Social Science Short Question and answers

Subject – Geography Class – VIIChapter – 1 Environment

Question1. What is environment? Answer: Everything that we see in our surroundings forms environment. It is our basic life support system. It provides us air, water, food and land—the basic needs of our life.

Question2. Why is our environment changing?Answer: Our environment is changing because our needs are increasing day by day. To fulfill these needs we often don’t think about the environment and start modifying it.

Question3. What are the basic components of natural environment?Answer: The basic components of natural environment are—land, water, air, plants and animals.

Question4. What does lithosphere provide us?Answer: Lithosphere provide us forests, grasslands for grazing land for agriculture and human settlements. It is a rich source of minerals.

Question5. Name different types of water bodies.Answer: Rivers, lakes, seas, oceans, etc.

Question6. How is atmosphere important for us? Answer: Atmosphere protects us from the harmful rays and scorching heat of the sun.

Question7. What do you see in the deserts? Name some animals.Answer: We see camels, snakes, lizards and insects.

Question8. What is barter system?Answer: Barter system is a method of trade in which goods are exchanged without the use of money.

Question9. Distinguish between biotic and abiotic environment with examples.Answer: The world of living organisms is known as biotic environment. Example: plants and animals.The world of non-living element is known as abiotic environment. Example: land.

Question10. How is environment important for us?Answer: It is important for us because it is the provider of air, water, food and land— the basic necessities of life.

Chapter – 2 Inside Our Earth

Q1. What is called the uppermost layer of the earth? [Imp.]Answer: It is called the crust.

Q2. What is the special feature of this layer? {Imp.]Answer. It is the thinnest of all the layers

Q3. Name the main mineral constituent of the continental mass.Answer: Silica and alumina

Q4. Name the constituents of the oceanic crust. [V. Imp.]Answer: Silica and magnesium.

Q5. What is the radius of the core?Answer: The radius of the core is about 3500 km.

Q6. What are the main constituents of the core?Answer: The main constituents of the core are nickel and iron. It is usually known as nife.

Q7. What is the earth’s crust made of?       [V.Imp.]Answer: It is made up of different types of rocks.

Q8. What are called igneous rocks?Answer:  When the molten magma cools, it becomes solid. Rocks formed in this way are called igneous rocks.

Q9. What are fossils?Answer: The remains of the dead plant and animals trapped in the layers of rocks are called fossils.

Q10. What happens when igneous and sedimentary rocks go under great heat and pressure?Answer: They change into metamorphic rocks.

Chapter – 3 Our Changing Earth

Q1. What do you know about the lithospheric plates?Answer: The earth’s crust consists of several large and some small, rigid, irregularly— shaped plates, Le., slabs which canny continents and the ocean floor.

Q2. How do the lithospheric plates move?Answer:  They move around very slowly, just a few millimeters each year.

Q3. What is a volcano?Answer:  A volcano is a vent or opening in the earth’s crust through which molten material erupts suddenly.

Q4.  Define focus’ and ‘epicenter’.Answer: The place in the crust where the movement starts is called the ‘focus’. The place on the surface above the focus is called the ‘epicenter’.

Q5.  Name the three types of earthquake waves.Answer:

P waves or longitudinal wavesS waves or transverse wavesL wave or surface waves.

Q6.  What is a seismograph? Answer:  A seismograph is a machine which measures an earthquake.

Q7.  Name the scale on which the magnitude of the earthquake is measured.Answer: Richter scale.

Q8. Which earthquake is classified as a major earthquake?Answer: An earthquake of 7.0 magnitudes is classified as a major earthquake.

Q9. Where is Victoria Falls located? Answer: Victoria Falls is located on the borders of Zambia and Zimbabwe in Africa.

Q10. What is a delta?Answer: The collection of sediments from all the mouths forms a delta. It is triangular shaped landmass.

Q11. Name some coastal landforms.Answer:  Sea caves, sea arches, stacks and sea cliff.

Chapter – 4 Air

Q1.  How does carbon dioxide create green house effect?    Answer:  Carbon dioxide creates greenhouse effect by trappeing the heat radiated from the earth.

Q2.  What is the significance of greenhouse gas?Answer:  Without the greenhouse gas the earth would have been too cold to line in.

Q3.  What happens when air is heated?Answer: When air is heated, it expands, becomes lighter and goes up.

