Environmental Studies PYQs

Concept:

• Different regions have different food.
• Depending on what grows easily at which place, different things are eaten at places.

Explanation:

• Chholay Bhature and rajma chawal is popular in North Indian states like Delhi, Haryana, Punjab.

Additional InformationFood in different places:

The correct answer is Gujarat.

On the 26^th of January 2001, an earthquake struck Bhuj.

Concept-

An earthquake is the sudden release of strain energy in the Earth’s crust resulting in waves of shaking that radiate outwards from the earthquake source. An earthquake is the result of plate tectonic activities. 

Explanation-

 Earthquake

• The sudden movement of the ground (tectonic plate) releases elastic energy stored in the rocks and generates seismic waves.
• It is one of the most unpredictable and highly destructive disasters of all-natural disasters.
• It can happen any time and anywhere and affected a very large area.
• There are many types of earthquake-like Tectonic, Volcanic, Collapse, and Explosion earthquakes.
• The Geological Survey of India has divided India into four Earthquake zones.
• The Richter scale is used to measure the magnitude of the earthquake.

Concept:

• Every region has a different house.
• The type of house depends on the climatic conditions in the region.
• Houses are built specially to suit the needs of the people.

Explanation:

Houses in Assam:

• It rains heavily in Assam.
• The houses are made almost 10 to 12 feet (3 to 3-5 metres) above the ground.
• This avoids flooding of the house during rain.
• They are made on strong bamboo pillars.
• The insides of the houses are also made of wood.

​Thus, the above type of house is found in the state of Assam.

Additional Information 

Description of houses of different places:

Concept:

• Speed is the distance covered by an object in a given amount of time.
• Speed is measured in Kilometers per Hour (km/hr) or meters per second (m/sec).
• Average Speed: Since the body does not always have the same speed, So we use the concept of average speed. It is the ratio of total distance covered to total time taken by the body.
• \(Average;Speed = \frac{{Total;Distance}}{{Total;Time}}\)

Calculation:

Speed = Distance / Time

Given Distance

New Delhi to Kanpur = 432 Km

Time taken = 8 hrs (from 21:45 to 05:45) i.e. 9:45 - 05:45 = 8 hrs.

Speed = 432 km / 8 hrs = 54 km/hr.   

Therefore 54 x 5/18 = 15 m/sec.

Thus the average speed of the train during this journey will be 15 m/s.

Important Points To convert Km/hr into m/sec we multiply the speed by 5/18.

To convert m/sec into km/hr we multiply the speed by 18/5.

Concept:

• Maps are drawn to reduced scales.
• Scale =  actual distance on the ground/distance shown on the map.

Given:

• Scale 1 cm = 110 meters
• Patanncheru Darwaja from Fateh Darwaja is 15.5 cm

Explanation:

• 1 cm on the map = 110 meters on the ground.
• The actual distance between gates = 15.5 x 110 meters = 1705 m = 1.705 km
• As in the 1 km= 1000m

Thus, the actual distance between the two gates is approximately 1.705 km.

Concept:

• Every region has its traditional arts.
• Traditional arts are mostly learnt at home.
• Traditional arts like textile making passes from generation to generation.

Explanation:

About Pochampally:

• Pochampally sarees are weaved in the Mukhtapur village of Pochampalli district of Telangana.
• They have traditional geometric patterns in the Ikat style of dyeing.
• The intricate geometric designs find their way into sarees and dress materials.
• Pochampalli sarees are bright colours.

Pochampalli is a town where most of the families, are weavers and the special cloth they weave is called Pochampalli. The town, where beautiful bright-coloured Pochampalli sarees are made, is a part of Telangana.

