Sunday, July 13, 2008

Unit 4, Online Lab #2: Demographics

SIMULATION SCREEN SHOTS

World and low fertility rate (Greece):














World and high fertility rate (Zaire):














QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

1. What was your high fertility rate country and what was its fertility rate?
-> The high fertility rate country that I chose was Zaire. Its fertility rate was 6.10.

2. What was your low fertility rate country and what was its fertility rate?
-> The low fertility rate country that I chose was Greece. Its fertility rate was 1.50.

3. The initial demographic "shape" of your high fertility rate country should have been a pyramid, with high population in young age groups. Explain why high fertility rate results in a high percentage of young people in the population. How does this affect future population growth?
-> A high fertility rate means that on average couples are having more than 2 kids. By having more than 2 kids, each couple is increasing the size of the next generation. This means there will be a higher percentage of young people compared to the previous generation. As those kids reach reproductive age, there will be more people at that stage compared to the amount there were at that stage in the previous generation. If the fertility rate is still high, that generation will produce more individuals than they have in there own. In this way, a high fertility rate has an impact on future growth.

4. Your low fertility rate country might have had a more oval-shaped curve with high population in middle age groups. This is especially exaggerated if the fertility rate is below 2.00. Explain why low fertility rate leads to lots of middle-aged people.
-> If the reproductive age group has less on average than 2 kids per couple, they are going to leave the next generation with few people than they have. If this trend continues, the middle aged group will always be larger than the younger generations.

5. Write ten adjectives or descriptive phrases for what you might expect life, people's attitudes, conditions on the streets, etc. will be like in each of those situations. Imagine a situation with lots of middle-aged and older people in the population and write ten quick "brain-storm" descriptors for you think it would be like (Prescott, Arizona?). Then do the same for a situation with lots of children in the population.

Lots of middle age/older: working, traveling, comfortable, expendable income, free time, health care, health check ups, nursing homes, hip replacements, obituaries

Lots of children: daycare, poor, one income families, schools, errands, sharing ideas, screaming, playing, giving, hungry

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