Too many people?
Year 8 Humanities
Homework booklet
Key Terms
Before you can study population geography you need to know the meaning
of some important words.
Task:
Link each key term in the table below with a line to its definition (or
meaning).
Key term
Definition
Total population
The average number of people per square kilometre
Population Distribution
The number of births in a year per thousand people.
Population Density
How people are spread around, in an area, region,
country or continent.
Population Pyramid
The overall number of people living in a particular
place.
Birth Rate
The number of death in a year per thousand people.
Death Rate
A bar graph showing how the population of a place
is divided into:
• males and females
• different age groups
Extension Activity:
Research the following key terms and write a definition in the space
provided:
Key term
Sparsely populated
Densely populated
Natural increase in
population
Infant mortality
Definition
How is the world’s population changing?
millions
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
First farms
appear
1000
10000
BC
5000
BC
1 1000 2000
AD
• The world’s population has grown steadily since 10,000 BC.
• The world’s population grew slowly until 1000, accelerating after 1800.
• The world’s population grew slowly until 1000, accelerated after 1800, then
started to slow down.
How is the world’s population changing?
The 31st October 2011 was an important date. The world’s population passed 7
billion. That’s 7,000,000,000 people! How did it get there?
Tasks:
1. A graph is a great way to show how something is changing. Draw a line
graph to show the change in the world’s population. (It’s started for you on
the opposite page.) Use the figures in Table 1.
Table 1
Year
Population
(millions)
10,000 BC
4
5000 BC
5
1000 BC
50
1AD
200
1000
300
1600
500
1800
1000
1927
2000
1960
3000
1975
4000
1987
5000
1999
6000
2011
7000
2. Adding the labels in Table 2 to your graph
will bring it alive. Link each label to the
appropriate place on the graph line you have
drawn. An example has been done for you.
Year
Write this label…
10000 BC
We live by hunting and
gathering
9000 BC
First farms appear
7000 BC
First towns appear
4000 BC
The wheel is invented
3000 BC
The first cities appear
1000 BC
The Iron Age starts
43
Romans invade Britain
400
Romans leave Britain
1750
The industrial revolution
starts
3. Remember, the steeper the graph line, the quicker the population is
changing. Circle the sentence below the graph which best describes how the
world’s population has grown.
Extension activity: What do you think will have happened to the world’s
population by 2500? Give a reason for your answer.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Why do populations change?
The world’s population is growing rapidly, but it is not rising at the same rate
in all parts of the world. In some countries it is rising fast. In other countries
the population is rising slowly, or even falling. To understand why populations
change you need to understand the relationship between the birth rate and
the death rate.
Task:
1. Remind yourself, what do these terms mean?
• Birth rate ……………………………………………………………………………………………………
• Death rate ………………………………………………………………………………………………….
2. Table 3 shows 10 things that could happen in a country. Next to each write
the effect it would have on the birth rate or the death rate. Select from:
Death rate rises, Death rate falls, Birth rate rises, Birth rate falls
Table 3 Way of life/Change
A savage war breaks out
More/better food becomes available
Crops fail causing extensive famine
People’s wealth increases
A deadly disease breaks out
Reliable birth control methods
become available
Many men take several wives
More doctors are employed
Few girls go to school
More women go to university and
get good jobs and careers
Possible result
Why do populations change?
The study of population is called demography. People who study population
change say that most countries’ populations pass through 4 stages as their
population grows. This is called the population cycle and is shown below:
Task:
1. What would happen to the total population of a country if:
• Death rate is higher than birth rate – population rises/falls/stays the same
• Birth rate is higher than death rate – population rises/falls/stays the same
• Death rate and birth rate are equal – population rises/falls/stays the same
2. You can see that the population cycle has 4 stages. What happens to the
total population (the red line) at each stage:
• Stage 1: Birth rate and death rate are both high. The population ……………….
• Stage 2: Birth rate stays high, death rate starts to fall. The population
……………….
• Stage 3: Birth rate and death rate are both falling. The population
……………….
• Stage 4: Birth rate and death rate are both low. The population ……………….
Extension activity: At which stage do you think the following countries
would be? Label them on the graph.
The United Kingdom, China, Burkina Faso (West Africa), Germany
Where is everyone?
Greenland
London
Mexico City
Australian Outback
People are spread very unevenly around the world. How people are spread out
is called the population distribution. Some places in the world are empty, they
are sparsely populated. Other places are very crowded. They are densely
populated. How many people live per square kilometre is called population
density.
Task:
1. Look at the photos above. Decide if they are sparsely or densely populated:
• Greenland: …………………………….
• Mexico City: …………………………….
• London: …………………………….
• The Australian Outback: …………………………….
2. Label these 4 places on the map opposite.
Where is everyone?
The map below shows the distribution of the world’s population.
Task:
3. What colour is used to show areas where : the population is very dense
……………………….. hardly anyone lives ……………………….
4. Circle those statements below that accurately describe the overall
distribution of the world’s population:
• Most people live on or near the coasts
• Most people live in the middle of the world’s continents
• Few people live in the middle of the world’s continents
• Europe is very densely populated
• It is densely populated in the north around the Arctic Circle
Extension activity: Name 2 other regions of the world that are:
• very densely populated ………………………………
• sparsely populated ………………………………
………………………………
………………………………
Where is everyone?
The distribution of the world’s population has not happened by chance.
There are reasons to explain why some places attract people to live while
other places are avoided by people.
Task:
5. Look at the characteristics of places in Table 4 below. Next to each, write
whether the characteristic is likely to:
encourage people to live there
Table 4
Characteristics
discourage people to live there
Encourage/discourage
Example
Hot with little or no rain
Flat land with fertile soils
Easily available energy and
other resources
Very cold with long winters
Lots of jobs and opportunity
Mountainous
Mild climate, adequate rain
6. Go back and look at the 4 pictures of different places. For each, give one
reason why they are either densely populated or sparsely populated:
• Greenland: ………………………………….
