Chapter 15 – Water

[ WRITE ONLY SHORT ANSWER QUSETIONS AND LONG ANSWER QUESTIONS AND THEIR
ANSWERS IN YOUR SIENCE NOTE BOOK]

Oral Questions Page No 177: -

1-About three-fourths of the earth's surface is covered with water. Why then is there a
shortage of water?
Ans 1 The shortage of water is because of the following reasons:
1. Around 97.4% of the total water is present in oceans and seas. This water can not be
directly used because of the presence of high concentration of salt. Moreover, some
proportion of fresh water is present in glaciers as ice. 2. The distribution of water is uneven
throughout the Earth. Some places have high amount of water, whereas others have very
low quantities of water.
3. Water pollution has profoundly degraded the quality of fresh water.
4. The ground water level has profoundly decreased because of human activities. 

2-Does digestion of food need the presence of water?

Ans 2- Yes, the digestion of food depends on the presence of water. Moreover, water is also
required for the absorption of digested food. 
3-Name the states of water: Solid ____________; Gas ___________; Liquid ___________
Ans 3 -Solid state of water is ice, liquid states of water –water, gaseous state - water
vapour and liquid water, respectively. 
4-To convert one state of water into another, which physical quantity has to be changed?
Ans -In order to convert water from one physical state to another, the physical quantity that
should be changed is temperature. 
5-There is moist air in a closed container. How can you reduce the quantity of water in the
air?
Ans 5 - The quantity of water in moist air can be decreased by either boiling the container or
by using a silica gel that has the ability to absorb water. 
6- Evaporation occurs at all temperatures. Then why do we hang our clothes to dry in the
sun?
Ans 6-The rate of evaporation depends on the temperature of the surroundings. Clothes
that are hung for drying in the sun experience warmer temperature and thus dry faster. 
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Oral Questions Page No. 182
1-Air becomes warmer as you go higher up. True or false?
Ans 1- False, air does not become warmer as we go higher up. In fact the air becomes cooler
as we go higher up.
2- What are clouds made up of? How does water vapour in the air change into clouds?
Ans 2 -Clouds are made up of water droplets. The water vapour present in the air rises up
and are condensed into water droplets on coming in contact with the colder air. These
water droplets combine together to form clouds. 
3-Rainwater is normally the purest form of natural water, but it has some impurities. What
are these impurities and how do they come into rainwater?
Ans 3- Rainwater consists of impurities in the form of dust particles, dissolved gases and
acids. Dust particles are naturally introduced in the rainwater. Dissolved gases like carbon
dioxide are added to the rain water through air. Acids are primarily added to the rain water
because of pollution. 
4- Rajasthan suffers from drought quite often whereas Kerala does not. Why?
Ans 4 -Rajasthan is a desert area and is located far from the coastal regions. The monsoon
winds that carry moisture from the coastal regions gradually loses its moisture when it
travel towards Rajasthan. By the time these winds reach Rajasthan, they have already lost
most of their moisture and very little rainfall occurs in Rajasthan. Kerala, on the other hand,
is a coastal region and thus receives adequate rainfall. 
5- Where do you expect seepage of water into the ground to be less - in a village or in a big
city? Give reasons.
Ans 5Seepage of water will be lesser in a big city. This is because in big cities, open grounds
are rarely available and most of the soil is covered with concrete or roads that block the
seepage of water in the soil. In villages, open areas and uncovered soils are available which
leads to higher seepage of water in the soil. 
A – Choose the most appropriate answer Page No 183:
1- How much of the earth's surface is covered with water?
(a) about two-thirds
(b) about three-fourths
(c) exactly three-fourths
(d) about one-fourth
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2- Which of these changes occur on heating water?
(a) water to ice
(b) water to water vapour
(c) water vapour to water
(d) all of them
3-The purest form of natural water is
(a) rainwater.
(b) groundwater.
(c) surface water.
(d) sea water.
4- Which of the following processes in the human body needs the presence of water?
(a) digestion
(b) transport of nutrients
(c) excretion
(d) all of these
5- 'Water table' refers to
(a) level of groundwater.
(b) level of surface water.
(c) level of sea water.
(d) any of these depending on the location
6- Rainwater harvesting means
(a) harvesting of crops during rains.
(b) using rainwater to add to underground water.
(c) storing rainwater in tanks.
(d) both b and c
7- Water in seas cannot be used because of
(a) problems of transporting it to land.
(b) pollution.
(c) high salt content.
(d) high nitrogen content.
8-Rainwater that does not seep into the soil and runs off on land is called
(a) water table.
(b) surface water.
(c) groundwater.
(d) glacier.
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9- Which of the following does rainwater contain?
(a) dissolved salts
(b) dissolved gases
(c) sewage
(d) pesticides
B- Very short answer questions
1-Vegetables and fruits contain a lot of water. True or false?
2-About 70per cent of the human body consists of water.
3- Where does water exist in the gaseous state?Atmosphere
4- Change of temperature can be used to change the state of water. True or false?
5- The conversion of water into ice on cooling is called Freezing and the conversion of ice to
water on Heating is called Melting
6- Which evaporates faster−hot water or cold water?Hot water
7- Water evaporates rapidly to form steam when it starts Boiling
8- Give one word for 'water vapour changing to water on cooling.Condensation
9- Water drops fall as rain as soon as water vapour in the clouds condenses to form water.
True or false?True
10 The water that seeps under the ground does not participate in the water cycle any more.
True or false?False
11- In places where the air is polluted, rainwater sometimes contains an acid. True or false?
True.
12- What is the name given to the level at which groundwater is found?Water Table
13- Groundwater is generally free from suspended impurities. True or false?True
14- Sea water cannot (can/cannot) be used for irrigation.
15 - Increased soil erosion occurs during a drought. True or false?True
16- Diseases can spread during both floods and drought. True or false?True
17 - In coastal areas, flooding is mostly caused by Cyclone
18 You can collect rainwater for later use by rainwater harvesting
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B- SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS: Answer in a sentence or two Page No. 184