Additional InformationAbout Kalamkari:

• 'Kalam’ means pen and ‘kari’ means artwork or craftsmanship.
• This literally translates to mean drawing with a pen.
• Kalamkari is hand-painted or block-printed work on cotton textile done in Andhra Pradesh. ​

The correct answer is Abu Dhabi

Explanation:

• Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
• It is found in the western part of Asia
• It is located in a desert area and has very little water
• The weather is very hot.
• People wear loose cotton clothes and keep themselves fully covered to protect themselves from the strong sun
• Petrol is present in abundant quantities in Abu Dhabi and forms a major part of its exports.
• The currency of Abu Dhabi is Dirham
• The people of Abu Dhabi speak the Arabic language

Additional Information

• Abu Dhabi is located on an island in The Persian Gulf
• Abu Dhabi's oil reserves are estimated to be about one-tenth of the world’s total reserves
• Dubai is another important city in the United Arab Emirates.
• Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building is situated in Dubai
• Dubai and Abu Dhabi attract a large number of tourists throughout the year.

Concept:

Direction is divided into 8 sections, 4 cardinal directions, and 4 ordinal directions.

• The four cardinal directions are the directions north, east, south, and west, commonly denoted by their initials N, E, S, and W.
• East and west are perpendiculars (at right angles) to north and south.
• East is in the clockwise direction of rotation from north and west is directly opposite east.
• The ordinal directions are northeast (NE), southeast (SE), southwest (SW), and northwest (NW).
• NE, SE, SW, and NW lie in between the cardinal directions north and east, south and east, south and west, and north and west respectively.

Explanation-

From the provided map, we can conclude that Gandhi Nagar is north West of the Banglore.

The correct answer is It is an alloy of copper and zinc.

Concept:

• Various types of materials are available to humans.
• Different materials have different properties.
• On the basis of their properties materials are used for different purposes.

An alloy is a homogeneous mixture of two or more metals, or a metal and a non-metal. 

Properties of alloys are different from the constituent elements. 

• They are harder than their constituent metals.
• They are more resistant to corrosion than pure metals.
• They are more durable than the metals they are made from.
• They have less electrical conductivity and melting point than the constituent metals.

Some of the properties of constituent elements are retained in the alloy.

Explanation:

Hence Brass is an alloy of Copper and Zinc.

Properties of Brass:

• Muted yellow/gold colour (depending on the amount of zinc)
• High corrosion resistance
• Highly castable (malleable)
• Above-average thermal conductivity

Important Points

• It is an element - Incorrect
• It is a compound - Incorrect
• It is an alloy of copper and zinc - Correct
• It is a homogeneous mixture of copper and tin - Incorrect

Additional Information Some other examples of alloys:​

• German Silver - Cu + Zn + Ni
• Solder - Pb + Sn
• Stainless steel - Fe + Cr + Ni + C

Concept:

• Different regions have different food.
• Depending on what grows easily at which place, different things are eaten at places.

Explanation:

Food in different places in our country-

Thus, in Kerala, people grow eatables such as tapioca and coconut in their courtyards and they find food prepared using these to be very tasty

Concept:

About the Changpa tribe:

• Changpa is a nomadic tribe found in Ladakh.
• The Changpa tribe has only about 5000 people.
• They make the famous pashmina shawl through these goats.
• The Changpa speak Changskhat, a dialect of Tibetan, and practice Tibetan Buddhism.
• They stay high up on these mountains in very difficult conditions.
• The Changpas carry everything that they own on their horses and yaks.
• Their goats and sheep are most important to them.
• Through these goats and sheep, they obtain meat to eat, wool to wear, and skin for tents.
• The Changpa graze their goats in higher and colder places so that the goats have more and softer hair (fur).
• They live in a big cone-shaped tent called Rebo.
• Near the Rebo, they have a place to keep sheep and goats called Lekha.
• The walls of a lekha are made of stones.
• ​In the language of the Changpa ‘changthang’ means - a place where very few people live.

