Development Indicators Web Quest

"Development"is a term that describes how well a country meets the needs of its people in terms of their standard of living* and quality of life.

The United Nations divides all nations into one of three categories:"developed countries" "developing countries" and "newly industrialized countries"

*Standard of living"means“material wealth”or thequality and quantity of goods and services available to people/. Mobile phones and the number of hospital beds would be an example.

"Quality of life"meanshow happy an individual, or group of people is. It can include things such as health and diet, andfeelingssuch as stress or happiness. Unlike standard of living, quality of life, especially where feelings are concerned, cannot be measured directly.

Developed countries have become very wealthy and usually depend on service industries. The standard of living is generally high in these countries. Developing countries by contrast are relatively poor, depending on farming and the extraction of natural resources for much of their income. Wealth is measured by gross domestic product (GDP)per capita, in other words, the income earned in one year, divided by the population.
You will start the Web Quest by looking at a selection of development indicators to identify countries with the highest and lowest figures. You should be able to work out why death rate is usually a poor way to measure the differences between countries.
Secondly, you will examine two countries, Botswana and Thailand, to find out why it is best not to rely on a single indicator such as GDP per capita. You should be able to explain why the Human Development Index offers a better way of measuring development.
To appreciate the difference betweenstandard of livingandquality of life, you will compare data from the USA and Cuba.

Step 1: What makes the ideal country in which to live?

  1. Looking at theQuality of Lifelink, identify 5 topics that are used to create theBetter Life Index,Which topics do you consider to be important to you when choosing a place to live? Which topics do you consider to be the least important to you?
  1. Have a look at this list of countries ranked byQuality of Life. Which country would you most prefer to live in? What topics do they score high on? Are there any topics that the country scores low?

Step 2: Comparing Development indicators

How can we measure differences in development? Examine the list ofDevelopment Indicatorsbelow compiled by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and identify the indicators for the United States below and how does it rank among other nations.
GDP per capita(annual income in $US divided by the population)
Birth rate(How many babies are born per 1,000 people per year in the U.S.?)
Death rate(How many people die per 1,000 people per year in the U.S.?)
Life expectancy at birth(how long an average person will live in the U.S.?)

  1. Use the data to identify the countries with the highest and lowest GDP per capita.
  1. Identify the 5 top countries with the highest birth rate? Which continent are they from? Why do you think this is so?
  1. Germany (11.29) has a much higher death rate than India (7.35). Does this mean that India is therefore the more developed of the two nations? How can Germany’s higher death rate be explained?Hint – think about the relative number of old people in Germany and India.Thisarticle from the BBCmight be helpful.
  1. What is the difference in life expectancy between Japan and Chad? Do you think the Quality of Life is different between the two?

Step 3: The limitations of using a single measure of development: a comparison of Botswana and Thailand.

  1. Use the CIA Factbook’s list of countries byGDP per capitato find the figures for Botswana and Thailand. In which country would you expect the higheststandard of living?
  1. Now compare the two countries in terms oflife expectancy at birth. Which country has the highestquality of life?
  1. Find out how theHuman Development Index(HDI) is calculatedusing this page. What are the three indicators that are used?
  1. According to the HDI,HDI Index Tablewhich countries are the most developed? Which are the least developed?
  1. Why is the HDI a better indicator of development than GNP per capita?

Step 4: Different perceptions of quality of life: Comparing Cuba and the USA

Cuba has a comparatively lowGNP per capita(ranked number 94) in comparison to the United States (number 10)

  1. Compare thelife expectancyandliteracy rateof the two countries. What do you notice?
  1. What does this tell you about Cuba’s development priorities? Is the government focused on raising standards of living or quality of life?
  1. What is your view of Cuba’s development priorities? Do you feel that it more important for a government to focus on raising quality of life or standard of living?

Step 5:The geography of Happiness – alternative ways to measure development

Recently, geographers have attempted to measurehappiness, as an alternative to conventional development indicators. Have a look at theBBC News articleand theworld happiness map based on subjective well-being

  1. Identify one happy, one average and one unhappy country from theworld happiness map
  1. What are the problems with trying to map happiness for a whole country?

According to theBBC News articlea recent survey found that 81% of the UK population thinks that the government should focus on making people happier rather than wealthier. Do you agree with this result? Explain your answer.

Step 6:If it Were My Home

Choose any country in the world using this linkIf it Were My Homeand compare it to the United States.If (your country choice) were your home instead of The United States you would...

  1. Choose5categories and tell me how your country would be different from the United States. (example: more or less likely to be employed)