THE ENVIRONMENT
Environment is the surroundings and conditions in which
plants and animals live which have influence on their
development and behaviour.
TYPES OF ENVIRONMENT;
1. MICRO ENVIRONMENT
It is the immediate surroundings of human beings thus
physical surroundings and conditions especially those
affecting people’s lives. This includes the household, school,
church, neighbours as well as residential areas within one’s
locality. It is part of system rather than whole.
2. MACRO ENVIRONMENT
It is a bigger environment which has no boundary or
indefinite boundary. This includes the political system,
economic system, social influence and technological system.
It includes all systems and institutions which we interact
with. It is a whole system rather than particular parts.
HUMAN ECOLOGY
It is the scientific study of interactions of people and their
environment. Each environment has influence on behaviour
of human beings.
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ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES THAT AFFECT FAMILY NEEDS
They are: Urbanisation, Industrialisation, Technological
developments and Pollution.
1. URBANISATION
It is the rapid increase of people in an area especially from
rural areas to towns and cities.
REASONS FOR URBANISATIOPN
-To look for better facilities such as shops, hospitals etc.
-To look for better utilities e.g. electricity
-To look for better job opportunities
EFFECTS OF URBANISATION:
POSITIVE EFFECTS/ ADVANTAGES OF URBANISATION
-There is variety of facilities e.g. better infrastructure,
schools, hospitals , tertiary institutions and others.
-There is provision of variety of goods and services which
allow consumers to choose from.
-There is wide variety of leisure pursuits e.g. recreational
facilities
-There is large social network e.g. church, gym, clubs and
others
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-People interact with different nationalities and tribes from
different background which make them to be open minded,
accommodative and tolerant
-There are better job opportunities.
-There are better and a variety of utilities.
NEGATIVE EFFECTS/ DISADVANTAGES OF URBANISATION
-It leads to pressure at schools and hospitals as many people
have to share resources
-There is shortage of accommodation which leads to squatter
settlements/ camps where there is poor sanitation
-It leads to pollution caused by industries and traffic
congestion
-It increases incidents of social problems e.g. crime rates,
prostitution because of high standards of living
-Agricultural practices are neglected as able people go to
towns
-It can lead to family breakups / divorce as old people and
other family members are left behind as people go to urban
areas.
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2. INDUSTRIALISATION
It is a process whereby new factories and firms are erected
and existing ones are extended to produce a variety of goods
and services.
REASONS FOR INDUSTRIALISATION
-To create job opportunities
-To produce raw materials into finished goods
-For a country to be self sufficient
-To generate income
EFFECTS OF INDUSTRIALISATION
POSITIVE EFFECTS/ ADVANTAGES
- Creates job opportunities for people
-Provides variety of goods and services e.g. more processed
foods
-Stimulates more economic growth, more goods are
produced and sold bringing more revenue
-Produces many products that were originally produced at
home e.g. jam, milk, knitted and sewn clothes hence leaving
family with more leisure time
-Allow people to obtain necessities and luxuries
-Bring development to an area
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b) NEGATIVE EFFECTS of industrialisation
-Draws many people away from rural areas to urban areas
which may result in overcrowding and overpopulation in
towns
-It can lead to pollution of the environment as waste such as
chemical, plastics, papers for packaging goods are disposed
of improperly. Also fumes from industries lead to air
pollution
-As other family members leave rural areas for employment
in industrialised towns it can lead to family breakups and
divorce and also reduces extended family to nuclear family
-Criminals increase as modern goods and services e.g. TV’s,
cars attract them
-Deforestation results due to clearing of land for building
firms and factories
-Leads to shortage of accommodation due to overcrowding
3. TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS
It is the use of scientific branch of knowledge to produce
goods and services that improves the standard of living e.g.
computers, labour saving devices
It is also defined as enhancing machinery to improve capacity
and speed of production.
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REASONS FOR TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT
-For development of the country
-To improve production and provision of goods and services
EFFECTS OF TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS
POSITIVE EFFECTS/ NEGATIVE EFFECTS
-Improved information technology e.g. computers, satellite
have positive effects on education
-Leads to improved transport facilities, telecommunications
and electronics
-Biotechnology and generic engineering help in resisting
diseases and production of goods with desirable qualities
such as apples or potatoes that do not brown
-Leads to production of a variety of goods and services
-Provide more leisure opportunities e.g. TV, internet
-Leads to production of good quality goods
-Construction methods brought about by sky scrapers make
high density housing possible
-The use of machinery saves time and energy
-Makes travelling easier and faster e.g. use of fast cars and
flights
-There is choice of goods and services in shops as there are
freezers, canning and bottling of food.
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-Communication has been much easier and faster through
the use of cellular phones whether in rural, urban and
remotest areas. The use of internet also allows people to
chat across the continents and countries.
-It has made comfortable variety of dwelling thus more
amenities such as utilities, sewage systems and
communication services
NEGATIVE EFFECTS/ DISADVANTAGES
-It leads to air pollution
-leads to loss of jobs / retrenchments as manpower is not
needed because machines do the work
-Leads to health problems caused by genetically modified
foods e.g. obesity, allergies
-Big machines destroy the environment e.g. large machines
used for construction destroy the soil structure
-Influence of media e.g. TV on culture and lifestyle can lead
to cultural degradation
-It can lead to depletion of natural resources
-Can lead to increased crime rates as thieves get attracted to
these new, expensive and highly demanded goods and
services e.g. electric wires for phone booths, computers,
fancy cars.
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-The machinery can cause fatal accidents e.g. cars, operation
of machines in mines
-Can lead to family breakups / divorce such as the use of cell
phones, emails.