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Welcome to this lesson, today we will be learning about development and how we measure it.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
Define GDP and HDI
Describe and explain how these indexes are used to measure levels of development.
Task 1
Task 1
The main economic measure of development is GDP (Gross Domestic Product).
You are challenged to do the following in five minutes:
Watch the video once.
Write an explanation of Gross Domestic Product in your book. Close your book.
Explain what GDP is to the person sitting next to you using no notes at all. Have them repeat it back to you.
Task 2
Reading Task – Development Indexes
Traditionally, GDP/capita (gross domestic product) was the dominant measure of development. GDP means the total amount of wealth in a country, and when it is measured as GDP/capita, it means the total wealth has been divided equally between all the people who live in that country. GDP/capita is a purely economic measure of development and wellbeing. It does not capture things like life expectancy, education levels, physical health, or political involvement. For this reason, GDP/capita is an extremely limiting way of thinking about development. Furthermore, the way GDP/capita is measured assumes all people in the country have equal wealth, and it does not capture wealth inequality within that country. There could be ten people who are billionaires, while everyone else in the country is in absolute poverty, but the GDP/capita would not reflect that inequality.
Because GDP is limited, geographers now use a number of different types of measurements of wellbeing. These are called “indexes”. The most common is the Human Development Index (HDI) which measures life expectancy, years of schooling, and GDP/capita in a single statistic. The statistic is measured as a decimal, from 0 (low wellbeing) to 1 (excellent wellbeing). However, even HDI does not capture all aspects of wellbeing, so other indexes have been developed. Examples include the Happy Planet Index (HPI), the Human Freedom Index (HFI), and the New World Bank Rating.
No single index can capture all aspects of wellbeing, and if one tried to, it would have to decide how to weigh up all the different factors that affect human wellbeing around the world. It is important to understand wellbeing as a subjective state of being, that can be measured in many different ways depending on what is deemed to be most important.
Part A - Answer the following comprehension questions in your books: using the information from the text above.
1. What is the definition of GDP/capita?
2. What are two issues with using GDP to measure development?
3. What does HDI measure?
4. What are aspects of wellbeing that HDI does NOT measure?
5. Why is it important to have many different ways of measuring wellbeing?
6. If you were developing your own wellbeing index, what would you measure? What would you call it?
Part B - Use Figure 2 - the choropleth map showing spatial distribution and patterns of HDI globally in 2018 (below) to answer the following questions.
1. Name 3 countries that score above 0.840 in HDI in 2018
2. Name 3 countries that score below 0.494 in HDI in 2018
3. Identify the HDI score range of the following countries
a. India:
b. Brazil:
c. Russia:
4. Describe the patterns you can identify in HDI scores around the world.
Figure 2 - Choropleth Map of HDI in 2018
Skill: Choropleth maps use colour coding to compare different spatial patterns across different places. They are often world maps, and compare countries or regions, but they may also compare states within countries. This map is comparing countries around the world based on their HDI scores.
Task 4
Write the answers to the following questions in full sentences in your books:
1. Which two countries do you think are the most developed?
2. Which two countries do you think are the least developed?
3. Which countries do you think are considered “developing”?
Explain your thinking behind your answers to questions 1-3.
(Remember, there are no right or wrong answers, I just want to understand your thinking.)
Task 5
Figure 1 (below) is ONE way of graphing relative development between countries. Each axis is a different factor that affects development.
Refer to Figure 1 to answer the following questions. Write the answers in full sentences in your books.
1. What are the 2 factors of development measured on this graph?
2. Why are the circles different sizes for different countries?
3. Which country is most developed according to this graph?
4. Which country is least developed according to this graph?
5. Which region (see map in the bottom right corner) scores most highly on this graph overall?
6. Which region scores lowest on this graph overall?
7. Look at your answer to the questions on page 4, then look at where those countries are placed on this graph. Were your assumptions accurate?
8. Use the graph to help you finish these statements. Write them in your books.
a. __________ is more developed than India.
b. __________ is less developed than Russia.
c. _________ scores well on both axes.
d. _________ scores poorly on both axes.
e. South Africa scores well on the ____________ axis, but poorly on the _____________ axis.
Figure 1 - World Gapminder Development Map using data from 2015.
Extension Task
HDI- Student Worksheet.pdfGoogle Sites
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