Housing and Clothing

Types of Houses

People live in different kind of houses. Many people keep on moving from one place to another. Some people live in a temporary house or some in a permanent house; some people live in a pucca house or some in kutcha house. The houses we live in protect us from heat, rain, wind, dust and animals. We built different kind of houses in different regions depending on the climate of that region.

Houses in Different Regions

Houses in cold regions

Igloos

Some regions such as Arctic region and Polar Region are completely covered with snow and are extremely cold. People in that region built the house by using a block of snow generally in the form of dome shape. Dome shape helps to keep the place warm from inside. Igloo is also referred to as snow house. 

People living in the Arctic regions of Greenland, Canada, and Alaska are known as Inuit. Inuit is a plural noun and Inuk is the singular noun.

Wooden houses

In cold and forested region of America, people build wooden houses or log cabins. Wood is used as they are available in plenty and acts as wonderful interior humidity and temperature regulator. Wood is a good insulator and helps to keep the house cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

Hot and Dry Regions

Mud/Clay houses

Mud is used with a material such as straw, sticks etc. to construct the house. People living in hot and dry climates built mud houses. This type of house is found in Mexico. 

Brick Houses

The Egyptians, living in the hot and dry regions of Egypt, baked mud bricks. These baked bricks were stronger. The houses of Egypt were probably the first houses to be built of bricks. Brick replaces the mud and straw and is made of clay and moulded, dried or fired. Nowadays most of the houses in cities are made of bricks.

Houses in the hot and wet regions

Huts

People living in the hot and wet climate of Africa used to build huts. They use grass, leaves and vines which are found in plenty in that region. These types of houses are built in villages. Mudwall and straw roof keeps the house cool in summer.

Other Types of House

Stilt House

This type of houses is mostly found in region with heavy rain and frequent flood. These houses are raised on stilts (legs) over the surface of the soil so that house remains protected from the flood water. This type of house is common in some part of South East Asia and West Africa.

Temporary House

These can be built for vacations and camping. These types of houses are often built by the fisherman along the coastal areas using wood or coconut leaves. People nowadays use a better material to build a modern temporary house.

Tents – Tents are used for holiday camping. Modern day tents are made of water proof materials, like canvas cloth or nylon.
Tipi or Tepee or Teepee – It is a conical tent made of animal skin or birch bark and was popular among the Red Indians in America.

Caravan

House on wheels is called Caravans. Caravan may be pulled by an animal or by car or truck. People move from one place to another and live in caravans.

House Boat

Houseboats are floating house on water bodies like a lake. They vary in size, some are small and some are big (two stories). Some people use it for vacation purpose and some live permanently in the boat. These are found in places such as Hong Kong, Holland etc. 

We obtain clothes from both plants and animals.

 Clothes obtained from animals

We get the following types of clothes from animals.

• Silk
• Wool

 Silk

We get silk from the silkworm. Silkworms are a type of insect. They feed on mulberry leaves. They give out a long, sticky thread from their mouth. These threads are wrapped around their body and become their home, known as a cocoon. The threads of cocoon are collected, processed and then woven to make silk.

Wool

Sheep gives us wool. The thick hair that grows on the body of a sheep is collected, then cleaned and made into woollen threads. Wool is used to knit sweaters, caps, shawls etc. It keeps us warm during winter.

  Clothes Obtained From Plants

We get the following types of clothes from plants.

• Cotton
• Jute                                                            

  Cotton

Cotton clothes are made from cotton plants. Cotton grows in pods. The pods are picked and the thread is made from the cotton. Making a thread from cotton is known as spinning. Weaving is the process of making clothes from the thread.

Jute

Jute is one of the cheapest natural fibre, which is used for making things for our regular use. For example, rope, bag, mat etc. are made up of jute fibres. Jute fibres are pale yellow in colour and are quite strong. They have a silky lustre and are also used in making clothes.