Conceptual Understanding:
Key Question:
What are the processes of population change and their effect on people and places?
Key Content:
- Population change and demographic transition over time, including natural increase, fertility rate, life expectancy, population structure and dependency ratios – Detailed examples of two or more contrasting countries
- The consequences of megacity growth for individuals and societies – One case study of a contemporary megacity experiencing rapid growth
- The envrionmental and political causes and consequences for people and places of forced migration and internal displacement – Detailed examples of two or more forced movements, to include environmental and political push factors, and consequences for people and places.
Synthesis, evaluation and skills opportunities
How the impacts of population change and spatial interactions between places can be categorized and represented graphically.
Thursday 26 September 2024
Demographic Transition over time…
Starter: Key Terms Quizziz!!
Introduction
As human populations have developed and grown over time, there has been a steady increase in life expectancy and global population. In fact, starting in the 1900s humans experienced a dramatic drop in death rates and increase in life expectancy, which is largely attributed to factors such as new technologies in agriculture and production, advances in health and sanitation, and lower infant mortality. However, there are drastic differences globally in the quality of life indicators that impact fertility rates and life expectancy. As the global population is projected to be greater than 11 billion by 2100, we need to understand what factors impact lower fertility rates and increased life expectancy.
Key Terms for Today:
- Birth Rate: Annual births per 1,000.
- Death Rate: Annual deaths per 1,000.
- Natural Increase: The difference between the birth rate and the death rate.
- Fertility Rate: The average number of children a woman will have in her lifetime.
- Life Expectancy: The average number of years a person born today could expect to live under current death rates. Your own life expectancy changes as you grow older, and as you face different risks.
- Infant mortality rate: Infant deaths per 1,000 births
- Adolescent birth rate: Births per 1,000 females ages 15-19
Part 1. Fertility and Mortality Trends Over Time
Between 1950 and today, population growth and quality of life have changed throughout the world. But these changes have occurred at different rates and at different times, and future changes will also not be uniform.
You are each going to investigate some trends in a different region of the world.
- Africa – Breanna
- Asia – Evan
- Europe – Layla and Julia
- Latin America – Dylan
- North America – Damien
- Oceania – Tim
Visit this website: www.worldpopulationhistory.org
Complete Task 1 on this (Google Doc) for your specific region. When you are finished you will give a brief account of the trends to the rest of the class.
Fertility and Mortality Indicators
Many factors impact the number of children a woman will bear and an individual’s life expectancy. These quality of life indicators are complex and differ, significantly in some cases, in different regions of the world.
Part 2. Demographic Transition
Demographic transition is best viewed through the lens of the now famous Demographic Transition Model (DTM), as shown below. This is essentially a line graph that plots birth and death rates over time & levels of economic development (stages). When birth rates are higher than death rates, population increases (shown in blue) and when birth rates dip under death rates, a population decline may take place. There are countries around the world who find themselves in four of the five stages and one might also see the pattern of economic development increasing (LIC-MIC-HIC) along the X axis too.
The Demographic Transition Model uses the birth rate and death rate to categorize countries into stages of development. The five stages include:
- Stage 1: High Fluctuating. Birth and death rate are both very high.
- Stage 2: Early Expanding. Birth rate remains high. Death rate is falling. Population steadily rises.
- Stage 3: Late Expanding. Birth rate begins to fall. Death rate continues to fall. Population still rising.
- Stage 4: Low Stationary. Both birth and death rate are low. Population is now beginning to steady or plateau.
- Stage 5: Low Declining: Birth date falls below death rate. Population begins to decrease.
- What is the main trend in this model?
- Can you see any limitations of the model?
Understanding Regional Variation & Complexity of the DTM
While it can be a useful tool, the demographic transition model does have limitations. Consider that it divides all the countries of the world, home to nearly 8 billion people, within just four groups. As such, within each group, or stage, there is variation in regards to quality of life, future challenges, and much more.
Complete Task 2 under the Demographic Transition Model Section of your worksheet for the country you have been assigned.
- Breanna – Columbia
- Evan – Germany
- Dylan – Afghanistan
- Damien – Japan
- Julia – United Kingdom
- Layla – India
- Tim – Brazil
Review:
Test what you have learnt by playing the game below! Attempt to match the buttons with the descriptions and explanations. Read the statement and match it to the correct button. How fast can you be…?
Dependency Ratio
The total dependency ratio tells us the proportion of the population not in the work-force who are ‘dependent’ on those of working-age, it’s a calculation which groups those aged under 15 with those over 65 years as the ‘dependents’ and classifying those aged 15-64 years as the working-age population. It’s a simplistic calculation which is used across the world to understand societies and get a sense of potential pressures the economy may face in supporting an economically dependent population (source).
