Showing posts sorted by date for query BLOW HOT, BLOW COLD. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query BLOW HOT, BLOW COLD. Sort by relevance Show all posts

Sunday, March 6, 2016

BLOW HOT, BLOW COLD -TEXT

BLOW HOT, BLOW COLD
ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
CBSE-V

There was a woodcutter. Everyday in the morning he used to go to the forest to cut wood. In the evening he would sell the wood in the city. One day he went deep into the forest.

It was a very cold winter. His fingers were becoming numb. Every now and then, the woodcutter would put down his axe and bring his hands close to his mouth. Then he would blow hard on them to warm them.

While he was cutting wood Mian Balishtiye was watching him from a corner. Mian Balishtiye saw that the woodcutter kept blowing on his hands.

He began to wonder what all that was about! But he could not understand it. He got up thinking that he would go and ask the
woodcutter. After walking a little, he came back thinking that the woodcutter may not like being asked.

Finally, Mian Balishtiye could not help himself. He went hopping to the woodcutter and said, “Hello brother, if you don’t mind can I ask you
something?”

Seeing this tiny person the woodcutter was amazed and amused. But, he hid his smile and said, “Of course, of course, ask what you want to.” “All I want to ask is why do you blow from your mouth on to your hands?” said Mian Balishtiye.

It would be good for the children to know that this story has been written by Dr. Zakir Hussain, former President of India. He has written many stories for children. It could be discussed why an imaginary character like Mian Balishtiye could have been use

The woodcutter replied, “It is too cold. My hands are frozen, so I blow on them to warm them up a little. Then, when they get cold again I warm them again by blowing.”

Mian Balishtiye nodded, “Oh, ho, so that’s it!” And with that he moved off. But he stayed nearby and kept a close watch on him.
Soon it was afternoon.

The woodcutter began to think of lunch. He picked up two stones and made a chulha. He lit a fire and put a small handi (pot) filled with potatoes to boil.

The wood was damp, so the woodcutter bent down and blew on the fire to help it burn. Balishtiye was watching him from a distance. “Arre”, he said to himself, “There he goes again – blowing from his mouth! Does fire come out of his mouth?”


The woodcutter was feeling very hungry. He took out a potato from the handi. He tried to eat it but the potato was too hot. He again began to blow on it – ‘foo, foo’.

“Arre,” said Balishtiye to himself, “He’s blowing again! Now what? Is he going to burn the potato?” After blowing a few more ‘foo, foos’ on it, the woodcutter put it in his mouth and began to eat it.

Now Mian was very surprised! He just could not stop himself and off he went hopping to the woodcutter. “Hello brother”, he said, “If you don’t mind, can I ask you a question again?”

The woodcutter replied, “Not at all. Ask whatever you want.” Mian Balishtiye said, “This morning you told me that you blew on your hands to warm them up. Now you are blowing on this potato, which is already so hot. Why do you want to make it hotter?”

“No, no, my little friend. This potato is too hot. I am blowing on it to cool it down.” When he heard this, Mian Balishtiye’s face became white. He began to tremble with fear, and started to back away.

The woodcutter was a good man. He said, “What’s wrong Mian? Are you trembling because of the cold?” But Mian Balishtiye kept going backwards.

When he was a safe distance away, he said to himself, “What kind of a creature is this? Surely he must be a ghost or a djinn. Blow hot, blow cold with the same breath! It is just not possible! That’s right there are some things which just cannot be – but they are!

The clock inside you
You have all heard the ‘tick tick’ of the clock. Have you seen a doctor using a stethoscope to listen to our chest? What do you think she hears? Where is the sound coming from? Is there a clock inside your chest that keeps ticking away?

Do you want to listen to your heartbeat? Take a rubber tube as long as the distance from your shoulder to your elbow. At one end of the tube fix a funnel. Place the funnel on the left side of your chest. Put the other end of the tube to your ear. Listen carefully. Did you hear a dhak dhak sound?

THANK YOU,

NANDITHA AKUNURI

Friday, January 15, 2016

DROP BY DROP

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
CBSE CLASS III

Madho lives in Bajju- a small village in Rajasthan. It is hardly
a village ! All you see is sand all around. One can see some houses when the sand does not blow.
 Everyone in Madho’s family is upset. Every summer there is water scarcity in his place. This year, it is worse. It did not rain at all. His mother and sister have to walk a longer distance to fetch water as the nearby pond has also dried. Each day they spend hours just to get four pots of water. While walking on the hot sand their feet burn and blisters just cannot be avoided.

When the train carrying water comes they are very happy. Madho’s father goes to fetch water in his camel-cart. But this does not happen often.

