s crust through which molten material erupts suddenly.

Question 5.
What are earthquakes? Define focus and epicentre.
Answer:
Earthquake
 When the lithosphere plates move, the surface of the earth vibrates.
 The vibrations travel all around the earth.
 These vibrations are called earthquake.
Focus:
The place or point in the crust where the movement starts is called Focus.
Epicentre:
The place or the surface above the focus is called Epicentre.
 Vibrations travel outwards from the epicentre as waves.
 Greatest damage occurs closest to the epicentre.
 The strength of the earthquake decreases, going away from the centre.
Question 6.
What are three types of earthquake waves?
Answer:
There are three types of earthquake waves:
 P waves or longitudinal.
 S waves or transverse waves.
 L waves or surface waves.
Question 7.
How can we minimise the impact of an earthquake?
Answer:
 Earthquakes cannot be predicted.
 Their impact can certainly be minimised if we are prepared before hand.
Question 8.
Give an account of some common earthquake prediction methods adopted locally by people.
Answer:
Some of the common earthquake prediction methods adopted locally by people are:
 Wild animal behaviour.
 Agitated fish in the ponds.
 Snakes coming out to the surface from their holes.
 Animals trying to untie themselves and run away.
 Birds leaving their nests and beginning to chatter loudly.
 Aborigines beginning to run to higher grounds.
Question 9.
What is seismograph? How is the magnitude of earthquake measured?
Answer:
 An earthquake is measured with a machine.
 It is called a seismograph.
The magnitude of the earthquake is measured on Richter scale.
 An earthquake of 2.0 or less is felt only a little.
 An earthquake over 5.0 causes damage from things falling.
 A 6.0 or higher magnitude is considered very strong and 7.0 is classified as a major earthquake.
Question 10.
Explain Earthquake preparedness.
Answer:
Earthquake Preparedness:
When an earthquake strikes we should do the following:
 We should be in a safe spot like: under a kitchen counter, table or desk.
 We should stand against an inside comer or wall.
 We should stay away from fire places, areas around chimneys, windows that shatter including
mirrors and picture frames.
 We should be prepared by arousing awareness amongst our friends and family members.
 We should face any disaster confidently.
Major Landforms
Question 1.
What are the two processes which continuously wear away the landscape? Explain them.
Answer:
The Processes:
The landscape is continuously worn away by two processes.
They are:
 Weathering and erosion.
 Weathering is the breaking up of rocks on the earth’s surface.
 Erosion is the wearing away of the landscape by different agents like water, wind and ice.
 The eroded material is carried away or transported by water, wind etc.
 They deposit material eventually.
 This process of erosion and deposition creates different landforms on the surface of the earth.
Work of a River
Question 1.
What is a waterfall? Explain with example.
Answer:
When the rivers tumble at steep angle over the hard rocks of a deep steep valley it forms a waterfall.
For example: Victoria waterfalls or Niagara waterfall.
Question 2.
Describe the work of a river.
Answer:
Work of a River:
 Running water in the river erodes the landscape.
  When the river tumbles at steep angle over very hard rocks or down a steep valley side, it forms a
waterfall.
 When the river enters the plain it twists, turns and forms large bends. These bends are known as
meanders.
Due to continuous erosion and deposition along the sides of the meander, the ends of the meander loop come
closer and closer.
 In due course of time the meander loop cuts-off from the river and forms a cut-off lake.
 It is called an ox-bow lake.
 At times the river overflows its banks.
 This leads to the flooding of the neighbouring areas.
 The flood water deposits layers of fine soil and other material.
 They’are called sediments, along its banks.
 This leads to the formation of a flat fertile land called a flood plain.
 The raised banks are called levees.
As the river approaches the sea, the speed of the running water decreases.
 The river begins to break up into a number of streams. They are called distributaries.
 Now the river becomes so slow that it begins to deposit its load.
 Each distributary forms its own mouth.
 The collection of sediments from all the mouths forms a delta, the triangular shaped land mass.
Work of Sea Waves
Question 1.
Write a note on the work of sea-waves.
Answer:
Work of Sea Waves
 Erosion and deposition of the sea waves form coastal land forms.
 Sea waves continuously strike at the rocks.
 Cracks develop.
 In course of time they become larger and wider.
 Hollow like caves are formed on the rocks.
 They are called sea caves.
 As caves become bigger and bigger only the roofs of the caves remain. This leads to formation of
Sea arches.
 Continuous erosion breaks the roofs and only walls are left.
 These wall-like features are called stacks.
 The steep rocky coast rising almost vertically above sea water is called sea cliff.
 The sea waves deposit sediments along the shores.
 This leads to formation of sea beaches.
