poor and sick vs. healthy and wealthy

According to the late, great Hans Rosling, things are looking up.

Professor Rosling gave us a unique visualization of population and income trends over the last 200 years, and he came to an optimistic conclusion. In his words, we have become "an entirely new, converging world," one where "everyone can make it to the healthy, wealthy corner."

Some of today's discussion centered on that assertion, with many of you agreeing that "aid, trade, green technology, and peace" will carry the day, with others noting the continued presence of war and the diminishing success of green technology making the future look less rosy.

In any case, I'm hoping that the concepts we are learning continue to spark thinking about the world you are inheriting from us.

more work with Population Pyramids

Today's sections took a close look at the TED-Ed video on Population Pyramids. I was very impressed during the class discussions how many terms you recognized from our previous lessons. 

New terms you will want to become familiar with include:

• Industrial Revolution
• Demographic Transition
• pre-reproductive ages
• reproductive ages
• post-reproductive ages
• pre-industrial
• industrial
• post-industrial

the end (of the first quarter) is near

The last day of the first quarter is Friday. Basically, all of the grades have been entered in Human Geo, with the exception of this week's and last week's blogs.

So far this week we have reviewed the most recent test (on Population and Settlement/Migration) and begun looking at Population Pyramids. For your convenience, I have posted links (found to the right) to PopulationPyramid.net, and to a great TED-ED presentation on population pyramids. Feel free to check them out at your leisure.

test tomorrow!

Tomorrow's test on Population and Migration is quite ace-able. What do you need to do to be successful on the test?

• Get familiar with navigating the CIA World Factbook. A good strategy might be to re-do the 21 questions from earlier this week and see how quickly you can do them.
• Bring a fully charged computer. You will have 20 minutes to look up 12 questions. That should be enough time, but not if you only have 5% battery life. Be ready!
• Know the terms we have been discussing in class. The Population and Settlement slideshow is posted just to the right of this post. Click it and review it.
• Be ready to do some math, which means you need to know the formulas for calculating Net Migration Rate and Rate of Natural Increase.
• Know the concept behind pull forces and push forces, and be ready to apply that to different nations.

Thorough preparation, as detailed above, will help you succeed on this 100-point test!

working with the CIA today

In class today the Honors sections used the CIA World Factbook to explore our world.

It is hoped that this exercise made you familiar with navigating the Factbook website. There is an amazing variety of information there, but it helps to know where you are looking.

I would also hope that you were able to make some connections between the terms and concepts we have been learning in class and the way things actually are in the real world.

in class exercise with the CIA World Factbook

This exercise is meant to get you familiar with the CIA World Factbook. Answer each question in a complete sentence. For example: "The population of the United States is 329,256,465." Enter the answers in your blog.

ONLY use the CIA World Factbook to answer these questions.

This exercise should be completed for homework if you do not finish in class. It also counts as tonight's blog assignment. Have fun!

1. What is the population of China, and of India? 

2. What is the Total Fertility Rate in Japan?

3. What is the death rate in El Salvador?
4. What percentage of the French identify “none” as their religion? Is this statistic verifiable, and why?
5. What percentage of Mexicans identify themselves as Roman Catholic?
6. What is the GDP - per capita (PPP) in the United States?
7. What is the GDP - per capita (PPP) in Nigeria?
8. What is the GDP - per capita (PPP) in Luxembourg?

9. What percentage of the United States’ population are Internet users?

10. What is the number of airports in Russia, and in the United States?

11. How many people in the world do not have electricity?

12. What is the Infant Mortality Rate in Canada, Cuba, and the United States? 
13. What is the literacy rate - total, for men, and for women - in Afghanistan?
14. What three countries have the highest life expectancy?
15. What three countries have the lowest life expectancy?
16. What nation has the sixteenth highest Net Migration Rate?
17. What is the unemployment rate in Vietnam, South Korea, the United States, India and Kenya?
18. Military Expenditures are listed by the percentage of each nation's GDP spent on defense.

What percentage is spent by Germany, China, and the United States?

19. What three countries produce the most crude oil, and how much do they produce?

20. What three countries import the most crude oil, and how much do they import?

21. What percentage of the world’s people speak Spanish? Chinese? English?

test coming soon

An important announcement for all of you (at least the ones who read my blog...):

We will test on Population and Settlement (Migration) next Friday, October 25.

