CG Board Class 10 Social Science Chapter 1 Solutions: Resources and Development (संसाधन और विकास) (2026-27)

Early farmers and artisans used a wide variety of natural resources from their immediate environment to meet their daily needs and production requirements

• Soil and Land: Fertile land was cleared and leveled to cultivate food crops like grains.
• Water: Rivers, streams, and rainwater were used for irrigating crops, drinking, and domestic purposes.
• Plants and Crops: Wild seeds were selected and sown to grow food grains, and forest trees were cleared or used for timber.
• Animals: Domesticated animals were raised for farming, food, milk, wool, and animal hides.
• Clay and Earth: Natural clay was collected and baked in kilns to craft utensils, pots, and storage vessels.
• Metals and Minerals: Metals such as copper, brass, and iron were mined and processed to manufacture tools, weapons, and utensils.
• Bamboo and Natural Fibres: Bamboo was harvested to weave baskets, while plant fibres were spun and woven into clothes.
• Stones: Sharp stones were chipped to make basic cutting and digging tools.

Over the past 10,000 years, the human relationship with natural resources evolved through three distinct phases

1. Prehistoric / Early Phase: Humans were an integral part of nature, using resources like stones, fruits, and hides directly without altering natural balances significantly.
2. Neolithic Revolution (about 10,000 years ago): Humans began domesticating animals, cultivating crops, baking clay, and working metals, expanding the range of resources used.
3. Industrial Revolution (about 250 years ago): The advent of factories led to large-scale resource extraction and heavy fuel consumption. Resources came to be viewed as inexhaustible assets to be exploited limitlessly, creating severe environmental degradation, pollution, and ecological imbalance today.

Natural materials existing in nature are termed ‘natural wealth’. They become a ‘resource’ only when human beings develop the knowledge, skill, and technology to transform and utilize them to fulfill human needs.

• Example 1: Iron ore present underground was merely a mineral until humans learned to extract iron from it to craft tools and machines.
• Example 2: Water flowing in rivers becomes a resource for generating hydro-electricity when humans build dams and turbines.

Tribal societies view natural resources as divine gifts, sacred gods, and goddesses rather than commercial assets. They enjoy collective community rights over land, water, and forests, utilizing resources in traditional, sustainable ways without exploiting nature for commercial gain or industrial accumulation.

Industrial society views natural wealth as raw material to be exploited to the maximum extent to boost factory production and material living standards.

No, industrial society does not use resources like tribal societies. While tribal societies treat resources as sacred common property for traditional sustenance, industrial society treats them as commercial commodities to be extracted limitlessly for trade and profit.

Today, there are two primary approaches to natural resource utilization

1. Industrial / Exploitative Approach: Focuses on maximum extraction and consumption using advanced technology to maximize short-term economic growth, often leading to environmental damage.
2. Environmental / Sustainable Approach: Emphasizes that nature is an interconnected ecological web with finite limits. It advocates for sustainable development, balancing resource extraction with natural renewal cycles and sink capacities.

Rachel Carson’s 1962 book Silent Spring highlighted the devastating ecological consequences of indiscriminate chemical pesticide use, such as DDT. Carson demonstrated how pesticides enter water bodies, poison fish, move up the food chain, and cause severe health hazards like cancer in humans and birds. The book sparked a global environmental movement, prompting governments worldwide to re-evaluate industrial progress and regulate toxic chemicals.

River Water: Natural Resource (Inorganic/Renewable).** It is directly available in nature without human transformation.

• Bottled Mineral Water: Man-made / Processed Product. It is processed, filtered, and packaged by humans for sale.
• Diesel: Man-made / Processed Product. It is refined from crude mineral oil in petroleum refineries.
• Oxygen in a Cylinder: Man-made / Processed Product. It is extracted, purified, and compressed into cylinders artificially.
• Mineral Oil: Natural Resource (Organic/Non-renewable). It is a fossilized substance formed naturally beneath the earth’s surface.
• Marble: Natural Resource (Inorganic/Non-renewable). It is a naturally occurring metamorphic rock.
• Chicken: Natural Resource (Organic/Renewable). It is a living biological organism.
• Sugarcane: Natural Resource (Organic/Renewable). It is an agricultural crop grown naturally from soil and water.

To match wood extraction with forest renewal, the annual volume of timber cut must not exceed the natural annual growth rate of the forest. Additionally, mandatory afforestation must be practiced where new saplings are planted to replace harvested trees, allowing forests adequate time to regenerate fully.

Groundwater is recharged when rainwater seeps through soil and rock layers into underground aquifers.

We should extract groundwater strictly up to the limit of its natural recharge rate. Over-extraction causes the water table to drop drastically, leading to well depletion.

Fish reproduce naturally in water bodies, laying eggs to breed new generations. Harvesting should be restricted during breeding seasons, avoiding overfishing or using destructive equipment, ensuring sufficient parent fish remain to sustain population growth.

Excessive chemical fertilizers and pesticides kill beneficial soil microorganisms, earthworms, and organic decomposers essential for natural humus formation. Over time, soil loses its natural fertility, structure, and biological self-renewal capacity, becoming dependent on external chemical inputs.

