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NCERT Solutions Curiosity Chapter 2 –34Projects and further exploration — Learning further

Book page 33 Updated on2026-09-05

Q1.
Read about one Indian scientist or a wildlife biologist who is working towards protection of India’s biodiversity. Prepare a brief report.
Answer

Choose one scientist, read two or three reliable sources, and write about half a page. A good report should have five parts: who they are, what they studied, the main work they did, why it mattered for biodiversity, and what you learnt from them.

Scientists you could write about: Janaki Ammal and Salim Ali (both in your chapter), Sálim Ali's student Ranjit Manakadan, Ullas Karanth (tiger counting), Krithi Karanth (human–wildlife conflict), Raman Sukumar (elephants), Bittu Sahgal (conservation writing), Purnima Devi Barman (the greater adjutant stork of Assam).

Sample report: Janaki Ammal (1897–1984) was an Indian botanist from Kerala who devoted her life to plants and the environment. She worked on sugarcane and on the plants of the Western Ghats, and as the head of the Botanical Survey of India she started programmes to document the plant diversity of the whole country. Late in her life she joined the Save Silent Valley movement and helped protect a moist evergreen forest in Palakkad, Kerala from being drowned by a dam. Her greatest lesson is that careful record-keeping is itself an act of conservation — you cannot protect what nobody has counted.
What makes a report good: name the specific work, not just the praise. "He loved birds" says nothing; "he prepared a list of Indian birds and documented their travel routes and habitats, and got Keoladeo National Park and Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary protected" tells the reader exactly what changed because of Salim Ali.
Q2.
Explore the contributions of Divya Mudappa, Usha Lachungpa, Ghazala Shahabuddin, Nandini Velho, Vidya Athreya, Uma Ramakrishnan and Divya Karnad towards biodiversity in India. Prepare a report of the work done by any three of them.
Answer

Pick any three names, find out where each one works and what animal or habitat she works on, and write a short paragraph on each. Here is an outline you can build on after your own reading.

ScientistWorks mainly onWhy it matters for biodiversity
Divya MudappaRestoring rainforest fragments in the Anamalai hills, Western GhatsShows that a damaged forest can be brought back by planting native species, and reconnects patches so hornbills and civets can move between them
Usha LachungpaWildlife and high-altitude habitats of SikkimDocumented rare Himalayan birds, plants and grazing lands, and worked with local communities on their protection
Ghazala ShahabuddinBirds, forests and the people who live in themStudies how forest use and management affect bird diversity, linking conservation with the rights of forest communities
Nandini VelhoProtected areas of the Eastern Himalaya, especially in Arunachal PradeshWorks on how park staff and local people together make protection actually work on the ground
Vidya AthreyaLeopards living close to human settlementsShowed that leopards can share space with people, changing how India handles human–wildlife conflict
Uma RamakrishnanGenetics of tigers and other Indian wildlifeUses DNA from scat and hair to count animals and to check whether small populations are getting cut off from one another
Divya KarnadMarine life, fisheries and sharks along India's coastsWorks with fishing communities on sustainable seafood so that ocean biodiversity and livelihoods both survive
Tip: Use each scientist's own institute or project website and reliable news articles. In your report, write one sentence in your own words about why her work matters — that sentence is what your teacher will read most carefully.
Q3.
Label the plants in your school with their local names with the help of your teacher or the gardener. List them in your notebook.
Answer

Method: walk round the school with your teacher or the gardener. For each plant, ask for the local name first — the gardener usually knows it best — then find the common English name and, if you can, the scientific name. Write the label on a weather-proof card or a painted wooden strip and tie it loosely to the stem (never nail it into the trunk).

What your notebook list should contain:

S. no.Local nameCommon nameHerb / shrub / treeWhere it stands in the schoolSomething special
1.AamMangoTreeNear the gateReticulate venation; taproot; flowers in spring
2.GudhalHibiscusShrubAlong the boundary hedgeLarge red flowers used in worship
3.TulsiHoly basilHerbPot near the officeMedicinal; opposite pairs of leaves
4.NeemNeem / Indian lilacTreePlayground cornerBitter leaves; used against insects
Why local names are worth recording: the local name carries knowledge that a textbook does not — which plant is used for a cough, which one flowers before the rains, which one the birds nest in. Every time a local name is forgotten, a piece of that knowledge is lost with it.
Q4.
With the help of your teacher, plan a field visit or a nature walk. Record your observations. Prepare a class biodiversity register by consolidating the observations and notes of all the students taken during the field visit or nature walk.
Answer

How to plan it:

  1. Choose the place and date with your teacher — a park, a pond, a patch of forest or even the school campus. Early morning is best; birds and insects are most active then.
  2. Carry a notebook, pen, water bottle, a hand lens if available, and a camera or phone if permitted.
  3. Divide the work. Let one group record trees, one shrubs and herbs, one birds, one insects, one anything else. Nothing gets missed and nothing is recorded five times.
  4. Record on the spot: name (local, if known), where it was seen, how many, what it was doing, and any special feature. Never pluck or disturb — collect only fallen leaves and flowers.
  5. Back in class, pool every group's notes, remove repeats, and write the final register.