Q4.  What is the nature of cold air?Ans. It has tendency to go down.

Q5.  Why do green plants use carbon dioxide?Answer:  Green plants use carbon dioxide to make their food and release oxygen.

Q6.  What is an important feature of Stratosphere?Answer:  Stratosphere contains a layer of ozone gas.

Q7.  How is ozone important for us?  [Imp.]Answer: It protects us from the harmful effect of the sunrays.

Q8.  What is temperature?Answer: The degree of hotness and coldness of the air is known as temperature.

Q9.  What is insolation?Answer:  Insolation is the incoming solar energy intercepted by the earth.

Q10.  Why is there no air pressure on the moon?Answer: There is no air on the moon and therefore no air pressure.

Chapter – 5 WaterQ1. What is terrarium?Ans. It is an artificial enclosure for keeping small house plants. .

Q2. Which type of water do the ocean bodies and the seas contain?Ans. They contain salty water.

Q3. What do you mean by salinity? Ans. Salinity is the amount of salt in grams present in 1000 grams of water.

Q4. What is the average salinity of the oceans?Ans. The average salinity of the oceans is 35 parts per thousand.

Q5. What is the salinity of Dead sea?Ans. The salinity of Dead sea is 45 parts per thousand.

Q.6. Why do swimmers float in Dead Sea?Ans. Swimmers float in Dead sea because the increased salt content makes it dense.

Q7. What is the significance of World Water Day?Ans. On the occasion of World Water Day (22nd March) the need to conserve water is reinforced in different ways.

Q8. What is Tsunami? [V. Imp.]Ans. Tsunami is a Japanese word that means ‘Harbour Waves’ as the harbours get destroyed whenever there is Tsunami.

Q9. What happens during high tide?Ans. During high tide waves rise high and water covers much of the shore.

Q10. What happens during low tide?Ans. During low tide water falls to its lowest level and recedes from the shore.

Subject – History Class – VIIChapter – 1 Tracing Changes through A Thousand Years

Q1. Who was al-Idrisi?Answer:  al-Idrisi was an Arab cartographer.

Q2. Who is a ‘cartographer’?Answer:  Cartographer is one who draws a map.

Q3. What difference do you notice in the map drawn by al-Idrisi?Answer: In the map drawn by al-Idrisi we find a completely different view. Here south India is shown at the present north India and Sri Lanka is the island at the top

Q4. Who used the term Hindustan for the first time and when?Answer:  Minhaj-i Siraj used the term ‘Hindustan’ for the first time in the thirteenth century.

Q5. What sources do the historians use for the study of a particular period of history?Ans. The historians use the sources like coins, inscriptions, architectures and textual records for the study of specific period.

Q6. What do you mean by archives?Answer:  Archives were the places where manuscripts were collected.

Q7. Who were scribes?Answer: Scribes were those professionals who used to copy down the manuscripts.

Q8. How did the scribes copy down the manuscripts?Answer: Scribes copied down the manuscripts by hands.

Q9. What changes took place during 700 and 1750? Answer: Many technologies like Persian wheel in irrigation, the spinning wheel in weaving, and firearms in combat made their appearance. Some new foods and beverages like potatoes, corn, chilies, tea and coffee also arrived in the subcontinent.

Q10. What factors contributed to the variety of developments?Answer: The new technologies and innovations came to the subcontinent with the people who came from other areas and settled here.

Chapter – 2 New Kings and Kingdoms

Q1. Who was Dantidurga?Answer: Dantidurga was a Rashtrakuta chief who turned to be a kshatriya after performing a ritual known as hiranya-garbha.

Q2. What was called ‘rent’?Answer:  Resources obtained from the producers were called ‘rent’.

Q3. Who paid revenue?Answer:  The traders paid revenue

Q4. What were ‘prashastis’?Answer:  Prashastis were the details depicting the rule and personality of the rulers

Q5. Who were the writers of Prashastis?Answer:  The learned brahmanas were the writers of the Prashastis.

Q6. Who was Kalhana?Answer: Kalhana was a great Sanskrit poet from Kashmir.

Q7. What was ‘tripartite struggle’?   Answer:  The tripartite sruggle was a long drawn conflict among the rulers of Gurjara- Pratihara, Rashtrakuta and Pala dynasties for control over Kanauj.

