NCERT CLASS- 6 GEOGRAPHY
CHAPTER- 8 [INDIA: CLIMATE, VEGETATION AND WILDLIFE]
- The main seasons recognised in India are:-
— Cold weather season (winter)- December to February.
— Hot weather season (summer)- March to May.
— Southwest monsoon season (rainy)- June to September.
— Season of retreating monsoon (autumn)- October to November.
- Cold weather season or winter
= Sun rays do not fall directly in the region.
= Temperature are quite low in northern India.
- Hot weather season or summer
= Sun rays falls directly, temperatures becomes very high.
= Hot and dry winds called loo, blow during the day.
- South- west monsoon or rainy season
= marked by onset and advances of monsoon.
= wind blows from Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal towards the land.
- Season of retreating monsoon or autumn.
= wind move back from the mainland to the Bay of Bengal.
= Southern part of India, particularly Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh receive rainfall.
- Climate- average weather condition, measured over many years.
= Climate of India has broadly been described as monsoon type.
- Monsoon taken from Arabic word ‘mausim’, means seasons.
- Climate of a place is affected by its location, altitude, distance from the sea and relief.
- Jaisalmer and Bikaner in the desert of Rajasthan are very hot.
- Drass and Kargil in Jammu and Kashmir are freezing cold.
- Coastal plains like Mumbai and Kolkata experiences moderate climate, neither too hot nor too cold, places are very humid.
- Mawsynram in Meghalaya receives the world’s highest rainfall.
- Might not rain in Jaisalmer in Rajasthan in a particular year.
- The Grasses, shrubs and trees, which grow on their own without interference or help from human beings are called natural vegetation.
- Due to varied climatic conditions, India has a wide range of natural vegetation .
- Plants release O2 that we breathe and absorbs CO2.
- The roots of plants bind the soil, thus control soil erosion.
- Forests provided us with timber for furniture, fuel, wood, fodder, medicinal plants and herbs, lac, honey, gum, etc.
- Programmes like Van Mahotsav involve more people in making our earth green.
- Forests are home to a variety of wild life.
- Tiger is our national animal.
- Gir forest in Gujarat is the home of Asiatic lions.
- Elephants and one-horned rhinoceros roam in the forest of Assam .
- Elephants also found in Kerala and Karnataka.
- Camels and wild asses are found in the Great Indian Desert and the Rann of Kuchchh respectively.
- Wild goats, snow leopards, bears, etc are found in the Himalayan region.
= Many other animals found in our country - monkey, wolf, jackal, nilgai, cheetah, etc.
- Peacock is our national bird.
- There are several hundreds of species of snakes found in India- cobras and kraits are important.
- To protect them many national parks, scantuaries and biosphere reserves have been setup.
- The government has started PROJECT TIGER and Project Elephant to protect these animals.
- Every year we observe wildlife week in the 1st week of October to create awareness of conserving the habitats of the animal kingdom.
- Some birds such as Pintail Duck, Curlews, Flamingo, Osprey and Little Stint migrate to our country in winter season every year.
- Smallest migratory bird Little Stint weighing as low as 15 gram from Arctic region travel over 8000 km to reach India.