Human Populations Demographics Online Lab

World Vs. High Fertility Rate Country (Ethiopia)

World Vs. Low Fertility Rate Country (Barbados)

Answer the following questions:

1. What was your high fertility rate country and what was its fertility rate? My high fertility rate country was Ethiopia. Its fertility rate was 6.90 children.

2. What was your low fertility rate country and what was its fertility rate? My low fertility rate country was Barbados. Its fertility rate was 1.80 children.

3. The initial demographic "shape" of your high fertility rate country should have been a pyramid, with high population in young age groups. Explain why high fertility rate results in a high percentage of young people in the population. How does this affect future population growth? If a country has a high fertility rate, it means that women in their reproductive years (approximately 20-40) are producing a large number of offspring. The more women reproducing, the more young people there would be in the population. As the young population grows with more births, it is understandable that the population of young people could surpass the population of old. Future population growth would be affected because the more young people you have in a population, the more potential for growth. There would be more children who will reach reproductive years and reproduce, so the population will continue to increase.

4. Your low fertility rate country might have had a more oval-shaped curve with high population in middle age groups. This is especially exaggerated if the fertility rate is below 2.00. Explain why low fertility rate leads to lots of middle-aged people. Low fertility rate means that there are less people of reproductive age who are producing. In other words, if you have a group of 50 women who are of reproductive age, but only 10 of them reproduce, you would obviously have more middle-aged people than young, because not many are reproducing. The older generation will die of natural causes / old age, so the "largest" population would be the middle-aged people.

5. Write ten adjectives or descriptive phrases for what you might expect life, people's attitudes, conditions on the streets, etc. will be like in each of those situations. Imagine a situation with lots of middle-aged and older people in the population and write ten quick "brain-storm" descriptors for you think it would be like (Prescott, Arizona?). Then do the same for a situation with lots of children in the population.
Middle Ages / Older Population:
1. Wise / Educated
2. Responsible
3. Quiet
4. Organized
5. Comfortable
6. Clean
7. Sad (Children bring joy!)
8. Efficient
9. Conservative
10. Lacking in energy
Children / Young Population:
1. Energetic
2. Boisterous
3. Happy- Family Units
4. Carefree
5. Joyous
6. Disorganized
7. Loud
8. Supportive
9. More diverse
10. More culturally accepting