Quiz-3: EVS and Pedagogy MCQ Questions with Answer

Explanation: Animals like human beings are an important part of the environment. Children naturally take great interest in animals around them as they have many observable features such as eyes, nose, legs, fur, tail, colourful wings and beaks. Moreover, they move and produce sounds in different patterns. So, if there is a child who is less socially outgoing, he/she will usually not intermingle with other kids or adults very easily. However, the child freely interacts with others in the presence of the pets/resident animals, which he/she is fond of or considers a friend and uses as a medium. So, pets can help in the social facilitation of a child. They can help children in developing positive personality traits like sharing responsibilities, taking care of others, heightened self-esteem, etc. Pets can also help in increasing a child’s innate interest in both living and non-living things surrounding him/her.

Explanation: Birds are able to fly because of their boat-shaped body (streamlined body) hollow bones, wings and feathers. Feathers help them keep warm also. Perching feet help them anchor themselves on the branches of trees, while a moving neck helps them see in different directions even with fixed eyes.

Explanation: The species that belongs exclusively to a particular part of the world is called endemic species. For example, Holgrem’s buckwheat is endemic to the Great Basin National Park.

Explanation: Carnivores (animals that eat the flesh of other animals) are also called secondary consumers. In the food chain of the given ecosystem, lions are positioned as secondary consumers (the third trophic level of the food chain). Herbivores (plant-eating animals such as goats, deer, rabbits, etc.) are called primary consumers (the second trophic level of the food chain). Producers (plants) constitute the first trophic level of the food chain.

Explanation: In-situ conservation of biodiversity is performed under natural conditions without their modification. Examples of in-situ conservation include national parks, sanctuaries and biosphere reserves. Ex-situ conservation, on the other hand, is done in a modified environment such as botanical gardens, seed banks, gene banks, and zoos.

Explanation: People who indulge in hard physical work routinely need to take food items rich in energy (carbohydrates and fats) such as cereals including millets; sweet potato, and potato; honey; jaggery; fruits like banana, mango; dairy products like milk, ghee, butter, cheese; eggs; meat; vegetable oil; and nuts; etc. Legumes (beans, pulses, peas) are low in fat and high in protein. Citrus fruits are rich sources of vitamin C.

Explanation: Carbon is the common element between carbohydrates and proteins. Carbohydrates are energy­ giving compounds that contain carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Proteins are bodybuilding, complex organic compounds consisting of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. Some proteins also show the presence of sulphur, phosphorus and iron.

Explanation: Sewage contains degradable material in the form of organic matter. When sewage enters water bodies, the number of decomposers (bacteria and fungi) to degrade the components of sewage also increases. This results in high biochemical oxygen demand for decomposition by decomposers. This causes a decrease in the dissolved oxygen in water bodies and has negative effects on aquatic animals.

Explanation: A niche defines the functional characteristics of a species in a habitat. Two species have different niches in their habitat. No two species can co-exist in a similar niche without competition. Habitat is just the address of a species, whereas a niche defines the functions performed by a species in an area occupied by it.

Explanation: Camps are a form of temporary settlement. Houses with wooden floors or roofs and walls made of stones, mud and lime are found in cooler areas such as Leh and Ladakh as a form of permanent settlement. Stilt houses, using bamboo, are built-in rainy areas as a form of permanent settlement. A house made of concrete is called a pucca house and is built as a form of permanent settlement.

Explanation: Aurangabad is a city in Maharashtra. Among the given choices, Chilka Lake (Odisha) is where the man could be moving to in the east direction from Aurangabad. Sikandra Fort is situated in Agra (Uttar Pradesh) which lies in the north of Aurangabad (Maharashtra). Yercaud is a famous hill station in Tamil Nadu and is also called ‘poor man’s Ooty’. Munnar is one of the famous hill stations of Kerala. Tamil Nadu and Kerala both lie in the south of Aurangabad.

Explanation: The floating houses found in Kerala mostly include slow-moving, huge houseboats used for leisure trips. They are also called kettuvallams. On the other hand, the houseboats found in Dal Lake, Srinagar, are mostly stationary and moored at the edges of the lake. Tourists usually love to sojourn in them.

Explanation: Petroleum (crude oil) can provide many products through fractional distillation, such as diesel, petrol, wax, LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) paraffin, etc. Coal tar is a thick black or brown liquid product obtained through the destructive distillation of coal at a high temperature. It is used as a chemical in the treatment of skin diseases such as eczema and sometimes in road construction.

Explanation: Bhopal Shatabdi Express is the fastest train in India, which runs between New Delhi and Habibganj (Bhopal). Its top speed is 155 Km/h, making it the fastest train in India.

