Environmental science

Lab 2: Population Growth and Decline

Background

This second lab draws heavily on Chapter 4, "Human Populations" in your text. To successfully complete this lab, you will want to study this chapter carefully. You may also find it useful to watch this five-minute video: Population Pyramids: Power Predictors of the Future.  

At the most basic level, the increase or decrease in population can be calculated by following this simple formula: 

BIRTH RATE - DEATH RATE + IMMIGRATION = GROWTH RATE  

Birth and death rates are expressed in a number of different ways. Overall birth rates are often expressed as the number of births per woman over her life. Overall death rates are simply the number of deaths per year. 

To predict population growth, however, population models use birth and death rates specific to each age group, over a step of five years. 

In this lab, you will analyze demographic data for various first, second, and third world countries. As you learned in the text this week, population pyramids generated from this data illustrate the population distribution. Whether countries have a large, young population a large, old population, or a population that is relatively stable, they all have unique challenges to address. This lab will help you further explore the concept of population distributions and its effect on economies and societies.  

Begin Work on Your Lab

To begin work on your lab, access:

• Population Growth and Decline Instructions [DOCX].
• Population Growth and Decline Template [DOCX].