NCERT Solutions Class 11 Geography Chapter 1: Geography as a Discipline

Page No: 10

1. Multiple Choice Questions:

(i) Which one of the following scholars coined the term ‘Geography’?

(a) Herodotus

(b) Erathosthenese

(c) Galileo

(d) Aristotle

Answer:

(b) Erathosthenese

(ii) Which one of the following features can be termed as ‘physical feature’?

(a) Port

(b) Road

(c) Plain

(d) Water park

Answer:

(c) Plain

Page No: 11

(iii) Make correct pairs from the following two columns and mark the correct option.

(a) 1B,2C,3A,4D

(b) 1A,2D,3B,4C

(c) 1D,2B,3C,4A

(d) 1C,2A,3D,4B

Answer:

(d) 1C,2A,3D,4B

(iv) Which one of the following questions is related to cause-effect relationship?

(a) Why

(b) Where

(c) What

(d) When

Answer:

(a) Why

(v) Which one of the following disciplines attempts temporal synthesis?

(a) Sociology

(b) Geography

(c) Anthropology

(d) History

Answer:

(d) History

2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.

(i) What important cultural features do you observe while going to school? Are they similar or dissimilar? Should they be included in the study of geography or not? If yes, why?

Answer:

As we travel to school, we encounter various cultural features like shops, theaters, roads, temples, mosques, churches, houses, government offices, and more along the way. These establishments symbolize different cultural aspects, each dissimilar from the other.

Indeed, they hold significance in the study of geography, particularly in comprehending human geography. They constitute an integral component of social and cultural geography.

(ii) You have seen a tennis ball, a cricket ball, an orange and a pumpkin. Which one amongst these resembles the shape of the earth? Why have you chosen this particular item to describe the shape of the earth?

Answer:

The Earth’s shape is comparable to that of an orange, not a perfect sphere like tennis ball, cricket. A pumpkin is comparatively longer.

The earth is slightly flattened towards the poles, giving it a geoid shape. This means it is slightly flatter at the equator and is more compressed at the poles, resembling the shape of an orange rather than a uniformly spherical object.

(iii) Do you celebrate Van Mahotsava in your school? Why do we plant so many trees? How do the trees maintain ecological balance?

Answer:

Yes, we observe Van Mahotsava at our school.

We participate in planting numerous trees because trees offer various advantages, including providing food, oxygen, clean air, and valuable economic resources such as rubber and paper, among others. Moreover, they contribute to the production of medicines.

Trees help maintain ecological balance by absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen through the process of photosynthesis.

(iv) You have seen elephants, deer, earthworms, trees and grasses. Where do they live or grow? What is the name given to this sphere? Can you describe some of the important features of this sphere?

Answer:

The sphere where elephants, deer, earthworms, trees and grasses live and grow is known as biosphere.

Here are some key characteristics of the biosphere:

• The biosphere refers to the collective environment comprising the land sphere (lithosphere), water sphere (hydrosphere), and air sphere (atmosphere) where life flourishes.
• Biotic components of the biosphere include plants and animals, while abiotic components encompass soil, water, and air.
• The biosphere hosts both mobile and stationary life forms. Mobile organisms comprise animals, insects, birds, aquatic life, and humans, while stationary organisms include trees, plants, and grasses.

(v) How much time do you take to reach your school from your house? Had the school been located across the road from your house, how much time would you have taken to reach school? What is the effect of the distance between your residence and the school on the time taken in commuting? Can you convert time into space and vice versa?

Answer:

It usually requires around half an hour for me to travel to school. If my school were located just across the street from my house, I could arrive there in only five minutes. However, because of the considerable distance between my home and school, a substantial amount of time is consumed in commuting. This extended travel time negatively affects my academic performance as it leaves me with less time for studying. It also affects my playing time.

We can express distance in terms of time, like saying a place is a 45-minute drive away. However, time cannot be directly translated into distance or space.

3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.

(i) You observe every day in your surroundings that there is variation in natural as well as cultural phenomena. All the trees are not of the same variety. All the birds and animals you see, are different. All these different elements are found on the earth. Can you now argue that geography is the study of “areal differentiation”?

Answer:

The diversity in both natural and cultural aspects is extensive. While the study of ‘areal differentiation’ forms a part of geography, the discipline itself extends beyond this concept.

Geography, as a field, focuses on space and acknowledges spatial characteristics and attributes. It examines the patterns of distribution, location, and concentration of phenomena across space, offering interpretations and explanations for these patterns. Moreover, geography considers the associations and interconnections between phenomena across space, analyzing them to provide further insights. It also explores the relationships between phenomena resulting from the dynamic interaction between humans and their physical surroundings.

Geography aids in comprehending reality from a spatial perspective. Thus, it not only recognizes variations in phenomena from one place to another but also integrates them comprehensively, acknowledging that these integrations may differ elsewhere.

(ii) You have already studied geography, history, civics and economics as parts of social studies. Attempt an integration of these disciplines highlighting their interface.

Answer:

Geography and History: Geography plays a significant role in shaping historical events. Spatial distance, for instance, has often been a decisive factor in altering the course of world history. Throughout history, spatial depth has provided defense for many countries, particularly evident in recent centuries. In traditional warfare, nations with extensive territorial expanses have been able to buy time at the expense of territory. Moreover, every geographical phenomenon undergoes temporal changes and can be analyzed through a historical lens. The transformations in landforms, climate, vegetation, economic activities, occupations, and cultural developments have followed distinct historical trajectories.

Geography and Civics: Political science primarily concerns itself with territory, population, and sovereignty, while political geography delves into the examination of the state as a spatial entity, along with studying the populace and their political behavior.

Geography and Economics: Economics, on the other hand, deals with fundamental aspects of the economy, including production, distribution, exchange, and consumption. Each of these facets also possesses spatial dimensions, leading to the involvement of economic geography in the study of the spatial aspects of production, distribution, exchange, and consumption.

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