Download Gapminder Developmental Indicators Lab

Gapminder Developmental Indicators Lab
AP Human Geography
Name ________________________________________
Using Gapminder to measure development…Gapminder website—www.gapminder.org/
Select “Gapminder World” from the tabs at the top.
1. Start by selecting Map, and look for patterns by selecting different development
indicators (try to use the ones we’ve discussed, but feel free to explore) for the
countries. Notice: you can track countries individually or by entire regions.
 What patterns/geographic relationship do you notice in terms of
regions/countries that are more developed than others?
2. Select the chart (tab), and compare different indicators, for example Life
Expectancy and Income.
 What other indicators can you find that have a high degree of correlation and
in which countries? (e.g. carbon dioxide emissions and income)

Which ones appear to have less of a correlation and in which countries? (e.g. fertility rate and phone use)
3. Try choosing Life Expectancy and analyzing changes over time. Track selected
countries by selecting them, clicking the Trails box and playing the animation. Feel free
to expand your selections out of life expectancy
 Choose Botswana and track it’s life expectancy. Why has Botswana, a middle
income country, seen a dramatic decline in life expectancy in recent years?

As you explore other indicators do you find any interesting changes over time? Try tracking increasing life
expectancy and per capita GDP as an example.
4. Exploring urbanization trends— Compare Urban Population and Time, and track
countries from different income groups. In the screenshot example I changed the circle
size to one size and the color to Income Group.
 Do you notice any trends?
5. Pick ONE country from Asia, ONE country from Africa, ONE from South/Middle America, ONE from Europe and ONE
from North America and do the following using the Gapminder website/software:
Correlating development data
Select Chart and compare FIVE sets of different indicators, for example Life Expectancy and Income. What correlations
can be found? What conclusions regarding levels of development do you come to based on these indicators? You can
choose ANY indicators. One of the FIVE does not have to be Life Expectancy and Income but can be if you are not
creatively inclined
6. Explore more of Gapminder World: Browse example graphs from the “Open Graphs Menu” (ie. Who has the best
teeth?)
 Did you find any particularly interesting?