What important cultural features do you observe while going to school? Are they similar or dissimilar? Should they be included in the study of geography or not? If yes, why?
While going to school, I observe various cultural features like houses, shops, schools, religious places, roads, and markets. These features are both similar and dissimilar. For instance, houses in a residential area may share similar designs, but differ from those in other areas.
Yes, these cultural features should definitely be included in the study of geography. Geography as a discipline studies the 'spatial organisation' and 'spatial integration'. It is concerned with identifying patterns of natural and cultural features and their distribution over the surface of the earth. Geography studies all phenomena which vary over space, including cultural features. Geographers study not only the variations in phenomena but also their associations with other factors that cause these variations. Therefore, cultural features observed in our daily surroundings form an essential part of geographical study.
Explanation
The textbook context establishes that geography studies 'spatial organisation' and 'spatial integration'. It explains that geography is concerned with identifying patterns of natural and cultural features and their distribution over the earth's surface. The context explicitly states that 'A number of phenomena are similar and many are dissimilar' and that 'geography was perceived to study all those phenomena which vary over space'. This directly supports why cultural features should be included in geographical study - because geographers study variations in phenomena over space and their causal relationships with other factors.