• Mexico City: ………………………………….
• London: ………………………………….
• The Australian Outback: ………………………………….
Extension activity:
Name an example of a place (e.g. a region, country, city) with the
characteristics in Table 4.
What are population pyramids and what
problems can they identify?
A population pyramid is a bar chart that shows the population of a country
divided-up into different age groups. By looking at it we can see how many
people there are in each age group and how many of them are males and
how many are females.
A population pyramid for the UK
Population (millions)
A population pyramid for India
Population (millions)
Age group
Age group
Task: Look at the population pyramids for India and the UK to help you
answer these questions:
1. Roughly how many people are below the age of 19 in India? _________million
2. Is this higher or lower than in the UK?_________________
3. Can you think of 3 problems that this may cause for the government of India?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
4. Roughly how many people are over the age of 65 in the UK? _________million
5. Is it higher or lower than in India?________________
6. Can you think of 3 problems that this may cause for the government of the UK?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
What have been the impacts of population
growth in the cities of Brazil?
Sao Paulo
This is a
‘favela’ (a
shanty
town or
slum) in Sao
Paulo
Rio de
Janiero
Read the following passage:
Brazil is a country that has a high birth rate but also quite a high death rate. Most of people
live in large cities in Brazil like Sao Paolo and Rio de Janiero. In these two cities 1 in 5 people
live in shanty towns known as favelas. A favela is a collection of shacks built on waste ground,
without permission from the authorities or landowners.
Luiz arrived in the Morumbi favela in Sao Paolo where he met his cousin Felipe. He looked
around and then followed Felipe. They hurried along narrow alleys that twisted and turned. It
was getting dark. There was music everywhere, and talking, and laughter. Dogs barked, babies
cried, TV’s blared. Bare-foot children played on the street. Women sat on doorsteps, cooking
on charcoal stoves. ‘Be careful’, said Felipe, as they crossed a gutter filled with sewage.
And then they were home. A shack of brick and corrugated iron, wood and plastic. They went in
the big open door. Luiz had a meal of his favourite stew that night.
Luiz did not sleep much. The floor was hard, and he was too excited about living in the city.
The favela was very overcrowded, there were shacks everywhere and built from anything
people could find. There was no running water or legal electricity. Some families had illegally
put a line into a mains electricity pylon to get power. There was no sewage system so people
often used the open drains as toilets. No one collects the rubbish so it sits in the streets where
it rots and attracts rats.
The children who live in the favela go to school when they are younger but not many finish
their schooling. Instead they beg on the streets and many of the girls end up getting pregnant
at an early age. This is what leads to the high birth rate. Life in the favela’s is often unsafe.
The crime rate is high and drugs, violence and murders are common. Many people die at a
young age in the favelas because of the awful conditions and poor quality of life they have.
Your tasks are on the next page
What have been the impacts of population
growth in the cities of Brazil?
Task:
• Imagine you are work for an organisation offering aid (help) to the favelas of
Sao Paulo. Write a postcard to a friend or family member in England telling
them what your day is like in the favela.
• Find a picture that would be suitable for the front of the postcard and glue
it in. (If you can’t find a picture, draw one. Use colour.)
China – what has it done to try and control
the largest population in the world?
As recently as 1950, China's population was only 563
million. The population grew dramatically through the
following decades to one billion in the early 1980s.
Today, with just over 1.3 billion people, China is the
world's most populated country.
As the world's population recently passed 7 billion, China represents 20% of the world's
population, so one in every five people on the planet lives in China.
China's population growth has been slowed by the one child policy, introduced in 1979. The
policy limits couples to one child. If a woman got pregnant for a second time they were
fined, made to have an abortion, and even forced to be sterilised (this makes them infertile
and means they cannot have another child).
However, this policy was not enforced in all of China, it was mainly in the big cities. People
living in rural areas did not have to follow this law. Nevertheless, it is estimated that the
policy has reduced population growth in China by as many as 300 million people over its
first twenty years.
In Chinese culture it is very important to have a son. This is because a son will carry on the
family name. Also, when a couple get married the woman always goes to live with her new
husband’s family. If you have a son it means there will be someone to look after you when
you get old. The one child policy meant that many families were not happy when they knew
they were expecting a baby girl or when a girl was born. There was an increase in abortions
and many new born baby girls were abandoned. It is thought that some parents even
practised infanticide and murdered their baby girl. As a result of this very strict rule there
is a ratio of 114 males for every 100 females among babies. (Normally, 105 males are
naturally born for every 100 females.) and men in their 20s and 30s cannot find wives.
Despite the one child policy, China's population is expected to continue to grow over the
next few decades. This is mainly due to a decrease in infant mortality and a decrease in
death rate as diet, living conditions and healthcare improves. By 2020, China's population is
expected to pass 1.4 billion. However, around 2030, China's population is predicted to reach
its peak and then slowly start dropping.
Your tasks are on the next page
China – what has it done to try and control
the largest population in the world?
Tasks:
1. Imagine you lived in China. Give 2 positive points (good things) about the
‘one child policy’ and 2 negative points (bad things).
One positive point (good thing) about the one child policy is…
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
•
Another positive point (good thing) about the one child policy is…
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
•
One negative point (bad thing) about the one child policy is…
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
•
Another negative point (bad thing) about the one child policy is…
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
2. What are your views about the one child policy? Why?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
3. If you were asked to help a country by offering your ideas about how to
reduce its population size, what would be your best idea and why?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________