World Population ProjectDue date:______
Algebra 2
Welcome to your Quarter 4 project! For this project, you may work collectively and help each other. However, each individual will be responsible for handing in his/her own project.
Each person must choose three different countries. Each country should be from a different continent: North America/Central America/Caribbean, South America, Africa, Asia, Europe, and Australia/Oceania. (Antarctica is another continent, but you won’t find much of a human population there!) You will create a report on each of the countries you selected by answering the questions below. You will be given enough time in class to complete this project if you use your time wisely!
Before you begin, let me know which three countries you’ve selected. (I’d like us to research as many different countries as possible.)
For each country that you select, answer the questions below.
Look at the information at
to answer the questions below.
1)Identify the country and its continent.
2)What is the current population?
3)Compare today’s population with the population for 2005 and for 2015. Does the population seem to be growing, decreasing, or staying about the same?
4)What is the number of births for 2015?
5)What is the number of deaths for 2015?
6)Compare the number of deaths to the number of births. Do the numbers seem about the same or quite different? How would this affect the change in population?
7)What is the net number of migrants for 2015?
8)In your opinion, does migration have a large affect on the overall change in population? Explain.
9)What is the current growth rate percent? Does this indicate growth or decline?
Use the information you collected above to answer the questions below. (Ask if you need help on any of these questions.)
10)Given the growth rate percent, what would be the growth/decay factor?
11)Let’s assume that the current growth factor will remain the same in the foreseeable future. Write an exponential equation that would allow you to predict the population of the country in future years. (Challenge question: Why do we know that this equation will always be exponential instead of linear or some other model?)
12)Approximately how many years would it take the population to double given the current growth factor? Or, if the population is declining, approximately how many years would it take for the population to halve?
Look at the population pyramid atthe same webpage; to find the pyramids, select “Population Pyramid Graph” under “Select Report.”
Re-create or copy the current population pyramid and then write a sentence or two that interprets the population pyramid. In other words, what does this pyramid tell you about the current population?
Write a paragraph for each country that addresses some or all of these questions:
- Identify the country’s continent and general location. Make sure you can find your country on a map of the world.
- Is this country considered a more developed country or a less developed country?
- What particular issues affect the population increase or decrease in this country? You may address things such as education, literacy, access to family planning, income, poverty, and choices for women.
- What seems interesting about this country’s population? For example, perhaps one country has a large number of older people and not many young people, or vice versa.
- What problems, if any, arise from population growth or decline?
- What advantages, if any, arise from population growth or decline?
- Does the growth/decline in population lead to any environmental issues?
- Is this country taking any steps that you know of to address or change the way in which its population is changing?
Class Histogram
After you’ve completed your report on your three countries, you will use your results from question #12 to add information to a class histogram showing the doubling time for each country.
Share Information with Class
We will not have any formal presentations, but you should be prepared to share what you discover about your country to the class. Also make sure you are able to find your country on a map of the world.
Grading:
45 points – project (5 pts – effort, 30 pts – content, 5 pts – organization, 5 pts – interest-level)
5 points – on time