[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-595412-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":80,"doc-detail-595412-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":73,"head_meta":75,"extra_data":77,"updated_unix":79},105,"en","a-classroom-activity-to-illustrate-the-demographic-transition","A Classroom Activity to Illustrate the Demographic Transition","","A classroom exercise explains the demographic transition as nations become more urban and wealthy, emphasizing the generational decline in family size. Students contribute data on the number of children in their own family generations, then the class pools, normalizes, and graphically analyzes the results. The activity supports inquiry into why and how human population biology changes, linking observed trends to factors affecting fertility and population dynamics.",{"@graph":14,"@context":72},[15,34,55],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/a-classroom-activity-to-illustrate-the-demographic-transition/595412/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/a-classroom-activity-to-illustrate-the-demographic-transition/595412.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Blitz","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":22},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",{"@type":56,"mainEntity":57},"FAQPage",[58,64,68],{"name":59,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":61},"What concept does the classroom activity focus on?","Question",{"text":62,"@type":63},"The activity focuses on the demographic transition, characterized by increased wealth and lifespan along with decreasing family size across generations.","Answer",{"name":65,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":66},"What data do students provide in the exercise?",{"text":67,"@type":63},"Students provide numbers of children (generation size) in their own families for self, parents, and grandparents, with responses pooled for class analysis.",{"name":69,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":70},"How are the collected data analyzed?",{"text":71,"@type":63},"A spreadsheet is used to normalize responses into percentages across generation categories and to generate graphs as data are entered, helping students interpret trends.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":74,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":76,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":78,"site_id":7},595412,1792081094,{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":82},"success",[83,87,91,95,100,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":84,"show_sort_weight":85,"slug":86},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":88,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":90},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":92,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":96,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":131},{"doc_id":78,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":22,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":33,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":79,"read_time":123,"preview_page_count":4},24464137899374,"https://us-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_3d24733baf745e90a7e4bdd5f77d97b2","A Classroom Activity to Illustrate the Demographic Transition  \nPaul Weihe  \nCentral College  \n812 University \\#015  \nPella, IA 50219  \n[Email: weihep@central.edu](Email: weihep@central.edu)  \nAbstract: A discussion of the Demographic Transition is included in many Environmental Biology or Environmental Science classes. The Demographic Transition occurs as a nation becomes more urban and wealthy, and was widely observed in the twentieth century. The phenomenon includes decreasing family size (fewer children) across generations. In this classroom exercise, students provide numbers of children in past and future generations in their own families, and then the class analyzes the pooled data and hypothesizes why and how this change in human population biology occurs.  \nKeywords: human population, demographic transition, classroom investigation, inquiry, student data collection  \nIntroduction  \nThe human population is a topic of interest inmost Environmental Biology, Environmental Science, and similar courses. Instructors have various classroom or laboratory activities available to explore population models (Moore and Holt 1973), including using computer simulation with packages like STELLA (Bice 2001, Bossel 1994, McKelvey 1995) or EXTEND (Odum and Odum 2000) . Protocols using small organisms such as Duckweed (Lemna)(DeBuhr 1991, Jeffries 1991) or protistans (Glase and Zimmerman 1991) also exist. Many ecology classes examine survivorship curves or other aspects of human demography by collecting data in cemeteries (Flood and Horn 199 1) .  \nTo appreciate human population dynamics, one must consider factors beyond population growth models. Although subject to biological constraints, human population biology is complicated by religious, cultural, economic, and other factors unknown in other organisms. For example, the population biology of a human society changes as it becomes more urban and industrial. The phenomenon of cultural changes resulting in decreased family size is known as the demographic transition. It is characterized by increased wealth, literacy, access to health care, and average lifespan. The phenomenon usually is phased, with initial improvements in infant mortality being followed by lowered birth rates and population sizes reaching an asymptote, and possibly even falling later. Sixteen popular environmental science textbooks published in the last five years all include a discussion of the demographic transition, sometimes comparing age distribution pyramids or fecundity among different countries.  \nDespite the recognized significance of the phenomenon, few teaching resources exist to help students explore the demographic transition. Bannister (1990) uses Egypt as a case study, comparing its population dynamic to that of Europe. Ulack (1978) presents alternative conceptual schemes for observations made in different world regions. Mulvihill (1981) describes an activity using population data from Latin America, including statistical analyses and an exploration of socioeconomic dynamics.  \nIn this article I describe a classroom exercise in which students provide data about numbers of children (generation size) in their own families, and the data are immediately pooled and analyzed. The trend evident in the data stimulates a discussion of why women are bearing fewer children in recent generations in the United States and many other countries.  \nMethods  \nThis activity takes place in the regular 50 minute class period. I enter data into a spreadsheet file and project them onto a screen, although simply making a table on the blackboard and filling in the data works as well. The spreadsheet can perform simple arithmetic to determine a normalized value (percent) across all generational data, and can also automatically generate a graph as data are entered. These functions make the data trend more apparent and can aid student comprehension. The spreadsheet file is available by request from the author.  \nWhen conducting the ex","cbCaih0tlQd80Sk9","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaih0tlQd80Sk9","pdf",116785,"English","# Introduction\n## Background on human demography and demographic transition\n# Methods\n## Classroom procedure and data collection\n## Data normalization and analysis","[{\"question\":\"What concept does the classroom activity focus on?\",\"answer\":\"The activity focuses on the demographic transition, characterized by increased wealth and lifespan along with decreasing family size across generations.\"},{\"question\":\"What data do students provide in the exercise?\",\"answer\":\"Students provide numbers of children (generation size) in their own families for self, parents, and grandparents, with responses pooled for class analysis.\"},{\"question\":\"How are the collected data analyzed?\",\"answer\":\"A spreadsheet is used to normalize responses into percentages across generation categories and to generate graphs as data are entered, helping students interpret trends.\"}]","A Classroom Activity to Illustrate the Demographic Transition | PDF"]