Case Study Based Questions: Human Resources | Social Studies (SST) Class 8 PDF Download

Case Study 1

People are a nation’s greatest resource. Nature’s bounty becomes significant only when people find it useful. It is people with their demands and abilities that turn them into ‘resources’. Hence, human resource is the ultimate resource. Healthy, educated and motivated people develop resources as per their requirements. Human resources like other resources are not equally distributed over the world. They differ in their educational levels, age and sex. Their numbers and characteristics also keep changing. The way in which people are spread across the earth surface is known as the pattern of population distribution. More than 90 per cent of the world’s population lives in about 30 per cent of the land surface. The distribution of population in the world is extremely uneven. Some areas are very crowded and some are sparely populated. The crowded areas are south and south east Asia, Europe and north eastern North America. Very few people live in high latitude areas, tropical deserts, high mountains and areas of equatorial forests.

Question and Answer: 1 Mark

Q1: What are nation’s greatest resources?
Ans: People are nation’s greatest resources.

Q2: What is the ultimate resource?
Ans: Human resource is the ultimate resource.

Question and Answer: 2 Mark

Q1: What is known as the pattern of population distribution?
Ans: The way in which people are spread across the earth surface is known as the pattern of population distribution.

Q2: Name about the crowded areas of earth.
Ans: The crowded areas are south and south east Asia, Europe and north eastern North America.

Case Study 2

Many more people live north of the Equator than south of the Equator. Almost three-quarters of the world’s people live in two continents Asia and Africa. Sixty per cent of the world’s people stay in just 10 countries. All of them have more than a 100 million people. Population density is the number of people living in a unit area of the earth’s surface. It is normally expressed as per square km. The average density of population in the whole world is 51 persons per square km. South Central Asia has the highest density of population followed by East and South East Asia.

Do you know?
Average density of population in India is 382 persons per square km.

Question and Answer: 1 Mark

Q1: What is the average density of population in the whole world?
Ans: The average density of population in the whole world is 51 persons per square km.

Q2: What is the average density of population in India?
Ans: The average density of population in India is 382 persons per square km.

Question and Answer: 2 Mark

Q1: What do you mean by population density?
Ans: Population density is the number of people living in a unit area of the earth’s surface. It is normally expressed as per square km.

Q2: Where do three-quarters of the world’s people live in?
Ans: Almost three-quarters of the world’s people live in two continents Asia and Africa.

Case Study 3

Topography: People always prefer to live on plains rather than mountains and plateaus because these areas are suitable for farming, manufacturing and service activities. The Ganga plains are the most densely populated areas of the world while mountains like Andes, Alps and Himalayas are sparsely populated. Climate: People usually avoid extreme climates that are very hot or very cold like Sahara desert, polar regions of Russia, Canada and Antarctica. Soil: Fertile soils provide suitable land for agriculture. Fertile plains such as Ganga and Brahmaputra in India, Hwang-He, Chang Jiang in China and the Nile in Egypt are densely populated. Water: People prefer to live in the areas where fresh water is easily available. The river valleys of the world are densely populated while deserts have spare population. Minerals: Areas with mineral deposits are more populated. Diamond mines of South Africa and discovery of oil in the Middle east lead to settling of people in these areas. Social, Cultural and Economic Factors Social: Areas of better housing, education and health facilities are more densely populated e.g., Pune. Cultural: Places with religion or cultural significance attract people. Varanasi, Jerusalem and Vatican city are some examples. 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. The population change refers to change in the number of people during a specific time. The world population has not been stable. It has increased manifold as seen in the Fig 5.3. Why? This is actually due to changes in the number of births and deaths. For an extremely long period of human history, until the 1800s, the world’s population grew steadily but slowly. Large numbers of babies were born, but they died early too. This was as there were no proper health facilities. Sufficient food was not available for all the people. Farmers were not able to produce enough to meet the food requirements of all the people. As a result the total increase in population was very low. In 1804, the world’s population reached one billion. A hundred and fifty five years later, in 1959, the world’s population reached 3 billion. This is often called population explosion. In 1999, 40 years later, the population doubled to 6 billion. The main reason for this growth was that with better food supplies and medicine, deaths were reducing, while the number of births still remained fairly high. Births are usually measured using the birth rate i.e. the number of live births per 1,000 people. Deaths are usually measured using the death rate i.e. the number of deaths per 1,000 people. Migrations is the movement of people in and out of an area. Births and deaths are the natural causes of population change. The difference between the birth rate and the death rate of a country is called the natural growth rate.

Question and Answer: 1 Mark

Q1: Which place is more preferable for suitable living of people?
Ans: People always prefer to live on plains rather than mountains and plateaus.

Q2: Which plains are the most densely populated areas of the world?
Ans: The Ganga plains are the most densely populated areas of the world.

Question and Answer: 2 Mark

Q1: What is called natural growth rate?
Ans: The difference between the birth rate and the death rate of a country is called the natural growth rate.

Q2: What is the meaning of population change?
Ans: The population change refers to change in the number of people during a specific time. The world population has not been stable.