Secondary School Level

Outline: Explaining the term and describing the brief condition of the calamity. Early history of the oceanic earthquakes causing tsunami. Generation of tsunami. Attempts to detect tsunami. Measure to reduce damages caused onshore during tsunami. The term ‘tsunami', also referred as 'tidal waves', comes from the Japanese language. Tsu means, “Harbour” and name means, “Wave”. Tsunami has a wavelength ranging from 10 to 500 kilometers. Thus, it is a series of ocean waves with very long wavelength. Tsunami produces waves of water that moves inshore. The inland movement of water is much greater and lasts for a longer period, giving the impression of an incredibly high tide. However, the term tsunami is no more accurate because tsunami is not limited to harbours. As early as 426 BC the Greek historian Thucydides investigated in his book 'History of the Peloponnesian War' about the causes of tsunami. He was the first to more...

An earthquake is a natural phenomenon. It is the shaking and vibration of the surface of the earth resulting from underground movement along a fault plane or from volcanic activity. It is also defined as 'the sudden, sometimes violent movement of the earth's surface due to the release of energy in the earth's crust’. The earth is not a perfect sphere like a ball. It is slightly flattened at both poles, north and south, so that it resembles a giant orange. Inside, it is more like an onion because it consists of several layers. The outermost layer, the part we all know, is called the crust. The earth's crust is made up of a series of huge, irregularly - shaped plates, i.e. tectonic plates, on which the continents sit. In some places these plates overlap. Earthquakes are caused by the edges rubbing together of two plates and their movement in more...

In the modem world advertisements are ubiquitous. They hit the eye from the hoarding, loom large in the news-papers, and gleam out of the celluloid. They may be brief or elaborate, illustrated with pictures or illuminated with neon lights. It is impossible to overestimate the importance of modern advertisements, for they create, if not the things they praise, their image in the public mind, and it is their image that counts for much. Tono-Bungay, a novel by H. G. Wells, contains a delightful criticism of advertisements. Tono-Bungay is the name of a so-called tonic, a worthless syrup. But it was advertised so widely and attractively that it brought enormous wealth to its manufacturer. An early mode of advertisement was the trio of questions: “Are you bored with your Business? Are you bored with your Dinner? Are you bored with your Wife?” When Tono-Bungay was a great success, the public were more...

India is not only rich in villages, but in cities too. There are innumerable cities. Some are very big cities like Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi or Madras. Then there are medium sized cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Allahabad and Chandigarh etc. Then again, there are plenty of smaller citiies too. They all have their, special qualities and appeal to different types of people My own favourite city is Bombay. Prpbably ho other city has so much to offer. When a visitor goes there he finds that Bombay is almost surrounded by the sea. There are deep harbours and wonderful beaches like the Juhu Beach, Versova, Chowpati beach. People gather here for swimming or just walking and having picnics. The evenings are like fairs here with Bhel-puri and ice-cream and Nariyal-pani and pony rides and film-unite busy shooting on these beaches. The Gateway of India, a huge stone monument more...

Last night I dreamt my toy airplane had come to life. It could fly as well as float on water. My nice red and white toy plane had become real. I took the plane and flew from my terrace top. Suddenly we were above the ocean; I wanted to see the dolphins from closer. The airplane on its own came down and started to float on the sea. We were so close to the dolphins, I could even touch them. Wow the airplane was able to float; it was also able to read my thoughts. I was so happy that my toy plane had come real. I spend the whole day flying around the globe. We went to many exotic places both in air and on water. It was such an amazing experience.

Mrs. Sadhana's voice soon had me dreaming. There, I was sitting in History Class but in my head I was in Faraway Land. I had won an Enid Blyton quiz and I had been invited to visit Faraway tree. I was excited, I couldn't believe it! There I was, looking up at the Faraway Tree standing tall, reaching out to the sun. It seemed to go on forever, almost touching the clouds. I couldn't wait to meet Moon-face, Silky the fairy, The Saucepan Man, Dame Washalot, Mr. Watzisname and the Angry Pixie. Moon-face was just as the book described. He had a large round face that looked exactly like the moon. He showed me the slippery slide that ran down from his house to the bottom of the tree. As I slid down the slide I got drenched in the dirty water that Dame Washalot threw down the tree. As more...

Outline: Volcanoes posing hazards to mankind. After eruption lava fires out. What happens after volcanic outburst? Classifying volcanoes on the bases of eruption. Volcanic outbursts have always posed extreme hazards and death-traps to civilizations. The word volcano is derived from the name “Vulcans”. Vulcans is a volcanic island in the Aeolian Islands of Italy. The study of volcanoes is called volcanology. However, a volcano is an opening in an earth's crust. This opening allows hot magma, volcanic ash and gases to escape out from below the surface of the earth. Molten rock is called magma when it is below the surface of the earth. After it erupts from on opening, it is called Java. Lava is red-hot when it fires out of a vent. Originating several miles underneath the ground, the rising lava contains crystals, dissolved gases and solid pieces of rocks. Mostly this liquid is made up of oxygen, more...

Conservation is 'the ant of conserving f flora fauna, environment) i.e. keeping the entire’, “nature” may refer to the general realm of various types of living plants and animals and in some cases to the processes associated with inanimate objects. It is often taken to mean the "natural environment" or wilderness - wild animals, rocks, forest, beaches, and in general those things that have not been substantially altered by human intervention or which persist despite human intervention. Conserving nature is like money in the bank. Therefore, nature conservation must adopt a conserving and restorative approach guided by human requirements and values. The only saviour of nature is human being who lives amidst nature. Man's higher aspirations and greed have been the main reasons behind destruction of the environment. The premise which is required to be held now is that mankind should control and manage the natural world. The Technological culture, more...

Hobbies are pursuits we voluntarily take to in order to refresh and delight ourselves. They should be distinguished from the daily work we do in order to keep the pot boiling. What is one man's profession may be another man's hobby. Some cinema actors take to farming as a hobby, but, as we know, it is the occupation of the majority villagers. In this age of technology many middle class people, not to speak of the affluent, have a lot of leisure. One of the best ways of utilising it is to pursue a hobby. Those who cultivate hobbies never complain that life is dull and humdrum. They find inexhaustible interest and novelty in life. Full of zest and joy, they know not boredom and monotony. Absorbed in their favourite pursuits, they forget for the time being their professional worries and personal anxieties. They return to their daily work, relaxed more...

Allahabad is my favourite city. When I think of very big cities like Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi or Madras, I feel that they are good only for sight-seeing. They are like many small cities thrown together. Life there is too fast. The distances there are so great that people have to waste three to four hous in reaching their place of work and back. The crowds are terrible. People are so lost in their own business that they have no time for others. The result of all this is that life is very expensive, mechanical, full of tensions and mad hurry. Life in small cities is also not very attractive. They are not yet fully developed to provide all facilities like medical colleges, corporations, local bus-system, big educational institutions, employment avenues etc. One has to run to bigger cities to get all these facilities. Life also is very slow and sleepy. more...