Environment | Chapter 1| Environment | Class 7 Geography Summary notes

Summary Notes

What is the environment?
All the surrounding things that we see, are called the environment. The Place, people, things, and nature that surround any living organism is called the environment.
The following are three major components of the environment:

• Natural
• Human Made
• Human

Natural Environment can be further divided into two major parts:

• Biotic
• Abiotic

Biotic components of nature are comprised of all living things such as plants, animals, humans, bacteria, fungi, etc. Biotic components also include waste from living things such as crop residues, leaves, dead animals, etc.

Abiotic components of nature are comprised of all non-living things such as soils, water, sunlight, heat, air, etc.

Artificial or human-made things such as schools, tables, roads, etc are may be made up of the combination of both biotic and abiotic components of nature.

All the things in environments come from four major components of environment, the following are four major components of the natural environment:

• Lithosphere
• Hydrosphere
• Atmosphere
• Biosphere

Lithosphere:

• The solid crust or hard top layer of the earth is called the lithosphere
• Various major and minor landforms such as mountains, plateaus, plains, valleys, etc are found over it.
• All the activities such as mining, grassland, agriculture are done on the lithosphere.
• The lithosphere is the source of mineral wealth.
• The lithosphere provides land for agriculture and for human settlement.

Hydrosphere:

The domain of water in the earth is referred to as the hydrosphere. It is home to various sources of water and different types of water bodies such as rivers, lakes, oceans, etc.

Atmosphere:

• The atmosphere is the thin layer of air that surrounds the earth.
• It is the Gravitation force of the earth that holds the atmosphere around.
• The atmosphere protects us from harmful ultraviolet rays and heat from the sun.
• Change in weather and climate is the result of the change in the atmosphere.

Biosphere:

• The biosphere is a narrow zone of the earth where land, water, and air interact with each other and support life.
• The living world of the earth is called the biosphere.
• Plants and animal kingdoms together make a biosphere.

Ecosystem:

• It is the system formed by the interaction of all living organisms with each other and with physical and chemical factors of the environment in which they live.
• All components of an ecosystem are linked by the transfer of energy and materials.
• Some examples of the ecosystem are pond ecosystem, desert ecosystem, rainforest, grasslands, desert, mountains, etc.

World environment day is observed on 5th June each year.

Human Environment:

Humans are the most intelligent and active animals on the earth. Human being interacts with the environment and modify the environment according to their need. 
Early Humans adapted themselves to the natural environment; the way of life of early humans was largely shaped by the environment and they were largely dependent on the environment for need. Over time, Humans learned new ways to use and change the environment as per their requirements. Now humans by their abilities and technological advancement can create their own environment.
For example, 

• Learned to grow crops and domestication the animal.
• The industrial revolution made improvements in industrial production and faster transportation.
• Information revolution made communication easier across the globe;

Exercises solution of Environment:

Q1. What is an ecosystem?
Answer.

It is the system formed by the interaction of all living organisms with each other and with physical and chemical factors of the environment in which they live.

• All components of ecosystems such as biotic and abiotic are linked by the transfer of energy and materials.
• Some examples of ecosystems are pond ecosystems, desert ecosystems, etc.

Q2. What do you mean by the natural environment?
Answer:

• In an environment that has the ability of self-sustainability, there is no need for humans for their conservation, creation, and changes. This type of environment is called a natural environment.
• For example, Mountains, Plains, oceans, Forest, etc.

Q3. Which are the major components of the environment?
Answer.

The following are the components of the environment:

• Natural
• Human-made or artificial
• Human

Q4. Give four examples of a human-made environment.
Answer.

The following are the example of a human-made environment:

• Crop
• Society
• Cultural
• Aquarium
• Bridge
• Roadway, Highways
• Home
• Industries
• Colonies

Q5. What is the lithosphere?
Answer.

• The solid crust or hard top layer of the earth is called the lithosphere
• Various major and minor landforms such as mountains, plateaus, plains, valleys, etc are found over it.
• All the activities such as mining, grassland, agriculture are done on the lithosphere.
• The lithosphere is the source of mineral wealth.
• The lithosphere provides land for agriculture and for human settlement.

Q6. Which are the two major components of the biotic environment?
Answer.

• Plants and animals are the two major components of the biotic environment.

Q7. What is the biosphere?
Answer.

• The biosphere is a zone where all life forms of earth exist; it is the zone where the atmosphere, lithosphere, and hydrosphere interact and support life.

Answer the following multiple choice questions on environment:

1. The word "Environment" is originated from French word " Environner", the meaning of Environner is ?

a) Surroundings

b) Neighbourhood

c) Nature

d) Relationship

Answer. b) Neighbourhood

2. Which of the following explained the meaning of "Barter System"?

a) It is trade in which goods are exchanged without the use of money.

b) It is trade in which goods are exchanged with the use of Gold only.

c) It is trade in which goods are exchanged with the use of Gold and Silver only.

d) It is trade in which goods are exchanged with the use of paper money only.

Answer. a) It is trade in which goods are exchanged without the use of money.

3. Which is not a natural ecosystem?

a) Desert 

b) Aquarium 

c) Forest

d) Grassland

Answer. b. Aquarium

The aquarium is not a natural ecosystem because it is made up and controlled by humans.

4. Which is not a component of the human environment?

a) Land

b) Religion 

c) Community

d) Family

Answer. a. Land.

The land is not a component of the human environment( family, road, building, family, community, religion) and it is part of natural components( land, air, water, biosphere).

5. Which is a human-made environment?

a) Mountain 

b) Sea

c) Road

d) Coastlines

Answer. c. Road.

The road is an example of a Human-man environment.

6. Which is a threat to the environment?

a) Growing plant

b) Growing population

c) Growing crops

d) Growing ponds

Answer. b. Growing Population.

The growing population increases the exploitation of natural resources and it is a threat to the environment.

7. The Blanket of air which surrounds the earth is called?

a) Lithosphere

b) Atmosphere

c) Hydrosphere

d) Biosphere

Answer. b) Atmosphere

8.  Our surroundings is called?

a) Lithosphere

b) Atmosphere

c) Hydrosphere

d) Environment

Answer. d) Environment

9. Narrow zone where land water and air interact is called?

a) Lithosphere

b) Atmosphere

c) Hydrosphere

d) Biosphere

Answer. d) Biosphere

10. On which day, the world Environment Day is celebrated?

a) 5th January

b) 5th June

c) 5th September

d) 5th December

Answer: b) 5th June

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