Human Environments: overview of SQA National 5 Geography Unit 2

Human Environments is the second of the three units of SQA National 5 Geography. It looks at people: how we measure development, how populations grow and are structured, how cities change in both the developed and developing world, and how farming changes in rich and poor countries. The unit is built on contrasts between developed and developing places. This page maps the topics and shows how they connect.

The topics in this unit

Development and indicators

The social, economic and composite indicators of development, the difference between developed and developing countries, and why one indicator is not enough.

Population

How population data is gathered by census, the problems of collecting it, the Demographic Transition Model, and reading population pyramids.

Urban: developed-world city

Land use zones, recent changes, and the problems of traffic, housing and the city centre with their solutions.

Urban: developing-world city

The causes of rapid growth, the problems of shanty towns, and management strategies such as self-help and site-and-service schemes.

Rural: farming in a developed country

Mechanisation, diversification, organic farming and GM crops, and their impacts on landscape, environment and people.

Rural: farming in a developing country

The Green Revolution, GM crops, irrigation, biofuels and appropriate technology, and their impacts.

The developed-developing contrast

The whole unit turns on comparing rich and poor countries:

• Developed countries have high incomes, low birth and death rates, ageing populations, well-zoned cities and mechanised, diversified farming.
• Developing countries have lower incomes, higher birth rates, youthful populations, rapidly growing cities with shanty towns, and farming shaped by the Green Revolution and appropriate technology.

How to study Unit 2

1. Learn cause, effect and solution. Most questions ask why something happens, its impacts, and how it is managed.
2. Master the named examples. Have a developed and a developing city, and a developed and a developing farming area, ready to name.
3. Read graphs and pyramids. Practise describing and explaining population pyramids and development data.
4. Balance your answers. Give advantages and disadvantages, and match each solution to a clear problem.
5. Use the command words. Describe means say what; Explain and "Give reasons" mean say why.

For the official course specification

The SQA publishes the full National 5 Geography course specification, past papers and marking instructions at sqa.org.uk. Always revise from the current specification and SQA past papers.