What you need to know in Unit 6.1...
6.1.1 Patterns and trends in global population growth.
6.1.2 Reasons for the growth and decline of a country’s population: fertility rate, birth rate, death rate, natural increase, migration.
6.1.3 An evaluation of the impacts of pro-natalist and anti-natalist policies on birth rates.
6.1.4 The demographic transition model (DTM) and its strengths and limitations.
6.1.2 Reasons for the growth and decline of a country’s population: fertility rate, birth rate, death rate, natural increase, migration.
6.1.3 An evaluation of the impacts of pro-natalist and anti-natalist policies on birth rates.
6.1.4 The demographic transition model (DTM) and its strengths and limitations.
6.1.1 Patterns and trends in global population growth.
Task 1 - To kick off this unit on population, we're going to be taking a look at this amazing site.
Load up the page and then enter your date of birth and country of origin. Follow the instructions on the task sheet below to find out about your potential life expectancy and how that varies around the world.
Are you ready to know you potential death date?
Load up the page and then enter your date of birth and country of origin. Follow the instructions on the task sheet below to find out about your potential life expectancy and how that varies around the world.
Are you ready to know you potential death date?
Task 2 - You will be completing a piece of work that encourages some basic maths, and graph drawing.
Complete the activities on the worksheet below.
To find out the population when you were born on the worksheet above, click here!
Task 3 - Now, using Excel, create a basic line graph to show the historical global population growth from the first task. Create a new page at the end of the Task 2 document, and paste a copy of this graph onto that page. Make sure it has a title and that both axes are labelled.
Need help with this? - Check out this tutorial video on YouTube.
Task 4 - Check out the graphic from the Visual Capitalist below. This site is full of great resources for IGCSE Geographers!
You can record your thoughts on the last page of the Task 3 document.
i. Which do you think it most realistic of the UN (United Nations) 'high', 'probabilistic' or 'low' scenarios? Why?
ii. Three different agencies have given their predictions on population peaks. What is the range between the highest and lowest of these predictions?
iii. Name and explain one big reason that you know about that will cause global population to decline.
6.1.2 Reasons for the growth and decline of a country’s population
Part 1 - Birth Rates
Task 5 - Click here to be taken to Baby O Matic, using the GATW site. Complete the first activity. Talk about the results in the class.
i. What is the most common piece of data?
ii. What are the limitations of a survey like this?
The United Nations typically measures maternal fertility of nations by using birth rate, defined by the number of live births per 1,000 women of child-bearing age, per year.
Birth rates can be high in LICs because:
- Children are traditionally needed to work and bring in an income for the family.
- Children are required to look after elderly parents because of a lack of pensions and services for the elderly.
- Lack of availability and/or knowledge of contraception and family planning.
- High infant mortality rates, so parents have more children in the hope that some survive for the reasons above.
- Religious beliefs– certain religions encourage large families and discourage the use of contraception.
Task 6 - Watch the video above, and complete the worksheet below.
Part 2 - Death Rates
Death rates can be be high in LICs because of:
- Lack of food caused by famine and drought.
- Malnutrition caused by poor diet / poor access to food.
- Poor sanitation and lack of clean drinking water.
- Natural disasters destroying crops.
- High levels of disease, e.g. malaria or AIDS.
- Lack of doctors, poor availability of medicines and healthcare.
- War, e.g. South Sudan.
Task 7 - Complete the tasks set out on the worksheet below
Part 3 - Fertility Rate
The fertility rate measures the number of children per woman in a population, often between the ages of 14 - 44 years old.
A simple way to think about the importance of fertility and what it means is the number 2.1.
2.1 is a crucial fertility rate number as it means that the population is not stagnant or in decline. However, some people point to the fact that declining populations are important as we are already living beyond our means in many HICs, and a reduction in consumption is exactly what we need to combat the impacts we are having on our climate and ecosystems.
Task 8 - Check out the charts below that show the patterns in total fertility. Note that the Y-axis is not the same on each chart. Open a word document and answer the following questions:
1. Some HICs experienced a population increase in the 1950's and 1960's. What was this known as, and why did it happen?
2. Describe the general trend in fertility rates across the world.
3. Of the nine countries shown, how many are now in population decline?
4. Which country has the biggest fertility issue?
5. Can countries do anything about low fertility rates?
If you are feeling brave, you can check out the 'Do it for Denmark' pro-natalist (encouraging more people to have children) campaign on YouTube.
Save your document and name it '6.1 fertility rates'.
A simple way to think about the importance of fertility and what it means is the number 2.1.
- You need two parents to create one child - you probably learnt about that in biology!
- Having one child on average only would lead to a population decline in a country as when both parents die, they only leave one child to replace them.
- Having two children on average would leave the population stable.
- Having three or more children on average would lead to a population increase in a country.
2.1 is a crucial fertility rate number as it means that the population is not stagnant or in decline. However, some people point to the fact that declining populations are important as we are already living beyond our means in many HICs, and a reduction in consumption is exactly what we need to combat the impacts we are having on our climate and ecosystems.