Explanation:

• The part of our country where the big cone-shaped tents are used for a living is known as ‘Rebo’ and the place in which animals are kept is called ‘Lekha’ in Leh and Ladakh.
• Hence the design of these tents is more than a thousand years

The correct answer is 28 States 

Explanation:

India

• India is a union of states.
• It is a Sovereign, Secular, Democratic Republic with a Parliamentary system of Government.
• The President is the constitutional head of the Executive of the Union.
• In the states, the Governor, as the representative of the President, is the head of the Executive.
• The system of government in states closely resembles that of the Union.
• There are 28 states and 8 Union territories in the country.
• Union Territories are administered by the President through an Administrator appointed by him/her.
• From the largest to the smallest, each State/UT of India has a unique demography, history, culture, dress, festivals, language, etc.

Additional Information 

Concept:

• India is a country of vast geographical expanse.
• In the north, it is bound by the lofty Himalayas.
• The Arabian Sea in the west.
• The Bay of Bengal in the east.
• The Indian Ocean in the south.

Explanation:

Indian States / Union Territories with the coast on the Bay of Bengal:

• West Bengal.
• Odisha.
• Andhra Pradesh.
• Tamil Nadu.
• Puducherry.
• Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Thus, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu have a coast on the Bay of Bengal.

Additional Information Indian States / Union Territories with the coast on the Arabian Sea:

• Gujarat.
• Maharashtra.
• Goa.
• Daman and Diu.
• Karnataka.
• Kerela.
• Lakshwadeep.
• Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

Explanation:

Cheraw dance is the traditional dance form of Mizoram.

• It consists of usually six to eight people holding a pair of bamboo staves onto another bamboo positioned horizontally on the ground.
• It is an attractive hub during festive occasions.
• In 2010, A Guinness World Record was made in which the highest number of Cheraw dancers performed at the same time.
• It is also recognized as the oldest dance form of Mizoram.

Cheraw is performed by six to eight people holding a pair of bamboo staves on another horizontally placed bamboo on the ground on special occasions such as when there is a bumper harvest of a crop. Gongs and drums are used as musical instruments in Cheraw dance.

• Cheraw is one of the traditional and oldest dances of Mizoram. It is also recognized as the oldest dance form of Mizoram.
• It is also known as the Bamboo dance.
• It is one of the most famous dances in Mizoram, and a centre of attraction during festive occasions.

Note:

Khuallam, Sarlamkai, Chheihlam and Mizo are other Traditional Dances of Mizoram.

Additional Information 

Sattriya dance:

• The Sattriya dance form was introduced in the 15^th century A.D by the great Vaishnava saint and reformer of Assam.
• The dance form evolved and expanded as a distinctive style of dance later on.
• Due to its of its religious character and association with the Sattras, this dance style has been aptly named Sattriya.

Rouf Dance:

• Rouf is a popular and main folk dance of Jammu and Kashmir performed by women of the Kashmiri community.
• Rouf is performed with the intriguing footwork carefully resonating with one another.
• Rouf dance is the most important and famous folk dance form of Kashmir Valley.

Garba dance:

• Garba is a Gujarati folk dance celebrated in Navratri, a celebration lasting nine nights.
• Garba songs typically revolve around the subjects of Lord Krishna or the nine goddesses.
• Sanedo is an example of a very popular song. Garba styles vary from place to place in Gujarat.

Some other common folk Dances are - 

Explanation:

Cold Deserts are deserts having extremely cold winters. These deserts are generally found in mountainous areas.

• Ladakh and Leh is the only cold desert in India, situated in the Himalayas.
• It doesn't get affected by the monsoon as it lies in the rain shadow region of the Himalayas.
• The rainfall in this region is as low as 10 cm annually.

Hence the cold desert region present in our country is Leh and Ladakh

Additional Information

• The Antarctic Polar Desert covers the continent of Antarctica and has a size of about 5.5 million square miles.
• The second-largest desert is the Arctic Polar Desert.
• Antarctica is the coldest place on Earth.

Some Major Deserts of the world are:-

EVS, provides children with an understanding of how we interact with our environment –physical, biological, social and cultural, and how we are influenced by it.