Task 5. Complete the worksheet below using the interactive version of the map above.
Lesson 1. Age Dependency Worksheet (Google Doc).
Homework: Complete all activities!
Tuesday 01 October 2024
Starter:
Test what you learnt last lesson by playing the game below! Attempt to match the buttons with the descriptions and explanations. Read the statement and match it to the correct button. How fast can you be…?
Population Pyramids
Population pyramids help show how populations are composed and how they are changing. Here is a population pyramid from the United States in August 2016 showing various age groups: baby boomers, generation X, generation Y, and generation Z. Typically, there are three trends in population pyramids: expansive, contractive, and stationary. These illustrate the trajectory of a regional population, which may be growing, shrinking, or staying the same.
Population pyramids – research your own countries
Click on the image below to open a great website with population pyramids from all of the countries and regions of the world.
Create your own population pyramid using Google Sheets
You have used other people’s population pyramids; now the challenge is to create some of your own using Google Sheets! This is fairly straightforward but you will have to follow the instructions below VERY CAREFULLY!!
First you will need some data. You can find this below but there are also some websites you can use to obtain this information. The best one is probably the US Census Bureau website here.
The data you will use has already been found for you! Click on the image below to open it in Google Sheets.
Now use Google Sheets to draw your pyramids…
- Make sure that all of the ages are formatted as TEXT (to do this, highlight them and then select text from the “Format” menu.
- Keep the female numbers as positive (plus) numbers; change the male numbers to negative (minus) numbers. This is just to make the graph work.
- Highlight the data including the column headings of Age, Males and Females.
- Choose “Insert Chart”
- From the Chart Menu change the chart type to a Stacked Bar Chart (see below).
Now you should have a basic population pyramid. The next steps are to make it perfect. Do all of the steps below.
- Change the title of the pyramid. Your title should be “Population Pyramid for ………”. Even better if you can add the year.
- Label the horizontal axis (Percentage of population).
- Label the vertical axis (Age group).
If you want, you can also change the colours and formatting of the pyramid to make it your own. You should end up with something that looks a bit like the ones below!
Once you are done, copy your pyramids into a Google Doc and describe and explain what they show!
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Demographic Transition: Contrasting Examples
We now need to compare the population structure of two contrasting countries. We will be analysing how the population structure has changed over time, and predicting challenges that each country might face in the future.
Assessment 1.1 | Population Change
For two contrasting countries of your choice, use Population Pyramid to capture a series of population pyramids from 1950 to 2030 to show how the population structure of this country has changed/will change over time. Using the CIA World Factbook to help you, ensure that you describe the shape and structure of each population pyramid, making note of the following key features:
- Fertility rates
- Life expectancy
- Natural increase
- Dependency ratio.
Next comment on (describe and explain) the issues and challenges that the countries are facing/might face in the future.
Due: Tuesday 08 October 2024
Thursday 03 October 2024
The Consequences of Megacity Growth for Individuals and Societies
In the next twenty years, Lagos is likely to become one of the largest megacities in the world, but built 30% on water and facing the threat of climate change its future is uncertain.
Enquiry Question:
How are different groups impacted by mega city growth in Lagos?
Lesson Objectives:
- To describe the growth of Lagos
- To examine the causes of population growth in Lagos
- To examine the consequences of growth for individuals and societies
Lesson 3. Lagos Worksheet (Google Doc)
Task 1. Map and Graph Study. Analyse the maps and graphs on the worksheet and respond to the questions.
Task 2. Lagos, Africa’s Fastest Growing Megacity
Watch the video linked below and answer the questions on the worksheet.
Task 3. The Eko Atlantic Project
Eko Atlantic is an entire new coastal city being built on Victoria Island adjacent to Lagos, Nigeria. It is a focal point for investors capitalising on rich development growth based on massive demand – and a gateway to emerging markets of the continent.
Read the following piece of text about the Eko Atlantic Project and note down the benefits and concerns of the project on your worksheet.
Task 4. An Alternative Future? Floating Communities…
Watch the following video based on an alternative future suggested by the architect, Kunlé Adeyemi and answer the questions on your worksheet.
Friday 05 October 2024
Part 1. Migration Trends
Migration takes place both internally, within countries and externally across countries. There is short term and long term, voluntary and forced movements of people.
Task 1. Match the key term to the correct defintion on your worksheet.
Task 2. Describe the main global migration trends as shown in the map on your worksheet (which countries receive the most migrants/which countries lose the most migrants)?
Tuesday 08 October 2024
Class Competition: Try to think of 8 different examples of migration that have occurred throughout history/today. Add them to the table on your worksheet and categorise according to the three different categories listed.
