SST and History Notes XI- XII

                                             GEOGRAPHY (IX)-LESSON-4

CLIMATE

(LESSON NOTES)

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v INTRODUCTION

  Ø There are three basic elements to know about the natural environment of any area as landforms, drainage and climate.

  Ø In this lesson we will know about the climate of India.

v CLIMATE AND WEATHER

v ELEMENTS OF CLIMATE AND WEATHER

  Ø The elements of climate and weather are same as: -

§  Temperature

§  Humidity

§  Air pressure

§  Cloudiness or sunshine

§  Precipitation (Rainfall or snowfall)

§  Wind

  Ø As we know that the weather conditions fluctuate very often within a day. Based on the generalized atmospheric conditions, the year is divided into seasons such as winter, summer and rainy seasons.

  Ø The world is divided into a number of climatic regions. In Asia, India and other South and South-Eastern countries have monsoon type of climate.

v MONSOON

  Ø The word monsoon is derived from the Arabic word ‘mausim’ which literally means season. ‘Monsoon’ refers to the seasonal reversal in the wind direction during a year.

v REGIONAL CLIMATIC VARIATION IN INDIA

  Ø Although there is an overall unity in the general climatic pattern in India, there are some perceptible regional variations. We will see the variation by taking two elements: -

  Ø TEMPERATURE

§  The temperature in the winter in North-Western mountainous regions can go down to – 45° C (at Drass in Jammu and Kashmir), while it is 22°C in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala.

§  Similarly, it can go up to 50°C in summer in some parts of Western Rajasthan and 20°C in Shillong.

§  In many areas, there is a wide variation between day and night temperatures. In the Thar Desert, the day temperature may rise up to 50°C and drop down to near 15°C the same night. On the other hand, there is hardly any difference in day and night temperatures in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands or in Kerala.

  Ø PRECIPITATION

§  There is a wide variation observed in its amount and seasonal distribution. The annual precipitation varies from over 400 cm in Meghalaya to less than 10 cm in Ladakh and Western Rajasthan.

§  Precipitation in the form of snowfall occurs only in upper parts of Himalayas, the rest of the country receives rainfall.

§  Most parts of the country receive rainfall from June to September, but the Tamil Nadu coast gets most of its rain during October and November.

  Ø CONCLUSION

§  By these variations we can see that Coastal regions experience mild temperature compare to the interior regions.

§  The rainfall also decreases from East to West.

§  Such differences help to create a variety in lives of people— the food they eat, the clothes they wear, the kind of houses they used for living and so on.

v CLIMATIC CONTROLS

  Ø Permanent factors which govern the general nature of the climate of any location on the earth are called factors of Climatic Controls. There are six major controls of the climate of any place.

§  Latitude: - Due to the curvature of the earth, latitude changes the amount of solar energy received. As a result, temperature decreases from the equator towards the poles.

§  Altitude: -It refers to the height above mean sea level. With increase of height from the earth surface, the temperature decreases and air becomes less dense. Therefore, hilly regions are cooler in summer.

HISTORY (VII)-LESSON-7

TRIBES, NOMADS AND SETTLED COMMUNITIES

(LESSON NOTES)

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v INTRODUCTION: -

  Ø During the Medieval Age, several social, economic and political development took place.

  Ø But social change was not the same everywhere, because different kinds of societies evolved differently.

  Ø As we known that the Indian society was divided on the basis varnas.  

v TRIBAL SOCIETIES

  Ø The communities which did not follow rules and rituals laid down by the Brahmins and nor divided into unequal classes. They were known as tribes.

  Ø Most of the tribes were dependant on agriculture. Others were herders or hunter-gatherers or nomadic.

      

HISTORY (VII)-LESSON-6

TOWNS, TRADERS AND CRAFTSPERSONS

(LESSON NOTES)

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v INTRODUCTION: -

Ø Growth of urbanisation was the main features from 17^th century onward. In medieval India, there were three types of towns—a temple town, an administrative town and a commercial town or a port town.

Ø Many outsiders as the Arabs, Turkish and Afghans settled in many parts of the country leading to the evolution of towns and cities.

v TYPES OF TOWNS

Ø ADMINISTRATIVE TOWNS OR COURT TOWNS

§  Some of the important court towns were Lahore, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri and Delhi, Thanjavur.

§  They were centres of administration.

§  Fatehpur Sikri was the new capital founded by Akbar.

§  Delhi was known as Shahjahanabad and was built by Shah Jahan in 1639.

Ø PORT AND TRADING TOWNS

§  Some towns developed as ports due to their proximity to the seashore.

§  Some major ports were Cambay, Surat, Broach, Masulipatanam, Nagapattinam, etc.

Ø TEMPLE TOWNS AND PILGRIMAGE CENTRES

§  Temples towns were important centres of urbanization and led to the development of cities, economy and society.

§  Pilgrims gave huge donations to temples. This wealth was used by temple authorities to finance their trade and banking.

§  Important temple towns were Bhillasvamin in Madhya Pradesh, Somnath in Gujarat, Kanchipuram and Madurai, Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti, Sufi saint in Ajmer.

v THANJAVUR-COMBINED FEATURES

Ø Thanjavur, in Tamilnadu which was the capital of the Cholas a thousand years ago, emerged as an administrative centre as well as a temple town.

Ø The perennial river Kaveri flows near this beautiful town.

Ø The famous Rajarajeshvara temple built by King Rajarja Chola lies here.

Ø Here, Kings held courts in the mandapas where issuing orders to their subordinates and armies.