The test will cover our discussions of birth and death rates, RNI, immigration and emigration, mortality rates, and the other terms posted on my blog of October 17.  The test will also include use of the CIA World Factbook, which we will cover in class next week. So if you want to get a jump on that part of the test, I recommend going to the CIA World Factbook and getting familiar with the site, especially the People and Society section.

important terms and concepts

Want to know what important terms will be on the next test? Here's a few!

Crude Death Rate     Total Fertility Rate      Crude Birth Rate 

Unemployment Rate Net Migration Rate Population Growth Rate

Infant Mortality Rate    Maternal Mortality Rate   Rate of Natural Increase

Life Expectancy     GDP Per Capita     Population Pyramid

Life Expectancy

After a big three-day weekend, the two Honors sections met today. The topic of the discussion was Life Expectancy, the average number of years to be lived by a group of people born in the same year. The "born in the same year" part is important, as we spent some class time comparing Americans born in the late 1950s (me) with those born in 2004 or 2005 (all of you). Factors that are contributing to a longer life expectancy include improvements in medicine (such as the widespread use of vaccines) and a reduction in the consumption of cigarettes. Shorter life expectancies may be attributed to the popularity of processed foods and fast-foods, along with the current use of vaping with a new generation.

Don't forget: no classes tomorrow, since you will be taking your PSAT tests Wednesday morning.

the new unit begins

In studying population and settlement, we will be taking the geographic and map skills we have learned so far, and applying them to real-world situations, problems, and challenges.

Terms you will want to be familiar with include:

• life expectancy
• birth rate
• death rate
• Rate of Natural Increase (RNI)
• infant mortality rate
• immigrant
• emigrant
• Net Migration Rate
• Total Fertility Rate (TFR)
• push forces
• pull forces

And, as always, there will be the Key Issues to consider:

• Where is the world's population distributed?
• Why is global population increasing?
• Why does population growth vary among regions?
• Why do some nations face health threats?

Spirit Week rolls on...

The halls were filled with babies, toddlers, old folks, and everything in between today. There really is nothing like Spirit Week at John Carroll.

There's nothing like reviewing tests in Human Geography, either. Today we went over the map test, covering latitude and longitude coordinates, time zones, and (dramatic pause) absolute and relative locations. That topic got one of the classes pretty fired up, and a terrific discussion ensued. This necessitated an adjustment on my part, resulting in a change to your grade. Tomorrow (Friday) when we are back in school I will adjust your grades in Veracross, giving you credit for two more correct responses. Also tomorrow, I will return and review tests with Honors 102.

After that, it is on to Population and Settlement in earnest. See you soon!

five weeks down, around thirty to go...

Time flies when you're having fun!


Today's class featured a spirited debate in Honors 102 over the advantages and disadvantages of using the current time zone system, versus replacing it with Universal Time. Some eloquently stated arguments were presented on both sides!


SuperHumanGeo had a very brief assessment/review of latitude & longitude & time zones & site & situation, all to prepare for Monday's test on this material. (The Honors sections will test on Tuesday.)

Have a great weekend, and we will see you next week for Spirit Week!

more student-authored test questions

Our SuperHumanGeo class met today, and spent class time submitting possible test questions for next Monday's test, covering everything from site and situation to latitude and longitude and time zones. They also got their map quizzes back, with lots of smiles to go around (nice work!).

Honors 101 reviewed their contributions to the next test. Then we performed a timed assessment to get even more prepared for the real thing next Monday.

Honors 102 did not meet today, but I am posting the Speech and Communication Rubric in the Links for Learning sidebar for your review as you prepare for Friday's class debate.

student-led test building, and preparing for a time zone debate

Two sections met today, engaging in somewhat different activities.

Honors 101 submitted possible test questions for the next assessment, covering everything from site and situation to latitude and longitude and time zones.

Honors 102, fresh off Tuesday's salty discussion about abolishing time zones, began to research the two sides of this debate: should the world continue to use the time zone system, or has the time come to get rid of this complicated fiasco and switch to "Universal Time"?

quizzes and time zones

Overall, all three sections did well on today's map quiz. Results were posted on Veracross right after school (in record time, I might add) in case you want to see how you did. The test was taken AFTER grades were downloaded at 8:30 this morning, so they did not impact the MQRs.

As I post this blog, it's 9:30 pm in Harford County, and 2:30 am Wednesday in Greenwich, England. Time for all of us to get some sleep!