The Physical and Human Environment

Chapter 3

What will I learn Today?

• How to differentiate between the physical and human environment

• To contrast different people-environment relationships

Our Environment

• Environment simply means the surroundings in which we live

• It can be your block of flats, neighbourhood or school

• The environment can be physical or human

Environment

Physical Environment

Human Human Environment

Things that occur naturally on Earth (eg. Mountains, Volcanoes)

Environment which is man-made

Physical Environment• The physical environment consists of physical

features that occur naturally on earth such as mountains, rivers and forests

• Physical environment can be divided as follows:

3. The layer of air that surrounds the Earth4. The Earth’s solid and rocky land surface5. The bodies of water on the Earth, consisting of

rivers, lakes, seas and ice caps6. The living environment that includes all living

things

The Physical Environment

LandLandforms, rocks

WaterRivers, lakes,

oceans

AirWeather, climate

Living environment

Natural VegetationWildlife

Physical Environment

• Largely made up of physical elements• Can you think of examples of physical

elements around you?

Human Environment

• We need the physical environment to meet our needs

• We obtain food from plants and animals, wood from trees and water from rivers

• Materials we use from the physical environment is called natural resources

• When we extract and use these natural resources we often change the physical environment

Human Environment

Composed largely of human elements.- Human modifications/ changes to the

physical environment (e.g. building industries, offices, clearing forests for residential uses)

Human Environment

• We say that a human environment is formed when a physical environment is changed as a result of human activities

• Some example of human environments are villages and cities

People and the Environment• An interrelationship exists between people

and the environment• The environment influences the way people

live and people change the environment according to their needs

• Physical environment has been altered with the help of technology

• Technology here refers to the skills, knowledge and tools that people use to meet their needs

Living in a largely Physical Environment

• Kalahari Desert in Southern Africa – home to the !Kung Bushmen

• The !Kung Bushmen have made few changes to the environment by only using simple tools

• They use leaves from bushes and grass to make shelters

The !Kung Bushmen (Kalahari Desert- South Africa)

• Use simple tools and technology (e.g. Arrows and Sticks)

• Gather wild fruits by hands and hunt Gather wild fruits by hands and hunt wild animals for foodwild animals for food

• Use leaves to build houses• Environment provides !Kung Bushmen

with their needs• Kalahari Desert is still a physical Kalahari Desert is still a physical

environmentenvironment

Living in a largely human Environment

Living in a largely Human Environment

• Singaporeans have modified their surrounding to a large extent

• They have changed the physical environment to achieve a human environment

• For example, Singapore uses land reclamation to overcome the problem of land shortage

• Singapore is a human environment

1920 : View of Orchard Road looking towards Dhoby Ghaut showing the old Orchard Road Market

Orchard Road now!!