Landforms, rivers and resources of South Asia

Grade 6 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Card I (rainfall, yearly average). Mawsynram, on the Khasi Hills facing the Bay of Bengal: more than 11,000 mm (record periods give 11,000 to 12,400 mm). Jaisalmer, in the Thar Desert: about 260 mm. In summer, moist winds from the Bay of Bengal blow north and are forced up the steep hills at Mawsynram. The Thar Desert lies far from the sea, in the northwest.

2. 1.

   About how many times as much rain falls at Mawsynram as at Jaisalmer in a year, Milo asks?

   • About 11,260 times
   • About 4 times
   • More than 40 times
   • More than 11,000 times
3. 2.

   Which chain best explains the heavy rain at Mawsynram, Luz asks?

   • Heavy rain falls at Mawsynram, so the winds from the Bay of Bengal are drawn up the hills
   • Moist winds from the Bay of Bengal are forced up steep hills, cool, and drop their rain
   • The Thar Desert lies far from the sea, in the northwest, so it receives little rain
   • Dry winds blow from the Thar Desert over the hills, pick up water, and drop it as rain
4. 3.

   Sources give 11,000 to 12,400 mm for Mawsynram. How should a report state it, Ari asks?

   • Say about 11,700 mm, because the average of the two ends is the exact value
   • Skip the number, because rain is measured differently in every desert
   • Say exactly 12,400 mm, because the highest figure shows the true record
   • Say more than 11,000 mm, because every source agrees on at least that much

5. Use this

   Card J (fact card, Himalayan power). Bhutan has under one million people. Its rivers drop steeply from the Himalayas, which suits hydropower dams. Bhutan uses little of its electricity and sells much of it to India, which is a main source of its income. Bangladesh is flat, with slow rivers, and has few sites for large hydropower dams.

6. 4.

   Why can Bhutan sell so much electricity to India, Bo asks?

   • Bhutan sells electricity, so its rivers drop steeply from the Himalayas to suit dams
   • Bhutan has the largest population in South Asia, so it makes more power than anyone
   • Bhutan is flat with slow rivers, which is why its dams make so much power
   • Its steep rivers suit hydropower, and its small population uses only a little of the power
7. 5.

   A dam company and a farmer downstream may want different things from a river. What is the best reason, Tala asks?

   • The company wants the farmer's land, since hydropower dams are built to take over farms
   • The company wants the river dry so its work is easy; the farmer wants it high
   • The farmer lives upstream, so the farmer controls how much water the dam gets
   • The company stores water to make power, while the farmer needs a steady flow for fields
8. 6.

   Why is hydropower a bigger opportunity for Bhutan than for Bangladesh, Zee asks?

   • Bhutan has under one million people, so any dam there makes enough power
   • Steep rivers drive turbines well, while slow rivers on flat land offer few dam sites
   • Bangladesh has steep rivers, but it has fewer dams than Bhutan has built so far
   • Bhutan sells most of its power to India, which is a main source of its income and trade

9. Use this

   Card K (fact card, tea). Tea bushes grow best where it is warm, where heavy rain falls through much of the year, and where water drains away from the roots. Tea does badly where water stands around the roots. Darjeeling's tea gardens sit on steep hillsides between about 600 and 2,000 m. Assam's gardens lie on the flat floor of the Brahmaputra valley, where estates dig drainage ditches.

10. 7.

    Assam's gardens are on flat land and Darjeeling's are on slopes. How do both manage water, Jun asks?

    • Both rely on slopes, since tea grows on steep land throughout South Asia and needs it
    • Darjeeling uses slopes and Assam digs ditches, so both keep roots out of water
    • Assam uses slopes, and Darjeeling digs ditches, since flat land drains by itself
    • Both dig ditches, since Card K says that estates dig drainage ditches to keep tea dry
11. 8.

    A new tea garden is planned on a flat low field that floods. What is the likely result, Esme asks?

    • The flooding helps, since tea thrives with standing water around its roots
    • No tea could grow on flat land, so the plan must be dropped at once and the field left alone
    • The roots would suffer in standing water, so drainage would be needed
    • The garden will do well, since heavy rain through much of the year is what tea needs

12. Use this

    Card L (two sources, floods in Bangladesh). Source 1, a river scientist (summary written for this sheet): most of Bangladesh is low land built from silt carried by three great rivers. Each monsoon season, part of the land floods, and the floods leave fresh silt that keeps soil fertile. Source 2, a farmer in a delta village (invented): "In a normal year the water covers my rice field for some weeks and leaves rich mud. In a very high flood the water stays too long, and I lose the crop."

13. 9.

    Which source better shows how floods work across the whole delta, and why, Ren asks?

    • Source 2, because a farmer sees each flood and so knows the whole delta well
    • Source 2, because the farmer's story is invented, which makes it more accurate
    • Neither, because one scientist and one farmer cannot agree about floods
    • Source 1, because it explains floods across the whole delta, not one field
14. 10.

    A new embankment keeps river water off the fields. Using Source 1, what might change over time, Noah asks?

    • The soil gets richer, since floods remove silt from the fields, according to Source 1
    • Fields keep their fertility, since the silt already in the soil lasts for good
    • Fields flood more often, since keeping the river out makes the water come back faster
    • Fewer high floods may protect crops, but fresh silt stops, so soil may lose fertility