Resource Questions PDF

Very Short Answer Questions Q. 1. Define the term ‘Resource’. Ans. Everything available in our environment, which can be used to satisfy our needs, provided, it is technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally acceptable can be termed as ‘Resource’. Q. 2. What is the role of huma...

Very Short Answer Questions Q. 1. Define the term ‘Resource’. Ans. Everything available in our environment, which can be used to satisfy our needs, provided, it is technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally acceptable can be termed as ‘Resource’. Q. 2. What is the role of human beings in the development of a resource? Ans. Human beings transform material available in our environment into resources and use them. Q. 3. What are renewable resources? Ans. The resources which can be renewed or reproduced by physical, chemical or mechanical processes are known as renewable or replenishable resources. Example— water, forests, wildlife, etc. Q. 4. What are non-renewable resources? Ans. These resources cannot be renewed or replenished. They take millions of years in their formation. Example—coal, mineral oil, iron ore, bauxite, etc. Q. 5. Define Individual Resources. Ans. These resources are owned privately by individuals. Example—Plantation, pasture lands, ponds, water in wells, etc. are resources owned by individuals. Q. 6. Which resources are community owned resources? Ans. These are resources which are accessible to all the members of the community. Example— Public parks, picnic spots, cinema halls, playgrounds, etc. Q. 7. What are National Resources. Ans. Technically, all the resources available in a nation are categorised as National Resources. Example—Minerals, wild life, forests, water resources, land of a nation, roads, railways. Q. 8. Which resources are termed as ‘International Resources’? Ans. There are international institutions which regulate some resources. These resources can be utilised by any country of the world. Example—The oceanic resources beyond 200 nautical miles of the Exclusive Economic Zone belong to open ocean and no individual country can utilise without the unanimity of international institutions. Q. 9. What are Potential Resources? Ans. Resources which are found in a region but have not been utilised. Example—Wind and solar energy can be generated in parts of Gujarat and Rajasthan (they are potential). Q. 10. Define Developed Resources. Ans. Resources which are surveyed, their quality and quantity is determined and they are developed for use. Example—Coal, mineral oil. Q. 11. What do you understand by the term ‘stock’? Ans. Stock is the materials in the environment, which have the potential to satisfy human needs but human beings do not have the appropriate technology to access these. Example: Water can be made with two gases—hydrogen and oxygen, but we do not have required technology to use it. Q. 12. What are ‘Reserves’? Ans. Reserves are the subset of the stock, which can be put into use with the help of existing technical ‘know how’ but their use has not been started. These can be used for meeting future requirements. Example—water in the dams, forests, etc is a reserve which can be used in the future. Q. 13. What do you mean by sustainable development? Ans. Sustainable economic development means development should take place without damaging the environment and development in the present should not compromise with the needs of the future generation. Q. 14. When and where was the first International Earth Summit held? Ans. The first International Earth Summit, held at Rio de Janeiro in Brazil in June 1992, where 100 heads of states met. Q. 15. What was Agenda 21 of Earth Summit of Rio de Janeiro? Ans. The agenda was to combat environmental damage, poverty, disease through global cooperation on common interests, mutual needs and shared responsibilities. Q. 16. Why is there a need of planning resources in India? Ans. We need to have resource planning in India since India has enormous diversity in the availability of resources. There are regions which are rich in certain types of resources but are deficient in some other resources. This calls for balanced resource planning at national, state and regional levels. Q. 17. What are the three processes involved in Resource Planning? Ans. (i) Identification and inventory of resources across the regions of the country. (ii) Evolving a planning structure with appropriate technology. (iii) Matching the resource development plans with overall national development plans. Q. 18. How are resources associated with colonialism? Ans. (i) The history of colonisation reveals that rich resources in colonies were the main attractions for the foreign invaders. (ii) It was primarily the higher level of technological development of the imperial powers, that helped them exploit the resources of the colonies. Q. 19. Why is resource conservation important? Ans. Irrational consumption and over-utilisation of resources may lead to socio- economic and environmental problems. To overcome these problems, resource conservation at various levels is important. Q. 20. What is the importance of land as a natural resource? Ans. Land supports natural vegetation, wild life, human life, economic activities, transport and communication systems. Thus, land is a natural resource of utmost importance. Q. 21. What are the main relief features of India? Ans. India has land under a variety of relief features: (i) Plains cover 43% of the land area. (ii) Mountains account for 30% area and (iii) Plateau regions cover about 27% of the area. Q. 22. Which factors determine the use of land? Ans. (i) Physical factors—topography, climate, soil types. (ii) Human factors—Population density, technological capability and culture and tradition, etc. Q. 23. What is Net Sown Area? Ans. It is the actual area under cultivation. This area is cultivated once or twice in about two to three years. Q. 24. What is gross cropped area? Ans. It is the actual area under cultivation along with the fallow land, which is left uncultivated for fertility. Q. 25. What is waste land? Ans. Waste land includes rocky, arid and desert areas and land put to other nonagricultural uses including settlements, roads, railways, industries, etc. Q. 26. How does land degradation occur? Ans. Continuous use of land over