ncertcourse.com offers you best answers for the Human Geography: Nature and Scope Chapter 1. This chapter designed by expert’s subject teachers to prepare students to score well. Here you find question wise complete detailed chapter questions and answers.
Q1. Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below:
(i) Which one of the following statements does not describe Geography?
(a) An integrative discipline.
(b) Study of the inter-relationship between humans and environment.
(c) Subjected to dualism.
(d) Not relevant in the present time due to the development of technology.
Answer:- (d) Not relevant in the present time due to the development of technology.
(ii) Which one of the following is not a source of geographical information?
(a) traveller’s accounts
(b) old maps
(c) samples of rock materials from the moon
(d) ancient epics.
Answer:- (c) samples of rock materials from the moon.
(iii) Which one of the following is the most important factor in the interaction between people and environment ?
(a) human intelligence
(b) people’s perception
(c) technology
(d) human brotherhood.
Answer:-(c) technology.
(iv) Which one of the following is not an approach in human geography ?
(a) Areal differentiation
(b) Spatial organisation
(c) Quantitative revolution
(d) Exploration and description.
Answer:-(c) Quantitative revolution
Q2. Answer the following Questions in about 30 words :
(a) Define Human Geography. (CBSE-2013)
Answer:- Human geography is defined as “the relationship between the physical/ natural and the human worlds, the spatial distribution of human phenomenon and how they come about, the social and economic difference between different parts of the world.
According to Ratzel, “Human geography is the synthetic study of relationship between human societies and earth’s surface”.
According to Ellen C. Semple, “Human geography is the study of the changing relationship between the unarresting man and the unstable earth”.
(b) Name some sub-fields of human geography.
Answer:- Various fields and sub-fields of human geography are as follows:
Behavioral geography, Geography of social well-being, Geography of leisure, Cultured geography, Gender geography, Historical geography, Medical geography, Electoral geography, Military geography, Geography of Resources, Geography of agriculture, Geography of industries, Geography of Marketing, Geography of Tourism.
(c) How is human geography related to other social sciences?
Answer:- Human geography attempts to explain the relationship between all elements of human life and the space they occur over. In this way human geography assumes a highly interdisciplinary nature. It develops close interface with other sister disciplines in social sciences in order to understand and explain human elements on the surface of the earth.t has deep relationship with many other social sciences like Sociology, Psychology, Welfare Economics.
Q3. Answer the following questions in not more than 150 words.
(a) Explain naturalization of humans.
Answer:- Human beings interact with their physical environment with the help of technology. Technology indicates the level of cultural development of society. In the early stages of their interaction with environment, human beings interacted with environment with help of primitive technology, hence nature played a dominant role over humans. Human beings were greatly influenced by nature and adapted to dictates of the nature. This type of interaction when, human society was at primitive stage of development and hence adapted itself as per the nature, is called naturalization of humans also known as environmental determinism. This is a stage of naturalized humans, who listen to nature, are afraid of nature’s fury and worship it. All the actions of human beings are guided by the nature, especially by climate, wild animals and availability of water and edible plants.
For example Take the case of Benda who lives in the wilds of Abujh Maad (Central India). He wears a small loincloth and has a small axe. His tribe practises primitive agriculture by clearing a patch of forest. He drinks water from a stream. He gathers Gajjhara and Kuchla, leaves and roots to eat.
(b) Write a note on the scope of human geography.
Answer:- In human geography , the major thrust is on the study of human societies in their relation to the habitat or environment. Dealing with the spatial distribution of societies, human geography covers a very wide field or its scope is enormous. It embraces the study of human races; the growth, distribution and density of populations of the various parts of the world, their demographic attributes and migration patterns; and physical and cultural differences between human groups and economic activities. It also covers the relationship between man and his natural environment, and the way in which his activities are distributed.
Human geography also takes into account the mosaic of culture, language, religion, customs and traditions; types and patterns of rural settlements, the site, size, growth and functions of urban settlements, and the functional classification of towns.