Work of Ice
Question 1.
Describe the work of ice.
Answer:
Work of Ice:
 Glaciers are “rivers” of ice.
 They too erode the landscape by bulldozing soil and stones to expose the solid rock below.
 Glaciers carve out deep hollows.
 As the ice melts they get filled up with water and become beautiful lakes in the mountains.
 The material carried by the glacier like big and small rocks, sand, silt gets deposited.
 These deport from glacial moraines.
Work of Wind
Question 1.
Give an account of the work of wind.
Answer:
Work pi Wind:
An active agent of erosion and deposition in the deserts is wind.
In deserts there are numerous rocks with a shape of a mushroom.
  They are commonly called mushroom rocks.
 Winds erode the lower section of the rock more than the upper part.
 Such rocks have narrower base and wider top.
When the wind blows, it lifts and transports sand from one place to another.
 When it stops blowing, the sand falls and gets deposited in low hill like structures.
 These are called sand dunes.
When the grains of sand are very fine and light, the wind carries it over very long distances.
 When such a sand is deposited in large areas, they are called loess. Large deposits of loess are found
in China.

Chapter 4 Air
Question 1.
Define the term atmosphere.
Answer:
Blanket of air surrounding the earth is known as the atmosphere.
Question 2.
How do all living beings depend on the atmosphere for their survival?
Answer:
All living beings depend on the atmosphere for their survival.
 Atmosphere provides them the air they breathe.
 It protects them from the harmful effects of the sun’s rays.
 Without its protection, they would be baked alive by the heat of the sun during day and get frozen
during night.
Question 3.
What is greenhouse effect?
Answer:
Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere traps the heat radiated from the earth creating a greenhouse effect. This
makes the temperatures liveable. Without this earth would have been too cold to live. But the increased
emissions from vehicles and factories increases the temperature leading to global warming.
Question 4.
What is global warming? What is its affect?
Answer:
When the heat retained through greenhouse gas increases the temperature of the earth, it causes global
warming:
 The plants maintain the balance of gases. However, this balance is upset by burning fuels such as
coal, petroleum oil and large-scale deforestation.
 This rise in temperature causes the snow in coldest parts to melt.
 As a result, the sea level rises causing floods in the coastal areas.
 This may bring changes in weather and climate leading to extinction of certain plants and animal
species.
Composition of the Atmosphere
Question 2.
Describe the composition of the atmosphere.
Answer:
Composition of the Atmosphere:
 The air we inhale while breathing is a mixture of numerous gases.
 Nitrogen and oxygen are two gases which make up most of the atmosphere.
 Carbon dioxide, helium, ozone, argon and hydrogen are found in lesser quantities.
 Tiny dust particles are also present in the air.
Question 3.
How is nitrogen present in atmosphere used by plants?
Answer:
Nitrogen is the most plentiful gas in the air (78%).
 Plants need nitrogen for their survival. They cannot take nitrogen directly from the air.
 Bacteria in the soil or the roots fix nitrogen by changing its form so that plants can use it.
Question 4.
Which is the second most plentiful gas in the atmosphere?
Answer:
Oxygen is the second most plentiful gas in the atmosphere (21%). Humans and animals use it for breathing.
Green plants produce oxygen through photosynthesis and thus oxygen balance is maintained in air. This gets
disturbed if we cut trees.
Question 5.
Explain how the oxygen and carbon dioxide balance is maintained in air?
Answer:
Green plants use carbon dioxide (0.03%) to make their food and during this process release oxygen:
 Humans and animals release carbon dioxide and take oxygen from air.
 The amount of carbon dioxide released by them is equal to amount used by plants
to make their food. Hence a balance is maintained.
 But now the excess of carbon dioxide is released by burning of fuels. The reduction in number of
plants upset the balance of gases like carbon dioxide affecting earth’s weather and climate.
Question 6.
Explain the circulation of air in atmosphere.
Answer:
When air is heated it expands, becomes lighter and rises:
 Cold air is dense, so, it sinks down.
 When hot air rises, cold air from surrounding areas fills in the gap.
 This is the process of circulation of air.
Structure of the Atmosphere
Question 1.
Discuss the structure of the atmosphere.
Answer:
Structure of the Atmosphere:
The atmosphere is divided into five layers according to height, starting from the earth’s surface.
They are
 Troposphere
 Stratosphere
 Mesosphere
 Thermosphere
 Exosphere
Question 2.
Which is most important layer of the atmosphere?
Answer:
Troposphere
 Troposphere is the important layer of the atmosphere.
 Its average height is 13 km.
 It is 8 kilometres on the poles and 18 kilometres on the equator.
 The air (which living beings breathe) exists here.
