Japan’s population declines in 2015 for first time since 1920

The Japan Times
October 28, 2016 | Unit 2: Population

Synopsis

For the first time since the census began in 1920, Japan's population has declined. The census, which is collected every five years, shows that in 2010 Japan's population was 128,057,352 while in 2015 it was 127,094,745, which resulted in a decline of 947,305 people. People aged 65 or older hit a record high of 26.6 percent of the total population while people aged 14 and younger hit a record low of 12.6 percent. Japan is still the 10th most populous country in the world, but it was the only country of the top 20 to have its population decline. Of the 127,094,745 people in Japan, 1,752,368 were not of Japanese descent.

Analysis

Similar to last weeks article, this one discusses a population declining in size. However, this one deals with Japan and the present day. When the article discussed the sizes of age groups in the population, it drew to mind a population pyramid. In this situation, the population pyramid would be flipped, as the older population at the top would be larger than the younger population at the bottom. In addition, this article was interesting because it discussed the size of different nationalities inside Japan. Japanese made up the largest group by far. They were followed by in turn Chinese and then North and South Koreans. This article relates to what is being learned in class because it discusses how Japan, one of the world's most populous countries, is beginning to decrease in size. 

Spain's Population Set to Drop 11% by 2050

The Guardian

October 21, 2016 | Unit 2: Population

Synopsis

By 2050, it is estimated that the population of Spain will decrease by 11%. This translates to about 5.3 million people. At this point, the majority of the population will be the elderly and single people. The life expectancy is expected to increase from 80 years old to 88 for men and 85 to 91 for women. While the total fertility rate is expected to increase, the amount of women having children is expected to decrease, resulting in a lower population. In addition, immigration into Spain is expected to have higher numbers than emigration from Spain, but not large enough to stop the population from decreasing.

Analysis

This article shows how human geographers have predicted how the population of Spain will change in the future. In the article, the author mentions multiple reasons why the population will be decreasing. One of these is due to a low young population. Because Spain has and will continue to have a low young population, there will not be as many people around to create new children. This builds up, as each generation becomes smaller than the one before it. Contrary to this, the total fertility rate will increase, as a single woman will have more children in the future than she will now. This will only slow down the decrease in population, as there will still not be enough women to actually give birth to children. This article relates to what is being learned in class because it discusses the population of a country. It identifies factors that will cause Spain's population to change in the near future, which is similar to what is being studied in class.  

New Tennessee standards fail to incorporate geography

The Tennessean

October 7, 2016  |  Unit 1: Geography: Its Nature and Perspectives

Synopsis

The State Board of Education of Tennessee has revised their social studies standards in their schools, resulting in a lack of education in geography. Now, the only mandatory class to teach geography throughout the K-12 education system is the third grade, which does not get focused on much due to math and reading. This will cause a problem because jobs in geospatial technology are increasing in importance, due to the modern day reliance on GPS. GPS is used in navigation and any place-based smartphone applications, such as social media apps, and is being implemented in self-driving cars. Without the early education in geography, many students will fail to find jobs in the growing field of geography.

Analysis

This article relates directly to the class of AP Human Geography as well as the use of geography in the real world. According to the article, the geospatial industry is a multi-billion dollar one, and is growing at about 25 percent per year. Without an early exposure to geography, many students will lack the necessary skills to become successful in this line of work. Among these skills is the need to use and understand GPS. In this day and age, GPS has become more important due to its implication in modern day technology such as self-driving cars. Geography is also needed to be taught due to the need to understand GIScience. This article relates to what is being learned in class because it describes why education in geography is important, which is what is being taught in class.