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NCERT Solutions for class 10 Science chapter 16 – Management of Natural Resources

Back Exercise

Question 1.
What changes would you suggest in your home in order to be environment friendly ?
(CBSE AI 2009, CCE 2012, 2014)
Answer:

1. Judicious use of electricity by switching off lights and electrical appliances not required,
2. Replacement of incandescent bulbs with fluorescent, compact fluorescent ones and LED bulbs.
3. Replacement of electricity or gas operated geysers with solar water heaters,
4. Replacement of electricity generating sets with solar light,
5. Having more natural light and ventilation with design supporting warming during winters and cooling during summer,
6. Reducing wastage of water, food and other articles.
7. Separation of recyclable waste from non-cyclable waste prior to disposal.
8. Increasing reuse of containers,
9. Using cloth bags instead of polythene, plastic or paper bags.

Question 2.
Can you suggest some changes in your school which would make it environment friendly ?
Answer:
Yes.

1. Rainwater harvesting (RWH) by draining roof top rain for underground seepage,
2. Plantation of trees and shrubs along the boundary for protection against noise and air pollution. Plants will not only provide more oxygen during the school hours but also have a moderating effect on climate.
3. Prevention of wastage of electricity and water,
4. Having compost pits for conversion of plant refuse and other biodegradable wastes into useful resource,
5. Increasing use of solar energy,
6. Activating ecoclub.

Question 3.
We saw in this chapter that there are four main stakeholders when it comes to forests and wildlife. Which among these should have the authority to decide the management offorest produce ? Why do you think so (CBSE Foreign 2010, CCE 2011)
Answer:
The four stakeholders in forests and wildlife are

1. People living in and around forests who obtain most of their requirements from forests,
2. Forest department which owns the forests.
3. Industrialists who obtain raw materials for their industries,
4. Wildlife and nature enthusiasts.

Question 4.
How can you as an individual contribute or make a difference to the management of
(a) Forests and wildlife
(b) Water resources
(c) Coal and petroleum ?
Answer:
(a) Forests and Wildlife:

1. I will stress on sustainable use of produce from forests and wildlife,
2. The area under forest cover has to be increased to control global warming.
3. Form more joint forest management committees,
4. Separate commercial forestry from natural forestry.

(b) Water Resources. My major stress will be

1. Recharging of ground water through rain water harvesting, protection to wetlands and digging sponge pits or wells in the beds of rivulets,
2. Reducing spoilage of water in agriculture by helping formers to switch over to sprinkler system of irrigation, changing conventional method of rice cultivation with system of rice intensification (SRI),
3. Judicious use of water for domestic and industrial purposes.

(c) Coal and Petroleum:

1. Higher level of purification to reduce pollution,
2. Increased use of solar energy,
3. More investment to commercialise hydrogen powered transport system.

Question 5.
What can you, as an individual, do to reduce your consumption of various natural resources ?
Answer:

Some practices that can be followed by individuals in order to reduce their consumption of natural resources include:

• Use of fuel-efficient transport options such as carpooling, bicycles, and public transport.
• Judicious use of water and avoidance of its wastage.
• Use of recycled products such as recycled paper and bottles to reduce the demand for natural resources.
• Promoting the use of renewable resources by using solar water heaters instead of electric heaters.
• the principle of three Rs, i.e, reduce, recycle, reuse.

Question 6.
List five things you have done over the last one week to
(a) Conserve our natural resources
(b) Increase the pressure on our natural resources ?
Answer:
(a) Conservation of Natural Resources

1. Reduced consumption of electricity by switching off unwanted fans and bulbs,
2. Reduced consumption of water by closing the tap to prevent overflow of water in the bucket during taking bath,
3. Used refills instead of purchasing new pens,
4. I did not waste food,
5. I have started going to school by school bus instead of using car.

(b) Increase Pressure on Natural Resources

1. While reading at night on bed, I fell asleep and forgot to switch off the lights,
2. While brushing my teeth and later taking bath, I did not close the tap, so a lot of water was wasted,
3. I left the ball pen uncapped, so the ink dried up. I had to throw three ball pens last week,
4. I am in the habit of using loose sheets for doing rough work. They are then thrown away,
5. I bring more food in my tiffin than I eat. Daily I throw a lot of food in the dust bin.

Question 7.
On the basis of environmental issues you studied, what changes would you incorporate in your life style in a move towards a sustainable use of our resources ?
Answer:
1. Follow the principle of three Rs — reduce, recycle and reuse.
2. Undertake tree plantation twice a year during days of Van Mahotsava.
3. Where possible, use of public transport, school, bus and car pools.
4. Use of solar energy for as many purposes as possible. 5. Segregate the waste generated in homes into biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste.
6. Avoid the wastage of electricity by switching off lights, fans, and other electrical appliances when not in use.
7. Use water judiciously and avoid its wastage by quickly repairing any leaking taps/pipes.
8. Avoid the wastage of water by regulating the quantity of water consumed for bathing, washing clothes, brushing, etc.
9. Practising environment-friendly methods such as rainwater harvesting and planting of trees.
10. Usage of recycled products such as recycled paper and bottles.
11. Usage of eco-friendly products such as cloth shopping bags and paper cups instead of non-biodegradable polythene bags and disposable plastic cups.

