How to Model Population Growth
Over the past several centuries, human populations have exploded--with the number of people living today close to 7 billion. Where in the past, Europe and North America had fast growing populations, today China, India and other Asian and African countries are the primary cause of increasingly high population growth. Depending on where you live and what population you're interested in, it can be a fun and revealing experiment to model different populations.
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Instructions
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1
Determine the period of time and the place that you want to study for your model.
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2
Research historical population data. To model population growth, you need to know the population at the end of the time period and the population at the beginning of the time period.
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3
Determine the growth rate. Subtract the population at the beginning of the time period from the population at the end of the time period. Then, divide that number by population at the beginning of the time period.
For example, if the beginning population is 10 and by the end of the time period the population is 20, subtract 10 from 20 and then divide by 10. So (20-10)/10 gives you a growth rate of 1.
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4
Determine the growth ratio by multiplying the growth rate by 100 percent. The growth ratio is what is commonly used to model population growth.
If you have a growth rate of 1, as with the above example, then to determine the growth ratio, multiply 1 x 100 percent, which gives you a 100 percent growth ratio.
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5
Repeat Steps 1 through 4 for all the different population growth periods you wish to model.
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6
Make a graph where the x-axis represents the date and the y-axis represent the growth ratio. Fill in the graph with the information you've gathered and then connect the dots along the graph. This line connecting the dots is your population growth model.
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Tips & Warnings
There are a number of different ways to look at and model population growth. The above explanation is just one way to model population growth. To find out other ways to model population growth, reference text books and other academic materials. Population growth can also be modeled for any species, not just humans.
If you get a result for your population growth model that seems absurd or preposterous, it probably is. Redo the math and see if you get the same result.
