This is a field study, so what matters is the method. Here is how to run it and what your report must contain.
Step 1 — Fix the area. Settle it with your teacher first. A ward, a village panchayat, a block or a small watershed is workable; ‘my State' is not. Write the boundary down and mark it on a sketch map.
Step 2 — List the renewable resources present. Go by the chapter's own examples and look for them locally.
| Resource | What to record |
|---|---|
| Sunlight | Number of clear months; rooftop solar panels, solar pumps, solar street lights in the area |
| Wind | Whether the area is windy in any season; any windmills or wind pumps |
| Flowing water | Rivers, canals, streams; any micro-hydel or watermill (see Fig. 1.2) |
| Surface water and groundwater | Ponds, tanks, wells, handpumps, borewells — and their depth |
| Forest and trees | Area under trees, species, what is collected from them — firewood, fodder, fruit, honey, leaves |
| Soil | Crops grown, yields, fallow practice, manure vs chemical fertiliser |
| Fish and livestock | Ponds and rivers fished; grazing land |
Step 3 — Establish the change over time. One reading is not a study; you need then and now.
- Interview elders — the same three questions to five or six people: how deep was the well then and now; what grew here then; what was collected from the forest then.
- Official sources — the panchayat or municipal office, the block agriculture or forest office, the groundwater board's district reports, the census, State portals.
- Direct observation — count and photograph what is there today. Old photographs of the same spot are excellent evidence.
Step 4 — Write the report in five short parts: (i) the area and why you chose it; (ii) the resources found; (iii) a then-and-now table with your sources named; (iv) the reasons for each change; (v) what may be done, with who must do it.
Sample answer (extract): ‘Our study covered the four wards around the school. The pond near the temple held water till March in the 1990s; today it dries by January and half its bed has been built over. Three of the five elders we interviewed said their open wells gave water at about 6 metres in their youth; the two borewells drilled last year went to 55 and 60 metres. Reasons: the pond's inlet drain was blocked when the road was widened, most courtyards have been cemented so rain no longer soaks in, and paddy has replaced millets on the fields to the north. What may be done: clear and deepen the pond and reopen its inlet, require recharge pits for new construction, and try a millet plot as a demonstration with the agriculture office.'