pages 4 and 5

1.1 Population density

Vast areas have Places that are

Places with hardly any people living
few people have a crowded have a
in them whilst other high population density.
low population density. areas seem to be very
They are sparsely These places are
crowded. densely populated.
populated.

World population distribution

Northern Canada Europe Himalayan mountains

• Too cold for people • Low-lying and gently sloping • Too cold for people
•Frozen ground makes settlement • Pleasant climate • Steep slopes are bad for settlement
and communications difficult • Good water supply and soil for and communications
• Poor, thin soil unsuitable for crops farming • Poor, thin soil unsuitable for crops
Sparsely populated • Easy communications and many Sparsely populated
resources for industry
Densely populated

1 dot represents
100,000 people

Amazon rainforest Bangladesh Central Australia

• Too hot and wet for people • Low-lying and flat • Too hot and dry for people
• Dense forest makes settlement • Hot and wet with rich, fertile soil • Too dry and too little soil for
and communications difficult makes ideal farming conditions crops to grow
Sparsely populated Densely populated Sparsely populated

The map above shows how unevenly people are spread around the world.

Q
1 On the map, colour the densely populated areas in red, and the sparsely
populated areas in green.

Q
2 Compare the reasons for dense and sparse population. Complete a copy of
the table below, which has been started for you.

Location Reason Sparse population Dense population

Amazon Climate Too hot and wet.
rainforest Terrain 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.

Q
1 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

Q
2 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 Positive factor

Lack of investment 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.

Q
1 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

Q
2 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 Key

surface

Water 70%

Desert 6%

Too cold 6%

Mountains 5%

Forest 5%

Cannot grow food 5%

Ideal for people 3%

Total 100%

Extra 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

Death rate
Birth and 30
death
rates (per Natural
1000 20 increase
people
per year)
10 Total population

Extra Explain why you placed any three statements where you did.

.....................................................................................................................................................................................
.....................................................................................................................................................................................
.....................................................................................................................................................................................

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.

Q
1 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.

Q
2 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.

My parents’ home
We live in poverty. There is only has central heating.
just enough to eat; They are comfortable.
sometimes we have to
We have lots of go without food.
children to continue The National Health
Service cares for We have a good
the family name. Our home is quality of life.
everyone.
overcrowded with
poor hygiene and
sanitation. Having a small
Having a big family family leaves us
makes me important We have enough to
in the village. eat and a good diet. more spare money.

One child might get

They will care for us a job in the city and
send us money. We have pensions
when we are too old I wanted to return to for when we are old.
or ill to work. my career and not
stay at home.
The children help Birth control limits
We have many children us work on the the size of our
because so many die from land and to carry family. We only
disease; four of my eight Both my parents are
wood and water. wanted two children.
children died as babies. still alive. They live
near
near toto a doctor
a doctor and
and not
My father caught cholera farnot
fromfarafrom a
hospital. We expect the
from dirty water. There was hospital. Their home
My religion forbids children to have a
no hospital near and we has central heating.
birth control. could not afford medicine. long life, free
They are comfortable.
from disease.

Both my parents died There is enough money

when they were quite
young. My mother died for a car, holidays and
during a famine. entertainment.

Q
3 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.

Q
1 Study the factors that can affect birth and death rates around the diagram below.

Later Food shortages

Education marriages 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
Birth control
available
Family Traditions for
planning larger families

Q
2 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 Death rate

High Low High Low

Extra 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.

Q
1 Read what people say about the Chinese government’s ‘one child per family’ policy.

Q
2 Working with a partner, colour the statements for population control in red and
against population control in green.

The government pays for our Families with only one With few retirement homes the government expects
child’s schooling. If we had more, child enjoy a higher families to look after their own elderly relatives.
we would have to pay. standard of living.
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 Rich farmers are able and willing to
to grow up. pay fines or bribes to get permission
to have more children.

The government gives us

Couples living in the countryside
money because we only have
want large families to help with
one child.
work in the fields and to look
after them in old age.

There are 300 million

fewer Chinese people The quality of education
than there would have will suffer if there are too
been without the ‘one many children.
child per family’ policy.
We get a pension
because we only have
If two only-children get married one child.
they are allowed to have two
children of their own.
Countryside couples prefer boys
to girls and some are willing to
kill their daughters to make sure
In some Chinese communities, girls their one child is a boy.
go to live with their husband’s
family when they get married. If the
girl were an only child, this would Poor families have ignored the ‘one Men will have difficulty later finding
leave her parents with no one to child per family’ policy because partners because of the shortage of
look after them in their old age. they have nothing to lose. women.

Q
3 In your opinion was the Chinese government right to introduce its ‘one child per
family’ policy?

How would you feel if the British government adopted the same ‘one child per
Extra
family’ policy?

The New Wider World Foundation Edition (Second Edition) Teacher’s Resource CD-ROM, © Grant Westoby, Nelson Thornes 2005