Friday, October 2, 2015

All you need to know about Geography


Once one of my seniors informed me that she was planning to visit Switzerland and I spontaneously suggested her to visit New Zealand as I assumed that they are close. She dismissed it as one of my lame jokes. But I was serious.;)

Till a few years back I was unaware that Chennai falls in the eastern coast of India. Till three months back I had no clue that Pondicherry consisted of four islands and a part of it, Mahe is in the western coast of India. Some find Geography easy and interesting and others find it intolerable and till March 2015 everything about geography scared me. Apart from the theoretical part, Maps were my all time weakness. One day when I was struggling with the NCERT books of Geography in the library, a person sitting next to me who till then never talked to me offered me a book by a local author for Indian geography and I will always be thankful to him as it definitely made Indian geography easier and interesting.

We will talk about the sources for world geography and then proceed to Indian geography. Both are very important.

Sources:
For geography in general:

1. Go through Class XI NCERT textbook, ‘Fundamentals of Physical Geography’. Once you are done with this please buy a book named ‘Certificate Physical and Human Geography’ by Gohcheng Leong.

For Indian Geography:
2. There is this book called ‘Periyar Geography of India’ by Arvind Kumar. Do read it anyhow. My friend had suggested this and it worked wonders. This book isn’t available online and can only be ordered from book shops in Delhi. In my previous write up I had mentioned the phone number of a book shop located in Old Rajinder Nagar, so kindly order from them.

3. I am attaching a link to the handouts given by Manocha Sir of Vajiram & Ravi. Definitely one of the best teachers one can come across.

4. For videos that cover everything about geography (World and India) please go through the videos of Rajtanil Solanki working with Mrunal. It is very in-depth and if you cover the 57 videos, you will master geography.


MAPS
5.Please buy the large size wall map which will only cost around 30 Rs. and paste it in your room wall. Start with world political and India political. Know the different seas, the oceans, major places. 

[Get acquainted with places as if it is going to be your next vacation destination. I hope many such places will be visited in the future. J]

6. Buy an atlas. Usually ‘The Orient Black Swan School Atlas’ is preferred. Get the latest edition. I am attaching a handout with important places. 

7. Start your Map reading from the list by Manocha Sir.

Whenever anything in geography scares you, try to see videos connected to the topic in YouTube. Suppose you are reading about Monsoons in India and are unable to understand the several factors behind it, check the following video.

Or say you are studying about El Nino or LA Nina, do go through this video

Some Questions asked in Prelims 2015

Which one of the following countries of South-West Asia does not open out to the Mediterranean Sea?
a.       Syria
b.      Jordan
c.       Lebanon
d.      Israel
Solution: b)        

[All these places were in news. So try to make an elaborate list of all places in news and at least see their location, seas/oceans near to them]

Each day is more or less the same, the morning is clear and bright with a sea breeze, as the sun climbs high in the sky, heat mounts up, dark clouds form, then rain comes from thunder and lightning. But rain is soon over. Which of the following regions is described in the above passage?
a.       Savannah
b.      Equatorial
c.       Monsoon
d.      Mediterranean
Solution: b)

In India, in which one of the following types of forests is teak a dominant tree species?
a) Tropical moist deciduous forest
b) Tropical rain forest
c) Tropical thorn scrub forest
d) Temperate forest with grasslands
Solution: a)

In India the steel production industry requires the import of
a) Saltpeter
b) Rock phosphate
c) Coking coal
d) All of the above
Solution: c)

Consider the following statements

1. The winds which blow between 30 degrees N and 60 degrees S latitudes throughout the year are known as westerlies.
2. The moist air masses that cause winter rams in North-Western region of India are part of westerlies.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Solution: b)

Tides occur in oceans and seas due to which of the following?
1. Gravitational Force of the Sun
2. Gravitational Force of the Moon
3. Gravitational Force of the Earth

Select the correct answer using the code given below
a) 1 only
b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only
d) 1, 2, and 3
Solution: d)

Consider the following States:
1. Arunachal Pradesh
2. Himachal Pradesh
3. Mizoram
In which of the following states do “Tropical Wet Evergreen Forests” occur?
a) 1 only
b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only
d) 1, 2 and 3
Solution: c)

Which of the following pairs of States of India indicates the easternmost and Westernmost State?
a) Assam and Rajasthan
b) Arunachal Pradesh and Rajasthan
c) Assam and Gujarat
d) Arunachal Pradesh and Gujarat
Solution: d)


Do not panic with the amount of information. Despite geography being my weakness, I could answer all the questions correctly in this year prelims due to the above mentioned sources. It is always easier to start with the videos, get rid of your fear and then proceed to text books. Love.


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