NCERT Solutions for Class 4 SST - Human Resources

Q.1. Answer the following questions.
 (i) Why are people considered a resource?
 (ii) What are the causes for the uneven distribution of population in the world?
 (iii) The world population has grown very rapidly. Why?
 (iv) Discuss the role of any two factors influencing population change.
 (v) What is meant by population composition?
 (vi) What are population pyramids? How do they help in understanding about the population of a country?
 Ans. 
(i) Human beings are the most important resource of a nation. They are significant because had they not utilised their brains, the other resources of nature would not have found any utility. In other words, human resource is the ultimate resource.

(ii) Population distribution in the world is uneven because of the two factors Geographical and Social factors.
Geographical factors include:
1. Topography: People prefer living on plains rather than mountains and plateaus, because these areas are suitable for farming, manufacturing and service activities. The Ganga plains is the most densely populated area of the world, while mountains like Andes, Alps and Himalayas are sparsely populated.
2. Water: People prefer living in areas where freshwater is easily available. The river valleys of the world are the densely populated regions, while deserts have spare population.
Social Factors include:
1. Social: Areas of better housing, education and health facilities are more densely populated. (For example: Pune)
2. Economic: Industrial areas provide employment opportunities. Large number of people are attracted to these areas. Osaka in Japan and Mumbai in India are two densely populated areas.

(iii) The world population has grown very rapidly because of the development in medical science which has caused decrease in death rate. Since lesser people die now of diseases than before, whereas there was no way to decrease the birth rate, the population has increased at a fast rate.

(iv) The birth rate, death rate and migration are the main factors that influence the change of population. When the birth rate increases and death rate decreases the population increases. When the two rates are equal, population remains balanced. So, birth and death rates affect the balance of population.

(v) The structure of the population with various respects like age, sex, literacy, occupations, health facilities, economic condition, etc is called population composition.

(vi) A population pyramid is a pictorial way to describe the population composition. The shape of population pyramid of a country is indicative of a lot of information about the country. The size towards the bottom may be used to estimate the birth rate, while the size towards the top may be used to estimate the death rate. A population pyramid in which the base is broad and the top part is narrow means that although a large amount of births take place, not all grow up to be adults and old; it means many die before reaching these ages. This indicates a large death rate and Kenya shows such a pyramid. In countries like India, the death rate is decreasing, so the pyramid is broad in the younger age groups, and the size of the pyramid decreases steadily.
 

Q.2. Tick the correct answer.
(i) Which does the term population distribution refer to? 
(a) How population in a specified area changes over time.
(b) The number of people who die in relation to the number of people born in a specified area.
(c) The way in which people are spread across a given area. 

Ans. (c)

(ii) Which are three main factors that cause population change? 
(a) Births, deaths and marriages
(b) Births, deaths and migration
(c) Births, deaths and life expectancy 

Ans. (b)

(iii) In 1999, the world population reached 
(a) 1 billion
(b) 3 billion
(c) 6 billion 

Ans. (c)

(iv) What is a population pyramid? 
(a) A graphical presentation of the age, sex composition of a population.
(b) When the population density of an area is so high that people live in tall buildings.
(c) Pattern of population distribution in large urban areas.
Ans. (a)

Q.3. Complete the sentences below using some of the following words.

(sparsely,  favourable,  fallow,  artificial,  fertile,  natural,  extreme,  densely)
When people are attracted to an area it becomes ................... populated. Factors that influence this include ................... climate; good supplies of ................... resources and ................... land.
Ans. When people are attracted to an area it becomes densely populated. Factors that influence this include favourable climate; good supplies of natural resources and fertile land.
 

Q.4. Activity Discuss the characteristics of a society with “too many under 15s” and one with “too few under 15s”.
Ans. The society with too many under 15s need more schools to be able to educate them. There should be efficient and laborious teachers. There should be provisions for items necessary for a child’s amusement, like toys. Children are prone to diseases; facilities for hospitals should be improved in such a society. In a society with too few under 15s will have more and more mature people. Pension schemes will work there fruitfully. There may be the need for wheelchairs. Labour supply will be easier. These people will also need hospitals.