 All the weather phenomena like winds, rainfall, fog, hailstorm etc. occur in this layer.

Question 3.
Which layer the most suitable conditions for flying aeroplanes?
Answer:
Stratosphere:
 The stratosphere lies above the troposphere.
 It extends up to a height of 50 km.
 This layer is almost free from clouds.
  No weather phenomenon occurs in this layer making conditions most ideal for flying aeroplanes.
 Stratosphere contains a layer of ozone gas.
 It protects living beings from the harmful effects of the sun rays.
Question 4.
What is the third layer of atmosphere?
Answer:
Mesosphere:
 Mesosphere is the third layer of the atmosphere.
 It lies above the stratosphere.
 It extends up to a height of 80 km.
 Meteorites bum up in this layer.
Question 5.
Briefly write about thermosphere?
Answer:
Thermosphere
 In thermosphere temperature rises very rapidly with increasing height.
 Ionosphere is a part of this layer.
 It extends between 80 and 400 km.
 This layer helps in radio transmission.
 Radio waves transmitted from the earth are reflected to the earth by this layer.
Question 6.
Which is the uppermost layer of the atmosphere?
Answer:
Exosphere
 The uppermost layer of the atmosphere is known as exosphere.
 This layer has very thin air.
 Light gases like helium and hydrogen float into the space from here.
Weather and Climate
Question 1.
What is weather?
Answer:
Weather is the day-to-day, hour-to-hour condition of the atmosphere. For example, a sunny day or rainy day.
Weather is like a control knob of climate.
Question 2.
Define the term climate.
Answer:
The sum total of all weather conditions prevailing over large area for a longer period of time is called
climate.
Question 3.
What is the difference between weather and climate?
Answer:
Weather is hour-hour conditions of atmosphere like hot humid weather may make us irritable but same day
breezy or pleasant evening may make one cheerful. We have hot or cold climate over a period of few
months.
Therefore we have daily forecast of weather and long-term predictions of climatic conditions.
Question 4.
Name different types of weather measuring instruments.
Answer:
Thermometer – measures temperature
Barometer – measures atmospheric pressure
Rain gauge – measures amount of rainfall
Wind vane – shows direction of wind
Temperature
Question 1.
What is temperature?
Answer:
 The degree of hotness or coldness is called the temperature.
 Temperature changes not only between day and night but also from season to season.
Question 2.
What is insolation?
Answer:
Insolation is the incoming solar energy intercepted (obstructed) by the earth. It influences the distribution of
temperature.
Question 3.
Why are poles covered with snow?
Answer:
The amount of insolation decreases (due to sun’s slanting rays) from equator towards poles; therefore, the
temperature also reduces. But if the earth’s temperature rises too high, it would be too warm to raise crops.
Question 4.
Why cities are hotter than villages?
Answer:
The temperature in cities is much higher than that of villages because the concrete and metals in the
buildings and the tar and asphalt in the roads gets heated throughout the day and absorbs heat because they
are better conductors of heat. This heat is released at night hence there is the difference in the temperature.
The crowded high-rise buildings trap the warm air and thus raise the temperature of the cities.
Air Pressure
Question 1.
Why don’t we feel the air pressure?
Answer:
The air above us presses us from all sides with great force but we do not feel it. This happens because our
body exerts a Counter Pressure (The pressure exerted by our body is equal to the pressure
exerted by the air; Fnet=0; if the force of air was more, we would feel weight on our
body. If the force, i.e., counter pressure of our body is more, blood vessels may burst).
Question 2.
Define the term air pressure.
Answer:
Air pressure is the pressure exerted by the weight of air on the earth’s surface. As we move in the upper
layers of atmosphere, the pressure falls rapidly and because of this low pressure there is lower temperature.
Question 3.
How does air pressure vary from equator to poles and from surface to heights?
Answer:
Variation in Distribution of Pressure
 As we go up the layers of atmosphere, the pressure falls rapidly.
 The air pressure is highest at sea level
 It decreases with increase in height.
 Horizontally the distribution of air pressure is influenced by temperature of air at a given place.
Question 4.
What is the relation between temperature and pressure?
Answer:
Distribution of air pressure is influenced by the temperature of the area:
 Where temperature is high the air gets heated and rises. This creates a low-pressure area.
 Low pressure is associated with cloudy skies and wet weather.
 In areas with low temperature, the air is cold and heavy so, it sinks down. This creates a high-
pressure area.
 High pressure is associated with clear and sunny skies.
 Air always moves from high pressure to low pressure areas.
 NOTE: Cool air sinks down causing high pressure. High pressure creates heat because
of high compression. Hence, places with high pressure are usually warmer than low
pressure areas and are located near the tropics. Due to high pressure, heat is created.
