COMET: It is exciting
to see a comet in the night sky. A comet is not a star.
It is a
rock made of dust and ice. The long tail
is seen because, as the comet comes near the
Sun, the ice melts and reflects
the light
of the Sun.
The tail
of the comet is seen in the opposite
direction
of the Sun. The tail
of the
comet appears because minute particles
from the Sun strike
the gaseous part emitted
from the comet. Now it is clear that the Solar family
consists
of the Sun, its eight
planets,
the satellites
like the moon that revolve
around the planets,
dwarf planets,
thousands of asteroids,
meteoroids
and comets.
UNIVERSE: Millions
of constellations
of stars seen in the sky is called
a galaxy.
Thousands of galaxies
form the Universe.
The Universe
is vast and ever expanding.
Milky
way galaxy is one among the many galaxies.
MILKYWAY GALAXY:
The twinkling
stars
that are seen on a starry
night are actually
like the Sun, but are far away. Many of
these stars are hundreds and thousand times bigger than our Sun. They are seen only as
a small spot of light
because they are very, very far away. Scientists
have found that
planets
revolve
around these stars.
Millions
of stars,
including
the Sun and other
celestial
bodies which can be viewed with our eyes belongs to the Milky way galaxy.
A
white streak of light
can be seen on a clear night for few days. Our ancestors
called
this
as the Milky way galaxy.
In India
it is named as Akash Ganga.
Milky way galaxy is a dense cluster
of stars.
They appear as a tiny
dot of light
because they are far away. we live
in the Earth which is part of the solar system in
the Milky way galaxy.
EARTH IS A LIVING PLANET: Earth is the third
planet from the Sun. Mercury and Venus are
very hot planets.
Mars, Jupiter,
Saturn,
Uranus and Neptune are very cold because they
are far away from the Sun.
Land, water,
air and heat are available
in the optimum amount only on Earth.
Therefore
different
kinds of life
develop and increase
only on Earth.
In our Solar system there is life
only on Earth.
There is no life
on other planets.
Earth is called
as Living
Planet
because life
is found in abundance only on Earth.
The planet that can be viewed only through
a telescope
is ???

(a) Earth and Mars (b) Mars and Jupiter
The period between
period between the

(c) Jupiter

and Saturn

the full
moon and new moon is called
as waning
new moon and full
moon is called
as the waxing

of
of

the
the

moon. The
moon.

ECONOMICS

The basic needs of man are food, clothing
and shelter.
The food we eat like
rice,
wheat, etc. are cultivated
in the land. The farmers
cultivate
food grains.
This is
termed as agriculture.
Agriculture
is the first
known occupation
to man. Man who lived
in caves, to protect
himself
from rain,
cold and heat later
started
to live
in houses.
Cities
began to emerge and man's
need started
to increase.
To fulfill
his needs, he
started
to manufacture
garments,
footwear,
bi-cycles,
cars,
radios and television
sets.
In our daily
life
we utilize
many things.
These things
are sold in shops. To buy and
sell
commodities
we use money. If we save money it is good for us and the country.
Food helps us to grow. Education
is necessary to grow intellectually.
Medical
facilities
protect
us from diseases.
Teachers impart education
and doctors
treat
patients.
Along with them Government employees work for the welfare
of the people.
Agriculturists,
labourers
and employees help to improve the economy of the country.
This is called
as National
income. what an individual
earns is termed as Per Capita
Income.

Many people do not get
income.The Government helps to
requirements.
This is called

these

people.

Through

this

they

receive

their

basic

distribution.

1 . Production

2. Consumption

3. Distribution

are the

basic

divisions

in

economics.

A market is a place where things
people purchase commodities
from

are bought
the market

and sold.
to satisfy

when
their

requirements,

it

is

called

consumption.
The buying and selling
of commodities
is termed as trade.
People who buy
and sell
things
are called
traders.
Finished
products
are bought by traders
and sold in
the markets.
People who buy and sell
large quantities
of commodities
are called
wholesale
merchants.
People who buy and sell
small quantities
are called
retailers.
when there is surplus
of commodities
there is a fall
in price.
when there is deficit
of
commodities
there is a rise in price.

Amarthya Sen Scholar

in Economics (Nobel Laureate)??

The Government supplies
essential
commodities
like
rice,
dhal,
sugar and oil through
fair
price shops. The Government has taken several
steps to control
price
rise through
the enforcement
of laws. when there is a shortage
of commodities
the Government imports
them from other countries
and distributes
it through fair
price shops.
As the demand increases
there is an increase
in the production,
consumption
and
distribution.
This is termed as Economic Development.
whatshould
be produced? How does production
take place? These are monitored
by the
Government.
The Government helps in the stable
development
of the country'seconomy.
Those who study Economics become scholars.
To prepare the Central
and State Government
annual budget , it is
necessary to have a knowledge of Economics. A sound knowledge of Economics will
surely
help in the developmental
work in all fields.
In our country
Amarthya Sen received
the
Nobel

Prize

for

Economics.

HISTORY

5. PREHISTORIC PERIOD: An animal called
Dinosaur lived
many million
of the Dinosaur were excavated
near Ariyalur.
They belonged to the
History
tells
about the people who lived
in the past with evidences

years ago. The eggs
prehistoric
period.
according
to the

ages.

