NCERT Solutions for Class 11 Geography Fundamentals of Physical Geography Chapter 1: Geography as a Discipline

Chapter at a glance

Exercise Questions

Question 1 (i)

Which one of the following scholars coined the term ‘Geography’?
(a) Herodotus (b) Erathosthenese (c) Galileo (d) Aristotle

Answer

The Greek scholar Eratosthenes (a librarian of Alexandria, c. 276–194 BCE) coined the term “Geographika”, meaning a description of the earth.

2. Eratosthenes

Question 1 (ii)

Which one of the following features can be termed as ‘physical feature’?
(a) Port (b) Road (c) Plain (d) Water park

Answer

A physical feature is one made by nature. A plain is a natural landform, while a port, a road and a water park are man-made (cultural) features.

3. Plain

Question 1 (iii)

Make correct pairs from the following two columns and mark the correct option.
1. Meteorology A. Population Geography
2. Demography B. Soil Geography
3. Sociology C. Climatology
4. Pedology D. Social Geography
(a) 1B, 2C, 3A, 4D (b) 1A, 2D, 3B, 4C (c) 1D, 2B, 3C, 4A (d) 1C, 2A, 3D, 4B

Answer

• Meteorology (study of weather) → Climatology (C)
• Demography (study of population) → Population Geography (A)
• Sociology (study of society) → Social Geography (D)
• Pedology (study of soils) → Soil Geography (B)

So the pairs are 1–C, 2–A, 3–D, 4–B.

4. 1C, 2A, 3D, 4B

Question 1 (iv)

Which one of the following questions is related to cause-effect relationship?
(a) Why (b) Where (c) What (d) When

Answer

“What” and “where” describe a feature and its location, and “when” refers to time. “Why” asks for the reason, that is, the cause behind a phenomenon.

1. Why

Question 1 (v)

Which one of the following disciplines attempts temporal synthesis?
(a) Sociology (b) Geography (c) Anthropology (d) History

Answer

History studies events over time, so it attempts temporal synthesis, while geography attempts spatial synthesis.

4. History

Question 2 (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

On the way to school I may see houses, shops, markets, roads, vehicles, bridges, temples, mosques or churches, parks, hospitals and farms. They are dissimilar in function, size and style, and differ from place to place. Yes, they should be studied in geography, because geography studies the earth as the home of human beings, and these cultural features show how people use and change their environment.

Houses, shops, roads, places of worship; they differ, and geography includes them since it studies human use of the environment.

Question 2 (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

An orange resembles the earth. The earth is not a perfect sphere: it is slightly flattened at the poles and bulges at the equator (a geoid or oblate spheroid), like an orange, whereas a tennis ball or a cricket ball are almost perfect spheres, and a pumpkin is too flattened and ribbed.

An orange, because the earth, like it, is slightly flattened at the poles and bulging at the equator.

Question 2 (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, Van Mahotsava, the annual tree-planting festival, is celebrated in July. We plant trees because they give oxygen, food, wood, and shade, prevent soil erosion and desertification, and bring rain.

Trees maintain the ecological balance by: taking in carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen; reducing temperature and pollution; holding soil and water with their roots; providing habitat and food for birds and animals; and helping to bring rainfall.

Trees give oxygen, food and shelter, hold soil, and balance carbon dioxide and climate, keeping the ecosystem stable.

Question 2 (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

They live on land, in the soil, and in air and water. This sphere is the biosphere, the life zone of the earth.

Features:

1. It is the narrow zone where the lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere meet and support life.
2. It includes all living organisms (plants, animals, micro-organisms) and their interactions with the environment.
3. Energy comes from the sun, and plants, animals and decomposers are linked in food chains and ecosystems.
4. It is found in a variety of habitats from forests to deserts and oceans.

They live in the biosphere, the life-supporting zone where land, water and air meet.

