Articles

My next-door neighbour, Mrs. Jones,
has got a garden full of stones:
A crazy path, a lily pond,
a rockery and, just beyond
A sundial with a strange device,
which Mrs. Jones thinks rather nice.

When we produce a good by exploiting natural resources, it is an activity of the primary sector. Since most of the natural products we get are from agriculture, dairy, fishing, forestry, this sector is also called agriculture and related sector.

Different persons can have different developmental goals. What may be development for one may not be development for the other. It may even be destructive for the other.

The Vijayanagara Empire was renowned for its glory, wealth, and cultural achievements. Among its many illustrious rulers, King Krishnadeva Raya (ruled 1509–29 CE) stood out as a wise and powerful monarch.

Oh! Defenders of borders

You are great sons of my land

Two friends share their feelings about brave soldiers. One of them shares her experience of visiting the National War Memorial that has left a deep impact on her.

This is a story that narrates the triumph of will, courage, determination, and dedication. Arunima Sinha’s journey from a devastating accident to scaling the highest peak in the world stands as a beacon of hope and resilience.

The railroad track is miles away,
And the day is loud with voices speaking,
Yet there isn’t a train goes by all day
But I hear its whistle shrieking.

It was almost noon, and the jungle was very still, very silent. Heat waves shimmered along the railway embankment where it cut a path through the tall evergreen trees. The railway lines were two straight black serpents disappearing into the tunnel in the hillside.

Day by day I float my paper boats one by one down
the running stream.

“Who put that water bag here?” roared my father from the front doorstep. “Your burglar alarm,” I hissed to my brother Anand, who was getting ready to disappear from the house. Ma rushed in to see what the racket was all about and found Papa standing there, sopping wet and scowling.

This is a humorous play in which a mother advises her daughter to say the right thing at the right time. However, when guests arrive, the daughter hilariously forgets her mother’s guidance.

One day a funny kind of man
Came walking down this street
He wore a shoe upon his head
And hats upon his feet.

Doctor Dolittle was sitting in his kitchen talking with the Cat’s-food-Man who had come to see him with a stomach-ache.

I, who cannot see, find hundreds of things to interest me through mere touch. I feel the delicate symmetry of a leaf. I pass my hands lovingly about the smooth skin of a silver birch, or the rough, shaggy bark of a pine.

King Bruce of Scotland flung himself down
In a lonely mood to think;
‘Tis true he was monarch, and wore a crown,
But his heart was beginning to sink.

A big bright tear splashed down her nose. And another. A kingfisher swept down, its wings an arrow of blue in the sunlight. And a green lizard slithered down to the river’s edge to bask in the sun.

National War Memorial, New Delhi was established in February 2019. It is a national monument built by the Government of India in honour of our brave soldiers.

When you enter a tiny room in Moti Vavdi village, Bhavnagar, Gujarat, you will see lots of bright colours. There are many lovely things like cushions, bedcovers, pillows, and more, with beautiful designs.

Up in the air
See the kites fly,
Like coloured birds
In the wind-whipped sky.

Bharat has been known worldwide as a land of wise and heroic individuals. Its rich and diverse culture has attracted numerous travellers since ancient times. The people here live in unison, presenting to the world unity in diversity.

Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual practice that originated in ancient India. The word ‘Yoga’ comes from the Sanskrit root ‘yuj’, which means ‘to join’ or ‘to unite’. This symbolises the unity of mind and body; thought and action; harmony between human and nature. It is a holistic approach to health and well-being.

Evenings, we play ball next to the creek in our neighbour’s field.

Prabhat always wanted to win. His parents, teachers, and friends said that he did not know how to accept defeat. The fact was that he could not bear losing, not even at marbles.

I lived first in a little house,
And lived there very well,
I thought the world was small and round,
And made of pale, blue shell.

Amber returned from school and sat down in the shade of the neem tree in her courtyard. She felt that the tree was whispering to her. She looked at the tree and spoke to the tree.

The use of transport and communication depends upon our need to move things from place of their availability to the place of their use.

India is endowed with a rich variety of mineral resources due to its varied geological structure. Bulk of the valuable minerals are products of pre-palaezoic age and are mainly associated with metamorphic and igneous rocks of the peninsular India.

India accounts for about 2.45 per cent of the world’s surface area, 4 per cent of the world’s water resources and about 16 per cent of the world’s population. The total water available from precipitation in the country in a year is about 4,000 cubic km.

Some land is occupied by rivers, some may have trees and on some parts roads and buildings have been built. Different types of lands are suited to different uses. Human beings use land as a resource for production as well as residence and recreation.

There are many professionals who provide their services against payment of their fee. Thus, all types of services are special skills provided in exchange of payments. Health, education, law, governance and recreation etc. require professional skills.

All economic activities namely primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary, revolve around obtaining and utilising resources necessary for survival.

Human activities which generate income are known as economic activities. Economic activities are broadly grouped into primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary activities.

The people of a country are its real wealth. It is they, who are the actual resources and make use of the country’s other resources and decide its policies. Ultimately a country is known by its people.

The Last Lesson is set in the days of the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) in which France was defeated by Prussia led by Bismarck. Prussia then consisted of what now are the nations of Germany, Poland and parts of Austria. In this story the French districts of Alsace and Lorraine have passed into Prussian hands.

The amount of carbon present in the earth’s crust and in the atmosphere is quite meagre. The earth’s crust has only 0.02% carbon in the form of minerals (like carbonates, hydrogen-carbonates, coal and petroleum) and the atmosphere has 0.03% of carbon dioxide. In spite of this small amount of carbon available in nature, the importance of carbon seems to be immense.

Elements can be classified as metals or non-metals on the basis of their properties.

All organisms such as plants, animals, microorganisms and human beings as well as the physical surroundings interact with each other and maintain a balance in nature.

An electric current-carrying wire behaves like a magnet. Electricity and magnetism are linked to each other.

Electricity has an important place in modern society. It is a controllable and convenient form of energy for a variety of uses in homes, schools, hospitals, industries and so on.

The human eye uses light and enables us to see objects around us. It has a lens in its structure.

An object reflects light that falls on it. This reflected light, when received by the eyes, enables to see things.

Reproductive processes give rise to new individuals that are similar, but subtly different. Some amount of variation is produced even during asexual reproduction. The number of successful variations are maximised by the process of sexual reproduction.

Organisms look similar because their body designs are similar. If body designs are to be similar, the blueprints for these designs should be similar. Thus, reproduction at its most basic level will involve making copies of the blueprints of body design.

In animals, control and coordination are provided by nervous and muscular tissues.

The biological process involved in the removal of these harmful metabolic wastes from the body is called excretion. Different organisms use varied strategies to do this.

Blood transports food, oxygen and waste materials in our bodies. Blood consists of a fluid medium called plasma in which the cells are suspended. Plasma transports food, carbon dioxide and nitrogenous wastes in dissolved form.

The food material taken in during the process of nutrition is used in cells to provide energy for various life processes. Diverse organisms do this in different ways - some use oxygen to break-down glucose completely into carbon dioxide and water, some use other pathways that do not involve oxygen.

When we walk or ride a bicycle, we are using up energy. Even when we are not doing any apparent activity, energy is needed to maintain a state of order in our body.

The maintenance functions of living organisms must go on even when they are not doing anything particular. Even when we are just sitting or even if we are just asleep, this maintenance job has to go on. The processes which together perform this maintenance job are life processes.