NCERT Solutions for Class 6th Social Science Chapter 14 Economic Activities Around Us
Updated on 2026-09-19
About this chapter
The chapter’s one idea: every economic activity in the country can be sorted into three sectors — primary, secondary and tertiary. Kauṭilya’s Arthaśhāstra opens the chapter — “The root of prosperity is economic activity, the lack of it brings material distress.” Page 196 explains the sorting: “Some economic activities share similar characteristics and based on this, they can be grouped together or classified into broader groups called economic sectors .” Primary sector — work done directly with nature. “Those economic activities in which people are directly dependent on nature to produce goods are known as primary activities” (page 196). The margin adds that it “involves extraction of raw materials directly from nature such as farming, fishing, forestry, etc.” Growing wheat in Punjab, cutt
- Chapter opening
- Two more economic activities in the secondary sector
- The cooperative’s wide range of products
- Cooperatives that brought prosperity to a community
- The stages of the process shown in Fig. 14.1
- The economic activities of your own neighbourhood
- The chapter in two points
- End-of-chapter exercise
Quick revision
| Term | What it means | Where it appears in the chapter | Worth remembering |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monetary value | “Value of something that can be measured in terms of money” | Page 195, margin | Activities that create it are economic activities — the link back to Chapter 13 |
| Economic sectors | “Broad groups that include various activities that help with the economic prosperity of a nation” | Page 196, margin | Three of them — primary, secondary and tertiary |
| Primary sector | “The group of activities that involves extraction of raw materials directly from nature such as farming, fishing, forestry, etc.” | Page 196 | Directly dependent on nature — agriculture, mining, fishing, raising livestock, forestry |
| Secondary sector | “The group of activities that involves processing of raw materials derived from primary sector into products for sale or consumption” | Page 199, margin | Also includes construction and utilities like water, electricity and gas |
| Tertiary sector | “The group of activities that involves the provision of services which complement both primary and secondary sectors, such as transportation, banking, and management of business” | Page 201, margin | Also called the service sector — you often cannot see the work, but you feel it |
| Cooperative | “A group of people who voluntarily come together to meet their economic and social needs in a formal way. They own the cooperative and decisions are taken by the members collectively” | Page 203, margin | AMUL, 1946 — the farmers themselves are the owners |
| Middlemen | “Persons who buy goods from producers and sell them to consumers. The middlemen charge a fee for this service” | Page 203, margin | The Anand farmers “felt cheated and harassed” by them before the cooperative |
| Pasteurisation | “A process by which milk is preserved through heating to a specific temperature to kill harmful bacteria” | Page 204, margin | A secondary sector activity — it changes the milk itself |
| Factory | “Building or group of buildings where goods are manufactured, or various components are put together, to make a final product” | Page 204, margin | AMUL’s first factory at Anand made butter and milk powder |
| Warehouses | “Large buildings used for storing products before they are sold, used or rented out to shops” | Page 201, margin | Storage is a service — a tertiary activity |
| Retail | “The sale of goods in small quantities for use by the end consumer rather than for resale” | Page 204, margin | The shop at the end of the chain — tertiary |
| Export | “Goods and services that are produced in one country and sold to buyers or consumers in another country” | Page 204, margin | AMUL sells “to several countries around the world” |
Exercises
- Chapter opening — The Big Questions Page 195
- Primary activities you have seen, and the natural resources they use — THINK ABOUT IT Page 199
- Two more economic activities in the secondary sector — LET’S EXPLORE Page 200
- The cooperative’s wide range of products — In-text Question Page 204
- Cooperatives that brought prosperity to a community — DON’T MISS OUT Page 205
- The stages of the process shown in Fig. 14.1 — THINK ABOUT IT Page 207
- Labelling the pictures of Fig. 14.1 as primary, secondary or tertiary — LET’S EXPLORE Page 207
- The economic activities of your own neighbourhood — LET’S EXPLORE Page 208
- The chapter in two points — Before we move on… Page 208
- End-of-chapter exercise — Questions, activities and projects Page 208