1- Name the three states of water.
Ans 1- The three states of water are:
(i) Ice (solid) (ii) Water (liquid) (iii) Water vapour (gaseous)
2- Name the forms of water as it occurs in nature in the three states.
Ans 2- Water occurs in nature in solid state as ice, in liquid state as water and in gaseous
state as water vapuor.
3- 'Evaporation of water occurs at all temperatures.' How is evaporation dependent on
temperature?
Ans 3 -Evaporation of water occurs at all temperatures. As the temperature increases the
rate of evaporation also increase.
4- Why does water vapourcondence when it reaches high up in the atmosphere?
Ans 4-The air gets cooler as it goes higher in the atmosphere. Because of the cooler air, the
water vapour gets condensed when it goes higher in the atmosphere.
5-When water vapourcondence, it forms tiny drops of water that form clouds. When do
these droplets come down as rain?
Ans 5- As the clouds get cooled further , the water drops become bigger . When these
become too heavy , they fall on the Earth as rain.
6- How can you change
(a) water to ice? (b) ice to water? (d) watervapour to water?
Ans 6- (a) Water can be changed to ice by reducing the temperature. This is known as
freezing of water.
(b) Ice can be changed to water by heating it. This is known as melting of ice.
(c) Water vapour can be changed to water by cooling the water vapour. This is known as
condensation.
7- How are natural springs of water formed?
Ans 7- The ground water which passes along the surface of the non porous rocks and come
out on the surface at some places to form a natural spring.
8- Give any three important uses of water.

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Ans 8- Following are the uses of water:
It is essential for drinking, washing, cooking etc.
It is used in dams to generate electricity.
A large amount of water is used in agriculture and industries .
Water is also used as medium oftransport..

9- What do you mean by the 'water cycle'?

