CBSE Syllabus for Class 12 Geography

Course Structure for Class XII Geography (2017-18)

A  Fundamentals of Human Geography  35 
Unit 1 Human Geography  

 

30

 

 
Unit 2 People
Unit 3 Human Activities
Unit 4 Transport, Communication and Trade
Unit 5 Human settlements
Map Work 5
B India: People and Economy 35
Unit 6 People  

 

30

 

 
Unit 7 Human Settlements
Unit 8 Resources and Development
Unit 9 Transport, Communication and International Trade
Unit 10 Geographical Perspective on selected issues and problems
Map Work 5
C Practical Work 30
Unit 1 Processing of Data and Thematic Mapping 15
Unit 2 Field study or Spatial Information Technology 10
Unit 3 Practical Record Book and Viva Voce 5

Part-A: Fundamentals of Human Geography

Unit 1: Human Geography: Nature and Scope

Unit 2: People 

  • Population-distribution,density and growth
  • Population change-spatial patterns and structure; determinants of population change;
  • Age-sex ratio; rural-urban composition;
  • Human development – concept; selected indicators, international comparisons

Unit 3: Human Activities 

  • Primary activities – concept and changing trends; gathering, pastoral, mining, subsistence agriculture, modern agriculture; people engaged in agricultural and allied activities – some examples from selected countries.
  • Secondary activities-concept; manufacturing: types – household, small scale, large scale; agro based and mineral based industries; people engaged in secondary activities – some examples from selected countries.
  • Tertiary activities-concept; trade, transport and tourism; services; people engaged in tertiary activities – some examples from selected countries.
  • Quatenary activities – concept; people engaged in quatenary activities – case study from selected countries.

Unit 4: Transport, Communication & Trade 

  • Land transport – roads, railways; trans-continental railways.
  • Water transport – inland waterways; major ocean routes.
  • Air transport – Intercontinental air routes.
  • Oil and gas pipelines.
  • Satellite communication and cyber space- Importance and usage for geographical information; use of GPS.
  • International trade-Bases and changing patterns; ports as gateways of international trade, role of WTO in International trade.
  • Ocean: National rights and international treaties.

Unit 5: Human settlements 

  • Settlement types – rural and urban; morphology of cities (case study); distribution of mega cities; problems of human settlements in developing countries.

Map Work

  • Map Work on identification of features based on 1-5 units on the outline/Physical/Political map of World.

Part-B: India – People and Economy

Unit 6: People

  • Population: distribution, density and growth; composition of population – linguistic, religious; sex, rural-urban and occupational-regional variations in growth of population.
  • Migration: international, national-causes and consequences.
  • Human development: selected indicators and regional patterns.
  • Population, environment and development.

Unit 7: Human Settlements

  • Rural settlements – types and distribution.
  • Urban settlements – types, distribution and functional classification.

Unit 8: Resources and Development 

  • Land resources – general land use; agricultural land use, Geographical conditions and distribution of major crops (Wheat, Rice, Tea, Coffee, Cotton, Jute, Sugarcane and Rubber), agricultural development and problems.
  • Water resources – availability and utilization-irrigation, domestic, industrial and other uses; scarcity of water and conservation methods -rain water harvesting and watershed management.
  • Mineral and energy resources – distribution of metallic (Iron ore, Copper, Bauxite, Manganese); non-metallic (Mica, Salt) minerals; conventional (Coal, Petroleum, Natural gas and Hydroelectricity) and non-conventional energy sources (solar, wind, biogas) and conservation.
  • Industries – types, factors of industrial location; distribution and changing pattern of selected industries-iron and steel, cotton textiles, sugar, petrochemicals, and knowledge based industries; impact of liberalization, privatisation and globalisation on industrial location; industrial clusters.
  • Planning in India – target group area planning (case study); idea of sustainable development (case study).

Unit 9: Transport, Communication and International Trade

  • Transport and communication-roads, railways, waterways and airways: oil and gas pipelines; Geographical information and communication networks.
  • International trade – changing pattern of India’s foreign trade; sea ports and their hinterland and airports.

Unit 10: Geographical Perspective on selected issues and problems 

  • Environmental pollution; urban – waste disposal.
  • Urbanisation, rural-urban migration; problems of slums.
  • Land degradation.

Map Work

  • Map work on locating and labelling of features based on above units on outline map of India.

Part-C: Practical Work

Unit I: Processing of Data and Thematic Mapping

  • Type and Sources of data: Primary, Secondary and other sources.
  • Tabulating and processing of data; calculation of averages, measures of central tendency, deviation and rank correlation.
  • Representation of data- construction of diagrams: bars, circles and flowchart; thematic maps; construction of dot; choropleth and isopleth maps.
  • Data analysis and generation of diagrams, graphs and other visual diagrams using computers.

Unit 2: Field Study or Spatial Information Technology
Field visit and study: map orientation, observation and preparation of sketch; survey on any one of the local concerns; pollution, ground water changes, land use and land-use changes, poverty, energy issues, soil degradation, impact of floods and drought, catchment area of school, Market survey and Household survey (any one topic of local concern may be taken up for the study; observation and questionnaire survey may be adopted for the data collection; collected data may be tabulated and analysed with diagrams and maps). Students can be given different topics to get more insight into various problems of society.
OR
Spatial Information Technology
Introduction to GIS; hardware requirements and software modules; data formats; raster and vector data, data input, editing and topology building; data analysis; overlay and buffer.

Prescribed Books:

  1. Fundamentals of Physical Geography, Class XI, Published by NCERT
  2. India, Physical Environment, Class XI, Published by NCERT
  3. Practical Work in Geography, Class XI, Published by NCERT
  4. Fundamentals of Human Geography, Class XII, Published by NCERT
  5. India – People and Economy, Class XII, Published by NCERT
  6. Practical Work in Geography, Class XII, Published by NCERT

Note: The above textbooks are also available in Hindi medium.

NCERT Solutions