Landforms and Life Class 6 Question Answer Social Science Chapter 3
NCERT Class 6 Social Science SST Chapter 3 Landforms and Life Questions and Answers Solutions
Landforms and Life Class 6 Questions and Answers (In-Text)
The Big Questions (Page-41)
Question 1.
What are the major types of landforms and their significance to life and culture?
Answer:
The three main categories of landforms are plains, plateaus, and mountains.
Mountains: These are landforms that rise significantly above the surrounding terrain. Certain mountains have snow coverings, based on their height. Every summer, the snow melt at lower elevations turns into water that replenishes rivers. The snow may never melt at higher altitudes, leaving the mountain perpetually covered in snow.
Plateaus: A plateau is a landform that protrudes above the surrounding terrain, typically featuring a relatively level surface with occasional steep inclines. The world’s largest and highest plateau is the Tibetan Plateau. The “store house of minerals” is a plateau. On plateaus where many of the largest mines in the world are located, mining is the main industry.
Plains: Landforms with a broad, level surface or a gently sloping one are known as plains. There aren’t any large hills there. Typically, they don’t rise higher than 300 m above sea level. The importance of plains, mountains and plateaus to human life and culture is significant.
Mountains:
- Mountain regions have rich flora and fauna.
- Most of the mountain regions have almost no pollution.
- Regular farming is practised on the slopes by cutting steps into the slope called terrace farming.
- Tourism is often an important source of income for the people living in the mountains.
- The crisp mountain air and scenic beauty attract many tourists.
Plateaus:
- Plateaus have rich mineral deposits.
- Many of the mining areas in the world are located in the plateau regions.
- For example, the African plateau is famous for gold and diamond mining.
- The Chota Nagpur plateau in India has huge reserves of iron, coal etc.
- The plateau environment is very diverse across the world. Many plateaus have a rocky soil, which makes them less favourable for farming.
- Plateaus are the home to many spectacular water falls.
Question 2.
What are the challenges and opportunities of life associated with each landform?
Answer:
The challenges and opportunities of life associated with each landform are:
1. Mountains: Mountain areas are more susceptible to natural hazards and disasters, such as avalanches, landslides, cloudburst and flash floods. Mountains are very steep and rugged, which can impact daily life agriculture also.
Opportunities: Mountains are the store house of natural beauty with fertile soil.
2. Plateaus: One of the main challenges of plateau is the outgoing erosion of their surface. This erosion can lead to a patchy landscape which can hinder the development of agriculture and the construction of infrastructure like roads.
3. Plains: The plains are ideal for growing crops of all kinds. Agriculture is a major economic occupation in the landforms. Plains also support a variety of flora and fauna.
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Question 3.
As a class activity, form groups of four or five students and observe the school’s surroundings. What kind of landscape do you see? Will the landscape change a few kilometres away? Or within some 50 kilometres? Compare with other groups.
Answer:
- Our school located in urban area. We see tall buildings, roads, parks, some trees around the school. There are no water bodies or hills.
- Landscape nearby: Residential areas, commercial buildings, crowded markets, garden, parks, etc.
Question 4.
In the same groups, discuss a journey that any of you has made through a region of India. List the different landscapes seen on the way. Compare with other groups.
Answer:
The different landscapes are:
- Urban landscape: tall buildings, busy roads, crowded markets, parks and historical monuments.
- Rural landscape: fields of rice and wheat, small villages and canals.
- Mountain landscape: rivers and streams flowing down from mountains, dense forests and trees.
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Question 5.
These images depict a few challenges that people living in the mountains may face. Discuss them in groups in the class and write one paragraph on each. Also discuss, why, despite many such challenges, people still choose to live in the mountains.
Answer:
At higher altitudes air becomes thinner and the pressure of oxygen decreases. Thus, breathing becomes difficult on mountains. On the mountains, weather is very harsh like colds are a bit more colder and there are more chances of wildfire.
In many places, people depend on mountains for water, either coming from melting snow or ice or from mountain springs which feed the rivers. But, surviving in harsh climate of mountain can be tough and it can be hard to grow enough food there. Still people live there, as it is their habitat and they are used to live in such weather from generations.
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Question 6.
Use the colour code in Fig. 3.8 to add a landform to each name. For instance, ‘Tibetan plateau’, ‘Rocky range’, ‘Nile plain’. (You do not have to remember the names in this map.)
Answer:
For Tibetan Plateau, we will use a brown colour. For the rockey range, use a light brown colour. For the Nile Plain, use a mild brown colour.
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Question 7.
(i) Which colour is the Ganga plain?
Answer: The Ganga Plain primarily appears dark brown or black due to its fertile alluvial soil.
(ii) What does the white expanse represent?
Answer: The white expanse represents the snow or ice sleets in the mountains (Himalayan range).
