NCERT solutions for Social Science Exploring Society India and Beyond Part 2 [English] Class 8 chapter 1 - World Geography: Some Glimpses [Latest edition]

What are the unique physical features of the continents?

Why do we need to understand world geography?

How do human actions trigger environmental issues?

What do you think each of the different colours in the map in Fig. represents? 

Since this chapter is about world geography, we are concerned with physical maps. Physical maps have their own language that use colours.

Blue: water bodies (oceans, seas, lakes, rivers); Green: plains; Yellow/Brown: plateaus; Dark brown: high mountains; Light yellow: deserts; White: ice and glaciers

Oceans give us almost half the oxygen we breathe. Tiny marine organisms, such as plankton, make this possible. What do you think would happen to all living beings if pollution harmed these planktons and they could no longer produce enough oxygen?

Study the map. What are the different physical features represented here? (Hint: You may refer to LET’S EXPLORE on page 2 of this chapter.)

Assess and describe the Himalayas from the perspective of these different roles.

Observe the area covered by the European Plain. Now turn to the political map of the world at the end of this textbook. List the countries that are part of the European Plain (you need not memorise them).

On the map locate the course of the River Nile. Where does it originate from and in which direction does it flow? Turn to the political map at the end of the book, and identify some of the areas that the river flows through.

The Amazon Rainforest has been called the ‘Lungs of the Earth’. Why do you think this might be so? 

The countries in this region need land for development but risk losing the Amazon Rainforest. Discuss in groups: What are the short- and long-term effects of deforestation, and how can we protect the Amazon for the planet?

The Atacama Desert is famous for stargazing, offering some of the clearest night skies, and its rocky, Mars-like landscape has even been used by NASA to test rovers. However, it has also become one of the world’s fastest-growing dumps for discarded clothes, caused by the rise of cheap fast fashion. The UN has called this waste problem ‘an environmental and social emergency’.

Why do all map projections have some amount of distortion?

What makes the Tibetan Plateau unique?

Why are coral reefs called the ‘rainforests of the sea’?

How do the oceans help to regulate the Earth’s climate?

What is the main reason for the Great Barrier Reef facing threats today?

The Amazon Rainforest has been called the ‘Lungs of the Earth’. Why do you think this might be so? 

Choose two different types of geographical features you have explored in this chapter. Write short paragraphs on how they influence the flora and fauna or human lives in that area. Do they also have an implication for the whole globe?

Discuss how oceans influence climate and trade. Use examples from the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Environmental issue deforestation and explain its causes, impacts, and possible solutions.

Imagine you are a geographer asked to advise a government about protecting one major landscape in your country. Which one would you choose, and why?

Imagine that someone is funding a group of you for a road trip across two continents. There are differences of opinion on which two they should be. Make a pitch for the ones you would like everyone to go to. Use a blank map, trace your route and locate the places on it, and try to convince the others to your point of view. You could use a variety of creative ways.