Q8. Who wrote Kitab al-Hind?Answer:  A great Arab poet al-Baruni wrote Kitab al-Hind

Q9. Who was Prithviraja in ?Answer: Prithviraja III was afamous Chauhan ruler of Delhi and surrounding regions during 1168-1192.

Q10. Who destroyed the temple of Somnath?Answer: Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, a ruler of Afghanistan, destroyed the temple of Somnath.

Chapter – 3 The Delhi SultansQ1. Who defeated the Tomara Rajputs and when?Answer:  The Chauhans of Ajmer defeated the Tomara Rajputs in the middle of the 12th century.

Q2. When did the Delhi Sultanate lag its foundation?Answer: The Delhi Sultanate laid its foundation in the beginning of the thirteenth century.

Q3. Name the five dynasties that together made the Delhi Sultanate.Answer:

Early Turkish rulers (1206—1290)Khalji dynasty (1290—1320)Tughluq dynasty (1320—1414)Sayyid dynasty (1414—1451)Lodi dynasty (1451—1526). 

Q4. Mention the sources that provide a lot of information about the Delhi Sultans.Answer:  Inscriptions, coins, architecture and history written in Persian by learned authors are some of the most important sources that provide a lot of information about the Delhi Sultans.

Q5. Why did the authors of tawarikh write their histories for Sultans?Answer: They did so in the hope of rich rewards.

Q6. Why was Raziyya removed from the throne?                                                          [V. Imp.]Answer:  Being a woman ruler she was not favoured by anyone. She ruled just for four years and was finally dethroned in 1240.

Q7. What is a mosque called in Arabic?Answer:  It is called a masjid.

Q8. What is the literal meaning of mosque?Answer:  It refers to a place where a Muslim prostrates in reverence to Allah.

Q9. What is called the qibla?Answer:  The direction towards which Muslims turn while offering prayer or namaz.

Q10. Why did the early Delhi Sultans favor their slaves?Answer:  The slaves were totally dependent on their master. Therefore the Sultan could trust and rely upon them.

Chapter – 4 The Mughal Empire

Q1. Why was it a difficult task for rulers of the Middle Ages to rule the Indian subcontinent? Answer:  It was because people of diverse backgrounds and cultures lived here.

Q2. Who was Genghis Khan?Answer: He was the ruler of the Mongol tribes, China and Central Asia.

Q3. Who was Babur?Answer: He was the first Mughal emperor and reigned from 1526 to 1530

Q4. Name the battlefield where Ibrahim Lodi was defeated by Babur?Answer:  Panipat.

Q5. To whom did Babur defeat at Chanderi?[V- Imp.]Answer:  Babur defeated the Rajputs at Chanderi

Q6. What forced Hwnayun to flee to Iran?Answer: After being defeated by Sher Khan at Chausa in 1539 and Kanauj in 1540 Humayun fled to Iran.

Q7. At what age did Akbar become the emperor of the Mughal Empire?Answer: Akbar became the emperor of the Mughal Empire at the age of 13.

Q8. Who was the regent of Akbar?Answer:  Bairam Khan.

Q9. How is Prince Khurram better known as in the Indian History?Answer: Price Khurram is better known as Emperor Shah Jahan in the Indian History.

Q10. Who was victorious in the conflict over succession amongst Shah Jahan’s sons?Answer: Aurangzeb was victorious.

Chapter – 5 Rulers And Builders

Q1. Why was limestone cement used in construction of large structures? Answer: Limestone cement was very high-quality cement, which, when mixed with stone chips hardened into concrete. This made construction of large structures easier and faster.

Q2. How did the Persian court chronicles describe the Sultan?Answer: Persian court chronicles described the Sultan as the ‘Shadow of God’.

Q3. Name the ruler who won universal respect for constructing a large reservoir just – outside Delhi-i kuhna?Answer: Sultan Iltutmish.

Q4. What are the special features of Humagun’s tomb?Answer: (a) It has a central towering dome.(b)It has a tall gateway (pishtaq).

Q5. What was mahamandapa?Answer: It was the main hall in the temple where dances were performed.

Q6. Name the temple built by king Rajarajadeva.Answer: Rajarajeshvara temple.

Q7. When was the tomb of Hanumaun built?Answer: It was built between 1562 and 1571.