Explanation: Air pollution refers to an undesirable change in the quality of air due to biological, physical and chemical pollutants. It affects our organs such as skin, eyes and respiratory tract. Air pollution is caused due to many factors such as smoke containing poisonous gases released from factories, automobiles, burning combustible things, and the cement industry.

Explanation: The NCF (National Curriculum Framework) 2000, recommended that environmental studies be taught as an integrated course (as single EVS) not in distinct parts as science and social studies, for the entire primary stage (classes I to V). Before this, classes I to II were already following the concept of integrated courses for EVS, according to the NCF’s policy document 1975.

Explanation: It is necessary for a teacher to first interact with children and measure their prior experience on the concept to be taught, and then select the appropriate teaching­ learning method/approaches to build further on that concept. Thus, in this case, the best way for making students learn about plants is to first find out the level of their previous knowledge about plants through a plain-spoken classroom session and then strengthen this knowledge with a first-hand experience by letting the students observe different plants and their parts in their natural surroundings, which they should record and analyse.

Explanation: Bernard J. Nebel defined environment science studies as the study of the things and principles that keep equilibrium among various ecosystems. He is a biologist, who has also written the book The Way of the World Works on environmental issues.

Explanation: Telling children about the organisations working for the environment is not the primary objective of environmental education. There are many objectives of environmental education such as providing the basic understanding of the environment and its interrelationship with humans; developing sensibility towards the environment; and making learners aware of the environmental problems and developing skills to solve them.

Explanation: There are various cognitive processes such as remembering (recalling and recognising) understanding, applying, analysing, evaluating and creating. The given interaction shows that students can recall their observations, very well understand whatever they remember and can also apply (use relate) this knowledge in answering questions. However, here, they are not evaluating or creating anything.

Explanation: Scaffolding means supporting a child while teaching-learning is going on, making the child understand the concepts which he/she is unable to grasp independently. Support can come from a teacher, peers, friends, etc.

Explanation: Assessment done during the teaching-learning process is also called assessment for learning and is akin to formative assessment. It is done for the identification of learning gaps of students and fixing them, not really forgiving marks or grades to them. It is not meant for reporting purposes either. It is a continuous monitoring process simultaneous to the teaching-learning process in a non-threatening and supportive environment. It involves giving regular descriptive feedback by a teacher to a child for improvement in the child’s performance. It also helps in identifying deficiencies in the teaching method.

Explanation: Knowledge/Information-based questions/activities should be avoided or used less to serve the purpose of summative assessment, otherwise children would focus only on memorising the information, which they would forget later. Summative assessment must involve more understanding-, application and analysis-based questions/active-ties.

Explanation: Students who can learn and assess their own work and also that of their peers can act as a learning resource for their teachers. It means these students can help their fellow students with learning when the teacher is engaged with some other students in the class.

Explanation: Natural resources are the resources that are available naturally to us for use. Natural resources are of two types: Renewable resources: These are resources that can be used again and again and are present in an unlimited amount, such as air, solar energy, water and soil. Wildlife (forests with wild animals) is also a renewable resource. However, with the passage of time, man has caused great damage to these vital resources, and their conservation at a mass scale is needed. Non-renewable resources: These are resources that cannot be used again and again and are present in a limited amount. Examples are petrol, coal, etc. We need to conserve these resources also on an emergency basis.

Explanation: Assessment done during the teaching-learning process is a continuous monitoring/ assessing process. It is also called assessment for learning and is akin to formative assessment. It is done for the identification of the learning gaps of students and fixing them in a supportive environment.

Explanation: Selection of a teaching-learning method depends on various factors such as concept, the prior learning experience of children and availability of resources. It does not depend on the school’s philosophy. It is necessary for a teacher to first interact with and identify the prior experience of students on the concept he/she is going to teach and then select the aptest method/approach to build further on that concept with the available resources.

Explanation: Interaction of a teacher with his/her students through observation, listening to them, discussing with them, asking questions, and reviewing their work is the method of teaching-learning for EVS that can help assess the students’ level of learning. The rest of the given methods (screening, lecture-based and demonstration­ based) are mere ways of delivering information to the students but not getting back their responses, which is possible in the interaction method.

Explanation: The group learning method helps inculcate the qualities of sharing, cooperating, learning from each other’s experiences, interacting, discussing, problem-solving, decision making and respecting others’ views in children. It also helps a teacher find out the strengths and weaknesses of children.

Explanation: A good learning method should be able to develop skills for self-study in students. It must produce positive changes in terms of knowledge, understanding, habits, attitude, skills and behaviour of students.