INTRODUCTION

General Introduction

When you were in Primary school, you studied Social Studies, which consists of geography and other subjects. In this chapter, you are going to learn the meaning of geography and that of environment as well as the branches of geography. You will also learn about the importance of learning geography. This will help you to understand how the environment effects our lives and hence the need to take care of it.

Starter activity

Study photographs A and 8 on page 1. Describe what each photograph shows

What is geography?

Activity 1 Group work

Exploring our surroundings

1. Go outside the classroom and stand in an open area and study your school’s surroundings.
2. In your notebooks, list some of the features that you have observed.

In carrying out Activity 1. you have found out that there are both natural and human-made features in the area around your school. These natural and human-made features make up the environment. The natural features make up the physical environment while the human- made features make up the human environment, which is also called the built environment. Environment is thus, all the conditions surrounding humankind and which influence the behaviour and activities of people.

Activity 2 Group work

Identifying natural features and human-made features in our surroundings

1. Copy the table below in your notebooks Fill it in by writing the features you observed in Activity 1

2. Share the table you have filled in with the rest of the class.
3. As a class, come up with lists of other natural and human-made features that are found Uganda.

4 .Draw four of the natural features that you have listed.

Activity 3 Pair work

1. Look at the photographs on page 1 again.
2. For each photograph, identify the natural features and the human-made features.
3. Suggest an area in Uganda where the natural features you have identified are likely to be found.

4. Share your answers with the rest of your classmates.

Activity 4 Group work

The relationship between people and the environment

Look at photographs A and B below.

1. Write down the natural and human-made features shown in each photograph.
2. Identify the human activities carried out in the areas shown in each photograph.
3. How are the human activities shown in each photograph affected by the natural environment?

4 .How do the human activities in each photograph affect the natural environment?

5 .Share your answers with the rest of the class.

The natural features and human-made features that are shown in each photograph make up the geography of the area. Human activities are also part of the geography of an area.

Activity Pair work

Information search on the meaning of geography

1. Using the answers you gave in Activity 4, discuss geography and come up with the meaning of geography.

2. Carry out a library search or use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to find out the meaning of geography. Compare your definition with what you find from

the information search

3.Share your definition with the class.

4. Discuss the definitions with the rest of your classmates and agree on the best ones.

The branches of geography

You have so far learned that geography is the study of both the physical and the human environments, and how human beings interact with the environment. From this, we can conclude that geography has two main branches, namely physical geography and human geography

Activity 6 Pair work

What do we study in each branch of geography?

1. The box below contains some of the aspects that we study in geography in your notebooks, draw a table with two columns and label them Physical geography and Human geography List each aspect in the appropriate column.

airports, towns, cities, islands roads, rivers, fisheries, rocks, factories, forests, hills and mountains, mines, weather and climate, swamps, plateaus and plains, railways, volcanoes, lakes, plantations, escarpments, power stations

2. Think of other aspects of geography that may be studied in each branch of geography and add them to your table.

Activity 7 Pair work

Exploring types of environments that we study in geography

The box below contains some of the features of the environments that we study in geography In your notebooks, draw a table with two columns and label them Physical environment and ”Human environment”. Write each thing in the appropriate column.

Importance of studying geography

Activity 8 Whole class work

Discussing the importance of studying geography

Studying geography is important because the knowledge is necessary in many of the activities that we carry out in our lives.

1. State three human activities and explain how the study of geography is important for understanding those activities.

2. Give three examples of physical features and explain how the study of geography is important for understanding these features.
3. Share with others what you have written.
4. Listen to the explanations your classmates have given and say whether you agree or disagree with them. Why do you agree or disagree with the explanations?

1. In your own words, write down reasons why you think learning geography is important.
2. List three skills that one can get through the study of geography.
3. Name the jobs and occupations in which the knowledge of geography is important.
4. White down three reasons why studying geography is important to your community.

The following are some specific reasons why it is important to study geography.

a) To gain knowledge and understanding of the environment and the earth on which we live.

b)To learn and understand the formation of physical features and how they influence human activities.

(c) To acquire positive attitudes and values such as honesty, social harmony, justice and fairness, integrity and patriotism, so that we become self-reliant.

(d) To understand how the physical and the human environment are inter-related

(e) Studying geography allows us to learn about and understand vegetation and how it influences other organisms.

(f) Studying geography allows us to understand the importance of using our natural resources in a sustainable way.

(g) Studying geography allows us to develop skills such as creativity, communication, cooperation and critical thinking.

(h) Studying geography helps us to appreciate other people and value the importance of living together harmoniously.

i) Studying geography helps us to develop a foundation upon which we can choose and develop careers.

How do people use the environment?

Activity 10 Individual work

Exploring how people use their environment

1. Identify the ways in which you and your family use features in the environment around your home or your community. Write them down in your notebook.

2. Explain how each of these uses affects the environment either positively
3. Think of other places that you have visited or heard of. How do the people use their environment?

4. How do the activities of the people in these places affect the environment?

People use their environment in different ways. We build houses, clear the land for farming, fish from lakes and rivers and use vegetation to feed ourselves and our animals. Controlled use of resources, replanting trees and practising proper methods of farming positively affect the environment. Uncontrolled use of resources and poor farming and mining methods negatively affect the environment.

Activity 11 Individual work

Understanding how people conserve or misuse the environment

1. Explain ways in which human beings misuse the environment.

2 .Suggest ways in which we can protect or conserve the environment.