Migration can be classified normally into three different criteria
- Length of stay
- Distance travelled
- Reason for migration
1. Length of Stay
- Temporary – when the migrant intends to return to their place of origin
- Permanent – when the migrant intends to stay in their destination
2. Distance travelled
- Internal – within a country
- External – across more than one country (immigration and emigration)
3. Reason for Migration
- Forced – when the migrant has no choice to migrate. This may be due to racial, religious, political reasons and even environmental factors
- Voluntary – when the migrant chooses to migrate normally for social or economic reasons
Part 2. The causes and consequences of forced migration and internal displacement…
For this section of work, we are required two forced movements of people.
For Internal Migration we are going to study climate refugees in Bangladesh. This is a forced movement of people caused by the rising sea levels and more intense typhoons (environmental factors but with a human cause).
Our comparative case study concerning External Migration we will be studying the political situation in Venezuela and resultant movement of people out of the country. Venezuela has the highest oil reserves in the world but has suffered from an over reliance on oil and has faced severe economic hardship since hte price of oil decreased. Coupled with a complicated current political situation where there are two recognised leaders of the country (Nicolás Maduro & Juan Guaidó) this has led to geopolitical conflict among Venezuela, its neighbours as well as countries such as the USA and France.
Case Study 1. Internal Migration: Bangladesh
Task. Using the information below, take notes on the causes and consequences of the Bangladesh migration using the following headings as a guide:
- Facts and figures about the migration
- Causes of the migration
- Consequences for people
- Consequences for surrounding regions
- How Bangladesh is trying to mitigate and adapt to their increasingly destructive flood events
BBC World Dec 2020 Article (mitigation and adaptation)
Climate Change in Bangladesh (Video)
Climate Change in Bangladesh (Article)
Bangladesh Climate Migrants 2018 Guardian Article (causes and consequences)
Bangladesh Climate Migrants Interactive (causes and consequences)
Case Study 2. Option A. External Migration: Venezuela
Task. Using the information below, take notes on the causes and consequences of the Venezuela migration using the following headings as a guide:
- Facts and figures about the migration
- Brief history of the forced migration situation
- The political push factors
- Consequences for people
- Consequences for surrounding countries (destinations)
- Geopolitical tensions between Venezuela and other countries.
Case Study 2. Option B. External Migration: Russian invasion of Ukraine
Task. Using the information below, take notes on the causes and consequences of the Ukraine migration using the following headings as a guide:
- Facts and figures about the migration
- Brief history of the forced migration situation
- The political push factors
- Consequences for people
- Consequences for surrounding countries (destinations)
- Geopolitical tensions between Ukraine and other countries.
- BBC News – Ukraine conflict: Simple visual guide to the Russian invasion [26 February 2022]
- BBC News – How many Ukrainians have fled their homes and where have they gone? [22 April 2022]
- BBC News – Poland feels the strain of Ukraine’s refugees [13 March 2022]
Thursday 10 October 2024
Timed Essay and Exam Questions
We will complete a practice exam question based on the Population Change section of the course. There will be some short response questions followed by an essay question.
Essay Options
Option 1. Examine the opportunities and challenges of a contemporary megacity experiencing rapid growth. (10)
- Examine requires an evaluative approach.
- The essay should develop a relative balance of opportunities and challenges specific to the case study(ies).
- An in-depth understanding of the case study(ies) is required, with opportunities and challenges well developed in terms of their time-frame, or social, economic, environmental aspects.
- The essay will develop an argument that suggests a balance or weighting towards opportunities or challenges.
- The conclusion will be consistent with the introduction and argument with the main body.
- You will also need to use the conceptual approach to achieve the highest markband.
Option 2. Compare the causes and consequences of two examples of forced migrations that you have studied.
- Compare requires you todescribe two situations and present the similarities and differences between them.
- An in-depth understanding of the case study(ies) is required, with environmental and political reasons for migration being explained as well as the different impacts on both people and places.
- The conclusion will be consistent with the introduction and argument with the main body.
- You will also need to use the conceptual approach to achieve the highest markband.
Essay Planning Tool (PDF)
Essay Frame (Google Doc)
Essay Rubric (IBO Link)
Look carefully at the essay title and carry out the following:
Underline the key words in the title
- Use the L.I.S.T. checklist below to ensure that you give the essay title its broadest interpretation:
- L – LOCATION (spatial context): poor/rich countries; rural/urban areas; tropical/temperate; land/air/sea; marine/terrestrial/atmospheric
- I – ISSUES (factors): positive/negative, advantages/disadvantages, costs/benefits, human/physical, environmental, social, cultural, demographic, political, economic, geographic
- S – SCALE: global, regional, international, national, sub-national, local
- T – TIME: long-term/medium-term/short-term; past/present/future; contemporary/recent/current
(note that some of the items in the L.I.S.T. may not be relevant to the essay)