pages 4 and 5
1.1 Population density
Vast areas have
hardly any people living
in them whilst other
areas seem to be very
crowded.
Places with
few people have a
low population density.
They are sparsely
populated.
Places that are
crowded have a
high population density.
These places are
densely populated.
World population distribution
Northern Canada
• Too cold for people
•Frozen ground makes settlement
and communications difficult
• Poor, thin soil unsuitable for crops
Sparsely populated
Europe
• Low-lying and gently sloping
• Pleasant climate
• Good water supply and soil for
farming
• Easy communications and many
resources for industry
Densely populated
Himalayan mountains
• Too cold for people
• Steep slopes are bad for settlement
and communications
• Poor, thin soil unsuitable for crops
Sparsely populated
1 dot represents
100,000 people
Amazon rainforest
• Too hot and wet for people
• Dense forest makes settlement
and communications difficult
Sparsely populated
Bangladesh
• Low-lying and flat
• Hot and wet with rich, fertile soil
makes ideal farming conditions
Densely populated
Central Australia
• Too hot and dry for people
• Too dry and too little soil for
crops to grow
Sparsely populated
The map above shows how unevenly people are spread around the world.
1
Q
On the map, colour the densely populated areas in red, and the sparsely
populated areas in green.
2
Q
Compare the reasons for dense and sparse population. Complete a copy of
the table below, which has been started for you.
Location
Amazon
rainforest
Reason
Climate
Terrain
Sparse population
Dense population
Too hot and wet.
Dense forest makes
settlement and
communications difficult.
The New Wider World Foundation Edition (Second Edition) Teacher’s Resource CD-ROM, © Grant Westoby, Nelson Thornes 2005
pages 4 and 5
1.2 Positive and negative factors
There are reasons why an area has a sparse or dense population. The reasons why
so many people live in densely populated places are called positive factors. There
are negative factors which have made other places sparsely populated.
1
Q
These are all factors in population distribution. Shade the positive factors in red, and
the negative factors in green.
• Pleasant climate • Lack of investment • Industry and jobs • Too hot or too cold
• Too wet or too dry • Poor water supply • Good soil for growing crops • Dense forest
• Flat or gently sloping land • Good food supply • Little industry and few jobs
• Good water supply • Few natural resources • Poor transport links • Steep slopes
• Money available for investment • Good roads, railways, ports, etc. • Poor soils for farming
• Open grassland for animals • Natural resources for industry
2
Q
Some of these factors are opposites, e.g. ‘Lack of investment’ is a negative factor and
‘Money available for investment’ is a positive factor. Find five other pairs of opposites
and complete the table.
Negative factor
Lack of investment
Positive factor
Money available for investment
The New Wider World Foundation Edition (Second Edition) Teacher’s Resource CD-ROM, © Grant Westoby, Nelson Thornes 2005
pages 4 and 5
1.3 Physical and human factors
Many different factors affect the way people are spread across the world. Factors such as
relief, climate, vegetation, water supply, raw materials and employment structures can mean
areas have a sparse or dense population.
1
Q
Working with a partner, read the list of features in the box below and say how each
feature affects population density.
mountain
low land
very cold
very hot
dense forest
desert
grassland
fertile soil
very wet
no industry
infertile soil
very dry
coastal
no river
remote
inland
many natural resources transport
no transport
gentle slopes
few natural resources
industry
river
high rainfall
poor communications
warm
very steep slopes
2
Q
The information below lists different types of area around the world and the
percentage of the earth’s surface that each one covers.
● Colour each box on the key with a different colour to represent each area.
● Using the appropriate colour, shade the correct number of blocks on the grid to
represent the percentage of the earth’s surface each area covers.
● When you have finished, all the blocks should be coloured.
Type of area
Earth’s
surface
Water
70%
Desert
6%
Too cold
6%
Mountains
5%
Forest
5%
Cannot grow food
5%
Ideal for people
3%
Total
Extra
Key
100%
Use all the work you have done on this worksheet to help you complete this sentence:
‘People are crowded into small areas of the world because …’
The New Wider World Foundation Edition (Second Edition) Teacher’s Resource CD-ROM, © Grant Westoby, Nelson Thornes 2005
pages 6 and 7
1.4 Population growth
Place each of the following statements in the most appropriate place on the graph below.
1 Fewer children share a bedroom.
2 There are more golden weddings.
3 Parents begin to think more about family planning.
4 Doug Spade loses his job as a gravedigger.
5 Children are warmer in bed at night as they have many more brothers and sisters.
6 A mother sobs over the grave of the last of her five children who died in a typhoid
epidemic.
7 A public health inspector smiles as the building of another new sewer is finished.
8 Grandparents are very rare.
9 Many more houses are being built.
10 People are encouraged to emigrate to the colonies.
Stage
1
2
3
4
High stationary
Early expanding
Late expanding
Low stationary
Birth rate
40
Birth and
death
rates (per
1000
people
per year)
30
Death rate
Natural
increase
20
10
Total population
0
Extra
Explain why you placed any three statements where you did.
