Population Pyramids

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Objective: To be able to effectively read and interpret population pyramids.

Starter: Click here to be taken to an animation of the French population projection (1990-2050). Watch these animations and then describe why President Hollande wants to raise the retirement age by two years for French workers.

Task 1 - Watch the BBC video beneath and study the animations carefully. Why are population pyramids essential for governments around the world?

Task 2 - Population Pyramid Building - Over to you. Click here for your task sheet (thanks to L. Rabbets/TES) and complete the activity using graph paper. 

Task 3 - Have a play with this population pyramid site - check out your own country. Write a few sentences to explain what future population growth / decline is going to be like. 

i. Choose France and the year 1950. Explain the indentations 25-39 years old and 5-19 years old.
ii. What was the population of France in 1950?
iii. What is the population of France predicted to be in three years time? 
iv. What percentage of the population will be over the age of 60 years old in the year 2050?

Optional Task 4 - Log on to the geographyalltheway.com site here and complete the worksheets and tasks. You will need this excellent site that plots population pyramids to help you.

Demographic Transition Model 
Population of the past, present & future

Objective: To be able to effectively interpret and realise the importance of the demographic transition model. 

Starter: Spend a minute watching the video on the DTM to the left noting down the following in your books.

a. What is the DTM?
b. How many stages?
c. How many lines? 
d. What do the lines show?
e. What are the limitations?

Task 1 - Click here for a blank DTM framework. Complete the graph following the instructions at the bottom of the sheet. 

Task 2 - The DTM Living Graph. Decide where these labels will go on your graph. Write them on and use an arrow to show their exact location

a. Mr Fretwell loses his job as a grave digger
b. Fewer children share a bedroom
c. People are encouraged to emigrate to former colonies
d. There are more golden & diamond wedding anniversaries.
e. Parents start to think about family planning
f. Mum and Dad struggle to feed all of their children.
g. A mother sobs at the burial of the youngest of her six children who has died from Malaria. 
h. A new housing scheme is proposed in Sao Paulo, Brazil. 
i. Only one child in the class of 45 students has grandparents.
j. The mayor of Jakarta smiles as the new tram system finally opens

Slide Show - DTM 
Task 3 - Click on the DTM Fact Sheet button to the right to open up and save a copy into your My Documents. Study the information carefully before completing the DTM Work Sheet - click the second button to access the sheet. 

Youthful Populations

Objective: To find out about one country that has a problem with a youthful population. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this demographic issue.

Starter - Click on the 'How Stuff Works' graphic to the right that shows global distribution of youthful populations (under 14 years old). Comment on the extent and spread of those countries with the youngest populations. Don't forget to name at least five countries. 

Task 1 - Watch the video below on the issues caused by youthful population in Mexico.  There is a second video to show you the issues in Gambia, Africa.

Task 2 - Click here to complete activities on Baby-O-Matic. How many children will you likely have in your lifetime? 

Revision Corner - Listen to each of the following two Podcasts below. The first reiterates the issues surrounding youthful populations whereas the second gives you a case study of how Kerala (India) has dealt with the problem of a youthful population. Make notes on each. 

Controlling 

Population Size

Objective: To find out how government policies have impacted upon birth rates in different countries around the world. 

Starter - Why do governments want to control the birth rate and how do they communicate this to their people? 

Click here to be taken to a website that has some of the most famous policies and how they were 'advertised'. 

i. Choose three posters and copy them into a word document
ii. Annotate around each poster the message and how the government is trying to persuade their people to conform. Don't forget to explain what they are suggesting. 

What is a population policy?                                    (3)

Anti-Natalist Policy - China

An anti-natalist policy is concerned with limiting population growth by encouraging the population to have less children. The most famous example of this is in China and a policy called 'The One Child Policy'.  Make a note of this.

Task 1 - 33 years in 10 minutes. Watch the video to the right and take notes on the following (same order as video)

i. Three key points of OCP
ii. Exceptions to the OCP rule (for Han Chinese Population)
iii. How to enforce the OCP (that doesn't sound too bad)
iv. If you had a second child, what would happen?
v. Unapproved pregnancies
vi. What was the target population? What was achieved?
vii. Is the OCP still in place? What happens now?
viii. What is the 4-2-1 problem? 
ix. What is the 'Spare Branches' problem?
x. What is the 'Little Emperor' problem?
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More examples of Anti-Natalist population policy propaganda in China. Can you determine what they are showing?
Task 2 - Create a revision poster that shows the main features of the OCP in China.

