Intro to Environmental Science

Unit 2 Graphing Exercise (watch lecture 2.11 first)

Per Capita Gross Domestic Product and the Total Fertility Rate

A nation's Gross Domestic Product is the total value of all the goods it produces and all of the services provided during a year. Likewise, its Per Capita Gross Domestic Product, would be that value in dollars divided by the number of people in the country. In other words, if we added up the total value of all the goods and services produced/provided this year in the U.S. and divided it up by the number of people in the U.S., everyone would get a check for about $60,000. So, it's simply a way to look at how much money a nation has/makes per year.

A nation's Total Fertility Rate is a number that represents the average number of children a woman in a given population will have in her lifetime. In other words, it's a way to look at the average birth rates in a given country. Keep in mind that it is an average. So, if the T.F.R. in a country is 5.0, that means that if one woman has only 3 children, another must have 7!

Also, note that if the T.F.R. falls below about 2.1 in relatively rich countries, a population will shrink over time, as two people are not leaving behind two more people when they die. In other words, they are not "replacing themselves" in a population. There are exceptions though, as a nation such as the U.S. may still grow due to immigration, despite its low T.F.R.

Fertility rates will be discussed in detail in upcoming lectures, but in preparation for that, use the data below to complete the included blank column graph. Note that it has a logrithmic scale for G.D.P. Remember to watch the lecture on making graphs before making yours, follow the submission guidelines, and submit the graph by the posted deadline.

If done correctly, you should easily see that women, on average, have far fewer children in relatively rich countries, but have far more children in many poorer nations.

	U.S.A.	Germany	UK	Japan	China	Peru
G.D.P. ($)	59,500	50,200	43,600	42,700	16,600	13,300
T.F.R.	2.0	1.4	1.9	1.4	1.6	2.2

	India	Zambia	Mali	Ethiopia	Niger
G.D.P. ($)	7,200	4,000	2,200	2,100	1,200
T.F.R.	2.5	5.8	6.2	5.2	6.9

Unit 2 Graphing Exercise