What the class biodiversity register should look like:

S. no.Name (local / common)Plant or animalGroupWhere seenObservation
1.PeepalPlantTree, dicotNear the pondHeart-shaped leaves; koels feeding on its fruit
2.Doob grassPlantHerb, monocotAll over the fieldParallel venation; fibrous roots binding the soil
3.Common mynaAnimalBird, terrestrialOn the lawnWalks and flies; yellow patch behind the eye
4.DragonflyAnimalInsectOver the pondTwo pairs of wings; hovers and darts
Why a register is more than a list: if the same walk is repeated next year and the year after, the register becomes a record of change. If the sparrows drop from thirty to five, or a new plant appears, your school will have the evidence. That is precisely how scientists like Salim Ali documented India's birds — one careful notebook at a time.
Q5.
Find out about ‘Project Tiger’ and other similar projects initiated in India to protect our biodiversity. Prepare a presentation for your class.
Answer

Build a presentation of about eight slides. Keep one idea per slide, use pictures and a map, and end with what students themselves can do.

ProjectStartedWhat it protects
Project Tiger1973The declining population of the Bengal Tiger, through a network of tiger reserves such as Corbett, Kanha, Ranthambore, Bandipur and Sundarbans
Cheetah Reintroduction Project2022Restoring the cheetah, brought to Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh
Protected areas for the Great Indian Bustard—Its habitats declared protected areas in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra
Project Elephant1992Elephants, their corridors and their habitats
Crocodile Conservation Project1975The gharial, mugger and saltwater crocodile
Biosphere reserves & Ramsar wetlands—Whole habitats — Nilgiri, Sundarbans, Nanda Devi; wetlands such as Chilika and Keoladeo

Suggested slide order: (1) Why biodiversity is being lost — habitat damage by human activity. (2) Project Tiger: why 1973, and what a tiger reserve is. (3) A map of tiger reserves in India. (4) How the tiger numbers changed. (5) The Cheetah Reintroduction Project, 2022. (6) The Great Indian Bustard. (7) Community protection — sacred groves and the Save Silent Valley movement. (8) What we can do in our own school.

The idea behind all these projects: saving one famous animal saves an entire habitat. Protect the forest a tiger needs and you have automatically protected the deer, the birds, the insects, the trees and the river that flow through it. That is why the tiger is called an umbrella species.
Q6.
Divide your class into groups of six students each. Initiate a discussion in the class on how you can protect biodiversity around you. Prepare a group-wise report that includes suggestions given by members of each group.
Answer

How to run the discussion: give each group of six about fifteen minutes. Every member must give at least one suggestion; one member writes them all down; one presents them to the class. Then combine every group's list into one class chart and mark the suggestions that the school can actually start this month.

Suggestions that usually come up — and are worth keeping:

WhereWhat we can do
In schoolPlant and water native trees; keep a bird bath and a water bowl in summer; make a small butterfly garden; label the plants; stop using thermocol and single-use plastic at functions
At homeUse cloth bags; segregate waste; make compost from kitchen waste; keep a pot of tulsi or curry leaves; do not buy anything made from wild animal parts
In the neighbourhoodKeep ponds and drains clean; do not litter near lakes; protect the local grove or old tree; report tree felling and forest fires
Towards animalsDo not disturb nests or pluck flowers; do not keep wild birds as pets; feed and care for strays humanely; put a shallow water dish on the terrace
Spreading the wordWall magazine, street play, poster competition, a talk for younger classes, a biodiversity day in school
Why group work is the right method here: six students bring six different homes and six different streets into the room. The list that comes out is far richer than anything one student could write — and because everybody proposed something, everybody feels responsible for doing it.
Q7.
Interact with elders in your family or neighbourhood to find out various plants and animals that they see now but were not seen earlier and vice-versa. Collect pictures of these plants and animals and paste them in a scrapbook. Find out more about them from your teacher.
Answer

Method: talk to three or four elders. Ask two questions — "which plants and animals did you see in your childhood that you do not see now?" and "which ones do you see today that were not here earlier?" Write their answers in their own words, then collect pictures (from old magazines, newspapers or printouts) and paste them in a scrapbook with a caption for each.

Seen earlier, rarely seen nowSeen now, not seen earlier
House sparrow, vulture, firefly, honeybee, frog, jackal, deshi cow breeds, desi mango varieties, local millets (kodo, kutki)Rock pigeon in large numbers, dog and cat in every street, eucalyptus and subabul plantations, congress grass (gajar ghas), water hyacinth, hybrid vegetables, exotic garden flowers
Why the list changes in both directions: some living things disappear because their habitat is damaged — ponds filled in, old houses replaced by concrete, pesticides sprayed on fields. Others increase or arrive because the new surroundings suit them — pigeons nest happily on concrete ledges, and fast-growing planted trees such as eucalyptus spread because people plant them. So a changing habitat does not simply mean "fewer animals"; it means a different set of animals, usually a smaller and less varied one.
Tip: Record the elder's name, age and the village or town they are talking about, and the approximate years. Without those, a memory is just a story; with them, it becomes data your school can compare with later.
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