WS3 Lab_Demographics Revision Sept 2021

Workshop 3: Demographics Lab Navigate to the website https://www.learner.org/courses/envsci/interactives/demographics/ . Complete the lab lessons entitled “The Demographic Transition” and “Social Impacts”. Record your data in the tables below and answer the analysis questions that follow each step. Lesson 1: The Demographic Transition Read the lab Overview and The Demographic Transition: Step 1 . Click on Open Simulator . Select a country from the drop-down menu at the top of the simulator. Record the birth rate, death rate, and population growth percentage as found in the 2015 Vital Rates box. Click on Run to simulate the population transition until 2050. Record the 2050 growth rate percentage. Record this information for each of the 9 countries listed below. In the last column, rank the countries from highest growth rate (1) to lowest growth rate (9) based on the population growth in 2050. Lesson 1: Step 1 Country Birthrat e Death Rate Population Growth 2015 Population Growth 2050 Relative place in Transition Social Factors 1 Social Factors 2 Social Factors 3 USA 1.98 1.16% 0.78% -.15% 5 Modern Medicine Industrialized Birth Control Brazil 1.72 0.86% 0.86% -0.26% 6 Modern Medicine Urbanization Birth Control China 1.52 1.05% 0.47% -0.98% 7 Modern Medicine Industrialized 1 Child Law India 2.26 0.99% 1.34% 0.46% 3 Modern Medicine in Some Areas Industrialized Poverty Indonesi a 2.07 0.95% 1.03% 0.21% 4 Poverty Industrialized Gender Equality Iraq 3.15 0.63% 2.45% 1.72% 2 Gender Equality Industrialized War Italy 1.41 1.34% 0.36% -1.17% 9 Overpop ulation Industrialized Birth Control Japan 1.39 1.40% -0.10% -1.15% 8 Birth Control Industrialized Modern Medicine Nigeria 4.07 1.11% 2.65% 2.84% 1 Poverty Industrializati on Urbanizatio n Step 1 Analysis Questions: answer the following using complete sentences. 1. How do you suppose living conditions differ between the country furthest along in the demographic transition (lowest growth rate) compared to the country earliest in the transition (highest growth rate)? How would living conditions in these two countries affect both birth and death rates? According to the population growth section for 2015 the lowest growth rate is Japan with the highest growth rate Nigeria. Countries that tend to be further along in items such as with health care, food supply, and technology tend to have lower birth and death rates. I would believe that Japan is further along with health care, food supply, and technology well on the other hand Nigeria it's not. Because of this it would affect the birth rates and death rates for Nigeria.

Workshop 3: Demographics Lab 2. Think of three social factors that contribute to lower birth rates in the countries farther along in the demographic transition. How might these social conditions be encouraged to emerge in less developed countries? Looking at the countries that have the lowest birth rate we see that Japan, Italy, and China are in those bottom 3. Some of the social factors that contribute to lower birth rates in these countries is overpopulation which China had for a long time a 1 child rule but now have reversed that because of the low birth rates. Another social factor is the accessibility to birth control and modern medication. Access to birth control helps women to avoid unwanted or unplanned pregnancies. In places such as Nigeria if they had access to more modern medications such as birth control this could help limit those unwanted or unplanned pregnancies but a lot of this comes from one of their social factors of poverty. Read The Demographic Transition: Step 2. For each country, look at the 2015 population pyramid (Population by Age Group graph). Given the population growth data that you collected in Step 1, predict the shape of the country’s population pyramid in 2050 and record your prediction in the data table below. You will write either, “wider base: growing, narrower base: declining, or consistent middle: stable” next to each country. Then, run the transition simulation and record the actual shape of the population pyramid in 2050. Complete the lesson by reading For Your Consideration . Lesson 1: Step 2 Country Shape of Pyramid: Prediction Shape of Pyramid: Simulation USA consistent middle: stable consistent middle: stable Brazil consistent middle: stable consistent middle: stable China consistent middle: stable narrower base: declining India wider base: growing wider base: growing Indonesia consistent middle: stable wider base: growing Iraq wider base: growing wider base: growing Italy narrower base: declining narrower base: declining Japan narrower base: declining narrower base: declining Nigeria wider base: growing wider base: growing Step 2 Analysis Questions: answer the following using complete sentences. 1. How does the shape of the population pyramid differ from most developed nations, such as the USA compared with developing nations, such as Nigeria? The shape differs from countries such as the USA to Nigeria through a more consistent middle versus a wider base. In developing nations such as the USA it is more likely that folks will live until they are in their 80s and 90s whereas in Nigeria where they don't have modern medicine life expectancy is a lot shorter. There are many younger people in Nigeria (less access to birth control) but the older population is less. 2. People in the “prime of life” (aged roughly 20-60, depending on local conditions), support the populations younger and older than themselves. How might this impact the quality of life in countries with population pyramids similar to Nigeria? You would think that most countries have more children than older people. Especially in the US we see that people who are aged between 20 and 60 work in order to support not only their families but families that have younger kids as well as those who are retired and older in age. When we think about the impact on quality of life with countries that have similar pyramids to Nigeria where the majority of their base is younger folks there might not be enough resources to go around. Once these younger folks do you make it into the workforce then resources might even out. When it comes to The United States, we're seeing a trend where the base or younger and the older and not so much in the middle there is a resource shortage mostly money for support. Lesson 3: Social Impacts

Workshop 3: Demographics Lab Step 2 Analysis Questions: answer the following using complete sentences. 1. Brazil and Indonesia are home to the greatest tropical rainforests on Earth. In what ways might their population dynamics affect the rest of the world? Just like anywhere that humans live we take from the environment that we live in. This would be true for the folks living in the tropical rainforest such as Brazil and Indonesia. These countries would extract forest products that would include food or timber. Because both of these countries are slightly declining/slightly increasing depending on if the rainforest materials become an avenue of profit they wouldn't have the workers to keep up with the demands of planting and harvesting; Which might affect the rest of the world. If you look at it through an immigration lens, if those folks are not able to keep up not only their populations but as well as providing immigrants to other countries it could affect workers in other countries. Applying the Demographics Lab Lessons Once you have completed lessons (simulations, data tables and analysis questions) for this lab, consider the following application questions. Answers should be written in complete sentences and citations provided where necessary. 1. The USA is fairly late in the demographic transition. What do you suppose its demographic pattern was like 100 years ago? Based on what you know about the USA and similar countries, consider what factors prompt women to have fewer children, later in life. Based on what I know about the USA and being a woman some factors that are prompting women to have fewer children or even children later in life is that we financially can't afford it. Back when the demographic pattern may have been looked at you are able to support a family on a single person's income. You were able to afford to buy a house. You were able to afford the necessities for kids. In today's economy, I know of two parent households with two kids where the parents are both working multiple jobs to even just scrape by. It's amazing that in the US we currently have access to birth control and the necessities for family planning if we choose. However, the US is in such a shortfall of able bodies that they are trying to strip those rights from women. I believe that this also makes women choose even more not to have kids because it no longer is a choice. 2. In developing countries, what could be done to slow population growth? How might that be enforced? What is an effective method of maintaining a near zero population growth? In developing countries one thing that can be done to slow population growth is being able to have access to modern medical care, birth control, and family planning education. If the government wants to get involved to enforce it they have every power to do so, but i feel that even just having access would empower the women and potentially slow population growth. An effective method of maintaining a near 0 population growth comes down to education and access.