  • WHAT is the One Child Policy?
  • WHERE is the One Child Policy used? This section should include a map and a location description
  • WHEN was the policy introduced? This section should be sequenced in chronological order
  • WHY was the policy introduced?  Here you should explain why the Chinese authorities introduce the policy.
  • WHO is affected by the policy?
  • HOW is the policy implemented? In this section you should describe and explain the methods used by the authorities to ensure people follow the policy.
  • SUCCESSES and FAILURES of the One Child Policy.

http://www.asiaeducation.edu.au/china/virtual/lesson/gilligan.htm - This is a really good site outlining what the policy is and why it was needed
http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idbpyr.html - This will enable you to produce population pyramids for China
http://www.overpopulation.com/faq/Population_Control/one_child.html -General information
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?One-child_policy - Critisisms of the policy
www.gendercide.org/case_infanticide.html - Some disturbing information of female infanticide
 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/07/30/wchi30.xml Information on abortion and forced sterilisation
http://www.china.org.cn/e-white/familypanning/13-3.htm  - How the one-child policy has been a success

Mark Scheme: 
10 Marks for Content
10 Marks for Presentation -     Total 20.
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Anti-Natalist Population Policy in China. What is the meaning?
A*- 19/20
A - 17/18
B - 15-16
C -14-15
D - 12-13

Part 1 - What is HIV & AIDS?

Objective: To understand the basics of HIV & AIDS, how it effects the body and how it is transmitted from person to person. 

Task 1 - Watch the 'What is HIV' video underneath. 

i. What does HIV and AIDS stand for?  b. How does the HIV virus affect the body?  c. When does HIV become AIDS?  d. Do people die from AIDS? (think carefully about this)

Task 2 - Watch the 'How is HIV Transmitted' video beneath. 

i. Outline the ways in which HIV can be transmitted.    b. In what ways cannot it be transmitted?

Part 2 - The Impact of HIV / AIDS on World Populations

Objective: To discover how AIDS can impact on populations around the world. 

Task 3 - Watch the YouTube video to the right hand side.  
i. Why do people react to the man like this? 
ii. How does this relate to AIDS? 
iii. Do you think that the villagers have seen the videos above?

Task 4 - Study the graphic underneath carefully. Complete the following activities:

a. Comment on the distribution of the 15 most affected countries on earth. What pattern emerges? Make a note of the top 5. 

b. Comment on the distribution of affected countries in the continent of Africa. 

c. Comment on the situation in Europe and North America making reference to % figures living with HIV/AIDS. 

d. What is the % figure for your home country?

e. Comment on the overall pattern of AIDS deaths from 1990 to 2010 as set out in the bar chart. Make reference to numbers and peak dates in your description. 

f. List the factors that contribute to a rapid spread in the top 15 countries in Africa. Help needed? Click here. 
Higher Level Video - A-C grade students should spend 10 mintues watching the video below. 
Additional Task - Click here to access an interactive resources that tracks the spread of AIDS in different countries around the world. **Homework tasks could be set using this data as stimulus** Develop. 

Focus on Southern Africa

So how does all of this affect population structures?

We are going to be using Botswana as our focus for how AIDS can affect a population structure. Spend 2 minutes exploring Botswana on the Google Map. Make some notes about its human and physical geographies. 

Click here to be taken to some familiar population pyramids structures for Botswana. 

Task 5 - Take a copy of the population pyramid and bar chart before using them to respond to the following iGCSE Population exam question:

Explain, using a case study example, how incidences of AIDS can affect the future population structure of a country. (8)

This should take you approximately 15 minutes to respond to. 

Structure:
  • What is AIDS and how is it spread?
  • Why is the infection rate so high in Botswana?
  • How does this affect birth and death rates?
  • How can a high fertility rate contribute towards the spread?
  • Cultures and Traditions
  • Explain how the 2020 structure is different if AIDS is taken into consideration.
  • Conclusion. 

Holiday Homework Video: Watch The AIDS Highway - Africa to the right hand side. Make notes on how the AIDS virus has been spread along the so called 'AIDS Highway' in southern Africa. What are the causes and effects? 
Homework Video 
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