(iii) What does the brown expanse at the bottom left of the image represent?
Answer: Plains.
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Question 8.
Can you give examples of river sources or confluences from your region that are regarded sacred by any community?
Answer:
Rivers are the main source of fresh water. I am impressed by that region where I am living. River Ganga passes from nearby place. Cool air blows in the morning, birds are chirping. The water is flowing with great speed with full enthusiasm. Fishermen catch hold of the fishes. Children enjoy near the bank of the river.
Question 9.
Visit a nearby river and observe all activities there, whether economic or cultural. Note them down and discuss with your classmates.
Answer:
Students do this activity themselves.
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Question 10.
Name some popular tourist destinations in India and identify the category of landform they are associated with.
Answer:
Shimla: Shimla is one of the most popular tourist, or we can say hill station in India. Shimla is the capital of Himachal Pradesh. Shimla, the ‘queen of the hills’, is a beautiful hill town in the lap of nature surrounded by Pine (deodar) forests. Shimla is covered by indifferent ranges of hill and lush greenery. Weather is quite chilled here. It is covered with beautiful mountains, lakes, etc.
Page-43
Think About It
Question 11.
What is Snow?
Answer:
Snow is the precipitation of water in a solid state.
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Question 12.
What are the ‘western to the eastern oceans’? Can you locate them as well as the ‘Lord of mountains’ on Fig. 5.2)
Answer:
1. Oceans:
- Western Ocean: The Arabian Sea lies to the west of India.
- Eastern Ocean: The Bay of Bengal is to the east of India.
2. Mountains:
- Western India: The Western Ghats run along the western coast of India.
- Eastern India: The Eastern Ghats run along the eastern coast of India.
- Northern India: The Himalayas are in the northern part of India, forming a natural border with countries like Nepal and China.
Question 13.
Why is Ganga mentioned? Hint: There could be several reasons.
Answer:
Ganga is the sacred river of Hindus and personified as the Goddess Ganga. She is worshipped by, Hindus who believe that bathing in the river causes the remission of sins.
Class 6 SST Landforms and Life Question Answer (Exercise)
Question 1.
In what type of landform is your town/village / city located? Which features mentioned in this chapter do you see around you?
Answer:
I am living in a town where the landform is quite plain. We can do agriculture work on this land as the soil is quite fertile. Black soil is found on the very large scale. So, we can do the cultivation of cotton on a very large scale. Farmers are growing crops on large scale as they have their own lands near by this river.
Question 2.
Let us go back to our initial trip from Chhota Nagpur to Prayagraj and Almora. Describe the three landforms you came across on the way.
Answer:
The Chhota Nagpur Plateau is a plateau in eastern India which covers much of Jharkhand state, adjacent parts of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal and Bihar.
Prayagraj is one of most ancient and sacred town of India based on the river Ganges plains. It is known for confluence of three rivers. Almora lies in the beautiful Kumaon mountain range.
Question 3.
List a few famous pilgrimage spots in India along with the landforms in which they are found.
Answer:
Some of the eminent pilgrimage destination in India include ancient and revered destinations, such as Rishikesh, Mathura, Haridwar, Dwarka, Varanasi, Tirupati, Amritsar, Nashik, Kanyakumari, Kolhapur, Rameshwaram, Shirdi and Puri.
Landform of Haridwar: It is covered by mountains, hills and rivers. Tall trees are the real beauty. Weather is quite chilled. Holy river is flowing there, i.e., River Ganga. People use to take holy dip in this river to get rid of their sins.
Rishikesh: It is also surrounded by mountains and hills. Greenery is abundant all around the area. It is a place that is always overcrowded with people. The major landforms are mountains. They are very tall, and weather is quite chilled in winter and moderate in summer.
Question 4.
State whether true or false –
1. The Himalayas are young mountains with rounded tops. – False
2. Plateaus usually rise sharply at least on one side. – False
3. Mountains and hills belong to the same type of landform. – True
4. Mountains, plateaus and rivers in India have the same types of flora and fauna. – False
5. Ganga is a tributary to the Yamuna. – False
6. Deserts have unique flora and fauna. – True
7. Melting snow feeds rivers. – True
8. Sediments from rivers deposited in the plains makes the land fertile. – True
9. All deserts are hot. – False
| Mount Everest | Africa |
| Rafting | Roof of the world |
| Camels | Rice field |
| Plateau | Desert |
| Gangetic plains | River |
| Waterway | Ganga |
| Mount Kilimanjaro | Tributary |
| Yamuna | Climbing |
Answer:
| Mount Everest | Climbing |
| Rafting | Desert |
| Camels | River |
| Plateau | Roof of the world |
| Gangetic plains | Ganga |
| Waterway | Rice field |
| Mount Kilimanjaro | Africa |
| Yamuna | Tributary |