PODAR INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

POWAI (CBSE)

Name: ________________ Class: VII ____

Subject: SST (Geography) NOTES Roll No: __

_

Ch. 11 Life in the Desert Region

Q.1. Answer the following questions in 10 to 20 words:
1. What type of clothes the people of the Sahara Desert wear?
Ans: The people of the Sahara Desert usually wear long loose clothing that covers
them from head to toe. This protects them from the harsh desert extremities.

2. Name commonly found trees in the Ladakh desert.

Ans: Willows, poplars and fruit trees like apples, apricots and walnuts are found in
the Ladakh desert.

3. Name the commonly found animals in the Sahara Desert.

Ans: Camels, scorpions, snakes, lizards, rodents, hyenas, gazelles, oryx, screw
horn antelopes, jackals and foxes are the commonly found animals in the Sahara
Desert.

Q.2 Answer the following questions in 50 to 70 words:

1. ‘The plants and animals in hot deserts have adapted themselves to the harsh
climatic conditions’. Give few examples to support the statement.
Ans: The plants in hot desert region have adapted themselves to harsh climatic
conditions by modifying themselves.
For instance,
● Most desert plants are inactive for a major part of the year. During dry periods,
they do not perform many water-draining functions such as photosynthesis.
● Many plants in the desert conserve water by not having any leaves at all. For
example, many cacti have spines instead of leaves.
● Plants such as aloes are equipped with fleshy leaves that contain much of their
water supply.

2. Describe the location and extent of the Sahara Desert.

Ans:
1. Sahara meaning ‘desert’ in Arabic, is the largest hot desert in the world. It
covers a large part of North Africa.
2. It extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the West to the Red Sea in the East. In
the North, it is bounded by the Atlas Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea
and in the South, it merges into the Savanna grasslands.
3. With an area of about 8.54 million sq km, it is spread across eleven
countries. These are Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania,
Morocco, Niger, Sudan, Tunisia and Western Sahara.

3. Describe the life of people in the Sahara Desert.

Ans:
1. Despite the harsh climatic conditions and difficult terrain, Sahara is
inhabited by several nomadic tribes pursuing different occupations.
2. The Bedouins and the Tuaregs are two major tribes inhabiting the Sahara
Desert.
3. The Tuaregs are primarily Berber speaking pastoralists who raise cattle,
goats, sheep and camels.
4. The Bedouins are Arabic-speaking animal herders who migrate into the
desert during the rainy winter season and move back towards cultivated land
during the dry summer months.
5. The people in this region usually wear long loose clothing that covers them
from head to toe. This protects them from the harsh desert extremities.

4. ‘The climate of the Ladakh Desert is extremely harsh and dry’. Elaborate the
given statement.
Ans:
1. Ladakh is situated at a high altitude, it is extremely cold and dry. Just like
hot deserts, the sky is devoid of any cloud cover.
2. The air is so thin that the sun’s heat can be felt intensely. Even during
summers, the day temperature stays a few degrees above zero and the night
 temperature drops well below -30°C. During winters, the temperature may
reach around -40°C; As a result, the lakes and rivers freeze.
3. Due to dry climatic conditions, some part of the region experience high
velocity winds.
4. The rainfall in this region is very low. It is as low as 10 cm annually. This is
because it lies in the rain shadow of the Himalayas. The Himalayas acts as a
barrier and do not allow moisture laden clouds to enter the region.
5. Most of the precipitation in the region is in the form of snowfall caused by
the western disturbances and the bitterly cold winds from Central Asia. The
melting glaciers are the main source of water in this region.

Q.3 Give reasons.

1. Sahara Desert receives scanty rainfall.

Ans: Sahara Desert receives scanty rainfall because the rain-bearing winds from
the Atlantic Ocean lose much of their moisture till the time they reach Sahara. At
the same time, precipitation in the region is unreliable and irregular with some
areas receiving no rainfall for long periods and other areas reporting instances of
flash floods (rain comes for a short period of time but with great force).

2. Ladakh Desert receives low rainfall.

Ans: The rainfall in this region is very low. It is as low as 10 cm annually. This
is because it lies in the rain shadow of the Himalayas. The Himalayas acts as a
barrier and do not allow moisture-laden clouds to enter the region. Most of the
precipitation in the region is in the form of snowfall caused by the western
disturbances and the bitterly cold winds from Central Asia.

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