CBSE Class 12 Geography Human Nature And Scope Worksheet

GIST OF THE LESSON:

Geography is a field - study, an integrative, empirical, scientific and practical discipline, it studies each and every event on the surface of the earth over the time and space, human geography studies the relationship between human and nature.

Geography can be studied through law making or descriptive. There are two approaches used in the study of geography – 1. Systematic approach 2. Regional Approach

DEFINITION OF HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

“Human geography is the synthetic study of relationship between human societies & earth s surface”. -Ratzel

Synthesis has been emphasized in the above definition.

“Human geography is the study of “the changing relationship between the un-resting man and the unstable earth.” - Ellen C. Semple Dynamism in the relationship is the keyword in Semple S definition.

“Conception resulting from a more synthetic knowledge of the physical laws governing our earth and of the relations between the living beings which inhabit it”. - Paul Vidal de la Blache

NATURE OF HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Human geography studies the inter relationship between the physical environment and sociocultural environment created by man. Elements of physical are land, water, soil, climate, flora & fauna etc. Elements of cultural are transport and communication, settlements, crops etc.

NATURALISATION OF HUMANS

Man interacts with nature with the help of technology. It is not important that what he creates but with what tools he used to create. Technology indicates the level of cultural development of society. Understanding the nature helps to create technology. Understanding of friction and heat helped to discover fire. Understanding DNA helped to eradicate diseases. Laws of thermodynamics helped to develop fast planes. Knowledge about nature is extremely important to develop technology and technology loosens the shackles of environment on human being.

The interaction between primitive society and strong forces of nature is called “Environmental Determinism”.

HUMANISATION OF NATURE

With the development of technology people understood the nature well. They move from state of necessity to state of possibilities. Human activities created cultural landscapes, so it is called as possibilism. 

NEO-DETERMINISM/ STOP AND GO DETERMINISM
1. Introduced by Griffith Taylor in 1920, an Australian Scholar.
2. It is a middle path (madhyam marg) between environmental determinism and possibilism.
The concept shows that neither is there a situation of absolute necessity nor is there a condition of absolute freedom. Sustainable development is the main aim. The Neo determinism maintains balance between development and nature.

HUMAN GEOGRAPHY THROUGH THE CORRIDORS OF TIME SCHOOLS OF HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

♦ WELFARE SCHOOL
Concerned with social well-being of the people a. housing b. Health c. Education

♦ RADICAL SCHOOL
Concerned with causes of poverty, deprivation and social and gender inequality

♦ BEHAVIOURAL SCHOOL
Given importance to lived experience, perception of space by Social categories

STAGES THROUGH CORRIDORIES OF TIME

Question. Who proposed the concept of Neo –determinism?
Answer: Griffith Taylor

Question. Which sub field of Geography is called Demography?
Answer: Population geography.

Question. Which subject is called the mother of all branches of knowledge?
Answer: Geography.

Three Marks Questions

Question. What is Naturalization of Humans?
Answer: 1. Human activities are controlled and governed by Environment.
2. Man is treated as a passive agent .
3. Human adjustment in the environment with the help of available technology.
4. Example of Benda life in Abujhamaad area of central India.

Question. What is humanization of Nature?
Answer: Man is treated as an independent and active agent.
Everywhere there are possibilities and man is the master of these possibilities.
Man can transform nature by culture and technological knowledge.
Example of Cari residing in Trondheim (Norway)

Question. Distinguish between regional approach and systematic approach of Geography.
Answer: Systematic Approach Regional Approach
1. Based on political units 1. Based on geographical units
2. Single element is taken for studies 2. Based on similarities Such as climate

Five Marks Question

Question. Mention three Characteristics of Neo –Determinism.
Answer: Introduced by Griffith Taylor
Reflects the middle path between the ideas of Environmental determinism and possibilism.
Emphasizes in solving the problems without damaging the environment It believes in the concept of stop and Go Determinism.

Nature of Human Geography
- Human Geography studies the inter-relationship between the physical environment and socio- cultural environment created by human beings through mutual interaction with each other.
- The elements like villages, cities, road-rail networks, etc and all other elements of material culture have been created by human beings using the resources provided by the physical environment. Thus, In the saying of Ellen Semple “Human geography is a study of changing relationship between unresting man and unstable earth”.

