NCERT Class 6 Social Science Chapter 14 MCQs – Economic Activities Around Us

The chapter groups economic activities into primary, secondary and tertiary sectors. Activities in each group share important features. This classification helps students understand how goods and services are produced and how different kinds of work depend on one another.

Primary activities depend directly on nature for goods or raw materials. Farming, fishing, forestry and mining are examples. These activities provide materials that people use directly or that other sectors transform into different products.

Growing vegetables is a primary activity because it depends directly on natural resources and cultivation. The vegetables can be sold for consumption or used in further production. Manufacturing, banking and repair belong to different sectors.

Mining obtains materials such as coal directly from the Earth. This direct extraction from nature makes it a primary activity. Other sectors may then transport, process or use those materials in further production.

Raising livestock includes caring for animals that provide products such as milk. The chapter treats milk obtained from cows as a primary product. This differs from processing milk into manufactured dairy products or selling them in shops.

Secondary activities process or transform materials from the primary sector. Factories may turn grain into flour, cotton into cloth or wood into furniture. The chapter also includes construction and certain utilities within this sector.

A flour mill processes grain into a different product, flour. This transformation makes it a secondary activity. Growing the grain is primary, while transporting or selling the finished product belongs to the tertiary sector.

The chapter includes the construction of roads and buildings in the secondary sector. Such activities use materials to create useful structures. This helps distinguish construction from the extraction of raw materials and the provision of transport services.

Making clothes transforms cotton into a finished product, so it belongs to the secondary sector. Growing cotton belongs to the primary sector. Selling or transporting those clothes forms part of the tertiary sector’s services.

The tertiary sector is also called the service sector. Its activities include transport, banking, healthcare, teaching, trade and repairs. These services support people and help connect primary production, manufacturing and the use of finished goods.

A mechanic repairing a tractor provides a service and belongs to the tertiary sector. The repair supports agricultural work by keeping equipment usable. The chapter uses such examples to show how services assist other economic activities.

The chapter lists software development among tertiary activities. It is a service rather than the direct extraction of natural materials. The service sector includes many different forms of skilled work, including communication, repair and professional support.

A warehouse is a large building used to store products before they are sold, used or supplied onward. Storage services form part of the wider economic network. They help manage goods between production and distribution.

A cooperative brings people together voluntarily to meet shared economic and social needs. The members own it and make decisions collectively. The chapter’s milk example shows how cooperation can help producers manage collection, processing and sale.

The farmers approached Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel about the difficulties they faced with middlemen. He advised them to form a cooperative. Working together would help them manage milk collection and sale with greater independence.

Milk spoils quickly in hot weather, so farmers needed to sell it promptly. The chapter describes their difficult journeys and limited earnings. These pressures contributed to their dependence on middlemen bef

Middlemen buy goods from producers and sell them onward to consumers, charging for this service. In the Anand story, farmers were unhappy with low prices and dependence on middlemen. The cooperative offered another way to organise sales.

Pasteurisation involves heating milk to a specific temperature to kill harmful bacteria. The chapter includes it among the milk-processing decisions managed by the cooperative. It forms part of preparing milk for wider distribution and consumption.

Retail means selling goods in small quantities to the end consumer rather than for resale. The chapter describes dairy products reaching people through retail shops. Retailing belongs to the tertiary sector because it provides a trading service.

Exporting means selling goods or services produced in one country to buyers or consumers in another country. The chapter notes that dairy products can reach overseas markets. This extends trade beyond the domestic distribution network.

Growing cotton depends directly on nature and is primary. Making cloth processes the cotton and is secondary. Selling it to customers is a service and is tertiary. Together, the stages show how sectors connect.

Milk is obtained through livestock farming, a primary activity. Processing that milk into butter changes its form and creates another product. The chapter uses this distinction to explain secondary activities within the dairy example.

Transporting vegetables is a service that connects farmers with markets. It belongs to the tertiary sector, even though the goods being carried are primary products. Classification depends on the activity performed, not just the item involved.

Furniture-making uses wood obtained through primary activities. If the supply stops, the workshop’s production is affected. This example shows how secondary activities depend on primary-sector materials, even when their workers and methods differ.

Transport and selling are services within the tertiary sector. A factory may produce goods, but those goods still need to reach customers. The chapter stresses this connection when explaining how manufacturing depends on service activities.

The farmer’s cultivation is a primary activity, while the mechanic provides a repair service in the tertiary sector. Keeping the tractor working supports production. This is a clear example of one sector helping another.

The dairy cooperative allows producers to make decisions collectively and share tasks. The chapter links this organisation with greater control over their work and sales. Cooperation can therefore change how producers manage economic activities.

The chapter follows wood fibre through paper-making and printing into textbooks, with services connecting the stages. Raw materials, transformation and distribution involve different sectors. A finished book therefore reflects the work of many connected activities.

The chapter explains that recycling used paper can save trees, landfill space, energy and water compared with making new paper from wood pulp. This example connects production with careful use of natural resources.

The chapter asks students to list local activities and show their links. Classifying them identifies their main features, while connecting them reveals dependence between sectors. This gives a fuller understanding than memorising job names separately.