Science and Technology Part II Class 10 Question Answers Chapter 4 Maharashtra Board

Environmental management

Question 1.
Reorganize the following food chain. Describe the ecosystem to which it belongs.

Grasshopper – Snake – Paddy field – Eagle – Frog.

Answer:

Paddy field represents the primary producer which are plants.
Grasshopper is a primary consumer. Primary consumers are organisms that eat the primary producers and are usually herbivores.
Frog is a secondary consumer. Secondary consumers are organisms that eat the primary consumers and are generally meat-eaters/carnivores.
Snake is a tertiary consumer. Tertiary consumers are organisms that eat the secondary consumers. These organisms are carnivore-eating carnivores, like snakes or big fish.
Eagle is a quaternary consumer and in this case it is the apex consumer because it occupies the highest position in the food chain.

Question 2.
Explain the statement – ‘We have got this Earth planet on lease from our future generations and not as an ancestral property from our ancestors.’

Answer:

The statement that “we have got this Earth planet on lease from our future generations and not as an ancestral property from our ancestors” highlights the fact that the planet is not entirely the property of the current generation. Rather, it is our shared past that we need to preserve for future generations. In order to guarantee that future generations will have access to natural resources, it highlights how important it is for the current generation to use them responsibly.

Using resources to meet current demands without sacrificing the capacity of future generations to meet their own needs is known as sustainable development. This idea is especially crucial for fast decreasing non-renewable resources like coal and petroleum. We can make sure that these resources are used wisely and maintain long-term environmental stability by balancing development and conservation through sustainable development.

3. Write short notes.

a. Environmental Conservation.

Since existence of human, there is interrelationship between human and environment. Human stepped on the Earth long after formation of Earth. On the Earth, human being proved its superiority as compared to other animals with the help of characters like intelligence, memory, imaginary ability, etc. Human established domination over the nature. Human utilized all the natural resources as much as possible. In an attempt to live a satisfactory life, human kept on snatching from the nature as much as possible and this led to increase in problems. From this entire scenario, we can understand that human has crucial role in maintaining the environmental balance. If human has disturbed the environmental balance, then human itself only can conserve and improve the quality of nature.

b. Chipko Movement of Bishnoi.

1. Chipko Movement of Bishnoi or Bishnoi Andolan: Khejarli or Khejadli is a village in Rajasthan, where Bishnoi community is located. The name of the town is derived from Khejri trees.
2. The first event of Chipko Movement took place in Khejadli village in 1730 AD. In this village 363 Bishnois, led by Amrita Devi sacrificed their lives for protecting the trees of Khejri trees, which trees are considered as sacred by Bishnoi.
3. Amrita Devi said, “if a tree is saved even at the cost of one’s head, it’s worth it”. She was killed with the axes that were brought to chop off the trees. The three young daughters Asu, Ratna and Bhagubai also sacrificed their lives for trees.
4. 83 Bishnoi villages came together and villagers sacrificed their lives after hearing about Amrita Devi’s sacrifice. Three hundred and sixty-three Bishnois were killed as they opposed the king. After realizing the mistake, the king ordered stoppage of the felling of trees. Honouring the courage of the Bishnoi community, the ruler of Jodhpur, Maharaja Abhay Singh, apologized. He issued a royal decree to protect trees and wild life.
5. Chipko movement of 20^th century in Uttar Pradesh also followed the same pattern of embracing the trees and saving them from cutting.

c. Biodiversity.

Biodiversity refers to the combined diversity at all levels of biological organisation. It includes genetic diversity, species diversity and ecological diversity. Importance of biodiversity:

(i) A wide range of materials such as fibres, dyes, resins are obtained from plants.

(ii) A variety of plants and animals are utilised as sources of food.

(iii) Medicinal plants act as sources of drugs.

(iv) Plants and animals also have a cultural and aesthetic value.

d. Sacred Groves.

1. The forest protected or conserved in the name of God (on religious grounds) and considered to be sacred is known as sacred grove or Devrai.
2. Sacred groves are in fact sanctuaries conserved by society and not by the government forest department.
3. It has special protection, as it has been conserved due to special religious importance.
4. Sacred groves are present not only in the Western Ghats of India but in the entire country.
5. More than 13000 sacred groves have been identified all over India.

e. Disaster and its management.

• To save human life from disasters. To help them for moving away from the place of disasters by rapid action.
• To supply essential commodities to the affected people. This helps to reduce the gravity of disaster. People are given grains, water and clothes and other basic necessities under this objective.
• To bring back the conditions of affected people to normalcy.
• To rehabilitate the affected and displaced victims.
• To think and execute the protective measures in order to develop capability to face the disasters in
  future.

Question 4.
How will you justify that overcoming the pollution is a powerful way of environmental management?

Answer:

1. Pollution is created only due to human activities. Air, water, soil, noise, radiation, thermal, light, plastic are different types of pollution.
2. All types of pollution affect environment and particularly threatening the survival of living organisms.
3. Pollution must be controlled in order to have good quality of the environment. E.g. When plastic is thrown anywhere, it causes pollution of the land, it clogs the rain water drains, it affects feeding of the animals. Plastic pollution can be completely stopped by us through proper management of plastic waste. By recycling or reusing, we can overcome the plastic pollution. This would be a powerful way of environmental management.
4. Similarly, when we reduce pollution of different types, we automatically help to regain the environmental health.

