A.

Class 7  
a. Environment is our basic life support system, provides air we breath, water
we drink, food we eat and land where we live. It is combination of natural and human
made phenomena. Natural environment is both biotic and abiotic conditions, human
environment reveals activities, creations and interactions among human beings.  
Natural environment - Lithosphere is solid crust of the earth, made up of rocks and
minerals and covered by thin layer of soil. Irregular surface with landforms, found
over continents and ocean floors. Hydrosphere - domain of water, comprises various
source of water and different types of water bodies, essential for ALL living organisms.
Atmosphere - thin layer of air that surrounds the earth. Gravitational force of earth
holds the atmosphere around it. Protects us from harmful rays and scorching heat of
sun. Changes in atmosphere produces changes in weather and climate. Biosphere -
narrow zone of earth where land, water and air interact with each other to support
life.  
Ecosystem - system formed by interaction of all living organisms with each other and
with physical and chemical factors of environment in which they live, all linked by
transfer of energy and material. 
Human Environment - human beings interact and modify it according to our needs.  
b. Interior of our earth 
Crust - thinnest of all layers, 35 km on continental masses and 5 km on ocean floors.
Main mineral constituents of continental mass are silica and alumina (called sial /
felsic, 2.7 times denser than water). For oceanic crust - silica and magnesium (sima /
mafic, 3.4 times denser than water). Oceanic is thinner, denser and younger than
continental crust. Continental crust is predominantly granitic rock (see granite), while
composition of the oceanic crust corresponds mainly to that of basalt. Crust consists
of mainly igneous rocks, and sedimentary and metamorphic rocks.  
Mantle - 100-2900 km thick. Composed of silicate material  
Core - 2900-5100-6370 km thick. Made up nickel and iron, very high temperature and
pressure. Inner core is rotating and cause of earth's magnetic field.  
Crust forms 1% volume of earth, 84% is mantle and 15% core. Radius of earth 6371
km.  
Rocks and minerals - any natural mass of mineral matter that makes up earth's crust is
called a rock. 3 major types  
Igneous - when molten magma cools, it becomes solid and thus formed rocks are
called igneous rocks (also called primary rocks). 2 types - intrusive rocks (when molten
lava cools down slowly deep inside earth's surface, large grain, eg granite) and
extrusive rocks (when molten lava cools down rapidly after coming on earth's
surface, fine grained structures, eg basalt).  
Sedimentary - Rocks broken down into small fragments, transported and compressed
and hardened to form layers of rocks are called sedimentary rocks. Eg sandstone
(made from grains of sand). May contain fossils of plants/animals.  
Metamorphic - igneous and sedimentary rocks can change into metamorphic rocks
under great heat and pressure. Eg clay changes into slate and limestone into marble.  
Rock cycle -  
 
a. Our changing earth 
Lithosphere is broken into a number of plates known as lithospheric plates which
move around very slowly - few mm each year - cos of movement of molten magma.
Earth movements are divided on the basis of forces which cause them - 
i. Endogenic forces (i) Sudden forces eg earthquake, volcano, landslide
(ii) Diastrophic forces eg building mountains 
 ii. Exogenic forces - erosional and depositional such as river, wind, sea
waves, glaciers 
Earthquake - when lithospheric plates move, surface of earth vibrates: the vibrations are
called earthquake. Focus - place in crust where movement starts. Epicenter - place on the
surface above the focus. Types of earthquake waves -  
 
i. Primary waves or longitudinal waves - push and pull waves, resemble sound
waves. Travel outward from point of disturbance in all directions in straight lines.
Fastest of all earthquake waves. P and S waves cause the rocking motion of the
earth. 
ii. Secondary/shear waves or transverse waves 
iii. L waves or surface waves (love and rayleigh)  
Earthquake measured with seismograph, magnitude of earthquake is measured on Richter
scale (measured in logarithmic scale, 3.0 to 4.0 is 10x). 
Major land forms - landscape is being continuously worn away by 2 processes -
weathering and erosion. Weathering is the breaking up of rocks on earth's surface.
Erosion is wearing away of the landscape by different agents. These 2 processes created
different landforms on surface of earth.  
Rivers - twists and turns forming large bends are called meanders. When meander loop
cut off from the river and forms a cut off lake, its called an ox bow lake. Floodplains -
formed by overflowing rivers depositing layers of fine soil and sediments. The raised banks
are called levees. As it approaches seas and begins to break up into distributaries which
has own mouth, the collection of sediments from all the mouths forms a delta.