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Introduction

Welcome to class. In today's lesson, we will learn the meaning of environment, its types, the features of physical and social environment as well as important of rivers.
Carefully read it in order to derived maximum benefits from the lesson.

Meaning of environment

Environment is the totality of our surroundings, which either encourage or discourage and distort the development and survival of man (human-beings). Both man and the resources we depend on are found in the environment. Environment is made up of both physical and social surroundings.

Types of environment

There are many types of environment, these are:

Physical Environment

Physical environment refers to things that surround us. It is made up of both natural and man-made objects around us that can be seen or felt.

Natural things (Features)

The natural features in our environment are referred to as those things provided by nature. They include both land and climatic features in our surroundings e.g mountains, hills, plains, lakes, island, oceans, rivers, temperature, wind, humidity, cloud, vegetation, rocks, and other atmospheric conditions.

Man-made things (Features)

Man-made things are those things that are made by man which are found in our physical environment. These feature include houses, motor-cars, bridges roads, flyovers, skyscrapers, electric poles, electronic gadgets etc.

Features of Physical and Social environments

Weather
Weather can be defined as the conditions of atmosphere or atmospheric condition of a place at a particular time. The atmosphere changes daily. It can be sunny, foggy or windy. These change occur as a result of changes in the following elements which are also referred to as the elements of weather. They include temperature, wind, humidity, cloud, rainfall, pressure and sunshine.

Climate
Climate is the average weather condition of a place over a considerable long period of about 35 years.

Weather changes are observed every day and recorded on daily basis, but climatic changes are observed and recorded over a long period of time.

Highland and Lowland
Highlands are parts of the earth's surface conspicuously high above the ground levels.

Lowlands are areas below the sea level.

Our physical environment consists of highlands and lowlands. It is made up of different land forms, ranging from lowlands to highlands, like plains, mountains and plateaux.

Plains: Plains are lowlands that are below 120 meters. They may be undulating or level in nature.

Mountains: Mountains are highlands which are over 600 meters above sea level and have steep slopes.

Plateaux: Plateaux are highland areas which have a table-top. They are hills with flat tops. A plateau has a gentle sloping surface. It is quite different from a mountain that has a steep sloping surface e.g. Jos Plateau in Nigeria.

Valley: Valley refers to land lying between two hills or mountains, often with a river running through. Simply put, a valley can also be described as a lowland between two hills.

In Nigeria, highland areas include Udi Hills, Bauchi Plateau, Adamawa Highlands, Mandara Mountains, Jos Plateau, Kukuruku Highland, Obudu Hills, Zuma Hills, Gotel Mountain etc.

Lowland area in Nigeria includes Niger-Benue Basin, Sokoto Plains, Coastal Plains, Chad Basin etc.

Delta: A delta is an area of land at a river's mouth like a triangle, crossed by branches of the
river going into the sea. A delta can also be described as a place where a river enters into an ocean or sea with many mouths. E.g Niger Delta.

River: Rivers are wide natural streams of water flowing between banks into lakes or other wider streams or into the sea. Examples of rivers in Nigeria are Niger, Benue, Sokoto, Cross River, Ogun, Osun, Anambra, Imo, Hadeija, Kaduna, Owena

Lakes: Lakes are large water bodies surrounded by land. Examples of lakes in Nigeria are Agulu Lake, Oguta Lake, Lake Chad and Kainji Lake.

Ocean: Oceans are great masses of salt water that cover most of the earth's surface. Oceans form 3/4 of the earth's surface while land covers the rest, e.g. Atlantic Ocean,

Importance of River:

The following are the importance of rivers.
(i) Domestic and industrial uses
(ii) Irrigation (farming)
(iii) Navigation (Transportation on water)
(iv) Generation of hydro-electric power (HEP)
(v) Fishing
(vi) Research purposes.
(vii) Aiding construction of dams e.g Kainji Dam etc.
(viii) Exploitation of mineral resources e.g. salt
(ix) Tourist centers e.g. Cold/Warm Spring (Ondo State).

Vegetation

Vegetation is the plant cover of a place. Vegetation can be natural or man-made. Natural vegetation refers to plants that grow on the surface of the land by nature eg. forest. No one plants or cultivates them.

Man-made vegetation is the kind of vegetation made by man e.g. growing of cassava, yam etc. It can also be referred to as cultural vegetation.

Natural vegetation in Nigeria includes: Sahel, Sudan, Guinea, Savanna, Rain forest, Mangrove.

Importance of Vegetation:

(i) It provides pulp (used in making paper).
(ii) It provides foreign exchange.
(iii) It prevents erosion.
(iv) It provides raw materials for our industries.
(v) It provides economic trees which make construction work possible.
(vi) It provides employment.
(vii) It provides food and cash crops.
(viii) It provides wood which serves as fuel for domestic use.
(ix) It provides shelter for animals and materials.
often serves as a tourist center.

Homework Task

1. What do you understand by environment
2. What is physical environment
3. Mention some features of physical and social environment

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Note: The homework is open for everyone