Noel Jenkins @ Court Fields

Click here for the global map of showing the Happy Planet Index

Here is a map of World Happiness Why do the two maps differ so much?

Click here for the Happiness Survey This is the homework for this week.

Three videos we’ll use in the lesson this week:

Benefits of water video

Agricultural aid video

Example of another aid scheme video

Also information about Guinea worm is here 

Darfur is an arid and impoverished region of Western Sudan. Since 2003 an armed conflict between rebel groups broadly drawn from African farmers, and government forces unofficially backed by Arab herders, (the Jangaweed) has resulted in around 2.5 million refugees and 400,000 deaths. [source]

Play the Darfur is Dying game for a glimpse of the daily struggle for many refugees.

You need to be able to explain how environmental conditions and hazards contribute to differences in levels of development. In the Sudan, guinea worm cases have been reduced [source] and the disease is not found in Darfur. Drought however, is common in the region and results in food scarcity and famine, exacerbated by the armed conflict. Read an article by Practical Action about the problem of Drought in Darfur. The Turra Water Dam is a superb case study of appropriate technology.

The Darfur Wall is an innovative fundraisng effort that visualizes the 400,000 victims of the conflict.

The map you need to examine for homework is located at Maplecroft maps. Select the poverty map from the drop-down box. This is an excellent task for developing your skills at interpreting maps. The interactive maps at Maplecroft are an example of GIS.

The poverty map looks like this

1) Start by describing the general pattern shown on the map. As part of this, you must find out how the Human Development Index is worked out.

2) Use the Hotspots to describe the development situation in one African country.

3) Then use the Spotlights to find out about some schemes that are designed to improve people’s standard of living. Do you notice any themes from the spotlights?

Lifeswitch yourself

Greetings Year 11. Today we talked about aid. Click here for a great sheet that summarizes the different types of aid.

Here are two contrasting examples of aid projects in Tanzania. The first example highlights some of the issues of political or bi-lateral aid. Read The Scattering of the Dead by George Monbiot. It’s quite an old example, but shows how aid can be mis-used.

This example of Water Aid describes the work that Oxfam are currently doing in Tanzania, where 70% of the rural population do not have access to clean water.

You need to be able to describe the advantages and disadvantages of different types of aid. The two examples make good case studies.

A range of Geography revison “audiobite” podcasts can be found at the Bitesize site

click to visit

At the moment the relevant topics include rivers, coasts agriculture and development. The question is; would you use them for revison?

Darfur is an arid and impoverished region of Western Sudan. Since 2003 an armed conflict between rebel groups broadly drawn from African farmers, and government forces unofficially backed by Arab herders, (the Jangaweed) has resulted in around 2.5 million refugees and 400,000 deaths. [source]

Play the Darfur is Dying game for a glimpse of the daily struggle for many refugees.

You need to be able to explain how environmental conditions and hazards contribute to differences in levels of development. In the Sudan, guinea worm cases have been reduced [source] and the disease is not found in Darfur. Drought however, is common in the region and results in food scarcity and famine, exacerbated by the armed conflict. Read an article by Practical Action about the problem of Drought in Darfur. The Turra Water Dam is a superb case study of appropriate technology.

The Darfur Wall is an innovative fundraisng effort that visualizes the 400,000 victims of the conflict.

Death rate - is it a useful development indicator - Yes or No?
Have a look at the countries of the world ranked by death rate
Now what do you think?

Compare the GNP per capita of the UK and Cuba
Now compare the statistic for number of doctors per 1,000 people between Cuba and the UK on Gapminder
How do political policies impact upon development?

This is a BRILLIANT way to analyse development indicators. A range of development data can be plotted on a map or chart and animated over time. Gapminder website

Download an illustrated guide to Gapminder if you like (Word doc)

Start by selecting Map, and looking for patterns by selecting different development indicators for the countries

Then select Chart and compare different indicators, for example life expectancy and income


Try choosing Life Expectancy and analysing changes over time. Track selected countries by selecting them, clicking the Trails box and playing the animation.

In the screenshot I coloured the countries by income , but why has Botswana, a middle income country, seen a dramatic decline in life expectancy in recent years?

The map you need to examine for homework is located at Maplecroft maps. Select the poverty map from the drop-down box. This is an excellent task for developing your skills at interpreting maps. The interactive maps at Maplecroft are an example of GIS.

The poverty map looks like this

1) Start by describing the general pattern shown on the map. As part of this, you must find out how the Human Development Index is worked out.

2) Use the Hotspots to describe the development situation in one African country.

3) Then use the Spotlights to find out about some schemes that are designed to improve people’s standard of living. Do you notice any themes from the spotlights?

Lifeswitch yourself