Ans 9- The constant circulation of water from earth to atmosphere, and back to the earth
again is known asas water cycle.
C- LONG ANSWER QUESTIONS :Answertheses questions Page No 185:
1- Why is water so important for out body?
Ans 1 - Water is important for our body because of the following reasons:
Several life process in humans and animals , such as digestion of food , absorption of
nutrients by the body , distribution of nutrients to various part of the body or getting rid of
waste need presence of water .
Water also helps to control our body temperature through sweating .
70%vpart of our body is water
2-In what ways is water useful to plants?
Ans 2-The utility of water to plants is as follows:
Water is required for the germination of seeds, their growth and development.
It helps to transport nutrients rom soil and food from leaves to different t parts of the plants
.
Plants use water , along with carbon – di- oxide from air to make foodin presence of
sunlight.
3- How can you show that water vapour is present in air?
Ans3- To demonstrate the presence of water vapour in air,- [i] take water in beaker [ii] Add
a few ice cubes [iii] Keep it for sometime [iv] You can see tiny drops of water on the outside
of the beaker [v] . These water droplets are formed when water vapourpresent in the air
condensed as come in contact to cool object ,here tumbler [vi] This shows that water
vapour is present in air.
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4-What are the reasons for lowering of the water table in large cities?
Ans4 -The water table in large cities has been lowered because of the following reasons:
In large cities, trees have been felled to make room for buildings and roads causing less
rainfall in large cities.
In large cities, rain water is diverted by drains into lakes and reservoirs, rather than into the
water table.
The large population in big cities uses ground water and other water resources faster than
they can be replenished.
5-During a drought, the prices of grain, fruits and vegetables go up. Why do you think this
happens? Do you expect the prices of grain, fruits and vegetables to go up during floods
also? Why?
Ans 5 -Drought is a situation which occurs due to the shortage of rainfall.This results in
drying up of crops, which in turn leads to the shortage of food. Hence, during drought, the
prices of grains, fruits and vegetables increase.
Floods are caused due to excess rainfall. Due to the excess water flow, the crops gets
damaged again resulting in the shortage of food. Again, this causes an increase in food
prices.
6- What are the causes of floods?
Ans 6 - During monsoon season, most parts of our country receives heavy rainfall. The rivers
which are perennial, receive a very large amount of water. This causes the rivers to overrun
their banks and move towards land, causing floods. In coastal areas, floods are often caused
by tidal waves, which occur due to cyclones.
7- List four ways in which we can conserve water.
Ans-7 Following are the ways by which we can conserve water and use it effectively:
(i) Using the water effectively, by avoiding wastage and recycling wherever possible.

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(ii) Planting more trees and forestation. Trees absorbs water from the ground. Hence,
balance the water cycle.
(iii) Storing rain water in large amounts for future use by constructing dams.
(iv) Treating the sewage and industrial wastes before disposing them to the water source,
thereby reducing the water pollution.
8- Big dams have their own problems. Discuss.
Ans 8 -Big dams have large water reservoirs to store a huge amount of water at a time. If the
rainfall is heavy and the water exceeds the storage limit of the reservoir, then water is
released from the dam. This causes heavy flooding, which destroys wildlife, agriculture and
displaces people from their homes. Also, large amount of water stored in dams can cause
earthquakes in regions prone to tectonic activity.
9- What is rainwater harvesting? What are the two ways in which it can be done?
Ans 9= Rain water harvesting is storing the rain water for future use. Rain water harvesting
can be done in following two ways:
(i) The rain water that falls on the roof of the buildings are directed towards a deep pit in
the ground. In this way the ground absorbs the water and thereby adding to the
underground water reserves.
(ii) Instead of allowing the rainwater to flow into the drains, the rain water has to be
directed to the underground pits to again boost ground water levels
EXTRA QUESTIONS
1- Define Terms
[i] Freezing – The process of changing of water into ice on cooling is called freezing .
[ii] Evaporation – The process of water changing into water vapour on heating is called
evaporation.
[iii] Condensation – The process of water vapour changing into water on cooling is called
condensation .
[iv] Precipitation – Water vapoour cooling and forming raindrops is termed as precipitation.
[v] Water Table – The level of underground water is termed as water table.
[vi] Cyclone- Very strong wind accompanied with very heavy rain in coastal area is termed as
cyclone.
[vii] Rainwater harvesting – Storing rainwater for further use is known as rainwater
harvesting.
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[viii] Soil Erosion- Wearing off top fertile layer of soil.
OR
Carrying away top fertile layer of soil
OR
Removal of top fertile layer of soil.
[ix] Famine – People may die due to shortage of food and water. Such condition is known
as a famine.
[x] Natural spring-The groundwater may run along the surface of the non- porous rocks and
come out of the surface at some places to form natural spring.

HOTS QUESTIONS Page No 185:

1- What would have been the consequence if water was not recycled in nature by the water
cycle?
Ans - If water was not recycled in nature, then the water resources on earth gets depleted.
This would cause an imbalance in nature, causing the extinction of life on earth.
2- It is estimated that the water table in a fast growing town like Gurgaon (near Delhi) will
go down so much in the next decade that it will be difficult to extract groundwater for use.
This situation can be corrected by widespread use of one method of recharging
groundwater. What do you think this method is?
Ans 2- In fast growing towns like Gurgaon, ground water can be recharged by making use of
rain water. The rain water that falls on the roof of the building and flowing along the
roadside should be directed and allowed to flow into a deep pit in the ground. This water
adds to the underground water.
3- You can see water in its three states in nature. Name some other substances that you can
see in the three states in everyday life.
Ans3 -Water exists in its three states in nature. Other than water, we can also see wax
existing in these three states. There are many more elements such as iron, helium,
aluminium etc., which can be found in all the three states but under specific conditions of
temperature and pressure.
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OR
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