Humanities

Year 8
 Population Problems
Learning Objectives

To:

Know the dimensions of population (birth rate, death

rate and natural increase).

Know the problems of balance in populations.

Discuss the issues with ageing and youthful

populations.
How Do We Measure
Population?
Birth Rates and Death Rates
How do we compare how many people there are in
each country?

You are to draw a diagram of global population scales.

Which country has the highest birth rate? Which
country has the lowest?

Which country has the highest death rate? And the

lowest death rate?

What is meant by ‘natural increase’?

Measuring Birth & Death
Rate
The crude birth rate and crude death rate are both
measured by the rate of births or deaths respectively among
a population of 1,000.

The CBR and CDR are determined by taking the total

number of births or deaths in a population and dividing
both values by a number to obtain the rate per 1,000.

For example, if a country has a population of 1 million, and

15,000 babies were born last year in that country, we divide
both the 15,000 and 1,000,000 by 1,000 to obtain the rate
per 1,000. Thus the crude birth rate is 15 per 1,000.
 Why ‘Crude Birth Rate’?
The crude birth rate is called "crude" because it does
not take into account age or sex differences among the
population.

In our hypothetical country, the rate is 15 births for

every 1,000 people, but the likelihood is that around
500 of those 1,000 people are men, and of the 500
who are women, only a certain percentage are capable
of giving birth in a given year.
Imbalance of Populations:
Problems
What are the problems with having an ageing
population?

Can you see any problems in having a shrinking

population?

In your books draw two diagrams highlighting FIVE

problems with each.

Research newspaper headlines and NHS websites for

more information.
Examine birth and
death rates of
Japan, Britain,
Brazil and India.
Calculate their
natural increase.
Do they have
youthful or ageing
populations?