Question 5.
Which projects will you run in relation to environmental conservation? How?

Answer:
Initially, assessment of the environmental problems will be done. The nature and severity of these problems will be understood by detailed study of the same. Then the projects can be undertaken to combat these problems.

1. Tree plantation is one such easier project that can be undertaken to conserve environment. The further nurturing of the tree will also be our responsibility. While selecting the tree, the local and sturdy varieties will be selected. Such trees can survive in polluted environment too and even under the pressure of urbanization.

2. Solid waste management is another very important project that should be undertaken by every society, colony or school. Segregation of waste into dry and wet types and then its proper disposal will be taught to all the people in the neighbouring area.

3. To ban the plastic and make people aware about harmful effects of plastic is another very significant project.

4. Fossil fuels are non-renewable and polluting. Therefore, their use should be reduced as far as possible. Therefore, using bicycle, or walking down for shorter distances or using public transport systems are the better alternatives. The awareness drive about these facts will be taken up as a project.

5. To take care of stray animals, provide shelter, feeding endangered birds like sparrows and allowing them to survive with our support is also one of the essential act to conserve other species.

Question 6.
Answer the following:

a. Write the factors affecting environment.

Answer:

1. The biotic and abiotic factors affect the environment. Among abiotic factors, the physical and chemical factors can alter the conditions of the environment.
2. Abiotic factors are either natural or man-made.
3. The various interrelationships between different living organisms can also affect environment.
4. The natural disasters such as earthquake, forest fires cyclones, cloud bursting, drought etc. change the environment.
5. The human activities such as deforestation, urbanisation, construction etc. cause permanent damage to the ecosystems. Due to man-made impact, there can be large scale changes in the environment.

b. Why does the human beings have important place in environment ?

Answer:

1. Humans and the environment are connected.
2. Humans cannot survive without environmental balance.
3. Humans used these natural resources for survival, but greed led to overexploitation.
4. Human overuse of resources has wiped out other species.
5. Human activities cause global warming, weather patterns, and water scarcity.
6. These issues show how vital humans are to the ecosystem.
7. If human activities are managed and nature is respected, we may reverse these environmental changes, but if not, it might be disastrous.

c. Write the types and examples of biodiversity.

Answer:

There are 3 types of diversity which are as follows:

1. Genetic diversity: Genetic diversity refers to the diversity which occurs among the organisms of same species. For example, diversity which is found among humans, each human being is different from another.
2. Species diversity: Species diversity refers to the innumerable species of organisms which are found in nature ranging from plants, animals to microbes.
3. Ecosystem diversity: Ecosystem diversity refers to the various kinds of ecosystem which are found in a region. Each ecosystem will have its own characteristic plants, animals, abiotic factors, etc.

d. How the biodiversity can be conserved?

Answer:
Biodiversity can be conserved by the following ways:

• Protection of the rare species of plants and animals.
• Creating habitats for the animals and plants by establishing National Parkland Sanctuaries.
• Declaration of bioreserves, the areas which are protected through conservation.
• Conservation projects for protecting special species.
• Conservation of all flora and fauna.
• Strict observance of the acts and rules.
• Use of traditional knowledge and maintaining record of traditional knowledge.

e. What do we learn from the story of Jadav Molai Payeng? 

Answer:

1. Mr. Molai single handedly transformed a barren land into a forest.
2. It was due to his positive attitude, affection towards nature, and hard work, that he could achieve success in planting trees, in over 1360 acres of land.
3. From the story of Jadav Molai Payeng, we learn that we all need to make Earth a better place to live for us as well as for the coming generations.
4. From his story, it is clear that if a large crowd causes harm to the environment, even a single person, if determined can establish a forest and benefit the environment in great ways.
5. Also, if one person can make such an impact, many people coming together in unity to take efforts for environment conservation can bring about a revolution.

f. Write the names of biodiversity hot spots.

Answer:

A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region with significant levels of biodiversity that is threatened with destruction. For example, forests are considered biodiversity hotspots. The Status is designated by Conservation International. To qualify as a biodiversity hotspot on Myers 2000 edition of the hotspot-map, a region must meet two strict criteria: it must contain at least 0.5% or 1,500 species of vascular plants as endemics, and it has to have lost at least 70% of its primary vegetation. Around the world, 35 areas qualify under this definition. These sites support nearly 60% of the world’s plant, bird, mammal, reptile, and amphibian species, with a very high share of those species as endemics.
The biodiversity hotspots in India are as follows:

Answer:

The first symbol is for giving the message, “Reduce, reuse and recycle”. This is important mantra for the utilization of natural resources.
The second symbol gives the message about ‘Save water’.
The third symbol advocates the use of solar energy.

1. These symbols inculcate the importance of being eco-friendly. The first symbol is essential to maintain the natural resources by reusing and recycling them. As far as possible, one should reduce the excessive use of resources by preventing consumerism.

2. Water problems persist in many major cities and villages. In villages it results in drought like conditions. It also reflects into loss of agricultural produce. Therefore, the message about saving water or to make judicious use of water should be spread far and wide.

3. The solar energy is the renewable energy option which is very easily available in country like India. By using solar energy, we can replace the polluting and exhaustible fuels. Thereby, pollution will also be reduced.