AP Human Geography AMSCO Guided Notes

Chapter 4: Population Change

AP Human Geography
AMSCO Guided Notes

AP Human Geography Guided Notes

AMSCO 2.4 - Population Change

Essential Questions

  1. What are the factors that account for contemporary and historical trends in population growth and decline?
  2. How does the demographic transition model explain population growth and decline?
  3. How does Malthusian theory explain population growth and decline?
  4. What are the intent and the effects of population and immigration policies on population size and composition?
  5. What are the demographic consequences due to the changing role of women in different parts of the world?
  6. What are the causes and consequences of an aging population?
I. Population Dynamics

1. What is the demographic balancing equation and what four variables does it include?

2. How do crude birth rate (CBR) and total fertility rate (TFR) differ in what they measure?

A. Population Change

1. How has world population growth changed since 1800, and what does the UN predict for 2100?

2. What trend does U.S. population growth show from 1790 to 2020, and how has the rate of growth changed?

B. Measuring the Number of Births

1. Why is total fertility rate (TFR) considered a more accurate reflection of cultural norms than crude birth rate (CBR)?

2. How has total fertility rate changed historically, and what explains the high TFR in pre-1800 Europe despite slow population growth?

C. Life Expectancy

1. What is the relationship between life expectancy and population growth, and how has global life expectancy changed over the past century?

2. How does infant mortality rate affect life expectancy, and what factors have reduced infant mortality?

D. Global Population Increase

1. What economic, political, and technological changes have contributed to increased life expectancy?

E. Better Food Production and Nutrition

1. What agricultural advances over the past 250 years have improved food security and life expectancy?

2. How did increased farming efficiency affect urbanization and the structure of rural communities?

F. Advances in Public Sanitation

1. How did the creation of sewer systems and water treatment plants reduce mortality in industrial cities?

2. What role did public sanitation departments play in reducing disease transmission?

G. Improvements in Healthcare

1. How did Edward Jenner's work with vaccination lead to the eradication of smallpox and development of other vaccines?

2. What impact did antibiotics, particularly penicillin, have on mortality rates and life expectancy?

3. How have improvements in medical procedures extended life expectancy for both mothers and patients with serious illnesses?

H. Rate of Population Increase

1. What is the rate of natural increase (RNI) and how is it calculated using crude birth rate and crude death rate?

2. How do RNI rates differ between more-developed and less-developed countries?

I. Population Doubling Time

1. What is the difference between arithmetic growth and exponential growth, and which type has characterized global population since 1800?

2. How does the Rule of 70 help demographers estimate population doubling time?

II. The Demographic Transition Model

1. What is the demographic transition model and what five stages does it describe?

2. How do birth rates and death rates change across the five stages of the DTM?

A. The Demographic Transition Model

1. What economic and social changes drive countries through the stages of the demographic transition model?

2. How does the natural increase rate change across the five stages of the DTM?

B. Demographic Transition and Population Pyramids

1. How does the shape of a population pyramid reflect the stage of demographic transition a country is in?

2. What does an expansive population pyramid indicate about birth rates and life expectancy?

3. What is demographic momentum and why does population continue to grow even after fertility rates decline?

C. Policy Implications

1. What different resource challenges do Stage 2-3 countries face compared to Stage 4-5 countries?

D. DTM at Different Scales of Analysis

1. How can the demographic transition model be applied at regional or local scales within a country?

E. Evaluation of the Demographic Transition Model

1. Why does the DTM explain the experiences of Western Europe, the United States, and Japan better than less-developed countries?

2. What factors limit the applicability of the DTM to less-developed countries today?

F. Epidemiological Transition Model

1. What is the epidemiological transition model and how does it extend the demographic transition model?

2. How do the causes of death change across the five stages of the epidemiological transition model?

3. How did the COVID-19 pandemic challenge assumptions of the epidemiological transition model?

III. Malthusian Theory

1. What did Thomas Malthus predict about the relationship between food production and population growth?

A. Food Production and Population Growth

1. How did Malthus believe food production and population would grow differently, and what did he predict would result?

2. What checks did Malthus believe would limit population growth if people could not voluntarily reduce births?

B. Alternative Views

1. Why did the famines predicted by Malthus not occur?

2. How does Boserup theory differ from Malthusian theory in its view of population growth?

C. Malthusian Theory Today

1. What do neo-Malthusians argue about current and future population growth?

2. How could the Sahel region of Africa represent a Malthusian scenario?

IV. Population Policies

1. What are antinatalist and pronatalist policies, and what do they aim to accomplish?

A. Government Programs to Reduce Population Growth

1. What was China's 'later, longer, fewer' policy and what effects did it have on fertility rates?

2. What was China's One-child policy and what unintended consequences did it create?

3. How did gender preference in Chinese culture interact with the One-child policy to create demographic imbalances?

B. Gender Preference

1. Why do some cultures prefer male children, and what demographic consequences has this created in countries like China and India?

2. What structural changes does the World Health Organization recommend to increase the perceived value of girls?

C. Revision of One-Child Policy

1. Why did China modify its One-child policy in 2016, and what concerns prompted this change?

2. What other targeted population-control programs have countries used besides comprehensive policies like China's?

D. Policies to Encourage Population Growth

1. Why have some highly developed countries adopted pronatalist policies, and what specific programs do they offer?

2. How has Singapore's population policy changed over time, and what does this reveal about shifting demographic priorities?

3. How can immigration policy be used as a tool to influence population growth and composition?

V. Women and Demographic Change

1. How have changing roles and opportunities for women affected fertility rates worldwide?

A. Changes in Fertility

1. What factors caused Europeans beginning in the mid-18th century to have fewer children?

2. How did industrialization and urbanization contribute to lower fertility rates?

B. Role of Women in Society

1. How has increased education for women affected fertility rates and marriage age?

2. What relationship exists between years of schooling for girls and total fertility rate in Ghana?

C. Family Planning

1. How have access to family planning methods and changes in technology affected fertility rates in developed countries?

2. How do religious and cultural values influence attitudes toward family planning and fertility rates?

3. What combination of factors has proven most powerful in reducing total fertility rates?

D. Political Changes

1. How have women's expanding roles in politics and government coincided with demographic changes?

2. Why is women's participation in political and cultural positions significant for family planning policy?

VI. Aging Populations

1. What are the two primary reasons for increasing average ages in populations worldwide?

A. Causes of Aging Populations

1. How have improvements in healthcare and basic services contributed to increasing life expectancy in both developed and less-developed countries?

2. How do declining crude birth rates contribute to aging populations across generations?

B. Effects of Aging Populations

1. How do political priorities and voting patterns differ between aging and younger populations?

2. What social and economic challenges do families face as people live longer and move away from their home regions?

3. What economic costs and benefits result from an aging population?

C. Dependency Ratio

1. What is the dependency ratio and how is it calculated?

2. How does the dependency ratio change as a population ages, and what challenges does this create?

Key Terms

demographic balancing equation

immigrants

emigrants

crude birth rate (CBR)

total fertility rate (TFR)

life expectancy

infant mortality rate

crude death rate (CDR)

rate of natural increase (RNI)

population doubling time

demographic transition model

epidemiological transition model

demographic momentum

Malthusian theory

overpopulation

Boserup theory

neo-Malthusians

antinatalist policies

pronatalist policies

dependency ratio

dependent population