Naturalisation of Humans
Humans interact with their physical environment with the help of technology. This indicates the level of cultural development.
- The interaction of primitive societies with the physical environment is termed as environmental determinism which is naturalisation of humans.

Humanisation of Nature
- With the development of technology, humans began to modify nature and created cultural landscape. This is called possiblism or humanisation of nature.

Neo Determinism
- A middle path of neo determinism was introduced by Griffith Taylor which means that neither is there a situation of absolute necessity (environmental determinism) nor is there a condition of absolute freedom (possibilism).

Field and Sub-fields of Human Geography
- Human geography is inter-disciplinary in nature and develops vast linkages with other sister disciplines in social sciences.
- The fields and sub-fields of human geography explains every aspect of all elements of human life on the surface of the earth.

Question. Consider the following statements regarding nature and scope of human geography.
1. Human geography is the study of inter relationship between the physical environment and cultural pattern.
2. Human geography helps us to understand the symbiotic relationship between social groups and their natural environment.
Select the correct using the codes given below.
a Only 1
b Only 2
c Both 1 &2
d Neither 1 or 2
Answer. c

Question. Consider the following statements regarding the approaches of the human geography.
I. Systematic approach focus on the systematic and comparative analysis of two or more regions
II. Regional approach is the study of specific natural or human phenomenon which resulting into certain spatial pattern.
Select the correct using the codes given below.
a. I is true and II is wrong
b. II is true and I is wrong
c. Both I and II are true.
d. Neither I nor II are true
Answer. d

Question. Every course of human action is limited by environment.” Which school of thought subscribes these line?
a. Environmental determinism
b. Possibilism
c. Neo- determinism
d. None of the above
Answer. a

Question. Assertion(A): Physical elements includes mostly natural phenomenon.
Reason(R): Social and cultural environment includes networks of transportation. a. Both A and R are true and R explains A b. Both A and R are true, but R does not explain A c. A is true, but R is false d. A is false, but R is true.
Answer. b

Question. Assertion(A): Neo – Determinism based on middle path approach. Reason(R): There is no possibility of absolutism in this world. a. Both A and R are true and R explains A b. Both A and R are true, but R does not explain A c. A is true, but R is false d. A is false, but R is true.
Answer. a

Question. Who introduced the concept of Neo determinism?
a. Griffith Taylor
b. Ellen Semple
c. Ratzel
d. Hettner
Answer. a

Question. “Human geography is the study of “the changing relationship between the unresting man and unstable earth.” Mention the keyword in the above definition.
a Synthesis
b Dynamism
c Conception
d Inter relationship
Answer. b

Welfare or humanistic school of thought in human geography was mainly concerned with the different aspects of social well-being of the people. These included aspects such as housing, health and education. Geographers have already introduced a paper as Geography of Social well-being in the Post Graduate curriculum’. Radical school of thought employed Marxian theory to explain the basic cause of poverty, deprivation and social inequality. Contemporary social problems were related to the development of capitalism. Behavioural school of thought laid great emphasis on lived experience and also on the perception of space by social categories based on ethnicity, race and religion, etc. The process of adaptation, adjustment with and modification of the environment started with the appearance of human beings over the surface of the earth in different ecological niches. Thus, if we imagine the beginning of human geography with the interaction of environment and human beings, it has its roots deep in history. Thus, the concerns of human geography have a long temporal continuum though the approaches to articulate them have changed over time. This dynamism in approaches and thrusts shows the vibrant nature of the discipline. Earlier there was little interaction between different societies and the knowledge about each other was limited. Travellers and explorers used to disseminate information about the areas of their visits. Navigational skills were not developed and voyages were fraught with dangers. The late fifteenth century witnessed attempts of explorations in Europe and slowly the myths and mysteries about countries and people started to open up. The colonial period provided impetus to further explorations in order to access the resources of the regions and to obtain inventorised information. The intention here is not to present an in-depth historical account but to make you aware of the processes of steady development of human geography.

Question. Radical school of thought did not laid emphasis on ___________.
a. Poverty
b. Deprivation
c. Housing
d. Social inequality
Answer. c

Question. Which school of thought laid emphasis on lived experiences?
a. Radical
b. Behavioural
c. Welfare
d. None of the above
Answer. b

Question. Which of the following statement is NOT correct?
Answer. a. The concerns of human geography have a long temporal continuum though the approaches to articulate them have changed over time. This dynamism in approaches and thrusts shows the vibrant nature of the discipline.
b. Earlier there was little interaction between different societies and the knowledge about each other was limited.
c. Travellers and explorers used to disseminate information about the areas of their visits. Navigational skills were not developed and voyages were fraught with dangers.
d. The late nineteenth century witnessed attempts of explorations in Europe and slowly the myths and mysteries about countries and people started to open up.

