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Reading Guide 1

Population: Canada and the World

Resource: Counterpoints: Exploring Canadian Issues, Chapter 13

Demography

1. How do we gather accurate information about our population?

2. What are the differences between how a “developed country” and a “developing country” may collect census data? Suggest why these differences may exist.

3. Why do demographers use rates per thousand when comparing population data from different countries?

4. What is Canada’s rate of natural increase? How does this compare with a country such as Gabon?

5. Calculate Canada’s doubling time using the rule of 70.

6. Why do immigrants come to Canada?

7. Who usually emigrates?

8. Explain why Canada is a multi-cultural country.

The Demographic Revolution

9. What was the average life expectancy in Europe in the 1600s and 1700s? Why was this so?

10. Why were large families necessary in the past?

11. Why did populations start to rise rapidly after 1750? What contributed to this?

12. Why might the birth rate have started to decline some time after the death rate fell?

13. What is the WHO? How did it contribute to rising population in areas such as Africa?

14. Describe the stages of the demographic transition model.

15. Why is it not necessarily a good model for predicting what will happen to population in Africa?

The Age Structure of Populations

16. List the three groups of people demographers use to describe the age structure of a country.

17. Compare the dependency ratios for Canada and Bangladesh.

18. Look at the models of population pyramids in figures 13-11 and then 13-10 and 13-13. Then identify two countries with rising populations

19. Look at the models of population pyramids in figures 13-11 and then 13-10 and 13-13. Then identify two countries with stable populations.

20. Look at the models of population pyramids in figures 13-11 and then 13-10 and 13-13. Then identify one country whose population may be in decline.

21. What differences are there between Canada’s population pyramid in 1911 and 1996?

22. Why do some people have concerns about the effects a declining under 15 group and a rising over 65 group in Canada?

23. Why do you think the federal government is so keen on attracting immigrants to Canada?

24. What percentage of Japan’s population will be over 65 in 2025?

25. What is the largest population group in India and sub-Saharan African countries? How does this affect the allocation of resources in these countries? Why might this affect the stability of those countries?

Case Study

26. Read the case study about China on pages 329-311. How did China attempt to control it population since 1949; the 1970s; 1980; the late 1980’s

27. How has Chinese population growth affected Canada?

28. Look at figure 13-17. When will China’s population peak?

29. Do you think China’s population will drop to the levels indicated in figure 13-17? Explain.

Where Do 6 Billion People Live?

30. What is the weakness of using crude density when comparing the population of different countries?

31. Describe how the following physical factors can affect population density:

• climate:

• landscape:

• resources:

• soils:

• vegetation:

• water:

• accessibility:

32. Describe how the following human factors can affect population density:

• communications:

• culture:

• development:

• disease:

• government policies:

33. Explain why the nutritional density of land in China is so much greater than Canada’s.

Reading Guide 2

Living Standards

Resource: Counterpoints: Exploring Canadian Issues, Chapter 14

Introduction

1. What three measures compose the UN’s human development index?

2. Describe how a country’s GDP (gross domestic product) is calculated.

3. Comment on the statement in your text that the 200 richest people in the world have as much wealth as the combined income of 41% of the world’s population.

4. Look at figure 14-2. Which regions generally score highest on the Human Development Index?

5. Which regions generally score lowest on the Human Development Index?

The Divided Planet

6. Today other terms are used to describe countries. Define what is meant today by:

• developed country:

• newly industrializing country:

• developing country:

• highly indebted poor country:

7. Describe how the life of a Canadian living in poverty is different from the life of a person living in poverty in a poor country.

8. How does the World Bank define poverty?

9. How did Canada define poverty before 1999? How is it defined today?

The Poverty Trap

10. Despite the world producing enough food to feed its population an estimated 800 million are undernourished. Explain why this might be so.