Human geography deals with the world as it is and with the world as it might be made to be. Its emphasis is on people: where they are, what they are like, how they interact over space and time, and what kinds of landscapes of human use they erect upon the natural landscapes they occupy.It encompasses all those interests and topics of geography that are not directly concerned with the physical environment like cartography.
Extra Questions of Human Geography: Nature and Scope NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Geography
Q1. What is the core concern of studying geography?
Answer:- The core concern of studying geography as a discipline is to understand the earth as a home of human beings and to study all those elements which have sustained them.
Q2. Name the geographers who advocated ‘Environmental Determinism.’
Answer:- German expert Ratzel and his student Ellen Churchill Simple advocated ‘Environmental Determinism.’
Q3. Who was the founder of Possibilism?
Answer:-French expert Lucian Febre and Paul Vidal de la Blache are considered as founders of Possibilism.
Q4. Who was Griffith Taylor?
Answer:-Griffith Taylor was the founder of Neodeterminism or stop and go determinism.
Q5. What does technology indicate?
Answer:-Technology indicates the level of cultural development of society.
Q6. What are different fields of Human Geography?
Answer:-Fields under Human Geography include: Social Geography, Urban Geography, Political Geography, Population Geography, Settlement Geography and Economic Geography.
Q7. What are the sub-fields of Economic Geography?
Answer:-Sub-fields of Economic Geography are: Geography of Resources, Geography of Agriculture, Geography of Tourism, Geography of Industries, Geography of Marketing and Geography of International Trade.
Q8. What are the sub-fields of Social Geography?
Answer:- Sub-fields of Social Geography are:
Behavioral Geography, Geography of Social Well-being, Geography of Leisure, Cultural Geography, Gender Geography, Historical Geography and Medical Geography.
Q9. Define Geography in the words of Fredrick Ratzel.
Answer:- According to Fredrick Ratzel, “Human geography is the synthetic study of relationship between human societies and earth’s surface”.
Q10. Define Geography in the words of Ellen Churchill Semple.
Answer:-According to Ellen C. Semple, “Human geography is the study of the changing relationship between the unresting man and the unstable earth”.
Q11. How did Paul Vidal de la Blache define Geography?
Answer:-According to Paul Vidal de la Blache, “Conception resulting from more synthetic knowledge of the physical laws governing our earth and of the relations between the living beings which inhabit it”.
Q12. Define the important concept of Neodeterminism according to Griffith Taylor.
Answer:-The concept shows that neither is there a situation of absolute necessity (Environmental Determinism) nor is there a condition of absolute freedom (Possibilism). It means that human beings can conquer nature by obeying it. They have to respond to the red signals and can proceed in their pursuits of development when nature permits the modifications. It implies that possibilities can be created within such limits which does not damage the environment and there is no free run without accidents.
Class 12 Geography Chapter 1 Short Answer Type Questions
Q1. What do you mean by ‘Dualism in Geography?
Answer:-The teaching and learning of Geography has been a matter of debate amongst geographers. Some examples are:
Whether geographical phenomena be theoretically interpreted or through historic-institutional approach;
Whether subject matter be organised and approach to study and teach geography should be regional or systematic;
Whether geography as a discipline should be a law making/theorising or descriptive?
Q2. State some examples of metaphors used to describe the physical and human phenomena.
Answer:- Some examples of metaphors used to describe the physical and human phenomena are as follows:
“Face’ of the earth.
‘Eye’ of the storm.
Regions, villages, towns have been described as ‘organisms’.
Networks of roads, railways and water¬ways are described as “arteries of circulation”.
“Mouth’ of the river.
‘Snout’ (nose) of the glacier.
“Neck’ of the isthmus.
“Profile’ of the soil.
Q3. When and how did Human Geography begin? Explain.
Answer:-Human Geography may be said to have originated since man has started interacting with his environment. It has its roots deep in history. Therefore, the concerns of human geography have a long temporal continuum though approaches to articulate them have changed over time. This dynamism and changes in articulation are indicator of vibrant nature of the discipline.
