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| Exploring Growth Factors in Population Data
How and why populations grow are key questions in environmental science. In this exercise, you examine and graph current world population data to explore which factors most strongly correlate with birth rates. Double click on this Excel data file  popdata
(51.0K)
and copy it to your hard disk. If you have Excel on your computer, you should be able to open the data file by double-clicking on it. (Other spreadsheet programs can also read this file, but you must open it from within your program, not by double-clicking.)
2. Now make an X,Y scatter graph of Adult Literacy and Birth Rate. (Detailed instructions for making graphs in Excel are included at the far right side of the spreadsheet page [column N].) How would you describe the relationship between these variables? How would you explain this relationship? Keep this graph in your spreadsheet while you make three more scatter graphs: (1) GNP per Capita and Birth Rate, (2) Life Expectancy and Birth Rate, and (3) Infant Mortality and Birth Rate. Describe the trends you observe, and explain what they mean. 3. How would you compare the relative amount of scatter in each of your graphs? Why do some curves slope from right to left, while others slope in the opposite direction? If you draw a line through the middle of the dot cluster, some curve smoothly, while others seem to have a break or inflection point. How would you interpret these patterns? 4. Try changing the shape of your graphs. (See instructions on the right side of the spreadsheet to do this.) Would manipulating the graph shape change how people interpret it? Is this ethical? 5. Now make a dot graph of GNP Per Capita and Adult Literacy. Is there a linear relationship between the two variables? Why or why not? |