Activity One - Discover - Government Policies

Governments respond to too few or too many people in two main ways: they try to change the number of births, or they adapt to the population they have. We are going to be focusing on both of these aspects as it is really hard to encourage people to have more children or not. When we look at policies tht either encourage or discourage births they are called pro-natalist and anti-natalist policies. 

• A pro-natalist policy encourages people to have more children.

• An anti-natalist policy encourages people to have fewer children.

You will be given the country Niger (youthful) or Japan (ageing) to focus on. Below are nine different cards that aim to deal with the issues of having either an ageing or youthful population. 

1. Read the cards.

2. Arrange the cards in a 'Diamond 9' for your country, with the most effective solutions at the top and the least at the bottom. Some cards may not suit your country at all and therefore will be placed at the bottom. 

3. Discuss your results with the person sitting next to you. 

4. You may be asked to share your ideas with the whole class after the initial steps have been completed. 

Useful Resources

Activity Two - Case Study - Anti-natalist and Pro-natalist Policies

An anti-natalist policy is a government policy to slow down the fertility rate of a country. Where as a pro-natalist policy actively encourages people to procreate. Some times these are encouraged by incentives and others they are enforced.  We will initially be looking at six different policies that countries have tried to implement. 

1. Make a copy of the research document below. 

2. Write your name on the document, in the space provided.

3. Read through the policies.

4. Decide which policy interests you the most and write the name of the country and whether it is a pro or anti-natalist policy on the research document. 

Research - Criteria B - Investigating

Criteria B looks at the research process you go through to complete a specific assignment. We are going to focus specifically on the designing of a research question, how you collect/record your information and the success of that research.  

• • 1. Watch the YouTube clip in the 'Useful Resource' box and write down three things that make a good question.

    2. Create a Research Question using an Individuals and Societies Command Term and include what you are focusing on for this assignment e.g. what aspect of population policies are you going to focus your infographic on? Remember to also include the country's name.

    3. Justify why your question is important to answer. Why should this topic be explored?

    4. Research your topic and document your sources/research on the grid provided. Chicago formatting, please. You can use my.bib to do this. 

    5. Evaluate at least three of your sources on the document provided. Why was the article/ data useful? Was it not useful? If not, say why not. Consider what you have learnt in the history focused lessons (Year 9 or the initial rotation) - consider the origin, purpose, content, values and limitations of at least three of your sources.

Useful Resources

How will I be assessed? - The Research Process

This aspect of the summative assessment will be assessed using criteria B - Investigating. See below for the task specific descriptions. 

Activity Three - What is an infographic?

For this summative task you will be asked to do two different things; the first will be to create an infographic which illustrates the importance of the policy and how much success it has had by presenting various forms of data and the second will be to write an analytical piece about the policy.  We will first of all go through what an infographic is so that you know what type of research you need to complete (thank you Mr. Allaway for your help with this and for providing the resources).

What is an infographic?

Before we even start thinking about creating an infographic we need to understand what one is.

• • 1. Using the first link in the 'Useful Resources' box write a definition of what an infographic is.

    2. Using the next two links, explore what makes a good infographic. Write down between five and ten factors which you consider makes a good infographic. We will then discuss this as a group.

    3. Watch the YouTube clip below and make notes on how to create an infographic.

    4. Watch the second YouTube clip and make notes on what the seven different types of infographics are.

Useful Resources

Activity Four - The Infographic

You will now be creating your infographic using Google Drawing  (to present the infographic - images, maps etc) and Google Sheets (to create the graphs from raw data). This is new to me too so we will navigate this process together.

Formal Requirements

• • • • • • Use Google Drawings.

          • It needs to answer your research question using the data from you found during the research process.

          • It needs to include at least one graph - these can be either self generated or taken from else where (remember to cite your sources).

          • Include at least one image.

          • Include text but this should be limited to a short paragraph or key words.

          • Submit as a pdf.

Useful Resources

Use Google for Education - Applied Digital Skills - Lesson Design an Infographic in Google Drawing

The Noun Project - Simple Images

Review Stage

Before you submit your infographic we are going to do a little bit of peer reviewing. Follow the process outlined below to give your friends and peers advice on how to improve their infographics. 

1. Leave your infographic open on your screen. 

2. Visit two classmates and leave each one comment in the file: two stars and a wish, using the class checklist. 

   1. 1. 1. 1. 1. • One star must be about the evidence or verdict

                  • One star about the design.

                  • One wish about either the evidence, verdict or design.

3. Act on at least one piece of feedback.

How will I be assessed? - The Infographic

You will be assessed using Criteria A - Knowing and Understanding and Critiera C - Communicating.

Activity Four - Analyse

So far we have looked at the population policies in a very logical manner e.g. what was the policy? Why was the policy implimented? What has the impact been? For this section you are going to suggest whether the policy was justified or not by considering the viewpoints of different stakeholders. What is/was their perspective? You are then going to decide in your opinion whether the policy was justified or not.

For the country you have studied, justify whether the pro or anti natalist policy should have been implemented.

Formal Requirements

• • • • • • 500 word limit

          • 3 to 5 paragraphs

          • Use data to help illustrate your points

          • Cite your sources in a bibliography or as a footnote

How will I be assessed?

For this final section on population policies you will be assessed using Criteria D - Thinking Critically.