Social Studies Standard Four Chapter 9 PDF

FOR ONLINE USE ONLY DO NOT DUPLICATE Chapter Nine Our resources Introduction In Standard Three you learnt about the importance of natural reso...

FOR ONLINE USE ONLY DO NOT DUPLICATE Chapter Nine Our resources Introduction In Standard Three you learnt about the importance of natural resources and ways to conserve them. In this chapter, you will LY learn how to identify resources found in your village, street, or ward. You will also analyse various ways to preserve and protect the resources in your village, street or ward. In addition, N you will learn about resources found in your district. O Resources found in villages and towns SE A resource is anything that has value and needed by people. Natural materials become resources when humans give value to them. Resources may include energy, services, knowledge, U or other assets that can be used to produce a benefit to human beings. The value of a resource increases as its availability decreases. E There are several resources found in our villages or towns. N These resources are used in the villages and towns. If they are used wisely, they contribute to the development of our villages LI or towns. N Follow the conversation between Lulu and Bahati. Thereafter, O identify the resources which are available in your village or town. R Bahati: Hello Lulu! How are you? FO Lulu: I am quite fine, how are you too? Bahati: I am doing well as well, though a bit tired. Lulu: Why are you tired? 113 Social Studies.indd 113 30/07/2021 13:52  FOR ONLINE USE ONLY DO NOT DUPLICATE Bahati: I was engaged in the repair of buildings in our village. It was a tough job that took us about a day. Lulu: Ooh! Good job! Congratulation for taking care of your resources! We also take care of our resources that is why we have plenty of them. Bahati: Lulu, you said that there are many resources in your village. What are they? LY Lulu: We have resources like shops, houses and vehicles. We also have forests, livestock, rivers, minerals and land in our village. N Bahati: Ooh! Congratulations Lulu! These are great O achievements for the people in your village. But, how do you use those resources? I mean, how do Lulu: SE your people benefit from the resources? That is a very good question, Bahati. Normally the resources are used for several purposes. U For example, the presence of shops and land contributes to both employment creation and E income generation for families. Forests provide us with traditional medicines that cure people’s N diseases. Furthermore, forests contribute to rainfall LI formation which is very important to us. Our crops need rain to grow well. Besides, forests provide N us with timber for the construction of our houses. O In addition, forests, provide us with charcoal and firewood for cooking. Land with good vegetation, R on the other hand, provides us with pastures for our livestock to feed on. Livestock provides us with FO beef, milk and manure all of which contribute to family income. 114 Social Studies.indd 114 30/07/2021 13:52  FOR ONLINE USE ONLY DO NOT DUPLICATE Bahati: We have land, water resources, electricity and forests. On top of that, we have playgrounds, buildings and infrastructure for communication networks. Honestly, if we use these resources properly, they will speed up development. Therefore, it is our responsibility to take good care of the resources. Unfortunately, some of us misuse them. For example, some people burn forests and do not LY dispose of waste properly. In addition, they engage in illegal harvest of the forests. It is also illegal for N livestock to graze in forests and catchment areas. Our water sources and forests are degraded when O such illegal practices continue. Lulu: SE Yes, indeed such practices must be dealt with accordingly. We have the responsibility to educate each other on the importance of preserving and U protecting our resources. For example, in our village, we preserve our resources by educating E the villagers and establishing by-laws. Therefore, we must preserve and use our resources carefully N so that they are not degraded or depleted. LI Exercise 1 N Answer the following questions: O 1. What lessons have you learnt from the conversation that can be used in managing the resources available in your village or street? R 2. List down any three resources available in Lulu’s village. FO 3. Mention three resources found in Bahati’s village. 115 Social Studies.indd 115 30/07/2021 13:52  FOR ONLINE USE ONLY DO NOT DUPLICATE 4. What are the resources found in your village, street or ward? 5. What are the uses of the resources found in your village or town? 6. What are the practices that destroy the resources in your LY village or town? 7. What measures would you take if you find someone N destroying the resources in your village or town? O Study the following pictures and answer the questions that follow. SE U E N LI N O R FO Figure 1: Resource degradation 116 Social Studies.indd 116 30/07/2021 13:52  FOR ONLINE USE ONLY DO NOT DUPLICATE LY N O SE U Figure 2: Practices that conserve resources E Questions N 1. What have you observed in both pictures? LI 2. What would you advise on the activities carried out in N Figure 1? O 3. What is the effect of the activities carried out in Figure 2 on conserving our natural resources? R 4. Have you seen the same practices in your village or town FO as in Figure 1? What measures have been taken to stop those practices? 