Hot air expands and spreads. This hot air rises, and again cools down with height (air
cools down with height due to low pressure) and sinks. But this is not true in the poles
due to distance from equator and slanting rays of the sun. In the poles, due to cool air,
high pressure is created but very little amount of heat is produced; because it is so
cold, the warm air very quickly cools down and sinks again, creating a “Cold high-
pressure cycle (name given by me for understanding)” where no heat is produced. High pressure also
creates heatwaves. High pressure is associated with clear and sunny skies and low
pressure is associated with cloudy skies because wind moves form high pressure to
low pressure thus bringing clouds along with it.

Question 5.
Why do Astronauts wear a protective gear on moon?
Answer:
Astronauts wear a protective suit filled with air when they go to moon because the moon neither has air nor
pressure, hence the counter pressure exerted by the body would make the blood vessels burst, and our body
will swell.

Question 1.
Define the term wind. Explain with examples.
Answer:
The movement of air from high pressure to low pressure areas is called wind. For example, wind blows dry
leaves or strong wind uproots trees. Blowing smoke or dust is the work of wind. Strong wind makes it
difficult to walk or hold umbrella.
Question 2.
Which are the three components of cyclone?
Answer:
Three components of cyclone are wind velocity, rain and tidal surge.
Question 3.
What are the various categories of wind? Explain with a diagram.
Answer:
Winds can be broadly divided into three types:
 Permanent winds – which blow constantly throughout the year in a particular direction.
Example, easterlies and westerlies.
 Seasonal winds – which change directions in different seasons. For example, monsoon winds.
 Local winds – blow only during a particular period of the day or the year in a small area. For
example, land or sea breeze, or loo.

Question 4.
What is Cyclone?
Answer:
A powerful and destructive storm with very high-speed winds that moving in circular motion around an area
of low pressure.
Question 5.
Describe the fury of cyclone taking example of ‘Super cyclone’ of Odisha.
Answer:
Odisha on eastern seacoast of India is prone to cyclones originating in Bay of Bengal.
 Odisha was hit by cyclone on 17th-18th October 1999 and again on 29th October.
 Cyclone originated as a ‘depression’ in the Gulf of Thailand near Port Blair.
 It moved in northwest direction on 25th October and intensified into super cyclone and hit Odisha.
 Wind speed was up to 260 km/h which lasted for 36 hours.
 Trees were uprooted kutcha houses, roof tops industrial sheds etc blown away.
 Power supply and communication lines damaged.
  Continues rains flooded the major rivers. Tidal waves swept 20 km of inland areas including cities of
Bhubaneshwar and Cuttack and destructed 28 coastal towns.
 7-10 m high tidal waves caused damage to paddy crops, vegetables fruits and agricultural land turned
infertile due to salination.
 13 million people were affected. Livestock was killed.
 Plantations of teak, sal, bamboo, mangrove forests of Paradeep and Konark disappeared.
Moisture
Question 1.
What is humidity?
Answer:
When water evaporates from different water bodies and land it turns into water vapours or moisture.
Moisture in air at any time is known as humidity.
Question 2.
What is a humid day?
Answer:
A Day when air is full of water vapour is called a humid day. With the air getting warmer its capacity to hold
moisture increases so it becomes more humid. On such days, clothes take longer to dry and even body sweat
does not evaporate easily.
Question 3.
How are clouds formed? How do clouds cause precipitation?
Answer:
 When water vapour rises, it starts cooling due to low pressure.
 Water vapour condenses which results in formation of droplets of water.
 These droplets hanging in the air above are called clouds.
 Clouds are masses of these water droplets.
 When these droplets of water become too heavy to float in the air, they come down as precipitation.
Question 4.
Why do jet planes leaves a white trail behind them?
Answer:
Jet planes flying in the sky leave a white trail behind them,
 The moisture from their engines condenses.
 We see trails of this condensed moisture for some time when there is no air movement to disturb it.
 These trails of condensed moisture are actually clouds.
Question 5.
What are different forms of precipitations?
Answer:
Different forms of precipitations are: dew, rainfall, hail, snowfall, fog, sleet.
Question 6.
What is rain? What is its importance?
Answer:
Precipitation in liquid form is called rain. Most of the ground water comes from rainwater. It is important for
survival of plants and animals. It brings fresh water to earth.
If rainfall is more or trees are cut on hills, rainwater can cause flooding in low lying areas. If it is less, then
water scarcity or drought may occur.
Question 7
What are the types of rainfall?
Answer:
Based on the mechanism rainfall can be of three types:
1. Convectional Rainfall
2. Relief (Orographic) Rainfall
3. Cyclonic Rainfall.