Houses and Shelters in Different Regions
"Explore how climate and available materials shape houses (stilt, igloo, houseboat, flats)."
A Today you'll learn
- Understand why humans need shelter to protect against weather, wild animals, and hazards
- Explore diverse house types across geographic regions: kutcha, pucca, stilt houses, houseboats, and igloos
- Recognise building materials used based on local climate and availability
B Let's understand
A house is a shelter that keeps us safe from extreme heat, heavy rain, cold winds, wild animals, and thieves. Around the world, people build different kinds of houses based on climate, terrain, and available materials. Kutcha houses (huts) are made of mud, thatch, bamboo, and straw, commonly found in rural areas. Pucca houses (bungalows and multistorey apartment flats) are sturdy homes made of bricks, cement, iron rods, and stone. In places with heavy monsoon rains and floods (like Assam), houses are built on tall bamboo stilts with sloping roofs. In snowy Arctic regions, temporary dome-shaped shelters made of compacted ice blocks are called igloos. On the calm lakes of Kashmir and Kerala, tourists and locals live on floating houseboats.
C See it step by step
- Hilly areas receive heavy rainfall and snow during winter.
- Sloping roofs allow rain and snow to slide off quickly without accumulating.
- If roofs were flat, heavy snow could accumulate and cause the roof to collapse.
- Stilt houses are elevated several feet above the ground on sturdy bamboo or wooden pillars.
- During monsoon floods, river water flows harmlessly underneath the house without entering the living rooms.
- Elevation also keeps crawling insects, snakes, and wild animals away.
D Your turn
E Ready to practise?
Key idea 1
Houses provide shelter and safety against rain, sun, wind, cold, and intruders.
Kutcha houses use natural materials (mud
Kutcha houses use natural materials (mud, straw); pucca houses use bricks and concrete.
Key idea 3
Stilt houses are built in flood-prone areas with heavy rainfall.
Key idea 4
Sloping roofs prevent rainwater and snow from gathering on the roof.
Key idea 5
Houseboats float on water in regions like Dal Lake (Kashmir) and backwaters (Kerala).