Human Population Database Project
Instructor Background
Subject: Biology and ecology
Grade level: High school
Introduction:
Human population growth is one of the top concerns of economists, scientists and
environmentalists. Humans use tremendous resources, pollute the environment, cut down
forests to cultivate land, use pesticides herbicides and are responsible for the high rates of
species endangerment. With predictions that the world population will reach 9 billion by
2025, many ask the question how it will be possible to feed all of these people. How can
we reduce human population growth? Some speculate that educating females may hold
the key to population control. In this unit, students will watch The World in Balance
produced by Nova and examine data from 15 nations and decide:
1. What is the impact of educating females upon the number of children they have in
their lifetime?
2. How does the education of females impact the chance of her baby dying in the first
year of life?
In addition, students will be asked to examine demographic variables and choose 2 that
they think may be correlated. After analyzing the data from 15 nations, they can decide
what relationship if any exists between the variables.
Instructions to teachers
After discussing human population growth pyramids that are explained in Chapter 5 of
PH Biology, the biology I textbook, students can watch the movie “The World in
Balance”. This movie takes 2 class periods to show.
Population Reference Bureau Database activity:
Day 1 Background
1. Students will be grouped into fours to complete the Human Population Think
Sheet Using the World of Child 6 Billion information sheet (attached). The Think
Sheet will be used as a springboard to launch a class discussion about population.
2. Students working individually choose 15 counties using world maps. They
should choose a variety of geographic locations selecting one or two countries
from each continent (with the exception of Antarctica).
3. Students choose two other demographic variables from the printed list (attached)
and describe the relationship between them.
4. Discuss the learning objectives.
Day 2 and 3 PRB DatabaseDemonstrate using a projection system and guide students though how to make query
using the PRB database.
1. Creating a query using the PRB Data Finder database
http://www.prb.org/datafind/datafinder.htm
2. On “Select Country,” use control-click to select more than one country from the
list of countries.
3. Select 15 countries and World.
4. On “Select Population and Health Variables,” use control-click to select more
than one variable.
Select:
• Infant mortality (infant deaths per 1000 births)
• Literacy Rate (ages 15+) 2000, Female %
• Total Fertility Rate (ave. no. Children born to a woman during her
lifetime)
• Two other demographic variables of your choosing
• Print a copy of the data.
Spread sheet (MS Excel):
• Row one: type labels such as Country in cell one, Literacy Rate in cell 2 and so on
for all the demographic variables.
• Column A, enter the names of the countries and include the World as the last
entry.
• After the data is entered, Create 3 charts.
To select data for chart one (Female literacy vs. Infant mortality):
1. Right click and drag down the row of countries.
2. Push the ctrl key to highlight more than one column such as the Female
literacy column and the Infant mortality column. 3 columns should be
highlighted.
3. Under the Insert menu, select Chart
4. Click on custom types and select Lines on 2 Axes.
5. Complete the titles and the labels of the axes.
6. Select As a New Sheet
7. Click finish
Chart 1 is Female literacy vs. Infant mortality in the selected 15 countries.
Chart 2 is Female literacy vs. Total fertility in the selected 15 countries
Chart 3 is the 2 Demographic Variables of the students’ choosing in the 15 selected
countries.
Day 4 Create a report using MS Word
Students will organize their materials to write a report with the following elements:
1. Copy and paste the charts from MS excel into a Word document.
2. Explain to students what an analysis of data entails and show an example of a
well-written analysis.
3. Explain to students what a conclusion statement is and show an example of a well
written conclusion.
4. Students then write both an analysis and conclusion for each of the charts in MS
word.
Students’ reports can be displayed in the classroom.
Diverse Learner Modification
1. Instead of choosing 15 counties, a student should choose one country from each
continent excluding Antarctica (6 countries total) for the PRB database query.
2. They can get data for female literacy, infant mortality and total fertility. They can
skip the part where they select two more related items.
3. They can then enter the data in spreadsheets using MS Excel that already have the
columns defined.
4. 2 Charts can be created for female literacy vs. infant mortality and female literacy
vs. total fertility.
5. Students can describe any patterns they observe in the charts instead of writing an
analysis and conclusion.
Extension
This is more of a social Studies activity, but students can select one country from the 15
nations. Using encyclopedias, what additional information can students learn about why
the countries statistics appear the way they do?
What role does economics play in literacy and infant mortality?
What role does religion play?
What role does technology play?
What role does the type of government play?
Does whether people live in urban or rural areas affect literacy, total fertility and infant
mortality?
In Biology lab, students could soak lima beans over night. They could count bacteria
populations over 3 days and records results in a data table and create a chart. Students
could examine the type of growth exhibited by the bacteria.