People keep waiting days and days for water. Some people collect rain water. This is done by a special method  by making tanks (tanka). Do you know, what a tanka is and how it is built?

1To build a tanka, a pit is dug in the courtyard and it is made pucca. The tanka is kept covered with a lid. The roof of the house is made sloping so that the rainwater collected here flows through a pipe into the tanka.

A sieve is attached to the mouth of the pipe so that no dirt goes into the tanka. This water is used for drinking after it is cleaned.

Just like Madho, Sonal also faces water scarcity in her house. She lives in Bhavnagar. Water is supplied only for half an hour in a day. All the people of the area depend on only a single tap ! Can you imagine what happens ?

Sonal is determined to take water from the tap. Whenever she gets a chance she fills her bucket even if it is just drop by drop. Let us find out how many drops will fill a bowl or a mug.

Water scarcity can be defined as a lack of sufficient water, or not having access to safe water supplies.Water is a pressing need in many areas of the world.

That scarcity is spreading as water is needed to grow and process food, create energy, and power industry for a continually growing population. climate change is a key contributing factor.

Clean, potable water is an essential ingredient of a healthy human life, but 1.2 billion people lack access to water according to recent estimates from the International Water Management Institute cited in the worlds water.
Storing and Moving Water
Understanding where your water comes from will help you understand what you can do to mitigate the effects of drought. Your water supply might be from surface or from groundwater. Conserving water is the best way for us to make sure that we all have water even when we are in drought.

Dams
To make sure that they have enough water throughout the year, people build dam  to store water when they need it.then a dam is built on a river, a large lake, called a reservoir, is made. The reservoir “stores” the water for people’s use. Reservoirs can provide fish and wildlife habitat and also are often great places for us to boat and fish. They also can be used to produce power.

Groundwater and Wells
Another source of water is groundwater (water found below the surface of the earth). aquifers are like underground lakes. Just like lakes above the ground, aquifers can be different sizes. Some are very small and some are very large, like the Ogallala Aquifer.

people drill wells into aquifers so they can bring water to the surface to use. Water in aquifers can be just a few feet below the earth’s surface or hundreds of feet deep. The water that is closer to the surface is easier for us to use, but it can also be more easily polluted than the water that is much deeper. 

Canals and Pipelines

Water canals and pipelines have been built in many places to make sure that as many people as possible have access to water supplies. Canals and pipelines are used to transport water from reservoirs and wells to farmers for irrigation and cities for drinking water. Canals like the Central Arizona Project and the Los Angeles Aqueduct carry billions of gallons of water each year to areas that do not have enough water

Desalination
We need fresh water for drinking, for our daily activities, and for growing our food. But almost all of the water on the surface of the earth is salt water from the oceans and seas. In fact, 97 percent of all water on earth is salt water.

People have been trying to find a way to use ocean water in place of fresh water for many years. With new technology, turning seawater into water that we can drink and use is becoming much easier and much cheaper. 

Desalination, or removing salt from seawater, is still expensive, but some cities in the United States and other countries are building desalination plants to help them meet their water needs. 

Cleaning of water
To clean water we should have sewage treatment plants. when it, can be used again at home, agriculture in industry etc. so again the process is started.

Different methods of saving water
Daily we use 20% water in kitchen, 20% in garden, 20% in laundry% and 40% of water in our bath rooms.
Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth. A running tap can use six litres of water per minute. Use the minimum amount of water needed for a bath by closing the drain first and filling the bath only 1/3 full. Stopper bath before turning water. The initial burst of cold water can be warmed by adding hot water later.
Make your garden water efficient. Less watering doesn't have to mean less gardening! Start opting for plants that don't mind going without a drink for a while. Your garden centre will be able to recommend plants that need less water.
Don't leave the tap running to clean dishes or vegetables. Use a bowl of water instead. A running tap uses 6 litres of water per minute.
Take shorter showers - we recommend four minutes. On average a shower uses 10 litres of water a minute. Fully load your washing machine. A full load uses less water than two half-loads.
Only flush the toilet if you need to. On average, each flush uses 7 litres of water. Keep a jug of water in the fridge. Planning ahead means there is no need to run the water until it gets cold.
Verify that your home is leak-free, because many homes have hidden water leaks. Fix leaking taps. A dripping tap can waste more than 60 litres of water per week.
Order a water butt. Collect rainwater to use on your plants and lawn. Never put water down the drain when there may be another use for it such as watering a plant or garden, or cleaning.Store drinking water in the refrigerator rather than letting the tap run every time you want a cool glass of water.
You have given some suggestions to re-use water. People use these methods only under conditions when there is a scarcity of water. Do you know, one of the reasons for the scarcity of water is because people waste it. Just think, how good it would be if everyone got water !

THANK YOU,