LIWA

Industries: Their Need and Classification

ICSE Class 7 · Geography · Chapter 9

What this chapter covers

Key definitions

Manufacturing is the process of changing raw materials into more useful goods, by hand or with the help of machines.

An industry is an economic activity in which raw materials are changed into finished goods that people can use or sell.

A raw material is any substance in its natural or nearly natural state that is used to make finished goods.

A finished product is a good that has gone through manufacturing and is ready to be used or sold.

Value addition is the increase in the worth of a material when it is processed into a more useful form.

Capital is the money and property, such as land, buildings and machines, that is used to set up and run an industry.

Labour is the human effort, of hand or mind, that workers put into producing goods.

A large-scale industry is an industry that uses a very large amount of capital, employs a large number of workers, uses heavy and complex machines and produces goods in huge quantities.

A small-scale industry is an industry that is run with a modest amount of capital, employs a smaller number of workers and uses simple or medium-sized machines, often driven by electricity.

A cottage industry is an industry in which goods are made at home by the members of a family, mainly by hand, using simple tools and local raw materials.

An agro-based industry is an industry that uses plant or animal products from farms as its main raw material.

A perishable raw material is a raw material that spoils quickly if it is not processed soon after it is harvested.

Key points

Questions answered

What is an industry? Give one example of a raw material and the finished product made from it.
An industry is an economic activity in which raw materials are changed into finished goods. Sugar cane, for instance, is the raw material from which sugar, the finished product, is made.
Explain how the finished product of one industry can be the raw material of another.
Cotton yarn is the finished product of a spinning mill, but a weaving mill uses that yarn as its raw material to make cloth. Steel from a steel plant is similarly the raw material of a bicycle factory.
Give three reasons why industries are needed.
They meet our daily needs for goods such as clothes, medicines and vehicles; they give jobs to millions of people; and they turn natural resources into valuable products. They also support agriculture and earn money through trade.
State two differences between a small-scale industry and a cottage industry.
A small-scale industry runs in a separate workshop with hired workers, while a cottage industry runs at home with family members. A small-scale industry uses power-driven machines, while a cottage industry mostly uses hand tools.
Classify each as large-scale, small-scale or cottage: (a) a shipyard, (b) a family making bamboo baskets at home, (c) a unit with 30 workers making steel almirahs.
(a) Large-scale; (b) cottage; (c) small-scale.
What is an agro-based industry? Name two agro-based industries and their raw materials.
An agro-based industry is an industry that uses plant or animal products from farms as its main raw material. Examples are the cotton textile industry (raw cotton) and the dairy industry (milk).
Why are sugar mills and dairies located close to the farms that supply them?
Sugar cane and milk are perishable and spoil quickly, and sugar cane is heavy but gives only a little sugar. Locating the industry close to the source saves transport cost and prevents spoilage.
A fruit-processing unit gets 40 kg of juice from every 100 kg of oranges. How much juice will it get from 600 kg of oranges?
600 ÷ 100 = 6, and 6 × 40 = 240, so it will get 240 kg of juice.