NCERT solutions for Social Science Exploring Society India and Beyond Part 1 [English] Class 8 chapter 7 - Factors of Production [Latest edition]

What are the factors of production?

How are these factors interconnected?

What is the role of human capital in production?

What are the facilitators of human capital?

In small groups, study the economic activities around your locality. What are the different types of goods and services being made or provided?

Here’s a small report that Latha, Asha, Mohan, and Kiran made. You can make your own report for shops of your choice.

Looking at your group’s report, think about the following:

• Where do people get the money that they need for their business?
• Where did the hairdresser get trained?
• Who taught the food vendors to cook?
• What motivated the business owners to start their business?

Revisit the table in your report. Which of the items on your list can be labelled as ‘land’?

How do infrastructure and healthcare systems like hospitals, primary healthcare centres, doctors, pharmacies, diagnostic labs, etc., contribute to developing human capital?

Let’s do a small experiment. Make a list of 10 working adults in your family and neighbourhood. Ask them to describe the culture at their workplace. Share notes with your classmates. What did you discover? What are some adjectives that occur more frequently?

In the Tapestry chapters, you have seen examples of the art and architecture in India across several centuries. What do you think are the factors that enabled their creators to achieve such high levels of excellence? Discuss in groups and share in class.

Shivay, a student at Saraswati Vidyalaya in Grade 8, had to drop out of school two years back as his father lost his job. How do you think the loss of schooling years will affect Shivay when he grows up?

What problems could businesses face when they do not find workers with the required skills?

Are some jobs more important than others? What would happen if nobody cleaned the streets, collected the trash, farmers stopped cultivating the crops, doctors were not available to treat patients, and so on?

• Why do you think the use of indigenous techniques has declined? Discuss in the class.
• Find out some techniques and products from your region that showcase human effort and skill. Explain briefly using drawings and text in the class.

Identify a factory in your region. Find out how much capital may have been invested in the construction of the factory (you may provide an estimate). What kinds of equipment does the factory use to create its finished products?

What could be the lessons for young entrepreneurs that you can gather from the above case?

Does the existing knowledge of the entrepreneur help in finding solutions to the problem at hand? Or do they need to seek other sources?

Is profit the only motivation for an entrepreneur? Why or why not?

What are the other personality traits required to be a successful entrepreneur?

Can you think of some technological advancements that have impacted the lives of people and communities around you? Talk to elders at home and in the neighbourhood about it.

Think of an invention that you would like to make to solve a problem. Write its related information on a piece of paper, such as its name, what it does, and how it works, sketches or drawings of what it would look like, and so on. Discuss with your classmates.

How are local communities and biodiversity affected by such activities? Do you also know some places around you that have seen water and land degradation over time? Discuss in class.

How are the factors of production different from each other?

What are the difficulties you faced in classifying the factors of production in the exercise given in-text?

How does human capital differ from physical capital?

How do you think technology is changing how people develop their skills and knowledge?

A skill is something you learn and practice to get better. It helps you do things well, like playing a sport, creative writing, solving math problems, cooking, or even communicating well with people. If you could learn one skill today, what would it be and why?

Do you think entrepreneurship is the ‘driving force’ of production? Why or why not?

Can technology replace other factors like labour? Is this good or bad? Support your answer with the help of an example.

How do education and skill training affect human capital? Can they substitute for each other, or do they complement each other?

Imagine you want to start a business that produces steel water bottles. What kind of inputs are needed? How would you obtain them? Suppose one of the factors is missing; what happens to your business operations?

Interview an entrepreneur or founder to understand their motivation to start a business and the opportunities and challenges they saw. You can work in pairs to create a questionnaire to collect the information and share what you have learned in a report.

Think like an economist. Let’s explore what happens when things change. If you were Ratna, what would you do in the following situations? Discuss with your classmates.

Suppose the rent for your space suddenly doubles.

• Will you raise the price of the food served to cover the costs?
• Will you look for a cheaper location? 
• How does this affect your business?

Think like an economist. Let’s explore what happens when things change. If you were Ratna, what would you do in the following situations? Discuss with your classmates.

Imagine one of your helpers quits suddenly.

• Can the remaining workers manage the same amount of work?
• Will you need to offer a higher salary to attract a new worker?

Think like an economist. Let’s explore what happens when things change. If you were Ratna, what would you do in the following situations? Discuss with your classmates.

You receive a small loan to invest in better technology for your restaurant. 

• Will this increase the production or improve quality?
• Will it help you reach more customers?

Think like an economist. Let’s explore what happens when things change. If you were Ratna, what would you do in the following situations? Discuss with your classmates.

Suppose another restaurant opens in the neighbourhood.

• How will you attract and keep your customers?
• Will you improve your service, reduce prices, or offer something new?

Think like an economist. Let’s explore what happens when things change. If you were Ratna, what would you do in the following situations? Discuss with your classmates.

What government laws or rules should be changed to improve the ease of doing business?