Q8. Who constructed the Kandariya Mahadeva temple?Answer: King Dhangadeva of the Chandela dynasty constructed the Kandariya Mahadeva temple.

Q9. Where was Shah Jahan’s capital in the early years of his reign?Answer: It was at Agra

Q10. What is the special feature of Fatehpur Sikri, Akbar’s capital?Answer:Many of the buildings show the influence of the architectural styles of Gujarat and Malwa.

Chapter – 6 Towns, Traders and Craftspersons

1. What do temple towns represent? Answer:  Temple towns represent a very important pattern of urbanisation.

2. Why did the rulers endow temples with grants of land and money?Answer:  They did so in order to carry out elaborate rituals, feed pilgrims and priests and celebrate festivals.

3. How did pilgrims contribute to the temples?Answer:  They made donations.

4. What is bronze?Answer:  Bronze is an alloy that contains copper and tin.

5. What is bell metal?Answer:  Bell metal contains a greater proportion of tin than other kinds of bronze. This produces a bell like sound,

6. How did temple authorities use their wealth?Answer:  They used their wealth to finance trade and banking,

7. What did the Indian traders bring from Africa?Answer:  They brought gold and ivory from Africa.

8. Name a few Indian spices which became an important part of European cooking. Ans. Pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, dried ginger, g. 9. What were Craftspersons of Bidar famous for?Answer:  They were famous for their inlay work in copper and silver,

10. What do the ruins of Hampi reveal?Answer:  The ruins at the Hampi reveal a well-fortified city.

Subject – Civics Class – VIIChapter – 1 On Equality

Q1. What is Joothan about?Answer: It is about the bitter experiences of growing up of a dalit boy.

Q2. What suggestion was given to Ansaris by the property dealer?Answer: They were suggested to change their names and call themselves Mr and Mrs kumar

Q3. On what basis were the Ansaris treated unequally?Ans. The Ansaris were treated unequally on the basis of religion.

Q4. What do you mean by ‘dignity’? Answer: Dignity means thinking of one self and others as worthy of self-respect.

Q5. What are the two ways in which the government has tried to implement the equality that guaranteed in the constitution?Answer: (i)Through laws(ii)Through government programmers or schemes to help unprivileged groups.

Q6. Who have been employed to cook the meal under midday meal scheme?Answer: Dalit women have beep employed for this purpose.

Q7. How did B.R. Ambedkar view self-respect?Answer: B.R. Ambedkar viewed self-respect as the most vital factor in life, without which man was cipher.

Q8. What was the condition of the African-Americans in the United States of America prior to 1950s?Answer: Prior to 1950s, the African-Americans were treated extremely unequally in the USA and denied equality through law.

Q9. What is known as the Civil Rights Movements? Answer: A movement took place in the USA in the late 1950s to push for equal rights for African-Americans. This movement later came to be known as Civil Rights Movement.

Chapter – 2 Role of Government in Health

Q1. What do people in a democratic country expect the government? Answer: People in a democratic country expect the government to work for their welfare.

Q2. Where did most doctor prefer to settle?Answer: Most doctors prefer to settle in urban areas.

Q3. Name some water borne diseases.Answer: Diarrhoea, worms, hepatitis.

Q4. What problem do rural people face whenever they come in a grip of an illness?Answer: They have to travel long distances to reach a doctor.

Q5. What do we need to prevent and treat illnesses?Answer: We need appropriate healthcare facilities such as health centres, hospitals laboratories for testing, ambulance services, etc.

Q6. What do you mean by a public health care system? [V. Imp.]Answer: This is a system of hospitals and health centres run by the government.

Q7. What happened to Hakim Sheik?Answer: One evening in 1992, he accidently fell off a running train and suffered head injuries.

Q8. Why did Hakim Sheik file a case in the court?Answer: Hakim Sheik filed a case in the court because of the indifferent attitude of various government hospitals that refused to admit him.

Q9. Who got costly medical treatment—Aman or Raryan?Answer: Ranjan got costly medical treatment.

Q10. What did the court ask the State Government in Hakim Sheik case?Answer: The court asked the State Government to give Hakim Sheik the money that he had spent on his treatment.

Q11. What is full form of RMPs? Where are they found?Answer: Registered Medical Practitioners. They are found in the rural areas.

Chapter – 3 How the State Government Works

Q1. How is the Governor of a state appointed? Answer: The Governor of a state is appointed by the Central Government.

