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Summaries · Grade 7 Geography › Conservation and sustainability
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Conservation and sustainability

Sustainability and conservation, climate change, reduce-reuse-recycle, and rivers as a resource. Read one part at a time and tap “I know this”. Then test yourself in the quiz.

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Living sustainably

Sustainability means meeting today’s needs without harming tomorrow. Conservation means protecting resources and using them wisely. Your total impact on the Earth is your ecological footprint.

ReduceReuseRecycle
Start with reduce: use less.
  • Reuse: an empty jar to store buttons; a reusable bag means less plastic waste.
  • Switch appliances off at the wall: on standby they still draw power.
  • Buy local food, make compost and recycle water.
Tap when you could tell someone without looking.

Climate change

Burning fossil fuels releases the most greenhouse gases, and in South Africa electricity from coal is the largest source. The result is global warming: more extreme droughts and floods, and unpredictable rainfall for farmers. Clean energy, such as solar and wind power, releases almost no greenhouse gases while it makes electricity.

Rule

An environmental impact assessment (EIA) is a legal requirement to limit harm in advance.

Tap when you could tell someone without looking.

Protect the soil

  • Soil erosion: the fertile topsoil washes away. Keep plant cover on the land.
  • Contour ploughing follows the slope’s contours and slows water running down.
  • Desertification is the loss of vegetation leading to desert conditions.
  • The Cape Floral Region is a World Heritage Site because of its special plants.
Contour ploughing slows the water, so less soil washes away.
Contour ploughing slows the water, so less soil washes away.
Tap when you could tell someone without looking.

Rivers as a resource

A river basin is all the land that drains into one river. The high ground between two river basins is the watershed. A river’s discharge is the volume of water passing a point each second. The Nile is Africa’s longest river, but the Congo carries the most water.

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Remember this and test yourself

Remember this: your summary
  • Sustainability: meeting today’s needs without harming tomorrow. Conservation: protecting and using resources wisely.
  • Electricity from coal is South Africa’s largest source of greenhouse gas; it leads to more extreme droughts and floods.
  • Reduce first, then reuse (an empty jar for buttons), then recycle.
  • Contour ploughing slows water running down the slope; desertification is loss of vegetation leading to desert conditions.
  • A river basin is all the land that drains into one river; the Congo carries the most water, the Nile is the longest.

Write these points in your book. Read them again the night before the test.

Memory trick

Best first: reduce (use less), then reuse, and only then recycle.

Flash cards · Tap to turn over

Important words

First say what the word means, then turn the card over.

Test yourself · Part 2

True or false?

Read the question and the answer. Is the answer right? Tap True or False.

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