Page 79 - Ripples SCIENCE 7 - TEJPUR Edition 2024 Answer Key
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4. How does the Earth’s tilt and its distance from the equator influence climate?
Ans. Earth’s tilt : Earth’s axis is an imaginary line that passes through the North Pole,
centre and South Pole of the Earth. Although we cannot feel the Earth spinning, it
makes one complete turn, each day, around its own axis. This complete turn on its
own axis is called rotation. The Earth is tilted towards its axis known as the rotational
axis. The rotation of the Earth is responsible for the occurrence of day and night.
The Earth is tilted at an angle of 23.5°. This axial tilt along with the revolution of the
Earth around the Sun is responsible for the change of seasons across the globe.
Distance from equator : The equator is an imaginary line that divides the Earth into
the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere. The distance from the
equator represents latitude. The climate of a place is determined by its latitude.
As the Earth circles the Sun, the tilt of its axis causes changes in the angle by which
Sun’s rays fall on the Earth. This causes change in the daylight hours and the regions
become colder with the increasing latitude. This is the reason why places near the
equator are hot and places near the poles (90°) are cold.
5. Explain how animals adapt to following climates:
(a) Tropical Rainforests (b) Temperate regions
(c) Polar regions
Ans. (a) Tropical Rainforests: In these rainforests, days and nights are almost equal
throughout the year. There is no shortage of water. Due to these ideal conditions,
about half of the world’s animal species live in these regions. Some examples
of animals that live in tropical rainforests are monkeys, apes, tigers, gorillas,
elephants, leopards, lizards, snakes, birds and insects. Since many species live
together, there is intense competition for food and shelter.
Stick insect camouflages itself with the branch of the tree. There are some
butterflies whose wings look like leaves which help them hide from their prey.
Birds like parrots and toucans eat nuts. They are able to crack open the tough
shells of nuts.
Red-eyed tree frogs have sticky pads on their feet that help them climb trees.
This frog species is bright green in colour with pale yellow stripes.
Monkeys have long tails and arms to move through the branches of trees safely.
Elephants have long trunks which they use for picking food. As they move
through the thick forests, their strong tusks are used to tear the barks of trees
for eating.
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