Question 2 (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

Suppose I take 30 minutes on my 3 km journey to school by bus. If the school were across the road (about 50 m) I would reach in about one minute. The greater the distance, the more time is taken, so time is proportional to distance for a given speed.

Yes, time can be converted into space and vice versa: distance = speed × time. For example at 6 km h⁻¹ walking, 30 minutes means 3 km. This is the idea of time distance or space–time relation in geography.

Time taken increases with distance, and distance = speed × time lets us convert time into space and vice versa.

Question 3 (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

Yes. The earth’s surface is not uniform. Relief, climate, soil, vegetation, animals, and also people, farming, settlements, and industries differ from place to place. Geography studies why one area differs from another and how the different elements are related, which is what Richard Hartshorne called areal differentiation.

1. Natural variation: desert, mountains, plains and coasts have different climates, soils and vegetation.
2. Cultural variation: people’s food, dress, language, farming and industries differ.
3. Geography does not only list these differences; it explains them in terms of interactions between natural and human elements, and it compares and groups areas into regions.

Therefore, geography can be argued to be the study of areal differentiation.

Yes, geography studies and explains the differences between areas of the earth’s surface.

Question 3 (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 is an integrating discipline: it links the physical and human worlds.

For example, in studying the Ganga plain, the river (geography), the ancient cities (history), the government’s policy (civics) and farming and industry (economics) all come together.

Geography integrates history (time), civics (state and power) and economics (resources and trade) through space.

Question Project Work – (i)

Select forest as a natural resource. Prepare a map of India showing the distribution of different types of forests.

Answer

Mark these types on an outline map of India:

Use distinct colours for each forest type on an outline map of India, as per the table.

Question Project Work – (ii)

Write about the economic importance of forests for the country.

Answer

1. Raw materials: timber, bamboo, pulp for paper, rubber, resins and lac for industries.
2. Food and medicine: fruits, honey, herbs and medicinal plants.
3. Fuel: firewood for rural households.
4. Livelihood: employment for forest dwellers and tribal people, in logging, collection and forest-based industries.
5. Ecological services: soil and water conservation, rainfall, flood control, and carbon storage, which protect agriculture.
6. Revenue and tourism: government earnings and eco-tourism, wildlife sanctuaries and national parks.

Forests give raw materials, food, fuel, jobs, ecological protection and tourism revenue.

Question Project Work – (iii)

Prepare a historical account of conservation of forests in India with focus on Chipko movements in Rajasthan and Uttaranchal.

Answer

• Early traditions: forests were protected as sacred groves, and Ashoka’s edicts and ancient texts advised protection of trees and animals.
• Bishnoi community, Rajasthan (1730): led by Amrita Devi, villagers of Khejarli hugged khejri trees to stop the Maharaja of Jodhpur’s men from cutting them for a palace; hundreds of Bishnois (363) gave their lives. This is regarded as the earliest example of what became the Chipko idea.
• British period: exploitation for railway sleepers and shipbuilding; the Indian Forest Act, 1865 and 1878 restricted local rights.
• Chipko movement, Uttarakhand (1973): villagers of Chamoli, led by Sunderlal Bahuguna, Chandi Prasad Bhatt and Gaura Devi, hugged trees to prevent commercial felling; it spread through the Himalayas and led to a ban on tree cutting in the Himalayan region above a certain height, and to a worldwide environmental movement.
• After independence: Forest Conservation Act 1980, National Forest Policy 1988 and joint forest management, Project Tiger and national parks.

From sacred groves and the Bishnoi sacrifice of 1730 to the Chipko movement of 1973 and the laws after 1980, Indians have repeatedly acted to protect forests.

Topic checklist

• ☒ Meaning and scope of geography (Q1 i, iii, iv, v)
• ☒ Natural and cultural features (Q1 ii; 2 i – iv)
• ☒ Time and space (Q2 v)
• ☒ Areal differentiation and integration with other disciplines (Q3 i, ii)
• ☒ Project work on forests (i – iii)

Total questions answered: 15 of 15