Review Topics


Comprehension
Understanding the problem; visualizing a solution.
Questions
  1. Do you think it would be useful to be able to predict future population? Why?
  2. Do you think the population is increasing faster now than it did 100 years ago?
  3. What do you think are some important factors that influence population growth?
  4. What do you think are some of the important consequence of population growth?

Acquisition
Learn or review mathematical concepts and skills needed to study population change. See the menu at the left.

Application

Information
The table below gives world population for selected years.

Year
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
1995
1999

Population
(Billions)

2.555
3.039
3.708
4.855
5.284
5.691
6.003

  1. What patterns do you observe from this information?
  2. Approximately how much is the world population growing each year?
  3. Make points out of the data. Use a (t,P) coordinate system where t = 0 in 2000 and P is the world population, in billions. Plot the points on a (t,P) coordinate system.
  4. Use linear regression to write a linear function P(t) which best fits the data. Say in your own words exactly what P(t) describes.
  5. What is the slope of P(t)? Describe in your own words what this number means.
  6. Use the function P(t) to answer the following questions
    1. Estimate the world population in 1997
    2. Predict the world population in 2003.
    3. Predict when the population will reach 7 billion.
    4. Estimate the world population the year you were born.
  7. For what years do you think your function is appropriate? What does that mean in terms of the domain of the function?
Reflection
  1. Reflect on the computation
    1. What did you do to predict the population at a given time?
    2. What did you do to predict when the population will reach a given level?
  2. Reflect on the algebra
    1. What are the units for the slope?
    2. What does the vertical intercept tell you?
  3. Reflect on the accuracy of your model
    1. Update the information on world population. See www.census.gov for more information.
    2. Compute a new regression equation using the updated information.
    3. Does your new equation predict a faster, slower or same annual rate of change?
    4. What factors do you think would lead to increased population growth? decreased growth?