BECE 2022 Social Studies Questions & Answers for Candidates -Set 3
BECE 2022 Social Studies Questions and Answers for October Examination: The 2022 Social Studies Questions for October cover examinable areas for this year’s BECE for Junior High School Candidates.
Check out how the answers have been written. This is how you are expected to write your social studies answers for the best scores and grade.
BECE 2022 Social Studies Questions & Answers for Candidates -Set 3
17. State four effects of water degradation or pollution
i. The disposal of liquid and solid waste such as garbage and toxic liquid may cause shortage of clean and safe water for domestic and industrial use.
ii. When water is polluted it makes it more expensive to treat water for human use.
iii. Aquatic animals like fish, crabs and lobsters are killed by DDT and the dynamite used in fishing. Such fishes are unwholesome for human consumption.
iv. Water bodies may “die” through the disposal of refuse, scrap metals, and human excreta into streams and rivers.
v. Contaminated water exposes people to health hazards such as cholera, guinea worm, typhoid fever and other waterborne diseases.
18. Suggest five possible solutions to water degradation or pollution?
i. Fishermen should learn to use the right fishing methods which do not pollute the water bodies and crop farmers should also apply agro-chemicals properly or avoid its usage altogether.
ii. The populace should be educated on the effects of destroying vegetation that hold the soil together and prevent water bodies from drying up.
iii. The mass media should help enlighten the public on proper disposal of both liquid and solid waste.
iv. People caught polluting water bodies should be punished through the power of the courts to deter like minded individuals from repeating the same.
v. We must clear weeds in and around water bodies regularly and ban farming along water bodies to help maintain the quantity and quality of available water.
19. What is desertification?
Desertification is the process whereby the natural vegetation cover or biological potential of land or the environment is destroyed by man.
- State four causes of desertification.
i. Deforestation or the indiscriminate clearing of the natural vegetation (forest) either for farming, logging, firewood and charcoal contributes to desertification.
ii. Bush burning is not controlled, caused by hunting and the slash and burn system of land clearing destroys the forest making the land vulnerable.
iii. Unfavourable weather conditions in the form of prolonged drought makes the vegetation dry and easily catch fire causing extensive destruction of plant life.
iv. The use of bad farming methods including land rotation, shifting cultivation and the excessive application of agro-chemicals gradually lead to desertification.
v. The rapid growth of towns and cities (urbanization) puts great pressure on land for building settlement, industries and other offices.
21. State four effects of desertification.
i. The soil is left loose due to the absence of plant roots to hold the soil together. This leads to the eroding of the top soil which supports plant growth.
ii. The destruction of the vegetation makes the land bare. This speeds up evaporation leading to the drying of water bodies such as rivers, streams and lakes.
iii. Health hazards such as influenza increase due to the dry weather condition and dust.
iv. Food may become scarce since its production is hampered by the absence of rain, the dry nature of land and the reduced fertility of arable land.
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22. Suggest three solutions to desertification
i. Afforestation or re-stocking of depleted forest must be encouraged and practiced.
ii. Education should be intensified to inform farmers of better farming practices such as planting on rolls and crops rotation.
iii. Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LP Gas) should be used instead of Wood fuel and burnt wood fuel (charcoal).
iv. We must create fire belts when burning the bush to avoid the spreading of such fires which cannot be controlled.
v. Strict laws must be enacted to minimize the felling of trees and burning of bushes in the country.
23. What is bush fire?
Bush fire is the indiscriminate setting of fire to the vegetation leading to destruction.
- Briefly explain four causes of bushfires.
i. The slash and burn method of farming in which the farmer clears the land and burns the debris without a fire belt contributes to bush fire and its associated dangers.
ii. Fire set by palm wine tappers with embers to heat the head of palm trees to prevent them from rotten if left carelessly may spark off a bush fire.
iii. A hunter’s fire set to smoke out rats and cigarette butts left or dropped carelessly may contribute to bush fire.
iv. Fire used for cooking in farms left unattended to and festivals like bugum (fire festival) by the moshie and dagarti people to some extent contribute to bush fire.
25. State four effect of bushfires.
i. The vegetation (plants and trees) is greatly destroyed especially during the dry season of the year. This exposes the land to hash climatic conditions leading to desertification.
ii. Human life and properties in the form of crops on farms are destroyed by fire leading to food shortage or scarcity.
iii. Bush burning causes a rise in atmospheric temperature and also contributes to the destruction of the ozone layer thereby putting human life in danger.
iv. Land loses its fertility as a result of the burning of plants and nutrients. This makes it difficult for crops to grow well in the long ran leading to drought and food shortage.
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26. Suggest four ways by which bush fires can be brought under control in Ghana.
i. Education on the dangers of indiscriminate setting of fire and fire control education should be intensified in schools, through the help of opinion leaders and the mass media.
ii. Laws made to protect the environment should be applied to the latter to punish those who flout these laws or are caught in the act in the form of heavy fines and imprisonment to deter like minded people from following suit.
iii. Farmers should be well educated on the need to create fire belts through the clearing of enough space between farms to prevent fire from going beyond the intended area to be burnt.
iv. Farmers should embrace proper farm clearing methods and do away with the slash and burn method of land preparation.