Key Points

Integrated nature of EVS 

• EVS, at the primary stage, is an integrated subject area that draws upon insights from sciences (physical, chemical, and biological), social studies (history, geography, political science, sociology, etc), and environmental education (protection and conservation).
• It is aimed at developing in children a holistic or integrated perspective of the environment where he/she lives in.
• EVS helps children develop their own insights into the functioning of several things in their environment.
• Such interactions with their surrounding environment are immensely important in the healthy development of children.
• Such interactions also enhance children’s learning capabilities by providing concrete learning experiences.

​Hence, the nature of Environmental Studies at the primary level is integrated.

 Additional Information

• On the other hand, the words single subject, supplementary, and textbook-based don't point to the nature of EVS as it is integrated.

EVS provides children with an understanding of how we interact with our environment –physical, biological, social, and cultural, and how we are influenced by it.

 Key Points

Recommendations of NCF 2005 for EVS learning-

• To train children to locate and comprehend relationships between the natural, social and cultural environment.
• To develop an understanding based on observation and illustration, drawn from lived experiences and physical, biological, social, and cultural aspects of life rather than abstractions.
• To shift from rote memorization and getting stick to a textbook approach.
• To create cognitive capacity and resourcefulness to make the child curious about social phenomena, starting with the family and moving on to wider spaces;
• To nurture the curiosity and creativity of the child, particularly about the natural environment.
• Children's life at school must be linked to their life outside the school and the teaching-learning process should be based on the child's real-life experiences.

​Hence,  B, C, and D are the correct options.

EVS, at the primary stage, is an integrated subject area that draws upon insights from sciences (physical, chemical, and biological), social studies (history, geography, political science, sociology, etc), and environmental education (protection and conservation). It is aimed at developing in children a holistic or an integrated perspective of the environment where he/she lives in.

Key Points

Objectives of Environmental Studies at the primary level

• Enable them to analyze, evaluate and draw inferences about problems and concerns related to the environment.
• Expose children to the real-life world (natural and socio-cultural).
• Help them understand environmental issues.
• Foster and nurture favorable attitudes and values towards the environment.
• To engage the child in exploratory and hands-on activities to acquire basic cognitive and psychomotor skills through observation, classification, inference, etc.
• To nurture the curiosity and creativity of the child, particularly in relation to the natural environment**.**​​

​Hence, A, B & C are the correct options.

 Additional Information

• On the other hand, treating children as receivers of a fixed body of knowledge makes them passive which is not an objective of Environmental Studies at the primary level.

EVS covers themes like food, water, shelter, etc. These discuss or deal with the real issues in children’s immediate environment, connecting them with their real experiences at home, neighborhood, and community.

 Key Points

The pedagogy of EVS at the primary level is

• Related to real-life experiences of the child.
• Considers child as a young explorer.
• Involves a lot of activities where the teacher is just a facilitator and the whole thing is done by the student only.
• Is child-centered where the child is not considered just a passive recipient of knowledge from the teacher.
• Provides students ample opportunities to explore, analyze and learn.
• Avoids rote memorization and just sticking to bookish knowledge.

​Hence, the pedagogy of EVS at the primary level is child-centered.

EVS helps children to explore their immediate ‘self’ and beyond, to include his/her family (environment), neighborhood, the locality, and also the country. Teaching-learning experiences in EVS are visualized to help the child locate himself/herself in a larger context as part of a community, the country, etc.

Key Points

The teaching-learning process of EVS at the primary level is challenging for teachers for inculcating creativity and initiative in children because:

• Teachers need to follow several new and learner-centered methods leaving the old lecture and blackboard methods.
• Teachers need to devise several innovative activities which enhance creativity in children.
• Need to use more teaching-learning materials other than textbooks and go beyond the textbook.
• Assess students not only through thorough examinations but also through observation, field trips, case studies, etc.
• Just act as a facilitator providing students complete freedom to explore.

Hence, teaching the learning process of EVS at the primary level is challenging for teachers for calculating creativity and initiative for children.