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The New Wider World Foundation Edition (Second Edition) Teacher’s Resource CD-ROM, © Grant Westoby, Nelson Thornes 2005
pages 8 and 9
1.5
Population structures
The birth rate, death rate and life expectancy all affect the population structure of a country.
1
Q
Read what people have to say about living in a poor, rural village in India. Colour the
sentences about a high birth rate in red and about a short life expectancy in yellow.
2
Q
Read what people have to say about living in the UK. Colour the sentences about a
low birth rate in green and about a long life expectancy in blue.
We live in poverty.
There is only
just enough to eat;
sometimes we have to
go without food.
We have lots of
children to continue
the family name.
Our home is
overcrowded with
poor hygiene and
sanitation.
Having a big family
makes me important
in the village.
One child might get
a job in the city and
send us money.
They will care for us
when we are too old
or ill to work.
We have many children
because so many die from
disease; four of my eight
children died as babies.
My religion forbids
birth control.
Both my parents died
when they were quite
young. My mother died
during a famine.
3
Q
The children help
us work on the
land and to carry
wood and water.
My father caught cholera
from dirty water. There was
no hospital near and we
could not afford medicine.
My parents’ home
has central heating.
They are comfortable.
The National Health
Service cares for
everyone.
We have a good
quality of life.
We have enough to
eat and a good diet.
Having a small
family leaves us
more spare money.
I wanted to return to
my career and not
stay at home.
Both my parents are
still alive. They live
near
a doctor
and
near
toto
a doctor
and
not
farafrom
a
farnot
from
hospital.
hospital. Their home
has central heating.
They are comfortable.
We have pensions
for when we are old.
Birth control limits
the size of our
family. We only
wanted two children.
We expect the
children to have a
long life, free
from disease.
There is enough money
for a car, holidays and
entertainment.
Why do people in the UK have a longer life expectancy than people living in a poor,
rural village in India?
The New Wider World Foundation Edition (Second Edition) Teacher’s Resource CD-ROM, © Grant Westoby, Nelson Thornes 2005
pages 10 and 11
1.6 Population trends
The world’s population is increasing at a very rapid rate. Growth is very much faster in the
poorer countries than in the richer ones. Population changes in a country depend mainly on
the birth and death rates.
1
Q
Study the factors that can affect birth and death rates around the diagram below.
Later
marriages
Education
Food shortages
and starvation
Innoculations
and vaccinations
Improved
water supply
Diseases
Safer working
conditions
Good
harvest
Less smoking and
alcohol consumption
New
hospitals
Poor hygiene
and starvation
Poor
health care
Overcrowding
Less polluting
environment
Lack of
clean water
War
Better diets
Poverty
Children needed
to help with work
Family
planning
2
Q
Birth control
available
Traditions for
larger families
Copy and complete the table below by sorting the factors that affect birth and death
rates into the correct columns. Some factors may fit in more than one column.
Birth rate
High
Extra
Death rate
Low
High
Low
Explain four of the reasons behind your answers.
The New Wider World Foundation Edition (Second Edition) Teacher’s Resource CD-ROM, © Grant Westoby, Nelson Thornes 2005
pages 12 and 13
1.7 Changing population structures
China’s population is very unevenly distributed. It has a low birth rate and an ageing
population.
1
Q
Read what people say about the Chinese government’s ‘one child per family’ policy.
2
Q
Working with a partner, colour the statements for population control in red and
against population control in green.
The government pays for our
child’s schooling. If we had more,
we would have to pay.
Families with only one
child enjoy a higher
standard of living.
With few retirement homes the government expects
families to look after their own elderly relatives.
Couples may have no one to care
for them when they get older.
Without the ‘one child per family’
policy, China’s population would
be much higher than it is now.
The ‘one child per family’ policy has
introduced a new problem to China –
the spoilt, overweight ‘little emperors’.
We have good health
care. Our child will live
to grow up.
Rich farmers are able and willing to
pay fines or bribes to get permission
to have more children.
The government gives us
money because we only have
one child.
Couples living in the countryside
want large families to help with
work in the fields and to look
after them in old age.
There are 300 million
fewer Chinese people
than there would have
been without the ‘one
child per family’ policy.
The quality of education
will suffer if there are too
many children.
We get a pension
because we only have
one child.
If two only-children get married
they are allowed to have two
children of their own.
In some Chinese communities, girls
go to live with their husband’s
family when they get married. If the
girl were an only child, this would
leave her parents with no one to
look after them in their old age.
3
Q
Countryside couples prefer boys
to girls and some are willing to
kill their daughters to make sure
their one child is a boy.
Poor families have ignored the ‘one
child per family’ policy because
they have nothing to lose.
Men will have difficulty later finding
partners because of the shortage of
women.
In your opinion was the Chinese government right to introduce its ‘one child per
family’ policy?
Extra
How would you feel if the British government adopted the same ‘one child per
family’ policy?
The New Wider World Foundation Edition (Second Edition) Teacher’s Resource CD-ROM, © Grant Westoby, Nelson Thornes 2005