According to Table 1.1, global crude oil reserves stood at 1,688 thousand million barrels in 2013. At the current consumption rate, these global reserves will last for approximately 53 years.

India utilizes solar energy across various sectors

• Electricity Generation: Large solar parks (e.g., in Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh) generate grid power using photovoltaic panels.
• Rural Lighting & Pumps: Solar lamps, street lights, and solar water pumps for agricultural irrigation.
• Domestic & Commercial Uses: Solar water heaters, solar cookers, and rooftop solar systems on homes, institutions, and railway stations.

No, we do not need to rely solely on coal, which is a major source of air pollution and carbon emissions.

Key clean alternatives to coal-based electricity include

Besides metals, we can recycle

Maintaining a balance between groundwater exploitation and recharge is vital because over-extraction drops the water table rapidly, causing wells and tube wells to dry up. Unbalanced extraction threatens drinking water supplies, lowers crop yields, causes land subsidence, and depletes reserves across over 300 districts in India.

In Kasargode district, Kerala, government aerial spraying of Endosulphan on cashew plantations for 25 years severely contaminated air, soil, and water bodies. It caused grave health problems, birth defects, and cancers among farm workers and local inhabitants, while devastating wildlife. When authorities failed to stop spraying, citizens petitioned the courts, leading to a legal ban and compensation mandates.

No, Endosulphan is banned nationwide by the Supreme Court of India due to its toxic health impacts. Farmers in our region now use safer biological pesticides or permitted agricultural compounds.

Kitchen Vegetable Peels & Food Waste:** Converted into organic compost for home gardens.

• Plastic Bottles & Jars: Re-used for storing household items or converted into plant pots.
• Old Clothes & Rags: Re-used for dusters, cleaning cloths, or cloth bags.
• Greywater (R.O. waste water/washing water): Used for mopping floors, cleaning vehicles, or watering plants.
• Cardboard Boxes & Newspapers: Re-used for packaging or sent for recycling.

Examples of renewable resources in our local area include solar radiation, wind energy, river and groundwater, ambient air, forest vegetation, and domestic livestock.

Poster Design Outline:

• Slogan: “Save Resources Today for a Better Tomorrow! / , !”
• Visuals: A divided tree – one side showing clean green solar panels and trees, the other showing dried wells and smoking chimneys.
• Key Message: Practice 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) and switch to renewable energy.

8.3:

Yes, solar energy can become India’s dominant energy source within 30 years because India receives abundant tropical sunlight year-round. As coal reserves deplete and battery storage technology advances, solar power offers an inexhaustible, eco-friendly solution for sustainable industrial and domestic needs.

c) Both statement and reason are correct**

• Explanation: In the early Stone Age, humans did not know how to extract or use iron ore, so it was not a resource then; technology to use iron developed much later during the metal ages.

Nature provides various materials like rocks, water, soil, and minerals, which are initially termed ‘natural wealth’. These materials do not become ‘resources’ automatically. They become resources only when human beings apply their intellect, skills, technical knowledge, and labor to convert them into usable forms to satisfy human needs.

• For example, crude oil lying underground for millions of years was not a resource until humans invented refining techniques to produce petrol, diesel, and kerosene.
• Similarly, running river water becomes a power resource only when hydroelectric dams are built. Thus, resources are created through human interaction with nature.

Resource management is essential for several reasons

1. Finite Quantities: Non-renewable resources like coal and petroleum are limited and will be exhausted soon if used indiscriminately.
2. Preventing Environmental Degradation: Over-exploitation causes air, water, and soil pollution, ecological imbalance, and health hazards.
3. Protecting Natural Renewal Cycles: Excessive drawls of groundwater or deforestation disrupt natural self-purification and recharge cycles.
4. Ensuring Sustainable Development: Wise management ensures current development needs are met without compromising the needs of future generations.
5. Equitable Distribution: Prevents resource concentration in a few wealthy hands, promoting fair access for all.

Water is a fundamental resource on which almost all biotic and abiotic resources depend

1. Agricultural Resources: Food crops, grains, sugarcane, and vegetables require water for irrigation.
2. Forest and Vegetation Resources: Plant growth, forest regeneration, and wood production rely entirely on rainwater and soil moisture.
3. Animal and Livestock Resources: Domestic animals, birds, and aquatic life (fish) require water for survival and breeding.
4. Energy Resources: Hydroelectric power generation and thermal power cooling plants depend directly on river and reservoir water.
5. Industrial & Human Settlements: Manufacturing industries, mining operations, drinking water systems, and municipal sanitation depend heavily on water resources.

Match Column I and Column II and choose the correct option:

Options given in textbook:

(a) 1-A, 2-B, 3-C, 4-D

(b) 1-D, 2-B, 3-C, 4-A

(c) 1-D, 2-B, 3-A, 4-C

(d) 1-D, 2-A, 3-B, 4-C

• Correct Option: (d) 1-D, 2-A, 3-B, 4-C

3. :

• 1. → D.
• 2. → A.
• 3. → B.
• 4. → C.
• : (d) 1-D, 2-A, 3-B, 4-C