Knowledge and Understandings:

• Demographic tools for quantifying human population include crude birth rate (CBR), crude death rate (CDR), total fertility rate (TFR), doubling time (DT) and natural increase rate (NIR). 

• Global human population has followed a rapid growth curve, but there is uncertainty as to how this may be changing. 

• As the human population grows, increased stress is placed on all of the Earth’s systems. 

• Age–gender pyramids and demographic transition models (DTM) can be useful in the prediction of human population growth. The DTM is a model that shows how a population transitions from a pre-industrial stage with high CBRs and CDRs to an economically advanced stage with low or declining CBRs and low CDRs. 

• Influences on human population dynamics include cultural, historical, religious, social, political and economic factors. 

• National and international development policies may also have an impact on human population dynamics. 

Application and Skills:

• Calculate values of CBR, CDR, TFR, DT and NIR. 

• Explain the relative values of CBR, CDR, TFR, DT and NIR. 

• Analyse age–gender pyramids and diagrams showing demographic transition models.

• Discuss the use of models in predicting the growth of human populations. 

• Explain the nature and implications of growth in human populations. 

• Analyse the impact that national and international development policies can have on human population dynamics and growth. 

• Discuss the cultural, historical, religious, social, political and economic factors that influence human population dynamics.  

International-mindedness:

• A country’s development depends on its economy and its demographics. It also depends on the policies of other countries and international organizations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). 

Theory of Knowledge:

• A variety of models and indicators are employed to quantify human population dynamics—to what extent are the methods of the human sciences “scientific”?