The Eskimos of Tundra adapted to the extremely cold climate. This type of interaction was between primitive human society and nature. At the time, forces of nature were stronger and humans struggled to survive in that environment.

Question. Name the concept which is mentioned above?
Answer. Environmental determinism

Question. Who has initiated this concept?
Answer. Federic Ratzel

Question. 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.

Question. 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. Thus human geography assumes a highly inter-disciplinary 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. With the expansion of knowledge, new subfields emerge and it has also happened to human geography.
Eg:- social geography is related to sociology, psychology, anthropology, history, epidemiology etc

Question. Name the three approaches introduced in the 1970s in human geography. State the main feature of each approach.
Answer. The three approaches are humanistic approach, radical and behavioural approach. Welfare of humanistic school of thought in human geography was mainly concerned with the different aspects of social well being of the people such as housing, health and education. Radical school of thought employed Marxian theory to explain the basic cause of poverty, deprivation and social inequality. Contemporary social problems were related to the development of capitalism. Behavioural school of thought laid great emphasis on lived experience and also on the perception of space by social categories based on ethnicity, race and religion etc

Question. State the six approaches of human geography
Answer. 
a Exploration and description
b Regional analysis
c Areal differentiation
d Spatial organisation
e Humanistic, radical and behavioural schools
f Post modernism.

Question. What is humanization of Nature?
Answer. 1. Man is treated as an independent and active agent.
2. Everywhere there are possibilities and man is the master of these possibilities.
3. Man can transform nature by culture and technological knowledge.
4. Example of Cari residing in Trondheim (Norway).

Question. What is Naturalization of Humans?
Answer.  1. Human activities are controlled and governed by Environment.
1. Man is treated as a passive agent.
2. Human adjustment in the environment with the help of available technology.
3. Example of Benda life in Abujhamaad area of central India.

Question. Distinguish between regional approach and systematic approach of Geography.
Answer.  Systematic Approach                           Regional Approach
1. Based on political units                            1. Based on geographical units
2. Single element is taken for studies          2. Based on similarities
Such as climate 

Question. Mention three Characteristics of Neo –Determinism.
Answer.  1. Introduced by Griffith Taylor
2. Reflects the middle path between the ideas of Environmental determinism and possibilism.
3. Emphasizes in solving the problems without damaging the environment.
4. It believes in the concept of stop and Go Determinism.
5. Sense of Sustainble development.

Question. What is Human Geography?
Answer: Human Geography is the synthetic study of relationship between societies and earth surface.

Question. What is meant by ‘Naturalisation of humans?
Answer:
• Human beings interact with the environment with the help of technology.
• Technology indicates the level of cultural development.
• Better technological development can take place after understanding the natural laws.
• In the primitive society the level of technology was low and so the people listened to the dictates of nature.
• The primitive society worshipped nature and was afraid of it’s fury.
• The primitive society had low level of technology.
• The type of interaction between primitive human society and strong forces of nature is known environmental determinism.
• The concept is also knows as naturalization of humans.
• The primitive society was directly dependent on nature for their resources.

Question. What is meant by possibilism?
Answer:
• Man developed knowledge about the force of nature.
• Man discovered improve technology.
• Man utilized and controlled nature with the help of technology and knowledge.
• Nature became humanized and the term is known a possibilism.
e.g. – building of dams across rivers:

Question. What is meant by ‘Neo determinism’ step and go determinism?
Answer:
• The concept of was proposed by Griffth Taylor.
• It denotes a middle path between environmental determinism and possibilism.
• It explains a situation between absolute necessity and absolute freedom.
• It means that human beings can conquer nature by obeying it.
• Environment can be utilized without damaging it. It is a based on the idea of sustainable development.
• Environment can be utilized without damaging it.
• The developed countries exploit the environment and are responsible for:
a) Green house effect
b) Depletion of ozone layer
c) Global warming
d) Receding of glaciers
e) Land degradation
f) Global warming