a long period of time without taking appropriate measures to conserve and manage it, results in land degradation. Q. 27. What is the percentage of land degradation in India? Ans. In India, 28% of forest belongs to degraded area, 56% is water eroded area, 10% is wind eroded area and the rest is affected by saline and alkaline deposits. Q. 28. In which states is land degraded due to mining? Ans. In states like Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, deforestation due to mining have caused severe land degradation. Q. 29. In which states is over irrigation responsible for land degradation? Ans. In the states of Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh, over irrigation is responsible for land degradation due to water-logging leading to increase in salinity and alkalinity in the soil. Q. 30. How is mineral processing responsible for land degradation? Ans. The mineral processing like grinding of limestone for cement industry and calcite and soapstone for ceramic industry generate huge quantity of dust in the atmosphere. It retards the process of infiltration of water into the soil after it settles down on the land. Q. 31. Why is soil considered as a important resource? Ans. Soil is the most important renewable natural resource. It is the medium of plant growth and supports different types of living organisms on the earth. Q. 32. Which factors help in the formation of soil? Ans. Relief, parent rock or bed rock, climate, vegetation and other forms of life and time are important factors in the formation of soil. Q. 33. Which forces of nature help in the formation of soil? Ans. Various forces of nature such as change in temperature, actions of running water, wind and glaciers, activities of decomposes, etc. contribute to the formation of soil. Q. 34. Which soils are formed at the foothills? Ans. In the upper reaches of the river valley i.e., near the place of the break of slope, the soils are coarse. Such soils are more common in piedmont plains such as Duars, Chos and Terai. Q. 35. What is ‘Bangar’? Ans. Bangar is a old alluvial soil. It has high concentration of kanker nodules in it. Q. 36. What is ‘khadar’? Ans. Khadar is a new alluvial soil. It has more fine particles and is more fertile than the bangar. Q. 37. Why is alluvial soil called ‘fertile soil’? Ans. Mostly alluvial soil contains adequate proportion of potash, phosphoric acid and lime which are ideal for the growth of sugarcane, paddy, wheat and other cereal and pulse crops. Q. 38. Which soils are called ‘black soils’? Ans. Soils which are black in colour are called black soils or Regur soils. Since they are ideal for growing cotton, they are also known as black cotton soils. Q. 39. In which regions are black soils found? Ans. Black soils cover the plateaus of Maharashtra, Saurashtra, Malwa, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Q. 40. What are the chief characteristics of black soil? Ans. Black soils are made up of extremely fine, i.e., clayey material. They are well known for their capacity to hold moisture. Q. 41. What is the main drawback of black soil? Ans. This soil is sticky when wet and difficult to work on unless tilled immediately after the first shower or during the pre-monsoon period. This soil is also poor in phosphoric contents. Q. 42. How are red soils formed? Ans. Red soils develop on crystalline igneous rocks in areas of low rainfall in the eastern and southern parts of the Deccan plateau. Q. 43. How do these red soils look red or yellow in colour? Ans. These soils develop a reddish colour due to diffusion of iron in crystalline and metamorphic rocks. It looks yellow when it occurs in a hydrated form. Q. 44. How are laterite soils formed? Ans. The laterite soils are developed in areas with high temperature and heavy rainfall. This is the result of intense leaching due to heavy rain. Q. 45. Why is humus content in laterite soil low? Ans. Humus content of the soil is low because most of the microorganisms, particularly the decomposers, like bacteria get destroyed due to high temperature. Q. 46. In which regions are laterite soils formed? Ans. These soils are mainly found in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and the hilly areas of Odisha and Assam. Q. 47. What are the drawbacks of arid soils? Ans. Due to dry climate, high temperature, evaporation is faster and the soil lacks humus and moisture. The kanker layer formations in the bottom horizons restrict the infiltration of water. Q. 48. Give one characteristic of forest soils. Ans. In the snow covered areas of Himalayas, these soils experience denudation and are acidic with low humus content. Q. 49. What is soil erosion? Ans. The denudation of the soil cover and subsequent washing down is described as soil erosion. Q. 50. How is soil eroded? Ans. Soil is eroded due to human activities like deforestation, overgrazing and construction and mining, etc. Natural forces like wind, glacier and water also lead to soil erosion. Q. 51. What are gullies? Ans. The running water cuts through the clayey soils and makes deep channels as gullies. The land becomes unfit for cultivation and is known as bad land. Q. 52. What is sheet erosion? Ans. Sometimes water flows as a sheet over large areas down a slope. In such cases the top soil is wasted away. This is known as sheet erosion. Q. 53. How does soil erosion take place due to defective methods of farming? Ans. Ploughing in a wrong way, i.e., up and down the slope form channels for the quick flow of water leading to soil erosion. Q. 54. What is contour ploughing? Ans. Ploughing along the contour lines can decelerate the flow of water down the slopes. This is called contour ploughing. Q. 55. How does Terrace farming help in checking soil erosion? Ans. Steps can be cut out on the slopes making terraces. Terrace cultivation restricts erosion. Q. 56. What is strip cropping? Ans. Large fields can be divided into strips. Strips of grass are left to grow between the crops. This breaks up the force of the wind. This method is known as strip cropping. Q. 57. Why are shelter belts grown? Ans. Planting lines of trees to create shelter also work in a similar way. Rows of such trees are called shelter belts. These shelter belts have contributed significantly to the stabilisation of sand dunes and in stabilising the desert in western India.