Monday:
1. Lecture on demographics and population studies.
2. Distribute readings for the week:
- Wanting a Daughter, Needing a Son reading
- Weaving the World Together about the Chinese diaspora: http://www.economist.com/node/21538700
These readings should be annotated and brought to class by Thursday.
3. Demographic videos/stories:
- China’s Aging Population (World Business Video)
- Demography is Destiny? (The Economist)
- China’s population: Peak Toil
Tuesday: China by the Numbers: an Infographic
(What is an infographic? Or look at one specifically on China here…)
Meet in the LMC. In pairs (or by yourself if you are absent) you will be creating an infographic titled “China by the Numbers.” It should contain at minimum 4 graphical displays (maps, population pyramids, etc.) and 6 numeric displays (ie. rates, %s, etc.) Be sure each is explained with a clear heading. You may use butcher block paper from school, side of a cardboard box, science fair poster, etc. Gallery walk on Thursday which is when these are due.
Consider a variety of datasets about China. What data profiles can we create about China? Complete the Data collection organizer.
- Nation Master: a comprehensive site offering data on everything from education and population to health and geography
- World Bank Data
you can access a range of topics here including health, education, poverty, income, etc. - National Bureau of Statistics (translate it if you need to…)
offers a range of statistics listed by country including energy, agriculture, population, etc. - International Programs, US Census
displays demographic data including population , fertility, etc. choose Latin America and Caribbean from the “select region” part of the page, then choose “submit”
- Population Pyramids from the United Nations
past and present population pyramids; note: you can search by country but may need to press “stop” to pause the image for savingIf their server is down, try this site instead. OR use the US Census site and choose population pyramids from the “Select Report” drop down menu. - The World Factbook by the CIA
data about nations including economic, military, etc. listed by individual country - International Statistical Agencies
this site includes links to agencies within countries similar to the US Census; in other words, what agency collects data about its population within that given country - World Mapper
this is a comparative site showing you the relative status of a country given a range of indicators
Wednesday: Continue working on your infographic. These should be completed in time for class tomorrow. Remember you need to either work on pairs for one infographic, or complete it by yourself. If you finish today, work on doing your readings for tomorrow. We’ll have a discussion in class tomorrow on the readings and have a gallery walk of the infographics.
Thursday:
1. Gallery walk with inforgraphics. Using a 9 x 3 grid collect data from group demographics. What story can we tell from these infographics?
2. Current Events presentations.
1. China by the Numbers narrative. Write a 1 page narrative on a demographic theme of your choice using the data collected from yours or other students’ infographics. Think about what a Wikipedia entry might be on the theme. For example, China by the Numbers: Education. What do the data points about education tell us about China? You may include explanations of your data as well as analysis about what the data means for the country as a whole. Due Monday.
2. Demography readings. For each, mark-up the text using the following prompts: 1) Vocab-circle any and all vocabulary you think was fabulously chosen or is unclear. Look it up and write the definition down if you don’t know it; 2) Nutshell sentence. At the end of each numbered page, write a one-sentence summary of what the reading is saying to you; what does it mean? 3) Number each of the paragraphs.
- Wanting a Daughter, Needing a Son reading
- Weaving the World Together about the Chinese diaspora: http://www.economist.com/node/21538700
- One Child Policy from A to Z China
Friday: Mr. Wang will be guest speaking on calligraphy and other aspects of China. Some of you may have seen the impact of his visit with Ms. Drews’ students last semester. Their artwork is on display outside the main office.
Related Resources
China’s population density map by province
Related articles
- China’s demographic dividend disappearing: expert (wantchinatimes.com)
- Data on the Foreign Born and Immigrants (lawprofessors.typepad.com)
- China Hits Key Demographic Ceiling As Working-Age Population Now Declining (zerohedge.com)