Task 8 - Check out the charts below that show the patterns in total fertility. Note that the Y-axis is not the same on each chart. Open a word document and answer the following questions:
1. Some HICs experienced a population increase in the 1950's and 1960's. What was this known as, and why did it happen?
2. Describe the general trend in fertility rates across the world.
3. Of the nine countries shown, how many are now in population decline?
4. Which country has the biggest fertility issue?
5. Can countries do anything about low fertility rates?
If you are feeling brave, you can check out the 'Do it for Denmark' pro-natalist (encouraging more people to have children) campaign on YouTube.
Save your document and name it '6.1 fertility rates'.
Part 4 - Natural Increase.
The natural population increase of a country is the difference between the number of births and the number of deaths over a period of time. It does not take into consideration migration (our next study), and is often shown as a percentage increase or decrease per year.
Check out the data for France below, or click on the change country tab to the right of the graphic and choose your home country.
Task 9 - Take a screen shot of your graph and paste it onto a blank document.
i. Describe the pattern for your home country (i.e. what were the three large peaks in deaths in France caused by).
ii. Does your country have a positive or negative natural increase.
iii. You can calculate the natural increase or decrease by hovering your mouse over the last two pieces of data (birth & death rate) and working out the difference between them.
Part 6 - Migration
Migration is one of the main factors that affects whether a population in a place increases or declines. While natural change (births minus deaths) is important, the movement of people into and out of countries can also have a big impact.
Migration occurs at a global scale, with some regions (such as Europe, North America, and parts of the Middle East) experiencing population growth because of large numbers of immigrants, while others (such as many countries in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Eastern Europe) face population loss due to high emigration.
To measure this, geographers use the idea of net migration, which is calculated by subtracting the number of people leaving a country (emigrants) from the number of people arriving (immigrants). A positive net migration means the population is boosted, while a negative net migration means the population is declining.
Task 10 - Watch the excellent migration patterns video below and complete the worksheet quiz sheet.
Migration is one of the main factors that affects whether a population in a place increases or declines. While natural change (births minus deaths) is important, the movement of people into and out of countries can also have a big impact.
Migration occurs at a global scale, with some regions (such as Europe, North America, and parts of the Middle East) experiencing population growth because of large numbers of immigrants, while others (such as many countries in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Eastern Europe) face population loss due to high emigration.
To measure this, geographers use the idea of net migration, which is calculated by subtracting the number of people leaving a country (emigrants) from the number of people arriving (immigrants). A positive net migration means the population is boosted, while a negative net migration means the population is declining.
Task 10 - Watch the excellent migration patterns video below and complete the worksheet quiz sheet.
6.1.3 Evaluating Population Policies...
|
|
Governments sometimes introduce population policies when the natural growth of their population causes problems. If a country’s population is growing too quickly, it may struggle to provide enough food, housing, healthcare, and jobs for everyone. In these cases, governments may use anti-natalist policies to reduce birth rates, such as China’s famous One Child Policy, which was introduced in 1979 to slow rapid population growth.
On the other hand, if a country’s population is growing too slowly, it can lead to an ageing population and not enough workers to support the economy. To solve this, governments may introduce pro-natalist policies to encourage families to have more children. For example, France has offered financial incentives, childcare support, and parental leave to raise its fertility rate. These contrasting examples show how governments use policies to try to keep population growth at a sustainable level.
Task 11 - Split into pairs. One partner should focus on France, and the other partner should focus on China. Use the summary sheet below to produce a 2 slide / 2 minute presentation evaluating the success of the respective policies and their impacts on birth rates.
You should include data presented as graphs (Statista, Our World in Data, Visual Capitalist etc.) as well as maps.
On the other hand, if a country’s population is growing too slowly, it can lead to an ageing population and not enough workers to support the economy. To solve this, governments may introduce pro-natalist policies to encourage families to have more children. For example, France has offered financial incentives, childcare support, and parental leave to raise its fertility rate. These contrasting examples show how governments use policies to try to keep population growth at a sustainable level.
Task 11 - Split into pairs. One partner should focus on France, and the other partner should focus on China. Use the summary sheet below to produce a 2 slide / 2 minute presentation evaluating the success of the respective policies and their impacts on birth rates.
You should include data presented as graphs (Statista, Our World in Data, Visual Capitalist etc.) as well as maps.
6.1.4 The demographic transition model (DTM) and its strengths and limitations...
Task 12 - Watch 1.14 to 4:24 of the video on the DTM noting down the answers to the following question on a new document and using a copy of this diagram.
a. What is the DTM?
b. How many stages? Name a country in each stage (where possible).
c. How many lines are there?
d. What do the lines show?
e. Why was a fifth stage added?
e. What are the limitations of the model?
a. What is the DTM?
b. How many stages? Name a country in each stage (where possible).
c. How many lines are there?
d. What do the lines show?
e. Why was a fifth stage added?
e. What are the limitations of the model?
