Class 9 Social Science worksheets, free, one for each of the four books

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1. 1) The Himalayas. They are geologically young, structurally fold mountains, and still rising - which is why the region is prone to earthquakes.
2. 2) The Northern Plains, formed by the Indus, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra with their tributaries. The alluvial soil makes it among the most agriculturally productive regions in the world.
3. 3) The Peninsular Plateau. It is a tableland, rich in mineral deposits, and bordered by the Western and Eastern Ghats.
4. 4) The Indian Desert, or Thar. It receives less than 150 mm of rain a year and has very few permanent streams.
5. 5) The Coastal Plains. The western coastal plain is narrow, while the eastern is broader with large deltas formed by the Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri.
6. 6) The Islands - the Lakshadweep group in the Arabian Sea, formed of coral, and the Andaman and Nicobar group in the Bay of Bengal, which are larger and of volcanic and tectonic origin.
7. 7) The Deccan Plateau. Its black soil, formed from lava, is what makes it suitable for cotton.
8. 8) The Western Ghats. They are continuous, higher than the Eastern Ghats, and force the monsoon to rise, which is why their windward side is so wet.
9. 9) The Eastern Ghats. They are discontinuous, cut through by the Mahanadi, Godavari and Krishna as those rivers reach the sea.
10. 10) The Himadri, or Greater Himalayas. It contains Everest and Kanchenjunga and is perennially snow-covered.

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1. 1) Intense heating of the Indian landmass through the summer creates a low-pressure area over the north-west. Air over the ocean to the south is relatively cooler and at higher pressure, so moisture-laden winds move in from the sea towards the land, bringing rain.
2. 2) Because Mumbai lies on the windward side of the Western Ghats, where the moist winds are forced to rise and drop their rain. Pune lies on the leeward side, in the rain shadow, so the winds reaching it have already lost most of their moisture.
3. 3) Because the winds that reach it are largely parallel to the Aravali range rather than being obstructed by it, so there is little to force them to rise and shed moisture. The region is also far from the sea, so the winds arrive comparatively dry.
4. 4) A period of one or more weeks during the rainy season when rain fails over a region, related to the movement of the monsoon trough. These dry spells are what make the total rainfall of a season less useful than its distribution.
5. 5) Because it is on the leeward side during the south-west monsoon and is instead watered by the retreating north-east monsoon, which picks up moisture crossing the Bay of Bengal.
6. 6) They stand across the path of the south-west monsoon. The windward western side receives very heavy rain, while the leeward eastern side lies in a rain shadow and receives far less.
7. 7) Because the whole country's agricultural year, festivals and water supply are set by the same seasonal rhythm. The rains arriving or failing is a shared experience from Kerala to Punjab.

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1. 1) The western edge of the Peninsular Plateau, running roughly parallel to the west coast. They are continuous and higher than the Eastern Ghats, and they force the monsoon winds to rise, giving the west coast very heavy rain.
2. 2) It passes roughly through the middle of the country, through eight states. It means the northern half of India lies in the temperate zone and the southern half in the tropical zone.
3. 3) 82° 30' E, passing through Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh. The local time along it is taken as the standard time for the whole country, so that India has a single time despite spanning nearly 30 degrees of longitude.
4. 4) In Meghalaya, in the Khasi hills. It receives among the highest rainfall in the world, because the funnel-shaped hills force moist winds to rise sharply.
5. 5) The narrow stretch of sea between India and Sri Lanka, separating the two.
6. 6) In the delta of the Ganga and Brahmaputra in West Bengal. It is the world's largest mangrove forest and the home of the Royal Bengal tiger.
7. 7) The north-west of the Deccan Plateau. It is formed of layers of solidified lava, which weather into the black soil used for cotton.
8. 8) In the Bay of Bengal. They are the exposed tops of a submerged mountain range, unlike the coral Lakshadweep in the Arabian Sea.
9. 9) Running north-east across Rajasthan. It is one of the oldest fold mountain ranges in the world and is now heavily worn down.

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1. 1) Not democratic. Elections must offer a real choice; a single permitted party makes the outcome predetermined.
2. 2) Democratic on these facts - regular elections, genuine choice and freedom of expression are all present.
3. 3) Not democratic. The final decision on major matters must rest with those the people elected.
4. 4) Not democratic. Democracy requires one person, one vote, one value, regardless of property or status.
5. 5) Democratic, and an important feature - it means the government itself operates within limits set by the constitution.
6. 6) Not democratic. Regular, scheduled elections are essential - a leader who cannot be voted out is not accountable, whatever their original mandate.
7. 7) Not democratic. Free expression is what lets voters know what the government has done, so without it a vote cannot be an informed choice.
8. 8) Not fully democratic. A democratic government must be able to take the country's own major decisions; if another power decides them, the voters' choice does not control the outcome.
9. 9) Democratic. Universal adult franchise and the peaceful acceptance of a result are two of the core features.