In the beginning, the interaction between various societies was negligible. Therefore knowledge about each other was also limited. Travelers and explorers used to gather information before a journey and navigational skills were underdeveloped. In late 15th century, Europe witnessed attempts of explorations and the myths and mysteries about countries and people started to open up.
In the colonial period, these attempts increased with an objective of getting access to resources and to obtain inventorised information. Through all this we get to know the sequential information about the development of human geography and to understand that the development of this discipline has been a steady process.
Q4. Make a list of elements that human beings have created through their activities on the stage provided by physical environment.
Answer:- Man creates many elements through his activities on the stage provided by physical environment with the help of technology. Houses, villages, cities, farms, ports, items of our daily use and all others So elements of material culture have been created by man using the resources provided by physical environment.
Q5. How do human activities help to create cultural landscape?
Answer:- On the basis of attained knowledge, technology and industries, man has been able to develop cultural landscape. The imprints of human activities are available everywhere.
For example; health resorts on highlands have been used as recreation places, huge urban sprawls, fields, orchards and pastures in plains and rolling hills have added to beauty, ports on the coasts, oceanic routes on the oceanic surface and satellites in the space have enabled man to touch the heights of the sky. This was coined the term “Possibilism.’.
Q6. “There is no free run without accidents.” Explain.
Answer:- In this statement, the thought of Possibilism in which man was taken as free, uncontrolled and master of unlimited powers has been criticized because as a consequence of free run of developed economies many problems are being faced today like green house effect, ozone layer depletion, global warming, receding glaciers, degrading lands, problem of pollution and incurable diseases.
Class 12 Geography Chapter 1 Long Answer Type Question
Q1. Describe the fields and sub-fields of Geography and its inter-relationship with other fields.
Answer:- Nature of Human Geography is inter-disciplinary. In order to understand and describe the human elements found on the earth, human geography has established strong bond with other social sciences and their helping subjects. With the expansion of knowledge, new subjects keep on developing. These are studied with humanistic approach but because they are not free from geographical and environmental effects, they become subject matter of human geography. Fields under Human Geography include: Social Geography, Urban Geography, Political Geography, Population Geography, Settlement Geography and Economic Geography.
Sub-fields of Social Geography are: Behavioral Geography, Geography of Social Well-being, Geography of Leisure, Cultural Geography, Gender Geography, Historical Geography and Medical Geography.
Sub-fields of Political Geography are Electoral Geography and Military Geography. Sub-fields of Economic Geography are: Geography of Resources, Geography of Agriculture, Geography of Tourism, Geography of Industries, Geography of Marketing and Geography of International Trade.
Other than this, Sociology, Psychology, Welfare Economics, Demographic Studies, History, Epidemiology, Anthropology, Urban Studies and Planning, Political Science, Psephology, Military Science, Demography, Urban or Rural Planning, Agricultural Sciences, Industrial Economics, Business Studies, Commerce, Tourism 6s Travel Management and International Trade are such disciplines which study human activities and behavior. As the scope of these disciplines is expanding, it is also leading to increase in the scope of Human Geography.
Q2. How did man develop and expand proper technology?
Answer:- Human beings were able to develop proper technology using his knowledge and intelligence. It has taken man a long time to reach at the present level of technology. In primitive age when the level of technology was very low man was bound to follow the dictates of nature. In those times man was a slave of nature, scared of its powerful force and used to worship nature to make it happy. In these conditions the state of cultural development was also primitive.
However, the process was gradual but man developed technology and it is also to be noted that man has been able to utilize this technology only after understanding the various laws of nature. For example; understanding of laws of friction gave birth to many inventions.
Similarly after understanding secrets of DNA and laws of genetics, man has overcome many diseases and aeroplanes could be invented only after understanding the laws of aerodynamics. Today the level of technology is touching the heights of sky through which man seems to get free from the natural forces. Earthquake, cyclones, landslides, volcanoes and other natural disasters keep reminding man that he is still a slave to nature.
It implies that man can’t be completely free from natural forces but with the development of technology man has become free from nature and this freedom can be expanded further. Man needs to follow Stop and Go approach. It means possibilities can be created within the limits which do not damage the environment and there is no free run without accidents.