Chapter 1 - The Environment: This chapter gives basic information about the concept of Environment, its components as biotic and abiotic. Further it also explains what consists the natural environment – Lithosphere, Hydrosphere, Atmosphere and Biosphere.
This
chapter is significant as UPSC has asked various questions on Abiotic and
Biotic conditions.
Though
chapter is in story format, but reading will give better understanding.
Chapter 2 – Inside our Earth: This chapter gives information about the interior of the Earth and different kinds of rocks and minerals. This chapter is the basic foundation for the geomorphology.
This
chapter is an important chapter as UPSC has asked number of questions regarding
the type of rocks and minerals. Further questions can be asked on landforms
associated with it.
Chapter 3 – Our Changing Earth: This chapter discusses about the various factors that causes change on the surface of the earth such as Exogenic and Endogenic Forces and major landforms associated with it.
This chapter is important as UPSC asks
questions on volcanoes and earthquakes, landforms formed due to river, sea, ice
and wind.
Chapter 4 - Air: This chapter provides the basic information about Air and its composition, Factors affecting weather and climate, types of winds, rainfall, etc. This chapter acts as the foundation for the concepts of climatology.
This is a significant chapter as there are
direct questions from the section of Atmosphere and its layers and other
concepts related to it.
Chapter 5 – Water: This chapter gives us information about the different forms of water on the Earth and its various phenomenon associated with it.
· Distribution of
water bodies
· Ocean circulation
and ocean currents
· Tides
Questions form this chapter are
basically from the concepts of waves and tides, and the factors affecting.
Ocean currents are of the favorites of UPSC. Almost every year it has a set of
question for geography.
Chapter 6 – Natural Vegetation and wildlife: This chapter introduces the student about the basics of forests regarding its various types and the climatic conditions it thrives in.
· types of forests
· grasslands
This chapter has in abundance to put
questions. UPSC has a pattern in this section questioning from the vegetation
part and the region it belongs to. Vegetation matched with their region is
another important part of UPSC.
Chapter 7 – Human Environment- settlement transport and communication: This chapter introduces the different types of settlements and about the basic of transport.
· Rural and urban settlement
· Transport
This
chapter generally don’t have much to be put into questions but UPSC asks about
the national waterways and the roadways.
Chapter 8 – Human Environment Interactions: The tropical and subtropical region: This chapter discuss about the human life in subtropical and tropical regions of the world. The kind of lifestyle people live in including the fooding and the clothing, the type of cropping done in the region. The wildlife it possess and the major cities been established.
· Life in the Amazon basin
· Life in ganga-Brahmaputra basin
This chapter is
worth reading as UPSC has asked many questions regarding the region and its
location. Tropical region with the kind of flora and fauna. UPSC also asks the
types of trees in different altitudes.
UPSC 2015: "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 with thunder and lightning. But rain is soon over." Which of the
following regions is described in the, above passage?
(a)
savannah
(b) Equatorial
(c) Monson
(d) Mediterranean
Ans: B
· Flora and fauna in hot desert
· Flora and fauna in cold desert.
This chapter
again a source of question for UPSC regarding the type of people and habitat.
What kind of climate does it have and the flora and fauna in this kind of region?