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1. 1) For: decisions are taken after discussion and consultation, which reduces the chance of a rash or badly informed choice. Against: discussion takes time, and it does not guarantee a good outcome - a majority can be wrong.
2. 2) For: the delay comes from consultation, which is the point rather than a defect. Against: democracies are genuinely slower to decide than governments not answerable to anyone, and in an emergency that can matter.
3. 3) For: democracies are accountable, so persistent economic failure has political consequences. Against: the evidence does not show democracies growing faster than non-democracies on average, and honest textbooks say so.
4. 4) For: democracy gives every person one vote regardless of wealth, which is a real form of equality. Against: political equality has not by itself removed economic inequality, and in many democracies inequality has grown.

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1. 1) The Right to Equality, which forbids discrimination in public employment on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.
2. 2) The Right to Freedom, which includes the freedom to assemble peacefully and without arms.
3. 3) The Right against Exploitation, which prohibits the employment of children in hazardous work.
4. 4) Cultural and Educational Rights, which allow minorities to conserve their language and to establish and administer educational institutions.
5. 5) The Right to Constitutional Remedies, which allows a person to move the courts directly when a Fundamental Right is violated.
6. 6) The Right to Freedom, which includes freedom of speech and expression. It applies because criticism of the government is exactly what that freedom protects.
7. 7) The Right to Freedom, which requires that a person arrested be told the grounds and produced before a magistrate within 24 hours.
8. 8) The Right to Equality, which prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth in access to education.

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1. 1) Land - fixed in Palampur, which is why raising output required growing more than one crop a year rather than farming more land.
2. 2) Fixed capital - tools, machines, generators and buildings, which last over many production cycles.
3. 3) Working capital - raw materials and money in hand, which are used up in a single production cycle.
4. 4) Labour - in Palampur, both the farmers working their own land and the landless labourers hired to work others'.
5. 5) The entrepreneur, or in the village context the farmer or business owner who brings land, labour and capital together.
6. 6) Because its quantity cannot be increased. More can be irrigated or better used, but no more of it can be made, which is why pressure on land grows as population does.
7. 7) Because it is the only factor that can improve itself. Education, training and health raise what the same person can produce, and unlike a machine that ability does not simply wear out.
8. 8) Output rises at first and then rises more slowly, because the added factor has less and less of the others to work with. Adding more workers to the same small field is the standard example.

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1. 1) Growing more than one crop on the same piece of land in a year. Palampur's cultivated land was fixed, so the only way to raise production was to use the same land more often, which well-developed irrigation made possible.
2. 2) Electricity, which allowed tubewells to replace the older Persian wheels and made irrigation reliable, together with high-yielding variety seeds, chemical fertilisers and pesticides. Together these raised yields substantially.
3. 3) Because they gradually damaged soil fertility, so more fertiliser was needed for the same output, and the chemicals also affected groundwater. What raised production in the short term reduced the land's natural productivity over time.
4. 4) Because there are far more people seeking work than there is work available. Competition among labourers for a limited number of jobs pushes wages down, and a worker who refuses can be replaced immediately.
5. 5) Multiple cropping means growing more than one crop on the same land in a year, which needs irrigation. Modern methods mean higher-yielding seeds, fertilisers and machinery - both raise output, but one raises it by using the land more often and the other by raising the yield each time.
6. 6) Because a bank asks for papers, collateral and a formal application that a small farmer may not have. The moneylender lends quickly and without those, and charges a far higher rate for it.
7. 7) Work in a village that is not cultivation - dairying, shopkeeping, transport, small manufacturing. It matters because farmland cannot absorb a growing population, so without it people are left underemployed or must migrate.

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1. 1) A situation where more people are engaged in work than are actually required, so removing some would not reduce output. A family farm worked by eight members when five would suffice is the standard example.
2. 2) Unemployment during particular parts of the year, when there is no work available in that occupation. Agricultural labour between sowing and harvesting is the usual example.
3. 3) The stock of skill, knowledge and good health embodied in a population, built up by investment in education, training and healthcare. It is called capital because it raises future productive capacity, exactly as a machine does.
4. 4) A large population is only a number of people. It becomes a workforce - an asset rather than a burden - when it is educated, healthy and trained, which is what investment in human capital produces.
5. 5) The money and materials used up in one round of production - seeds, fertiliser, wages. Example: the money a farmer spends on seed before the sowing season.
6. 6) Tools, machines and buildings that are used over many years without being used up. Example: a tractor or a threshing machine.
7. 7) The quantity of a crop produced on one hectare of land. Example: wheat yields in Punjab rose sharply after the green revolution, from the same area of land.