CH3 LANDFORMS AND LIFE

📚 Chapter 3

LANDFORMS AND LIFE

Exploring Society: India and Beyond

Name: ___________________________   Class: ________   Date: ___________

📝  CHAPTER NOTES

1. What is a Landform?

A landform is a physical feature on the surface of Earth. Landforms take shape over millions of years and have a significant connection with the environment and life.

2. Key Terms

3. 🏔️ Mountains

Mountains are landforms much higher than the surrounding landscape.

Features:

• Broad base, steep slopes, narrow summit (peak)
• Higher mountains are snow-capped (snow never melts at the top)
• At lower altitudes, snow melts in summer and feeds rivers
• Hills = lower height, less steep, rounded tops (e.g., Aravalli Range — very OLD)
• Himalayas are YOUNG mountains (tall, sharp peaks) — still growing!

Famous Mountains of the World

Mountain Environment

• Montane forests on slopes: pines, firs, spruce, deodar (tall, cone-shaped, pointed leaves)
• At very high altitudes: grasses, mosses, lichen
• Mountain fauna: golden eagle, snow leopard, ibex, Himalayan tahr, yak, mountain hare, black bear, peregrine falcon

Life in the Mountains — Opportunities & Challenges

4. 🪨 Plateaus

A plateau is a landform that rises up from surrounding land and has a MORE OR LESS FLAT surface. Steep on at least one side.

• Height: a few hundred to several thousand metres
• Rich in mineral deposits — called ‘storehouses of minerals’
• Mining is a major activity on plateaus
• Many plateaus have rocky soil → less fertile (exception: lava plateaus have rich black soil)
• Home to spectacular waterfalls

Famous Plateaus

Famous Waterfalls on Plateaus

• Victoria Falls — Zambezi River, southern Africa
• Hundru Falls — Subarnarekha River, Chhota Nagpur Plateau
• Jog Falls — Sharavati River, Western Ghats (India)
• Nohkalikai Falls — 340 m drop from Cherrapunji Plateau, Meghalaya

5. 🌾 Plains

Plains are landforms with an extensive flat or gently undulating surface. No large hills or deep valleys. Generally NOT more than 300 metres above sea level.

The Ganga Plain (Gangetic Plain) — India

• About 40 crore people live here — more than 1/4 of India’s total population!
• Occupations: agriculture and river fishing
• Food crops: rice, wheat, maize, barley, millets
• Fibre crops: cotton, jute, hemp
• Traditional farming = rainfed; now irrigation through canals and groundwater
• Problem: Over-irrigation → depletion (decrease) of groundwater
• Other problems: high population, pollution

Life in the Plains — Opportunities & Challenges

6. 🏜️ Deserts — A Bonus Landform

• Large and dry expanses with very little precipitation.
• Unique flora and fauna.
• HOT deserts: Sahara (Africa), Thar (India — northwest).
• COLD deserts: Gobi (Asia); some experts call Antarctica a desert too.
• Despite harsh conditions, humans have adapted — e.g., Thar Desert communities have rich folk traditions.

7. 📊 Quick Comparison — All Three Landforms

8. 📜 Five Tinais of Tamil Sangam Poetry

Ancient Tamil poets classified five landscapes (tinais) showing connection between humans and nature:

📝  WORKSHEET

Chapter 3 — Landforms and Life

Name: _______________________   Class: ______   Score: _____ / 30

PART A — Define the Terms  (3 × 2 = 6 marks)

Q1. What is a landform? Name the three main types.

Q2. What is terrace farming? Why is it practised in mountains?

Q3. What is a floodplain? How is it formed?

PART B — True or False  (Textbook Q4 — 9 marks)

Write TRUE or FALSE in the box:

PART C — Match the Pairs  (Textbook Q5 — 8 marks)

PART D — Short Answer Questions  (2 × 4 = 8 marks)

Q13. Textbook Q2: The journey from Chhota Nagpur (Jharkhand) → Prayagraj (UP) → Almora (Uttarakhand) covers THREE landforms. Describe each landform you encounter on this trip.

Q14. Textbook Q3: List TWO famous pilgrimage spots in India and identify the landform they are located in.

Q15. Fill in the blank: Tibetan Plateau is called the __________________ of the World because its average altitude is ________ metres. The Deccan Plateau was formed through __________________ activity.

✅  ANSWER KEY

(For Teacher’s Reference)

Part A — Definitions

Q1. A landform is a physical feature on Earth’s surface. Three types: Mountains, Plateaus, Plains.

Q2. Terrace farming is cutting steps (terraces) into hill/mountain slopes to create flat surfaces for cultivation. It is practised in mountains because the steep terrain does not allow regular flat farming.

Q3. A floodplain is a type of plain formed by rivers. Rivers carry sediments (rock, sand, silt) from mountains and deposit them on the plains, making the soil very fertile.

Part B — True or False

1. FALSE (Himalayas are young but have sharp, tall peaks — not rounded. Aravalli is old with rounded tops.)
2. TRUE
3. TRUE (Hills are lower, with rounded tops — they are part of the same highland landform category.)
4. FALSE (Each landform has different flora and fauna.)
5. FALSE (Yamuna is a tributary of the Ganga, not the other way.)
6. TRUE
7. TRUE
8. TRUE
9. FALSE (Some deserts like the Gobi are cold.)

Part C — Match the Pairs

1-H (Mount Everest → climbing), 2-E (rafting → river), 3-D (camels → desert), 4-B (plateau → roof of the world), 5-C (Gangetic plains → rice fields), 6-F (waterway → Ganga), 7-A (Mount Kilimanjaro → Africa), 8-G (Yamuna → tributary)

Part D — Short Answers

Q13. Chhota Nagpur (Jharkhand) = Plateau (Chhota Nagpur Plateau — rocky, rich in minerals). Prayagraj (UP) = Plain (Gangetic plain — flat, fertile, agricultural). Almora (Uttarakhand) = Mountain (Himalayas — high, cold, snow-capped, terrace farming).

Q14. Badrinath/Kedarnath/Gangotri = Mountains. Prayagraj (Triveni Sangam) / Varanasi = Plains. (Any similar answer accepted.)

Q15. Roof of the World; 4,500 metres; volcanic.