CTET · Study & Practice
Travel & Things We Make and Do
CTET Paper I Environmental Studies is built around six NCERT themes, and two of them - Travel, and Things We Make and Do - feed straight into this chapter. EVS at the primary stage is not bookish science or social studies; it grows out of the child's own surroundings, so the questions stay rooted in everyday experience: how a family reaches a wedding in another town, why the morning Sun helps a child find east, how a potter shapes a pot, why an old bucket becomes a planter. Expect four to six questions from this cluster in a typical paper, and very few of them are direct recall. CTET prefers the everyday-scenario question - a child describes a journey, reads a simple map, or watches an artisan - and you must pick the correct concept, the right direction, or the EVS principle behind it. This chapter equips you with three blocks the paper leans on: means of transport and journeys, maps and directions, and crafts, tools and materials - all in the integrated, observation-first spirit the NCF and the NCERT Looking Around books expect.
Topics
1
Means of Transport & Journeys
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2
Maps & Directions
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3
Crafts, Tools & Materials
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⚡ Smart tips & memory hooks
Memory hooks and exam-smart tips to lock this chapter in and answer CTET MCQs quickly and accurately.
- Directions from the Sun, fixed forever: rises in the EAST, sets in the WEST. Face the sunrise and North is on your LEFT, South on your RIGHT.
- Classify transport by PATH first: land / water / air. That single split answers most transport questions.
- Public = shared by many (bus, train, metro). Private = one person or family (own car, cycle). Public is cheaper and greener per person.
- Map vs globe: a GLOBE is round and shows the whole Earth; a MAP is flat and can show a small area in detail. A map is the view from above.
- On any map, the KEY (legend) decodes the SYMBOLS - always read the key first before reading the map.
- Each craft = a worker + a local material: potter-clay, weaver-thread, carpenter-wood, blacksmith-iron, basket-maker-bamboo.
⚠️ Common mistakes & traps
CTET loves to test these exact confusions. Internalise each trap before exam day.
- Saying the Sun rises in the West - it rises in the EAST and sets in the West. This single error sinks many direction questions.
- Mixing up a map and a globe - the globe is the round model of the whole Earth; the map is flat.
- Confusing a symbol with the key - symbols are the marks on the map; the key is the box that explains what each symbol means.
- Calling a personal scooter or family car public transport - it is private; public means shared by many.
- Forgetting that EVS is activity-based - treating crafts and journeys as bookish facts to memorise instead of experiences to observe and do.
- When facing east, swapping left and right - North is on the LEFT, South on the RIGHT (not the other way round).
📈 CTET exam insight & PYQ analysis
In Paper I EVS the Travel and Things-We-Make-and-Do themes typically supply four to six marks, and the style is overwhelmingly everyday-scenario rather than direct recall. The most repeated direction item is the Sun: identifying east from a sunrise, or finding north/south while facing the rising Sun. Transport questions favour the land/water/air classification and the public-versus-private distinction, often wrapped in a child's described journey. Map questions test the difference between a map and a globe, the meaning of symbols and the key/legend, and the idea of a map as a view from above. The crafts cluster asks you to match an artisan to a material (potter-clay, weaver-thread, carpenter-wood) and to recognise reuse and recycling as an environmental value. A recurring pedagogy angle: EVS is integrated and experience-based, drawn from the child's immediate surroundings rather than taught as separate science or social-studies facts.
🎴 Flashcards — instant recall
Tap a card to reveal the answer. Drill these until they are automatic.
In which direction does the Sun rise?Tap to reveal
East (it sets in the West)
Facing the rising Sun, where is North?Tap to reveal
On your left hand (South on your right)
Classify transport by the path it travels.Tap to reveal
Land, water and air transport
Public vs private transport?Tap to reveal
Public is shared by many (bus, train); private belongs to one person/family (own car, cycle)
What is a map?Tap to reveal
A drawing of a place seen from above, drawn much smaller than the real place
Difference between a map and a globe?Tap to reveal
A globe is a round model of the whole Earth; a map is flat and can show a small area
What is the key (legend) on a map?Tap to reveal
A box that explains what each symbol on the map stands for
What material does a potter use?Tap to reveal
Clay (shaped on a wheel, hardened by firing)
Which worker makes cloth, and from what?Tap to reveal
A weaver, from thread/yarn (cotton or wool) on a loom
Turning old newspapers into bags is an example of?Tap to reveal
Reuse / recycling - an environmental value in EVS
Which Indian network is the lifeline for long journeys?Tap to reveal
The Indian Railways (trains running on tracks)
How is EVS best learnt at the primary stage?Tap to reveal
Through doing, observing and experimenting from the child’s own surroundings
📌 Quick revision
This Travel and Things-We-Make-and-Do cluster of CTET Paper I EVS rests on three blocks. Transport is best classified by path - land, water and air - and by public (shared) versus private (personal), with the Indian Railways as the lifeline of long journeys and transport itself having evolved from walking to animals to machines. Directions come from the Sun, which rises in the East and sets in the West; facing the sunrise puts north on your left and south on your right. A map is a flat, smaller view of a place seen from above, read through its symbols and key, while a globe is the round model of the whole Earth. Crafts tie each artisan to a local material - potter-clay, weaver-thread, carpenter-wood, blacksmith-iron - and EVS adds the values of experimenting, doing and reusing/recycling waste. Throughout, remember EVS is integrated and experience-first: questions are everyday scenarios drawn from the child's surroundings, not bookish recall.
Chapter test
📝 Travel & Things We Make and Do — Chapter Test
25 fresh questions · timed · full solutions
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🏆 Vidaara CTET success checklist
You have truly mastered Travel & Things We Make and Do when you can tick every box below.
- Recall every formula in this chapter without looking them up
- Solve each topic’s practice set with at least 80% accuracy
- Use the chapter shortcuts to cut your solving time in half
- Spot and avoid every common trap listed above
- Score 80%+ on the timed chapter test
📋 Chapter mastery scorecard
Track where you stand. Aim for the target before moving to the next chapter.
| Skill checkpoint | Target |
|---|---|
| Concept theory & formulas understood | 100% |
| Topic practice sets attempted (3 topics) | 3/3 |
| Best topic-test score | — → 80%+ |
| Chapter test score | — → 80%+ |
| Flashcards drilled to instant recall | 12 cards |
Key Concepts — Quick Reference
This chapter
Directions and the Sun (memorise cold)
| Sun rises in the | EAST (in the morning) |
|---|---|
| Sun sets in the | WEST (in the evening) |
| Facing the rising Sun | North is to your LEFT, South to your RIGHT |
| Four cardinal directions | North, East, South, West (clockwise: N-E-S-W) |
Transport by path (where it travels)
| Land transport | bus, car, train, bicycle, bullock cart, auto-rickshaw |
|---|---|
| Water transport | boat, ship, steamer, ferry |
| Air transport | aeroplane, helicopter |
| Public vs private | public is shared by many (bus, train); private is personal (own car, cycle) |