NCERT Solutions Class 10 Science Chapter 16

NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Science Chapter 16 – Sustainable Management of Natural Resources

Class 10 Science Chapter 16 is about Sustainable Management of Natural Resources. This chapter is expected to have a weightage of 6-8 marks in the CBSE board examination.

Extramarks is a great online learning platform for students from Class 1 to Class 12. Our expert faculty members have created engaging learning modules that are trusted and used by lakhs of students across the country.

CBSE Class 10 students can refer to our NCERT solutions for their Science,  Mathematics, and other subject studies. All the essential information regarding the concepts of natural resources, their availability, and optimal management of the natural resources are well explained in our NCERT Solutions Class 10 Science Chapter 16 by our expert science faculty. Students will come across various types of questions and their answers while preparing from our study aid of Class 10 Science Chapter 16 Solutions.

Our NCERT solutions always strive to impart maximum informational value and answers to all textbook questions. Referring and practising thoroughly from NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Science Chapter 16 – Sustainable Management of Natural Resources can help students score good marks in their class tests as well as the CBSE Class 10 board exams.

Key Topics Covered In NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Science Chapter 16

Through the topics in this chapter, we will discuss the importance of preserving our natural resources efficiently for our present and future generations.

Sustainable Management Of Natural Resources

Management of natural resources refers to the sustainable utilization of natural resources, including both abiotic resources- land, water, air, minerals, forests, fisheries and wild flora and fauna, and biotic resources- plants and animals so that they are available for future generations. Natural resources provide fundamental life support to all living organisms, and hence it becomes very important to put the resources to their best use for human purposes and preserve them efficiently. Sustainability is an indispensable environment-friendly practice to maintain the proper functioning of the ecosystem and maintain environmental health. In this context, many countries are now adopting eco-friendly technologies in order to reflect high environmental performance, good environmental health and ecosystem vitality.

One foremost abstraction in the sustainable management of natural resources and saving the environment is the 3R principle, which stands for “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle”.

• Reduce: The idea of reducing consumption and production of goods is important, as it results in less waste and recycling of the products. Assessing the reduction value of an item helps in less waste generation and preserving natural systems. One such example is Using multi-use items to reduce the amount of production and the amount of waste material generated in packaging. Few other practices that can be included in our daily life are:

1. Saving electricity by switching off unnecessary devices. Consumption of coal (the exhaustible natural resources) is directly reduced by this.
2. Saving water by using a bucket during baths instead of showers, keeping the tap closed while brushing, etc.
3. Switching off the engines of automobiles at traffic lights to reduce the consumption of fuels.
4. Disposals like plastic cups, and bags, cannot be degenerated and are harmful to the environment. Plastic disposals can be replaced with paper bags and cups that can be degraded and therefore are environment friendly.
5. Using Solar appliances can help reduce the consumption of LPG.
6. Print on both sides of the paper to reduce paper wastage.
7. Using cloth napkins instead of paper napkins.
8. Purchase durable goods that have an extended warranty. They generally run longer and save landfill space.

• Reuse: Reusing the items again or repurposing them for different use from what they are intended for is essential in the waste hierarchy instead of discarding them. For example, reusing plastic utensils and bottles, Tyres for making tire-swing, used wood to make woodcraft and Newspapers to pack items, etc.
• Recycle: Manufacturing different products from discarded items like paper, plastic, glass or metal objects rather than synthesising them from scratch. Recycling uses energy; however, it helps in preventing the usage of new resources and old materials from entering the waste stream.

Why Do We Need To Manage Our Resources?

The main reasons why resources need to be managed efficiently are given below,

1.  Resources are limited on earth: Natural resources such as oil, coal, natural gas, metals, stone, and sand are essential for human well-being; however, they are not everlasting. If we do not use them sensibly, we might lose these non-renewable resources earlier than expected.
2. Replenishing renewable resources on time: Some natural resources like water, soil, forest, etc., are essential to life and can be renewed or replenished if managed well. Efficient management of renewable resources will prevent their over-consumption and make them available for the next generations.
3. Planning of sustainable development: Sustainable development is the actions and initiatives taken to put the natural resources to use in an optimum way, to preserve them for future generations as well. It helps to maintain a balance between the use and replenishment of natural resources.
4. Averting damage to the environment: Exploitation of resources leads to damage to the environment in the long run. The management of resources is required to minimise the environmental damages associated with their usage.
5. Equitable distribution of resources: Proper management of resources makes it possible to benefit everyone. All people equally need resources for their life. However, the available resources are not equal across all geographical locations and populations.

Forests and Wildlife

Forests encompass enormous biodiversity of different species, plants, bacteria, fungi, ferns, flowering plants, nematodes, insects, birds, reptiles, etc. Conservation of such biodiversity becomes very important in order to have a balanced ecosystem.

