Knowledge Goal - Know to Grow

The environment is the place, people, things, and nature surrounding any living organism. The environment is our basic life support system. It provides the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, and the land where we live. It is a combination of natural and human-made phenomena. While the natural environment refers to both biotic and abiotic conditions existing on the earth. The human climate reveals the activities, creations, and interactions among human beings. Natural Environment Land, water, air, plants, and animals comprise the natural environment. It comprises all the domains of the Earth : lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere. The ecosystem  is a system formed by the interaction of all living organisms with each other and with the physical and chemical factors of the environment in which they live, all linked by the transfer of energy and material. All plants, animals, and human beings depend on their immediate surroundings. Oft...

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,  and the Indian Ocean in the south  wash the shores of the Indian peninsula. The peninsula is a piece of land that is surrounded by water on three sides . India has an area of about 3.28 million sq. km . The north-south extent from Ladakh to Kanyakumari is about 3,200 km . And the east-west extent from Arunachal Pradesh to Kuchchh is about 2,900 km . There is a great variety in the climate, vegetation, wildlife as well as in the language and culture of India. Our country has a population of more than one hundred forty crores to date. For administrative purposes, India is divided into 28  States and 8 Union Territories . Delhi is the national capital. The states have been formed mainly on the basis of languages. ⟫ The political map of India is discussed in our previous post . Two groups of islands al...

The earth's surface is a complex zone in which three main components of the environment meet, overlap, and interact. These are  the  lithosphere   (solid portion of the earth on which we live) , Atmosphere  (gaseous layers that surround the earth) , and  Hydrosphere  (area of the Earth's surface having water on it).  The Biosphere is the narrow zone where we find land, water, and air together, which contains all forms of life. A. Lithosphere  (स्थलमंडल) The lithosphere  comprises the rocks of the earth’s crust and the thin layers of soil that contain nutrient elements that sustain organisms.  There are two main divisions of the earth’s surface. The large landmasses are known as the continents   and the huge water bodies are called the ocean basins .  All the oceans of the world are connected with one another. The level of seawater remains the same everywhere . Elevation of land is measured from the level of...

A map ( मानचित्र )  is a representation or a drawing of the earth’s surface or a part of it drawn on a flat surface according to a scale. Atlases are of various sizes, and measurements drawn on different scales. When many maps are put together we get an  Atlas . Atlases are of various sizes, and measurements drawn on different scales Physical Maps:   Maps showing natural features of the earth such as mountains, plateaus, plains, rivers, oceans, etc. are called physical or relief maps . Political Maps:  Maps showing cities, towns villages, and different countries and states of the world with their boundaries are called political maps . Thematic Maps: Some maps focus on specific information; such as road maps, rainfall maps, maps showing the distribution of forests, industries, etc. are known as thematic maps. Suitable titles are given on the basis of information provided in these maps. Components of Maps Distance:  maps are drawn to re...

The earth has two types of motions: rotation ( घूर्णन )  and revolution ( परिक्रमण ) . Rotation is the movement of the earth on its axis. The movement of the earth around the sun in a fixed path or orbit is called Revolution . The axis of the earth (an imaginary line), makes an angle of 66½° with its orbital plane . The plane formed by the orbit is known as the orbital plane. The circle that divides the day from night on the globe is called the circle of illumination . This circle does not coincide with the axis. The earth receives light from the sun. Due to the spherical shape of the earth, only half of it gets light from the sun at a time. The portion facing the sun experiences day while the other half away from the sun experiences night. The earth takes about 24 hours to complete one rotation around its axis. The period of rotation is known as the earthday . This is the daily motion of the earth. Revolution takes 365¼ days (one year) to revolve around the sun. We ge...

Axis  ( अक्ष )   is an imaginary line on which the Earth moves around from West to East . Two points on the Earth through which this axis passes are two poles – North Pole and South Pole . Another imaginary line called Equator  (भूमध्य रेखा)   running on the Earth divides it into two equal parts. The northern half of the earth is known as the Northern Hemisphere and the southern half is known as the Southern Hemisphere . They are both equal halves. All parallel circles from the equator up to the poles are called parallels of latitudes (अक्षांश) . Latitudes are measured in degrees . Equator represents the 0° latitude. Since the distance from the equator to either of the poles is one-fourth of a circle round the earth, it will measure ¼th of 360 degrees, i.e. 90° . Thus, 90 degrees north latitude marks the North Pole and 90 degrees south latitude marks the South Pole . All parallels north of the equator are called north latitudes . Similarly, all pa...

We can see the full moon only once in about a month’s time. It is Full moon night or Poornima .  A fortnight later, you cannot see it at all. It is a New moon night or Amavasya . On this day, you can watch the night sky best, provided it is a clear night. We can’t we see the moon and all those bright tiny objects during day time because of the very bright light of the sun that does not allow us to see all these bright objects of the night sky . The sun, the moon and all those objects shining in the night sky are called celestial bodies. Some celestial bodies are very big and hot. They are made up of gases. They have their own heat and light, which they emit in large amounts. These celestial bodies are called stars. We may notice various patterns formed by different groups of stars. These are called constellations . Ursa Major or Big Bear is one such constellation. One of the most easily recognisable constellation is the Saptarishi (Sapta seven, rishi-sages)...