117 Social Studies.indd 117 30/07/2021 13:52  FOR ONLINE USE ONLY DO NOT DUPLICATE Resources in our ward A ward is a local administrative division of a city, town or district. Typically, a ward is represented by a councillor. A councillor is elected by residents of a particular ward. In rural areas wards are composed of more than one village. In urban areas wards are made up of more than one street. There are different resources which are available in all villages LY and streets that form wards. The resources can be owned by individuals, families, villages or wards. Wards have more resources than individual villages. N Follow the conversation between Martha and Beka about the O resources available in wards. SE U E N LI N O R Figure 3: Conversation on ward resources FO Sometimes the resources in wards are similar to those available in villages. Examples of resources available in wards include dams, forests, land, rivers, national parks and game reserves, 118 Social Studies.indd 118 30/07/2021 13:52  FOR ONLINE USE ONLY DO NOT DUPLICATE and mining. Others include buildings that provide services to people like schools, courts and health centres. Also, there are parking areas and different types of vehicles. Similar to villages, there are practices which are harmful to resources in the ward. The practices include unplanned construction of houses and cultivation near catchment areas. Others include poor farming, overgrazing and pollution. Also LY practices like burning and the cutting down of forests destroy the resources. In addition, poor mining activities and poor farming methods like shifting cultivation contribute to the degradation of N the resources. Everyone is responsible for taking good care of O the available resources for the development of the people and the nation. SE People in the ward need to be aware of the resources available in their wards. They need to protect and conserve the resources for their own benefit. The resources in wards can be conserved U in several ways. Examples of ways of conserving resources include proper construction of houses and awareness raising E on the importance of the available resources. Others include establishing by-laws, and proper farming practices. N LI Exercise 2 Answer the following questions: N 1. Mention the natural resources available in your ward. O 2. Mention harmful practices to resources in your ward. 3. In your opinion who is responsible for conserving the R resources in your ward? FO 4. What should be done to conserve the available resources in your ward? 119 Social Studies.indd 119 30/07/2021 13:52  FOR ONLINE USE ONLY DO NOT DUPLICATE Activity 1 With the guidance of your teacher, visit a nearby ward, observe and identify the available resources. List them down. Resources in our district Read the following text, then answer the questions that follow. There are several resources in our district. The resources are LY important for our day-to-day activities. The resources include mining, forests, national parks and game reserves, rivers and dams. Others include land, factories, roads, public buildings, N wells, communication infrastructure and electricity. O Land is an important resource that contributes to the development of people. This is because all other resources depend on SE land. This is to say, land is the mother of all other resources. Land is important as it supports agriculture, construction of infrastructure like buildings, roads, railways and airports. All U these are used for trade, transportation and communication. Also, land is important for mining activities, water sources, E forests, national parks and others. N There are challenges in conserving the resources. These include pollution, poor farming methods, degradation of water LI sources, deforestation and improper waste disposal. These challenges threaten the health of the people and animals since N they may cause diseases and other health problems. O In our district, we conserve and protect our resources in different ways. We protect water sources and infrastructure such as R railways, roads and electricity from damage by bad people. FO We also prohibit deforestation activities and plant trees to prevent soil erosion. In addition, we have a general cleanliness programme at the end of each month. 120 Social Studies.indd 120 30/07/2021 13:52  FOR ONLINE USE ONLY DO NOT DUPLICATE Questions 1. What is the name of your district? 2. Mention any five resources found in your district. 3. Mention four advantages of resources available in your district. 4. What practices are harmful to the resources available in LY your district? N Activity 2 O Identify and discuss resources available in your district and their importance. Exercise 3 SE Answer the following questions: U 1. Name three ways that can be used to conserve resources. 2. What might happen if the resources in your district or E ward are not well conserved? N 3. Write TRUE if the statement is correct and FALSE if the LI statement is incorrect. N (a) Burning trees, dumping waste and destroying water sources are actions that conserve resources._____ O (b) Crops from a farm are a resource that does not R increase the income of farmers._________ FO (c) Building, livestock, furniture and telephone poles are some of the resources._________ 121 Social Studies.indd 121 30/07/2021 13:52  FOR ONLINE USE ONLY DO NOT DUPLICATE (d) A road is used for fishing, agriculture, trade and livestock activities._________ (e) Human beings are resources._________ (f) It is not good to repair resources as soon as they are damaged._________ LY (g) If we do not properly manage resources, we will have development._________ N (h) Wood, charcoal, and medicinal plants are forest O products._________ (i) SE Land is the mother of all resources._________ U 4. Match the items in list A with those in list B by writing the letter of the correct answer beside the item number. LIST A LIST B E 1. Land, rivers and (a) water sources. N minerals ________ (b) activity that destroys LI 2. Repair ________ resources. N 3. Employment, Business (c) community resources. ________ O (d) opportunities arising 4. Cutting trees ________ from the use of resources. R 5. Roads, buildings, electricity poles ______ (e) resources FO (f) one way to conserve resources. 122 Social Studies.indd 122 30/07/2021 13:52  FOR ONLINE USE ONLY DO NOT DUPLICATE Vocabulary By-law a rule made by society at a village, street or ward to control behaviour of people Construction action of building something Pasture land covered with grass suitable for grazing Pollution presence of something in the environment that LY is harmful or with poisonous effects Recreation activity done for enjoyment when someone is N not working O Recycle convert waste into reusable objects Repair restore to a good condition SE Resource anything that has value and needed by people U E N LI N O R FO 123 Social Studies.indd 123 30/07/2021 13:52