In-Text Questions

Question 1.
What changes would you make in your habits to become environment friendly ? (CBSE AI 2009)
Answer:
Three Rs — reduce, recycle and reuse.

1. Reduce: It is to reduce consumption by preventing wastage.
   1. Switching off unnecessary lights, fans and other electrical appliances,
   2. Repair of leaky taps.
   3. Reducing food wastage,
   4. Walking down to nearby market instead of using vehicle.
2. Recycle: Separation of recyclable wastes from non-recyclable wastes. The former are taken by rag pickers for sending them to industries involved in recycling, e.g., paper, plastic, metal, glass.
3. Reuse: Carry bags, packing material, plastic containers and other reusable articles should not be thrown away if the same are uncontaminated. For example, plastic bottles and jars containing various food items brought from market can be washed and used for storing things in the kitchen.

Question 2.
What would be advantages of exploiting resources with short term aims ?
Answer:

1. All the commodities for use and comforts for human society will become available in plenty.
2. There will be rapid industrialisation and development.

Question 3.
How would these advantages differ from the advantages of using a long term prospective in managing our resources ?
Answer:

Question 4.
Why do you think there should be equitable distribution of resources ? What forces would be working against an equitable distribution of our resources ?
Answer:
Need for Equitable Distribution - Resources are living and non-living components of nature which are drawn upon to provide food, fodder, shelter, water, energy, articles of daily use and comforts. Every human being has the fundamental right to obtain and use the same. This is possible only when there is equitable distribution of resources.
Forces Against Equitable Distribution,

1. Restricted availability of resources,
2. Excessive consumption by the rich,
3. Profit motto by the persons exploiting resources.

Question 5.
Why should we conserve forests and wildlife ?
Answer:
There are economic and ecological reasons to conserve forests and wildlife.

1. Economic Reasons:
   1. Forests are a source of shelter, food and fodder to people living in and around forests,
   2. They provide firewood and timber,
   3. A number of industrial raw materials are obtained from forests, e.g., tannins, dyes, resins, perfumes, wood for paper,
   4. Several medicines are got from forest plants and animals,
   5. Wildlife is a gene bank for improvement of domesticated plants and animals,
   6. All plants and animals have not yet been explored for their potential uses.
2. Ecological Reasons:
   1. They regulate climate,
   2. Forests help in retaining rain water and its storage in aquifers from where water becomes available to springs and streams,
   3. Forests control soil erosion and prevent the occurrence of floods,
   4. Wildlife is essential for maintaining the forests.
   5. CO₂-O₂ balance is maintained.

Question 6.
Suggest some approaches towards the conservation of forests.
Answer:
Conservation is protection, augmentation and scientific management of a resource so as to maintain it at its optimum level while providing sustainable benefits for the present as well as future generations. Some approaches for conservation of forests are as follows :

1. Afforestation and Reforestation. Afforestation is developing forest over an area where none existed earlier. Reforestation is developing forest cover which has been cleared during exploitation. Degraded forests are also mended to bring them back to health. All this is done by state forest department either by themselves or with the help of joint forest management committees.
2. Separation of Commercial Forestry. Useful plants required for meeting commercial needs should be planted separately so that there is no undue pressure on natural forests. Social forestry is growing multipurpose plants on village common lands for meeting requirement of fodder, firewood and small timber. Production plantation is growing industry required plants on wastelands.
3. Controlled grazing.
4. Prevention of scraping and litter removal.
5. Practising block cutting or cutting of forest equal to its regeneration capacity.
6. Building of national parks, sanctuaries and biosphere reserves.

Question 7.
Find out about traditional systems of water harvesting management in your region.
Answer:
Ponds, pools, tanks, lakes, ditches and wetlands. They get filled up during rain. Larger reservoirs are perennial. The smaller ones dry up after a few months. However, both help in recharge of ground water.

Question 8.
Compare the above system with the probable system in hilly/mountainous areas or plains or plateau regions.
Answer:
Hilly/Mountainous Areas - Water is impounded on the slopes, at the base of slope, on the border of ravine or melting snow into tanks called Kulhs, Khatris, Kuls (Himachal Pardesh, J and K), Zabo (Nagaland) and Zings (Ladakh). Water from tanks is used for different purposes—drinking, washing, animals, irrigation.

Plains - Roof top harvesting of rain water has been in practice since ages in Rajasthan. The collected water is stored below the ground level for later use.
Other methods of water harvesting are specially constructed tanks, Kuis, jhaslars, booris or bers, paar, vivdas, khadins and nadis (Rajasthan), ponds in Kandi belts (Jammu), bhandaras and tals (Maharashtra), bundhis (MP and UP), ahars and pynes (Bihar). In Plateau, Water is collected in series of tanks through impounding rain water, building check dams and channels from flowing water. They are called eris (Tamil Nadu), surrangams (Kerala) and kattas (Karnataka).

Question 9.
Find out the source of water in your region!locality. Is water from this source available to all people living in that area ?
Answer:
Water is supplied by municipal corporation through pipes. It is obtained from river/canal (if the same happens to be nearby). In many cases piped water is pumped out from ground by tube wells and stored in raised water tanks.
Municipal water supply is not available to all the residents. Many newly built colonies, slums and unauthorised localities are often without the piped water.