HISTORY(VI)-LESSON-5

KINGDOMS, KINGS AND AN EARLY REPUBLIC

(QUE ANSWERS)

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                                           (NCERT SOLUTION)

Q.1 State whether true or false:

   1.    Rajas who led the ashvamedha horse pass through their lands were invited to the sacrifice.

   2.    The charioteer sprinkled sacred water on the king

   3.    Archaeologists have found palaces in the settlements of the janapadas

   4.    Pots to store grain were made out of Painted Grey Ware

   5.    Many cities in mahajanapadas were fortified

ANSWER:

1. True 2. False   3. False    4. False    5. True

Q.2 Fill in the chart who paid taxes  given below with the terms: hunter-gatherers, farmers, traders, craftspersons, herders.

Answer:-Farmers – Gave one-sixth of the produce to the state

  Craftspersons- contributed to labour

Herder- contributed in the form of animal produce

Traders – stimulated commercial activity by buying and selling goods

Hunter-gatherers – would provide forest produce such as elephants, furs and other items as a tribute.

GEOGRAPHY (VI)-LESSON-7

OUR COUNTRY -INDIA

(LESSON NOTES)

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v INTRODUCTION: -

  Ø India is the vast country. It has so much diversities not only in cultural terms but also in physical. In this lesson we will learn about these physical features.

v INDIA-SIZE

  Ø India is a vast country. It has an area of about 3.28 million sq. km.

  Ø It is the 7^th largest country of the world in size.

  Ø The North-South extent from Kashmir to Kanyakumari is about 3,214 km. Thus, the west extent from Arunachal Pradesh to Kuchchh is about 2933 km.

  Ø According to the census of 2011, India’s population is 121 Crores and have the second place after China.

  Ø In India there is a great variety in the landforms, climate, vegetation, wildlife as well as in the language and culture.

GEOGRAPHY (X) LESSON-5

MINERAL AND POWER RESOURCES

(LESSON NOTES)

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v INTRODUCTION: -

Ø As we know that the Earth’s crust is made up of different minerals embedded in the rocks. Various metals are extracted from these minerals after proper refinement.

Ø Minerals are an indispensable part of our lives. Almost everything we use, from a tiny pin to a towering building or a big ship, all are made from minerals.

Ø  Even the food that we eat contains minerals. In all stages of development, human beings have used minerals for their livelihood, decoration, festivities, religious and ceremonial rite.

v ROCKS, MINERAL AND ORES:

Ø Any natural mass of mineral matter that makes up the earth’s crust is called a rock. Some rocks consist of a single mineral, e.g., limestone while most rocks consist of several minerals.

Ø The naturally occurring substances which have certain physical properties and definite chemical composition are known as minerals. They are found in various forms hard to soft. Although, over 2000 minerals have been identified, only a few are abundantly found.

Ø Minerals are generally found in ores. An accumulation of any mineral mixed with other elements is known as ores.

v OCCURANCE OF MINERALS

Minerals generally occur in these forms: -

Ø Veins and lodes: -

§  In igneous and metamorphic rocks minerals may occur in the cracks, faults or joints.

§  The smaller occurrences are called veins and the larger called as lodes.

§  Metallic minerals like tin, copper, zinc and lead, etc. are found in lodes and veins.

Ø Beds and layers: -

§  In sedimentary rocks minerals occur in beds or layers.

§  They are formed as a result of deposition, accumulation and concentration in horizontal strata.

§  For example, Coal and some forms of iron ore, sandstone, limestone etc.

Ø Evaporation: -

§  Some sedimentary minerals are formed as a result of evaporation, especially in arid regions,

§  For example, gypsum, potash and salt etc.

Ø Decomposition of surface rocks: -

§  Some minerals formed due to decomposition of surface rocks and the removal of soluble contents, leaving a residual mass of weathered material containing ores.

§  Bauxite is formed this way.

Ø Placer deposits: -

§  Certain minerals occur as alluvial deposits in sands of valley floors and the base of hills.

§  These are called placer deposits and contain minerals which are not corroded by water.

§  For example, gold, silver, tin and platinum etc.

Ø Through Ocean waters: -

§  Oceanic water contains vast quantities of minerals.

§  For example, common salt, magnesium and bromide etc.

v  EXTRACTION OF MINERALS

Ø There are different ways by which minerals are extracted from the earth surface.

Ø The process of taking out minerals from rocks buried under the earth’s surface is called mining.

§  When the minerals lying at shallow depths and taken out by removing the surface layer is known as open-cast mining.  

§  When the minerals lying at large depths and taken out by deep bores (shaft) is known as shaft mining. 

§  In most of the tribal areas of the north-east India, minerals are owned by individuals or communities. In Meghalaya, there are large deposits of coal, iron ore, limestone and dolomite etc. Coal mining in Jowai and Cherapunjee is done by family member in the form of a long narrow tunnel, known as ‘Rat hole’ mining. NGT declare this as illegal activity.

Ø A method of extraction in which deep wells are bored to take out minerals is known as drilling.

Ø When minerals lying very close to the surface and extracted just by digging them out is called as Quarrying

v DISTRIBUTION OF MINERAL IN INDIA

Ø India is fairly rich in varied mineral resources. However, these are unevenly distributed because of differences in the geological structure, processes and time involved in the formation of minerals.

§  Peninsular rocks contain most of the reserves of coal, metallic minerals, mica and many other non-metallic minerals.

§  Sedimentary rocks on the western and eastern flanks of the peninsula, in Gujarat and Assam have most of the petroleum deposits.

§  Rajasthan with the rock systems of the peninsula, has reserves of many non-ferrous minerals.

§  The vast alluvial plains of north India have very less minerals.

v CLASSIFICATION OF MINERALS