CBSE Class 8 Social Science Advanced How, When and Where Short Answer Questions Set 01

Short Answer Questions

Question 1. What is history?
Answer:
History is the branch of knowledge that records and studies the events and happenings of the past. It tells us how things were in the past and how they have changed over time.
Because the past is very long, historians divide it into periods (ancient, medieval and modern) on the basis of common features of each period.
In simple words: History is the story of the past and of the changes that came over time.

Teacher's Note:
1. Remember the two parts of the definition: records and analyses.
2. Add the word 'periodisation' for full marks.

Question 2. How does history help us?
Answer:
1. It tells us how things were in the past and how they have changed, so we understand why the present is what it is.
2. It helps us learn from past mistakes and successes.
3. It tells us about the lives of people, their ideas, customs and achievements in different ages.
4. Through sources such as records, newspapers, buildings and books it connects us with our own heritage.
In simple words: History explains the present by showing how it grew out of the past.

Teacher's Note:
1. Link the answer to the idea that history shows how things changed over time.
2. Write three or four clear points in a 2-mark answer.

Question 3. What is Census?
Answer:
A census is a count of the people of a country, held at regular intervals. Under the British, census operations began from the end of the nineteenth century and were held every ten years.
They prepared detailed records of the number of people in every province and collected information on castes, religions and occupations.
In simple words: The census is a regular head-count of the people with some facts about them.

Teacher's Note:
1. Mention the gap of ten years and the details collected.
2. Census records are an important source for historians of the modern period.

Question 4. Why do we divide history into different periods?
Answer:
The past is very long, so it is difficult to study it all together. Historians divide it into periods such as ancient, medieval and modern, using the features that are common to each period.
This division is called periodisation. It makes history easier to study and to remember.
In simple words: Cutting a long past into periods makes it easier to study.

Teacher's Note:
1. Use the word 'periodisation' and the three periods.
2. Remember that any division reflects the historian's own ideas about the past.

Question 5. Why do we connect history with dates?
Answer:
Historical events happened at a particular time, so dates fix the events in order and tell us what came before and after.
Dates such as 23 June 1757 (Battle of Plassey), 1885 (Indian National Congress) or 15 August 1947 (independence) mark turning points and help us build a timeline.
Dates are only the frame, however; history also studies how and why changes happened.
In simple words: Dates place events in time, like the markings on a clock.

Teacher's Note:
1. Give two or three dates as examples.
2. Say that dates alone are not history.