Q2. Whose responsibility is it to nm various government departments or ministers? Answer: It is the responsibility of the Chief Minister and other ministers to run various government departments or ministers.

Q3. How will you define a Legislative Assembly?Answer: A Legislative Assembly is a place where all the MLAs, from the ruling party as well as the opposition, meet to discuss various things.

Q4. Define the term ‘government’. [Imp.]Answer: The term ‘government’ refers to the government departments and various ministers who head them.

Q5. Who is the head of the executive?Answer: The Chief Minister is the head of the executive.

Q6. Why did the Chief Minister and the minister for health visit Patalpwam district?Answer: They went to visit the families who had lost their relatives due to the spread of diarrhea. They also visited people in the hospitals.

Q7. Why are press conferences organised?Answer: Press conferences are oragnised to discuss various current issues.

Q8. What do you know about a wallpaper?Answer: A wallpaper is an interesting activity through which research can be done on particular topics of interest.

Q9. Why do people in a democratic set up organise meetings? [V. Imp.]Answer: They do so to voice their opinions and protest against the government if any of its actions is not in their favour.

Q10. The government works at three levels. Name them.Answer: The government works at three levels namely

LocalStateNatural

Chapter – 4 Growing Up as Boys and Girls

Q1. What was a very important activity on the Samoan islands in the 1920s?Answer: Fishing was a very important activity on the Samoan islands in the 1920s.

 Q2. How was the girls’ school in Madhya Pradesh in the 1960s designed differently from the boys’ school?Answer: Girls’ school had a central courtyard where girls played in total seclusion and safety from the outside world. The boys school had no such courtyard.

Q3. As these girls walked on the streets, they looked so purposeful’. What does the word ‘purposeful’ refer to?Answer: Their only intention was to get home safe and as soon as possible.

Q4. Why do we give boys and girls different toys to play with?Answer: We want to tell them that they will have different futures when they become men and women.

Q5. What do we teach boys and girls in their early childhood?Answer: We teach boys that they need to be tough and masculine. On the contrary we , teach girls that they need to be soft and mild.

Q6. Why did Harmeet develop a notion that her mother did not work?Answer: In our societies, the work that women do within the home is not recognised as work. It is assumed that this is something that comes naturally to women. It is therefore, Harmeet developed such notions and said that her mother did not work

Q7. Why are the wages of domestic workers usually low? Answer: It is because the work that domestic workers do, does not have much value.

Q8. What is the daily schedule of a domestic worker?Answer: A domestic worker’s day usually begins at five in the morning and ends at twelve in the night.

Q9. How are domestic workers treated by their employers? Answer: Domestic workers are often not treated well by their employers. Despite the hard work they do, their employers often do not show them much respect.

Q10. What do you mean by the term ‘double burden’? Answer: Several women today work both inside and outside the home. This is often referred to as ‘double burden’.

Chapter – 5 Women Change The World

Q1. What is the percentage of women engaged in agricultural work in our country? Answer: 83.6% of women are engaged in agricultural work.

Q2. What does agricultural work mean to these women?Answer: Plating, weeding, harvesting and threshing.

Q3. When we think of a farmer we only think of a man. Why?Answer: It is because major portion of the agricultural work is done by man. Women only assist them.

Q4. Why was Ramabai given the title ‘Pandita’?Answer: It was because she could read and write Sanskrit. It was a remarkable achievement as women were not allowed such knowledge those days.

Q5. How did women support men in the pottery trade?Answer: They collected the mud and prepared the earth for the pots.

Q6. Mention any one stereotype about what women can or cannot do?Answer: Women can be good teachers but they are incapable of dealing with technical things.

Q7. How did Laxmi Lakra break the stereotype that only men could be engine drivers?Answer: She became the first woman engine driver for Northern Railways.

Q8. What changes came to be seen with the emergence of new ideas about education and learning in the 19th century?Answer: Schools became more common and communities that had never learnt reading and writing started sending their children to school.

Q9. Who was Rashsundari Devi? What did she write in her autobiography?Answer: Rashsundari Devi was a housewife from a rich landlord’s family in west Bengal. She wrote about her everyday life experiences in her autobiography.

Q10. What did Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain do for the girls?Answer: She started a school for girls in Kolkata which is functioning even today.