What if it Finishes...?

A bus journey

Today, we were going on a school trip to the Adalaj stepwell (baoli ), about eighteen kilometres from Ahmedabad. We began counting  the  vehicles  on  the  road.  Some  of  us  counted  the bicycles, others counted the buses, cars, and motorcycles. Abraham, who  was  counting  bicycles,  soon  got  bored.  There  were  hardly  any bicycles on this highway.

Screeeech! The driver suddenly braked at the red light. It was a big crossing, and we could see the traffic lined up on all sides. Honk, honk, the sound of loud horns, and smoke coming out of the vehicles! May be that is why a little boy in a rickshaw was coughing so much . I smelt something, familiar. I remembered this smell – it came from Baba’s tractor in the village

Look at the picture  and write

-What are the different kinds of vehicles that you can see?

-What do you think they need petrol and diesel as fuel?

-Which of the vehicles do you think give off smoke? Put a red mark on those.

-Which are the vehicles run without petrol and diesel?

-What problems do we face from the speeding vehicles?

Tell

-Do you ride a bicycle? If yes, where all do you go on it?

-How do you come to school?

-How do your family members go to work from home?

-What problems can we have from smoke coming out of vehicles?

-What kind of problems can we face from noise of vehicles (honking)?

On the petrol pump

        After sometime our bus stopped at a petrol pump. There was a long queue. It seemed as if we would have a long wait. We all got down from the bus and started looking around the petrol pump. We saw many large boards and posters.

We could not understand why it was written that petrol and diesel will not last forever. We thought of asking an uncle who works at the petrol pump

Abraham : Uncle, from where do we get petrol and diesel

Uncle (who works at the petrol pump) : From deep, deep down under the ground

Manju : But how does it get made there

Uncle: It is formed naturally, but very slowly. It is not made by a human being or a machine

Abraham : Then we don't need to buy it. We can take it out ourselves using a borewell, like we pump out water

Uncle : It is not found everywhere, but only at a few places in our country. We need big machines to pump it out and clean it.

Find out and discuss

-Which states of India have oil fields?

-Besides oil, what else is found deep inside the earth?

-Find out the traffic rules and discuss them in the class.

-We should use petrol and diesel judiciously. Think why?

They discuss further

Uncle : It does not get made as fast as we take it out. It takes lakhs of years for it to be formed under the earth

Abraham : How will vehicles run if the oil finishes

Manju : On CNG. I had seen on TV that vehicles which run on CNG give less smoke

Uncle (laughing) : That too comes from below the earth. It is also limite

Divya : Electricity can be used to run vehicles. I have seen an electric bicycle

Abraham : We will have to do something. Or else, how will we travel when we grow up

Divya : My dadi (grandmother) would be happy, if fewer vehicles run on the road. She says, “Look! vehicles line up like ants. What will you do when you grow up?

Manju : See, only one or two people are sitting in these cars. Why doesn’t everyone use a bus

Abraham : That will save petrol. One bus can carry many people

Manju : When I grow up I will invent a car that runs on sunlight. Then we won't have to worry about it getting finished. We can use it as much as we want!

Treasure from the eart

It is not easy to find out where oil is, deep down below the earth. Scientists use special techniques and machines to find this out. Then through pipes and machines petroleum is pumped up. This oil is a smelly, thick, dark coloured liquid. It contains many things mixed in it. To clean and separate these, it is sent to a refinery. Have you heard of a ‘refinery’?       

             It is from this ‘petroleum’ or oil that we get kerosene, diesel, petrol, engine oil and fuel for aircrafts. Do you know that L.P.G. (cooking gas), wax, coaltar and grease are also obtained from this?

I started thinking about saving oil. I remembered that sometimes Baba keeps the engine of the tractor on, while doing something else. At times, the pump in the field is also left on. How much oil would be going waste! I thought I will surely talk to Baba when I get home.

Write

-What all can vehicles run on?

-What kinds of problems will we face, if the number of vehicles keep on increasing? For example, more traffic on the road. Talk to your elders and write about it.

-Manju said, “Why doesn't everyone use a bus?” What do you think, why don’t people travel by bus

 -Suggest some ways to deal with the problems arising out of the growing number of vehicles.

-What are the benefits, if we switch off the engine of the vehicles at the red light on the road.

Divya wrote a poem and read it out to her friends. Read and discuss it.

Who Am I?

Think and discuss

-What would happen if you don’t get petrol or diesel for a week in your village or town?

-Suggest some ways to save oil.

Wood for chulha

Durga lives in a village in Haryana. Everyday she spends many hours collecting wood for the chulha (stove). Her daughter also has to help her in this. For the past three months she has a cough. There is a lot of smoke when damp wood is burnt. But Durga does not have any other option. When there is not enough money to buy food, where will there be money to buy wood?

Discuss-

-Have you ever collected dry wood or made cow dung cakes? How are they made?

-Do you know anyone who collects dry wood or leaves to be used for lighting a chulh

-Who cooks food in your family? What about other families in your area?

-If they cook food using wood or upla (cow dung cakes), what difficulties do they face due to smoke?

-Can Durga use anything else instead of wood? Why not?

Today, about two-third (2/3) people in our country use uple, wood and dry twigs, etc. These are used not only for cooking food but also for keeping warm, for heating water and for lighting. Many other things are used for all activities at home – kerosene, LPG, coal, electricity, etc.

Kancha had seen a bar chart in a book. The chart shows the number of houses out of 100 that use each type of fuel. It also shows the use of which fuel has increased and which fuel has decreased over the past twenty years.

Change in fuel use over twenty years