Basic 6 · Religious and Moral Education · The Environment
How Human Activities Affect the Environment
In this topic you will explain how human activities affect the environment positively and negatively.
By the end of these notes you should be able to:
- Describe positive human activities in the environment
- Describe negative human activities and their effects
- Explain the link between human behaviour and environmental health
What you already know
- How the environment supports human life
Copy everything that has a blue line on its left into your notebook. The other parts are for reading.
- Strand
- God’s Creation And Attributes
- Sub-strand
- The Environment
- Indicator
- B6.1.2.1.1 – Explain how humankind and the environment interrelate
Introduction
Humans depend on the environment, but the environment also depends on how humans behave. Good actions protect it; bad actions destroy it.
1. Positive Human Activities
| Activity | Effect |
|---|---|
| tree planting (afforestation) | restores forests, cleans the air, prevents erosion |
| proper waste disposal and recycling | clean towns, fewer floods and diseases |
| conservation of wildlife (national parks) | protects animals and plants |
| good farming practices (crop rotation, mulching) | keeps soil fertile |
| clean-up exercises | healthy surroundings |
2. Negative Human Activities
| Activity | Effect |
|---|---|
| deforestation and charcoal burning | loss of forests, less rain, desert spreading in the north |
| galamsey | polluted rivers, destroyed farms, open pits |
| bush burning | loss of plants, animals and soil fertility |
| littering and plastic waste | blocked gutters, flooding, disease |
| overfishing and using chemicals to fish | fewer fish, poisoned water |
| sand winning | land degradation, damaged roads and houses |
| air pollution from vehicles and burning | breathing problems, global warming |
3. Cause and Effect
Human activities set off chains of effects. For example, cutting down forests leads to less rain, which leads to poor harvests, which leads to hunger and poverty. Galamsey pollutes rivers, which kills fish and makes water unsafe to drink, which causes disease and high costs for water treatment.
4. Our Responsibility
Since our actions affect the environment and the environment affects us, every person has a responsibility. Pupils can avoid littering, plant trees, conserve water and speak against harmful practices.
Governments, chiefs and religious leaders also have important roles. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) makes rules to control pollution, district assemblies collect waste and enforce bylaws, chiefs can ban harmful activities on their land, and religious leaders can teach their members to care for creation. When everyone plays their part, the environment improves.
Remember that small daily choices add up. One sachet thrown in a gutter seems small, but millions of sachets block whole drainage systems.
New words
- afforestation
- Planting trees where there were none.
- deforestation
- Cutting down forests.
- land degradation
- Damage that makes land less useful.
- conservation
- Protecting natural resources.
- crop rotation
- Growing different crops in turns on the same land.
- chain of effects
- One result causing another.
Summary
- Tree planting, recycling and conservation help the environment.
- Deforestation, galamsey, bush burning and littering harm it.
- Harmful activities set off chains of bad effects.
- Every person is responsible for protecting the environment.
Class activity: Cause-and-Effect Chains
- Choose one harmful activity.
- Draw a chain of at least four effects.
- Suggest one action to break the chain.
You need: Potted maize plant, Local soil in a clear cup, Printed photographs of local people, Animals
Exercises
Answer in your exercise book first, then check your answers.
1. Which activity helps the environment?
- A. Tree planting
- B. Galamsey
- C. Bush burning
- D. Littering
Show answer
Answer: Tree plantingIt restores forests.2. Galamsey mainly pollutes…
- A. rivers
- B. the sky only
- C. the sea only
- D. mountains
Show answer
Answer: riversMud and mercury.3. Growing different crops in turns on the same land is…
- A. crop rotation
- B. deforestation
- C. bush burning
- D. sand winning
Show answer
Answer: crop rotationKeeps soil fertile.4. Plastic waste can cause flooding.
- A. True
- B. False
Show answer
Answer: TrueIt blocks gutters.5. Deforestation increases rainfall.
- A. True
- B. False
Show answer
Answer: FalseIt reduces rainfall.6. Planting trees where there were none is ______.
Show answer
Answer: afforestationOpposite of deforestation.7. Give two positive and two negative human activities.
Show answer
Answer: Positive: tree planting, recycling. Negative: galamsey, bush burning.Balanced.8. Explain a chain of effects caused by deforestation.
Show answer
Answer: Fewer trees → less rain → poor harvests → hunger and poverty.Cause and effect.
Homework
- Observe your community and list three harmful and three helpful activities.