Exercises
1(a) Which of the following houses would be suitable in a mountainous region? Put a tick in the appropriate box. Give reasons for selecting that house.
The suitable one is the house with a steeply sloping roof, built of wood and stone, with a raised lower storey — the first house in the set.
Reasons for selecting it:
Sloping roof — rain water and snow slide off at once instead of collecting on the roof and making it heavy.
Wood and stone — these are the natural materials easily available in mountainous regions, so the house can be built without carrying material a long way.
Thick wooden walls — wood keeps the inside warm, which is needed where the climate is cold.
Raised floor — it keeps the living rooms above the cold, damp ground.
The flat-roofed and the thatched round houses are not suitable there: a flat roof would collect snow and water, and a thatched hut cannot keep out the cold of the mountains.
2(b) What materials will you mainly use for building a multi-storeyed house? Choose the correct option.
- (a) Mortar / coal / cement / bricks
- (b) Cement / bricks / cotton / iron
- (c) Iron / cement / mortar / bricks
Option (c) is correct. A tall building needs iron for strength, and cement, mortar and bricks for the structure. Option (a) is wrong because coal is a fuel, not a building material, and option (b) is wrong because cotton is used for cloth, not for construction.
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3Arrange the following considerations from the most to least important in house-building — (a) Luxury (b) Structure (c) Climate.
1. Climate — most important. The shape of the roof, the material and the ventilation all depend on the rain, the heat or the cold of that region.
2. Structure — next. Once the climate is taken into account, the house must be strong and safe to live in.
3. Luxury — least important. Comforts can be added later; a house can be lived in without them, but not without a suitable design and a sound structure.
4Write the following.
(a) List the eco-friendly things in your house.
Things in a house that are eco-friendly are the ones that use fewer natural resources and cause no pollution:
Natural light and airLarge windows and ventilators, so lamps and fans are needed less during the day.
Solar water heaterHeats water using sunlight instead of electricity or fuel.
Rainwater harvestingRain water from the roof is collected and used, or sent back into the ground.
Compost pitKitchen waste is turned into manure instead of being thrown away.
Reusing waterWater used for washing vegetables or clothes is used again for the plants.
Cloth bags and earthen potsNatural materials used in place of plastic.
Note: look around your own house and write only those things that you really have. Your list may be shorter or longer than this one.
(b) Which of the gadgets in the house can be run on solar energy?
A solar water heater, solar lamps and garden lights, a solar cooker, and a solar panel on the roof that can run the lights, fans, the television and the refrigerator. Small things like calculators, watches and mobile chargers can also work on solar cells.
5What are the types of pollution that can be observed at a construction site?
Air pollutionDust from cement, sand and rubble, and smoke from the machines and vehicles, spreads into the air.
Noise pollutionMixers, drills, breakers and trucks make a loud noise all through the day.
Water pollutionWaste water, cement and paint run off the site into drains, streams and the ground water.
Soil pollutionRubble, broken tiles, plastic and chemicals left on the ground spoil the soil.
Digging up hills, drawing out large amounts of ground water and felling trees to clear the land add to this damage, which is why construction has to be done with care for the environment.
