African
Population Project
A collaborative effort between Colorado State University and
Poudre School District.
Approximately 10 percent of the total world population
lives in Africa, which is equal to 1/5 the total land area.
Cairo, Egypt
The population in Africa is growing at a rate of 3 percent
per year, which is faster than any other region of world. This growth
rate is associated with an increase in the population younger than 15 years
of age.
A market in the Congo Basin.
Wide variations in density occur from country to country
in Africa.
A village at the base of Djebel Toubkal in Morocco.
A city located near the Oued Dades River in Morocco.
Kanyabayonga, a town in the mountains of Eastern Zaire.
These distributions are dependent upon many factors including
climate, vegetation, and political boundaries.
Sahara Desert
The Serengeti, Tanzania
Zaire: A view of Kanyabayonga, with Uganda in the distance.
The goal of this project is to provide high school students
with an interactive geography lesson that they find interesting.
Basic concepts in population dynamics are covered and an introduction to
ArcView
and spatial information is provided. Geographical
Information System (GIS) data layers representing total population, population
density, and population growth rates are used to visualize present and
future patterns of population distribution. Then, GIS data layers
showing precipitation, vegetation, hydrology, and political boundaries
are used to evaluate factors that contribute to those distributions.
Key Terms
Metadata
Student Information
Teacher Information
Lesson 1: Introduction to ArcView
Lesson 2: Population Density
Lesson 3: Growth Rates
Lesson 4: Population Distribution
Created by
Erin Poston
eposton@cnr.colostate.edu
K-12 Partner
Doug Elliott
Last Updated: December 8, 2000