Stakeholders of Forests and Wildlife:

1. Local habitats: The people who live in or around forests are dependent on forest produce for various aspects of their life. Local people are largely dependent on forests for Bamboo, firewood, small timber, fishing and hunting, fruits, nuts, medicines, etc. People living in the forest for centuries had developed a practice to ensure that the resources were used in a sustainable manner until the British took control of the forests, and the people were compelled to depend on much smaller areas, and forest resources started becoming over-exploited to some extent.
2. The Forest Department: The forest department of the Government owns the land and controls the resources from the forests. Local knowledge and needs continued to be ignored by the Forest department in independent India. Due to the conversion of forests into monocultures of pine, teak, or eucalyptus, a large amount of biodiversity has been destroyed, leading to ecological imbalance, and also varied needs of the local people can no longer be met by such forests.
3. The Industrialists: Monoculture cultivation is useful for industries to access specific products. Timber, Paper, Lac, and Sports equipment industries are a few examples who would consider the forest as solely a source of raw material for its factories and are least interested in the sustainability of the forest.
4. Wildlife and nature enthusiasts: Wildlife and nature conservationists are not dependent on forests but take up the initiative to conserve nature in its unaltered form.

Examples of People’s Participation in the conservation of Forests:

1. The Chipko Andolan (‘Hug the Trees Movement’): The movement originated from an incident in a remote village called Reni in Garhwal. This was a Grassroot level effort to end the alienation of people from their forests.
2. Arabari forest range of Midnapore district: Here, villagers were involved in the protection of 1,272 hectares of badly degraded sal forest. With the active and inclined participation of the local community, the sal forests of Arabari underwent a remarkable recovery – by 1983, a previously worthless forest was valued at Rs 12.5 crores

Water for All

Water is the fundamental component for all living beings on the earth. Farmers in India majorly depend on rainfall for agriculture. Rains in India are primarily due to the monsoons, which are only for a few months of the year. Despite receiving rainfall in the monsoon, we still face water scarcity in many parts of our country. Failure to sustain groundwater due to loss of vegetation cover, diversion for high water-intensive crops, pollution from industrial emissions, and urban wastes.

Irrigation methods and water conservation: 

•       Dams: Large dams can store adequate water for irrigation, and the Canal systems from these dams can transfer large amounts of water over far distances. However, water mismanagement has led to many criticisms, such as (i) Social problems: Many tribes are displaced without adequate compensation or rehabilitation. (ii) Economic problems: Huge amounts of public money are used without the generation of consistent benefits.(iii) Environmental problems: They lead to deforestation and the loss of biological diversity. (iv) Inequitable distribution of water: People near the Dam grow water-intensive crops like sugarcane and rice, while people farther downstream are deprived of dam water.
•       Water Harvesting: Various organizations have been working on renewing ancient water harvesting systems as an alternative to the ‘mega-projects’ like dams. Water harvesting is an ancient concept in India. Some of the water harvesting techniques used are digging small pits and lakes, putting in place simple watershed systems, building small earthen dams, constructing dykes, sand, and limestone reservoirs, set up rooftop water-collecting units. The advantages of water harvesting are : (i) rejuvenates the groundwater level. (ii)Soil and water conservation (iii) Ecological balance. (iv) Increases production and income for the local community. (v) Reduces droughts and floods.

e.g. kattas in Karnataka,khadins, tanks & nadis in Rajasthan, bandharas & tals in Maharashtra,

Coal and Petroleum

Coal and petroleum are obtained from non-renewable fossil fuels. They will get depleted in due time. Hence, proper management of the consumption of fossil fuels is essential. Combustion of fossil fuels produces harmful chemicals like oxides of carbon, sulphur and nitrogen in the air. Therefore, we need to use these resources wisely. The management of coal and petroleum also signifies the efficiency of our machines. Recent research in this field concentrates on ensuring the complete combustion of these fuels to increase efficiency and reduce air pollution.

NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Science Chapter 16 – Exercises & Solutions

NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Science Chapter 16 is one of the finest reference guides while preparing for the CBSE exams. All the questions are backed with a step-by-step solution to understand the concept better. These answers will help in gaining a thorough knowledge of all the concepts. Questions from the NCERT textbooks and NCERT exemplar books are also solved with detailed solutions.

Students will study various exam-oriented questions of different formats including MCQs, short and long-answer questions, fill in the blanks questions, etc.

We recommend students register on Extramarks website to get access to our NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Science Chapter 1. Below are specific links that will help them access these resources:

• NCERT Solutions – Very Short-answer Questions
• NCERT Solutions – Short-answer Questions
• NCERT Solutions – MCQ’s
• NCERT Solutions – Long-answer Questions

Important Features of NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Science Chapter 16 

Our NCERT solutions are a comprehensive set of study materials including chapter-specific notes, CBSE revision notes, questions and answers, etc.

Few of the benefits for students to study from our NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Science Chapter 16 includes:

• NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Science Chapter 16 topics are structured in a lucid language that can be understood by all students. The study and practice materials are prepared by highly qualified and experienced teachers. So students can confidently rely on our solutions.
• NCERT Solutions provides a detailed explanation of the chapter questions that help you understand better and fetch more marks in the exams.
• NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Science Chapter 16 provides well-explained solutions to all the questions asked in the textbook and exemplar book. Apart from that, the tricky questions between chapters make students think laterally and apply the concepts learned in the chapter.
• NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Science Chapter 16 helps students be confident in the concepts and prepare well for examinations. The content in NCERT Solutions provided by Extramarks is regularly updated as per the CBSE board and adheres to the NCERT guidelines. Hence, students can refer to these solutions for CBSE exams and other competitive exams like Olympiads.

Furthermore, students may refer to NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Science other chapters on our website.

Extramarks provides comprehensive learning solutions to students from Class 1 to Class 12. Below are few links to these study materials: