Bece Past Questions & Answers – 2001 (SOCIAL STUDIES)

SOCIAL STUDIES

SOLUTIONS

SECTION B
ESSAY

PART I
MAP SKILLS AND ENVIRONMENT

1. (a) Description:
(i) A ridge
A long narrow hilltop or range of hills
Or:
A long narrow stretch of highland usually with steep sides

(ii) A plateau
An area of high ground with a fairly level/ flat surface
It is also referred to as a tableland

(iii) A conical hill
A hill with uniform slope and is represented by concentric contours spaced almost regularly
Or:
A hill that is rounded at the base and rise up to a sharp peak like a cone
A conical hill looks like a cone

(iv) an escarpment
A hill with a very steep slope on one side and a gentle slope on the other
Or:
A steep slope or long cliff that occurs from erosion or faulting
Or:
A long, clifflike ridge commonly formed by faulting or fracturing of the earth’s crust
Or:
A steep slope or cliff that marks the boundary of a flat or gently sloping upland area such as a plateau, often formed by faulting or erosion

(b) Labelled contours using a vertical interval of 50 metres.
(i) a ridge (ii) a plateau

(iii) a conical hill (iv) an escarpment

2. (a) Difference between weather and climate

Weather: The atmospheric condition of a place at any given time / over a relatively short period
Or: The state of the atmosphere with regard to temperature, cloudiness,
rainfall, wind and other meteorological conditions

Climate: The average weather pattern of a place over long period (ie, 30 or more years)

(b) Elements of the weather and the instrument used to measure them.

ELEMENT MEASURING INSTRUMENT Rainfall Rain gauge
Wind direction Wind vane
Wind speed Anemometer
Humidity Hygrometer / Wet and Dry bulb
Atmospheric pressure Barometer Temperature Thermometer Cloud Ceilometer
Sunshine Sunshine recorder / sundial
[any four]

(c) Ways in which rainfall is important to man (i) It provides water for domestic purposes (ii) It provides water for industrial purposes (iii) It softens the ground for easy planting (iv) It makes plants grow well
(v) It increases the volume of water bodies, which are used for various purposes
(vi) It makes the atmosphere cooler
[any four]

PART II
THE NATIONAL COMMUNITY

3. (a) Festivals in Ghana and name the people who celebrate each of them.
FESTIVAL PEOPLE Homowo Ga mashie Fetu Afahye Cape Coast Foo Navrongo Kundum Nzema Odwira Akuapem
Aboakyir Efutu / Winneba
Hogbetsotso Anlo Bakatue Elmina Ohum Akyem Bugum Mamprusi Asafotufiam Ada Adaekese Asante Fofie Yam Nchiraa Kobine Lawra
Akwambo Agona / Ekumfi
Kloyosikplem Yilo Krobo / Somanya
Damba Dagbon, Mamprugu, Gonja, Nanumba. [any four] (b) Reasons why festivals are celebrated
(i) NEW YEAR – Festivals are celebrated to mark the beginning of a new year

(ii) THANKSGIVING AND PRAYER – To thank the Supreme Being, lesser gods and ancestors for a successful past year and pray for their blessings in the coming year.

(iii) PURIFICATION – To purify the ancestral stools, the people and the land.

(iv) REMEMBRANCE – To remember and celebrate the lives and works of past leaders
(both religious and traditional) and rulers

(v) PAST DELIVERANCE – To commemorate past victories over hunger, oppression, disease, etc.

(vi) HOMAGE / HONOUR – To pay homage to (or honour) the chief and renew loyalty to the chief by sub-chiefs and subjects:

(vii) FAMILY REUNION – To bring various family members together and renew relationships after long periods of separation

(viii) CONFLICT RESOLUTION – To settle family / communal conflicts and litigations and chart a new course for future relationship:

(ix) DEVELOPMENT – To plan and implement developmental projects
(x) FUND-RAISING – To raise funds to support various socio-economic programmes. (xi) TOURISM – To attract tourists into the community. Tourism helps to support the arts
and crafts industry and raise foreign exchange for the country

(xii) CULTURAL PRESERVATION – To preserve the indigenous culture / traditions and therefore prevent it from dying out.
[any four]

4. (a) The Poll Tax Ordinance of 1852
A law passed in the Gold Coast in 1852 after agreement between the British and the traditional
rulers to make it compulsory for every adult to pay one shilling a year to the Native Treasury for developmental projects and payment of salaries of British staff, traditional rulers and other officers working for the British.

(b)
Reasons why the Poll Tax Ordinance failed

(i) The local people claimed that they were not informed by their traditional leaders before the law was passed.
(ii) The people did not like the fact that the tax collectors were appointed by the British administration rather than by their traditional leaders.
(iii) Some of the tax collectors were dishonest, and kept some of the monies for themselves
(iv) The people were not happy about the fact that part of the monies was to be used to pay the wages and salaries of the British and the workers that served them.
(v) Some of the traditional leaders did not like the idea of paying tax to the British who had failed to protect them against the Asantes and therefore encouraged their people not to
pay the tax.
[any four]

PART III
WEST AFRICA, AFRICA AND THE WORLD

5. (a) Causes of desertification in West Africa.
(i) Bush burning – Uncontrolled burning of plants over a wide area
(ii) Deforestation – Cutting down forest trees (usually, without replacement) (iii) Erosion – the removal of the top soil by agents of erosion
(iv) Mining – Mining activities by both legal and illegal miners has led to a rapid loss of tree over large portions of land.
(v) The Harmattan – The hot and dry North East Trade Winds do not support the growth of certain plants, which dry up when the harmattan is very severe.
(vi) Overgrazing – Making farm animals feed on plants in one area for a long time / till almost all the plants are gone.
(vii) Clearing Farmlands – Clearing a piece of land of all plants/trees in order to farm. (viii) Construction / Development – Clearing a piece of land of all plants/trees in order to
construct schools, offices, shops, roads, stadiums, residential buildings, etc
[any four]

(b) Measures that can be taken to control desertification in West Africa

(i) Reforestation – Planting more trees to replace ones that have been cut down / felled
(ii) Management – Ensuring that only trees of a certain minimum size can be felled
(iii) Empowering government agencies – Empowering government agencies that responsible for forests preservation to work more efficiently (eg, the Environmental Protection Agency and The Forestry Commission)
(iv) Legislation – Making and enforcing laws that seek to preserve the forests (Legislation) (v) Afforestation – Planting trees to create a forest – (Afforestation)
(vi) Prosecution and Punishment – Prosecuting / penalizing offenders who flout the forest preservation laws / by-laws / ethics to serve as a deterrent to others.
(vii) Creating forest reserves – Reserving forests that will be kept from human exploitation

(viii) Preventing overgrazing – Ensuring that farm animals do not feed on plants in one area continuously.
(ix) Preventing bushfires – by public education and other measures
(x) Agro forestry – Planting trees on farms for various reasons / farming among trees without cutting them down

6. (a) Functions of the Executive Secretariat of the Economic Community of West African States
(ECOWAS)
(i) Providing information that will help the effective working of the community
(ii) Running of the everyday activities of the community (iii) Researching into various aspects of the community (iv) Proposing policy measures on behalf of ECOWAS
(v) Submitting reports and recommendations of technical and specialized commissions to the
Council of Ministers
[any four]

(b) Problems facing the ECOWAS

(i) Financial difficulties
ECOWAS does not have enough funds to implement all its projects effectively. This is partly due to the inability of some member states to pay their dues to ECOWAS regularly. The ever growing regional problems also put a huge strain on the limited funds of the community.

(ii) Large number of member states
Currently, in terms of member states, ECOWAS is the largest economic community in the world. Its large size creates serious challenges with policy-making and the practical implementation of economic integration.

(iii) Currency differences
There are at least eight different currencies used by member states of ECOWAS. This has significantly hampered the smooth economic integration among member countries.

(iv) Language barrier
Effective communication among members of the community is a problem due to the language differences among member states. There are three (3) official languages and hundreds of other indigenous / local languages.

(v) Influence of Colonial Masters
Some member states of ECOWAS show very little interest and commitment. This could partly be attributed to the fact that they still receive various forms of assistance from their colonial masters. This tends to make them more committed to their colonial master than the regional community, which negatively affects the prospects of ECOWAS‟ success.

(vi) Membership of other economic groups
Certain ECOWAS members are also member of other economic groups. This causes those states to have divided loyalty, which makes them less committed to ECOWAS

(vii) Political Instability
The lack of political stability in the west African sub-region poses a great threat to the effectiveness of ECOWAS. The high incidence of coup d‟états, tribal and religious conflicts, civil wars, etc, in the region is a serious drawback and strain to ECOWAS. [any four]