Class 6 Social Science Chapter 1 – Locating Places on the Earth Extra Questions
Class 6 Social Science Chapter 1 Extra Questions and Answers for “Locating Places on the Earth” (based on NCERT textbook Exploring Society: India and Beyond).
EXTRA IMPORTANT QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS – Social Studies Chapter 1 – Locating Places on the Earth
Class 6 Social Science – Exploring Society: India and Beyond
Theme A — India and the World: Land and the People
Chapter 1: Locating Places on the Earth
This includes All types of Questions normally asked in school exams, tests, and NCERT exercises.
Extra Important Questions (With Answers)
1. What is the difference between a map and a globe?
Answer:
A map is a flat drawing of the Earth or a part of it, while a globe is a three-dimensional model of the Earth. Maps are easy to carry and can show large or small areas in detail. Globes show the true shape, size, and position of continents and oceans more accurately.
2. Why is the Equator the longest latitude?
Answer:
The Equator lies at the widest part of the Earth. All other parallels become smaller as they move towards the poles because the Earth is spherical. Hence the Equator is the longest parallel.
3. Why are longitudes important for finding time?
Answer:
Longitudes run from pole to pole and help measure the Earth’s rotation. Since the Earth rotates 360 degrees in 24 hours, each 15 degrees of longitude makes a difference of one hour. Thus, longitudes help determine local time.
4. Why do latitudes influence climate?
Answer:
Latitudes measure the distance from the Equator. Areas near the Equator receive direct sunlight and are hotter, while areas near the poles receive slanting rays and are colder. Therefore, latitude affects the temperature and climate of a region.
5. What would happen if every city followed its own local time?
Answer:
There would be confusion in transport, business, communication, administration and travel. To avoid this confusion, countries adopt a standard time based on a selected meridian.
6. What is the purpose of using standard symbols on maps?
Answer:
Standard symbols ensure uniformity so that anyone reading the map can understand it easily. They represent features like roads, railways, post offices, rivers, and boundaries without taking much space.
7. Why can a flat map never show the Earth perfectly?
Answer:
The Earth is spherical. Flattening a sphere onto paper always creates distortion in shape, direction or distance. Therefore, no flat map can be 100% accurate.
8. What is a grid on a map?
Answer:
A grid is the network formed by the intersection of latitude and longitude lines. This grid helps locate any place precisely on the Earth.
9. Why is the Prime Meridian placed at Greenwich?
Answer:
In 1884, an international conference decided that the meridian passing through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, would be used as the world’s Prime Meridian to bring uniformity in navigation and timekeeping.
10. What is meant by the International Date Line?
Answer:
The International Date Line is an imaginary line near 180° longitude where the date changes by one day when crossed. If you cross it eastward, you go back one day; if you cross it westward, you move forward one day.
11. Why does India use only one time zone despite being a large country?
Answer:
India uses a single time zone (IST) for administrative convenience, national unity and smooth functioning of communication, transport and businesses.
12. Why is IST taken as 82½°E longitude?
Answer:
82½°E passes almost through the middle of India. Using this meridian reduces the difference in time between the eastern and western parts of the country.
13. Why are the time zone boundaries not straight?
Answer:
Time zone boundaries follow international borders and political boundaries to ensure that the same country uses the same standard time. Therefore, they often zigzag instead of following straight meridians.
14. How are directions useful in reading maps?
Answer:
Directions help us identify the relative position of places. North, south, east and west allow us to locate one place in relation to another and navigate correctly using a map.
15. What is meant by scale on a map?
Answer:
A scale is the ratio between the actual distance on the ground and the distance shown on the map. It helps us measure real distances between places.
16. How does the Earth’s rotation cause day and night?
Answer:
As the Earth rotates from west to east, different parts face the Sun at different times. The side facing the Sun experiences day, while the opposite side experiences night.
17. Why do the poles have extreme climates?
Answer:
The poles receive very slanting rays of the Sun throughout the year, resulting in very low temperatures and extreme cold climates.
18. Why is 180°E the same as 180°W?
Answer:
Longitude increases up to 180° eastward and 180° westward from the Prime Meridian. Both sides meet at the same line directly opposite the Prime Meridian, so 180°E and 180°W are the same line.
19. What is the importance of the Ujjayinī (Ujjain) meridian?
Answer:
Ancient Indian astronomers used the Ujjayinī meridian as the reference line for astronomical calculations long before the Prime Meridian at Greenwich was adopted. It shows India’s early contribution to astronomy.
20. Why is the Equator called 0° latitude?
Answer:
The Equator divides the Earth into two hemispheres and is the starting point for measuring distances north or south. Hence it is marked as 0°.
21. Why is the Prime Meridian important for navigation?
Answer:
It serves as the reference point for measuring longitude and time zones, helping ships and aircraft determine their exact position on Earth.
22. What is the difference between a physical map and a political map?
Answer:
A physical map shows natural features like mountains, rivers and oceans, while a political map shows boundaries, cities, states and countries.
23. Why do the shapes of continents appear distorted on some maps?
Answer:
Because projecting a spherical Earth onto a flat surface always causes stretching or shrinking of areas, leading to distortions especially near the poles.
24. What is meant by hemispheres?
Answer:
Hemispheres are halves of the Earth. The Equator divides the Earth into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, while the Prime Meridian divides it into Eastern and Western Hemispheres.
25. What is the use of an atlas?
Answer:
An atlas is a book containing various maps. It is useful for studying the world, countries, climates, populations, transportation routes and many other topics.
26. How does longitude help in calculating time difference?
Answer:
Every 15° of longitude equals one hour of time difference. By comparing the longitude of two places, we can calculate how far ahead or behind their local times are.
27. Why can’t longitudes be parallel like latitudes?
Answer:
Longitudes run from pole to pole and must meet at both ends. Therefore, they cannot be parallel. They form semicircles that converge at the poles.
28. Why does the Sun rise earlier in Arunachal Pradesh than in Gujarat?
Answer:
Arunachal Pradesh lies much east of Gujarat. Since the Earth rotates from west to east, the eastern regions face the Sun earlier.
29. Why do maps use colours?
Answer:
Colours represent different features:
Blue for water bodies
Green for plains
Brown for mountains
Yellow for deserts
This makes maps easier to understand.
30. What is meant by the torrid, temperate and frigid zones?
Answer:
These are heat zones of the Earth based on latitude.
Torrid Zone: Near the Equator, very hot
Temperate Zones: Middle latitudes, moderate climate
Frigid Zones: Near poles, extremely cold