11. Why were developing countries loaned large sums of money in the 1960s? For what were these loans often used?

12. How did the slow down of the world’s economy in t he 1970s affect these developing countries?

13. Describe the effect of a SAP on Zambia in the 1980s.

14. What is a multi-national company?

15. What has Canada done to help highly indebted poor countries?

The Vulnerable Ones: Women and Children

16. Describe living the living conditions experienced by women and children in many developing countries.

17. Explain the connection between education for women and the fertility rate in developing countries.

18. How might education affect the mortality rates of children?

19. List the five measures that make up the child risk index of the UNICEF Progress of Nations report.

20. Why do so many children in developing countries die before age 5?

21. What is wrong with children becoming involved as fighters in armed conflicts?

22. Describe how children in developing countries can be exploited in the workplace.

The Health Crisis

23. How many people do not have access to safe water?

24. What are the effects of contaminated water on health according to the World Health Organization?

25. Canada has lots of clean water. Does it have an obligation to share it with the world? Explain.

26. What is a pandemic?

27. How is the AIDS pandemic affecting the population and economy of Africa?

28. How does the AIDS pandemic affect Canada?

Solutions

29. How much money is spent per year on military forces?

30. What would be the impact of spending 10% of what is spent on armaments on world health issues?

31. Why is tied aid often criticized?

32. Discuss how something as cheap and simple as a few grams of iodized salt can have an impact on the health of people.

33. What are NGOs?

34. Explain why the projects of NGOs are often more effective than large government sponsored projects.

Reading Guide 3

Urbanization

Resource: Counterpoints: Exploring Canadian Issues, Chapter 15

1. Define urbanization.

2. What countries are currently experiencing urbanization?

Global Urbanization

3. What contributed to the movement of people from rural areas to the cities?

4. Define in-migration.

5. What are shanty towns? Why do they occur around cities in developing countries?

6. Describe the problems faced by cities in developing nations.

7. Suggest how the problems of street children should be addressed in Canadian cities.

8. Suggest how the problems of street children should be addressed in cities in developing nations.

9. List five arguments against cities continuing to expand into the countryside around them.

10. What qualities are required to make a city sustainable?

11. How might cities make better use of energy?

12. What impacts would more efficient transportation modes have on cities?

13. How could cities become less dependant on “imported” food?

14. What benefits would a city gain if it encouraged greater recycling?

Patterns in Economic Development

Resource: Counterpoints: Exploring Canadian Issues, Chapter 16

Introduction

1. Why is there economic disparity between the regions of Canada?

Economic Development in Canada

2. Define economy.

3. Define the following terms and give an example of each.

• natural resources:

• primary industry:

• secondary industry:

• tertiary industry:

4. Examine figure 16-7. Which type of industry employs the most people in our province?

Economic Change

5. On what sort of activities does a traditional economy depend?

6. Define subsistence agriculture.

7. What sort of infrastructure is required by a developing country?

Development Factors

8. List four factors that encouraged the development of the economies of countries such as Canada, the United States, Great Britain and Japan.

9. List four factors that appear to inhibit economic development.

Environment

Resource: Counterpoints: Exploring Canadian Issues, Chapter 17

Introduction

1. What impacts has man’s activities had on the environment?

2. Define biosphere.

Population and Resources

3. Why is an increase in the world’s population not as harmful to the biosphere if it occurs in the developing nations rather than in the developed nations?

4. What do some scientists fear if we continue to conduct human activities as we have in the past?

5. What did the UN Commission on the State of the Environment ask of the developed world?

6. What was Agenda 21? Why do you think it had no impact?

Water: the Indispensable Resource

7. What is ground water?

8. Why might rivers such as the Ganges in India and the Colorado in the United States run dry before they reach the sea?

9. What is an aquifer?

10. Why is it often cheaper to use ground water for irrigation than surface water?

11. What is the drawback to using ground water from an aquifer?

12. Read the case study on pages 426 – 427. How long did it take the Ogallala Aquifer to fill? How long will it take to be emptied?

13. Define the term water table.

14. How may the falling water table affect agriculture in parts of India?

15. How is surface water abused in Canada?

16. How can the use of water be made more efficient?

17. Should the use of ground water be taxed? Explain.

18. Canada has a large percentage of the world’s supply of fresh water. Do we have an obligation to share it? Explain.

Change is in the Air

19. What is ozone?

20. Where in the atmosphere does it collect. (See figure 17-11)

21. How does the ozone layer benefit living organisms?

22. What has been happening to the ozone layer over the last 20 – 30 years?

23. What may have caused this?

24. What was the 1987 Montreal Protocol?

25. How long may it take for the ozone layer to recover even if we stop using ozone depleting chemicals?

26. What may be causing global warming?

27. What effects does global warming have on the earth’s environment?

28. What is the Kyoto Protocol?

29. How might Canada reduce its emission of green house gases?

30. Explain why Canada with a population of only 30 million can have a significant impact on global pollution levels.

Agriculture and Soil

31. What is meant by the term desertification?

32. What factors contributed to the desertification of the Sahel region of Africa?

33. What lessons about preventing desertification were learned in the dust bowl years in North America?

34. What happened to the land in the Amazon after the rainforest was removed?

35. Why are chemicals used so extensively in modern farming?

36. What hazards do these chemicals present to the environment and people?

37. Why are plants genetically modified?

38. What potential benefit does Professor Blumwell of the University of Toronto suggest may come from the use of genetically modified plants?

39. What is David Suzuki’s argument against genetically modifying food plants?

40. Who do you think is right? Explain.

Declining Forests

41. Define biodiversity.

42. How do tropical forests affect the atmosphere?

43. Why are tropical rainforests being cleared?

44. What happens to the soil after a tropical rainforest is cleared?

45. What can happen to the rivers downstream from a cleared rainforest?

46. Define the term boreal.

47. Describe the extent of Canada’s forests. Why are they valuable to Canada? What is threatening their continued existence?

48. To what does the term stewardship refer?

49. How might we slow the destruction of our forests?

One Step Forward, One Step Back?

50. List ways in which Canada has become more successful in protecting the environment since the 1992 Earth Summit.

51. List areas in which Canada still needs to improve its efforts to protect the environment.

52. How has Canada lost ground in its efforts to protect the environment?

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