The archaeological
excavation
has been going on for 166 years in Athichanallur,
which
is in Tirunelveli
District
in Tamil Nadu.Recently
in 2664,they
excavated more than 166
burial
urns in one place.
This proved that people lived
in that place long ago.
The written
and archaeological
evidences
that tell
us about the period
in which people
lived,
events,
food habits,
customs, culture,
forms of government and literature
are
known as historical
evidences.
History
can be divided
into pre-history
and historical
period.
Historical
period has proof of written
evidences
and other evidences.
The
written
evidences
are literary
work, historical
notes,
stone edicts,
copper plates
and
palm leaves.
Evidences to know about pre-historic
period:
To know about the pre-historic
period,
there are evidences
such as the things
that belonged to that period,
ruins,fossils,horns
and bones of animals,
tools
made of

stones,
the

skulls

world

and deposits

as well

as in

(impressions)

India.

with

the

which are found in different
help

of

all

these

we know about

historic

period

of

India.

The Pre-historic

period

can be classified

o PalaeolithicAge
- Old StoneAge (BC 16666 years ago)
Neolithic
Age- New Stone Age(BC 16666 - BC 4666)
ChalcolithicAge-CopperStone
Age (BC 3666-BC 1566)
IronAge - ironAge (BC 1566 BC 666)
with

the

help

of the

tools

used by

early man, we can divide
the stone age
into Old stone age and New stone age.

1. Old StoneAge: ( PalaeolithicAge)
He was a nomad. He lived
He took

shelter

on the

in

the

branches

jungle.
of

trees,in
holes and caves. He discovered
re by using the flint
stone. The primitive
man was

lightning

scared

of

thunder

and worshipped

and

them.

He had to protect
himself
from
cold,
Sun and rain.
He wore dresses
made out of leaves,
skin of animals

and

as:

places around
the

pre-

barks of
branches
the

trees.
He used stones,
of trees,
bones and horns

animals

of

as weapons.

He ate vegetables,
fruits,
roots
and meat of animals which he gathered
from the jungle.
Since he could not nd
food in one place he went from place to
place in search of food.

words giving
little

the

difference

some years

ago,

same meaning

many years

ancient,
long long ago,
immemorial,
primitive.
Era of

some important

Beginning

of

4.6 Billion
Appearance

the

with

:
ago,

from

time

events

Earth

-

years ago
of man - 4666

years ago (Homosepians)
Beginning
years

of

agriculture-8666

ago

Beginning
of the
4766 years ago

cities

-

V V VV
BC - Before
AD - Anno

Christ
Domini

CE - Common Era
BCE - Before
Common Era
BC 31 - Birth
of Thiruvalluvar
BT - Before
Thiruvalluvar
AT - After
Thiruvalluvar

when he did not nd vegetables,
fruits
and roots,
he hunted animals.
used stones,
branches,
bones, horns
animals

etc.

to

hunt

animals.

In

He
of

the

beginning
he hunted small animals all
alone.
Then they hunted in groups.
Both

in

men and

women involved

hunting.

In the Pimpet Ca cave in Madhya Pradesh we see a painting.
This depicts
a woman with
her child
tied to her waist throwing
an arrow.
From this we know that women were also
involved
in hunting.
Places in India where the Old stone age tools
were found:
Madyapradesh - Soan River bank, Pimpet Ca, Mageshwa.
Rajasthan
- Luni Valley;
Karnataka
- Pagalkhat.

Andhrapradesh
- Karnool
Tamilnadu
- Vadamadurai,

caves, Renigunta.
Athirambakkam,
Pallavaram,

2. New StoneAge: (Neolithic

Kanchipuram,

Vellur,

Thiruvallur.

Age) Old stone age man went from place to place in search

of food and for hunting
animals.
Then he learnt
to produce his
animals like goat, cow and hen.
The first
animal he tamed was dog, which helped him in hunting.
cows and had milk as his food. The next stage in the evolution

Food.

He domesticated

He reared goats and
of man is known as New

StoneAge.
During this
age, he used polished,
carved,
sharp stone weapons. In this
period,
he
started
to produce food. wheel was invented.
As a result
of this,
he was able to
transport
things
from one place to another easily.
with the help of wheels he made
pots. He sharpened the crude weapons and attached
them with handles made up of wood and
bones. Metal was in use. Copper was the first
metal used by him. They built
mud houses
with thatched
roofs and began to live
in the pots they used. The Harappan culture
belonged to this
age. - The houses were round or oval shaped. They were built
below the
ground level
and thatched
with wooden planks.

oAgriculture

was their

They domesticated
4_IronAge:

main occupation.

and reared

animals.

° Axes,
Fishing

handles made out of bones,
hooks, needle and chopper

were

use.

in

Cha|cothicAgeweaponS

6 During the New stone age they had the practice
of burying
the dead. The dead were
buried along with their
tamed animals in the front
yard of their
houses. Places where
New stone age weapons were found: Tirunelveli,
Thandikkudi,
Pudukottai,
Tiruchirapalli
and

Salem.

3. CopperAge : (Chalaolithic

Age) At the end of the New stone age, The period when the

tools
were made up of iron was called
Iron Age. Household
implements
were made out of iron.
They learnt
to melt the
were creative.
Vedic period belonged to the Iron age.
Madhyapradesh
Alloys:
+ Zinc

- Pimpet

Stainless
Brass;

articles
and agricultural
metal and make weapons.

They

Ca cave

Iron + Chromium = Steel;
Iron + Maganese = Steel

Copper + Lead = Bronze;

Copper