Gapminder Assignment

1. Go to: www.gapminder.org and click on “Gapminder World”. This will open up an interactive chart where you can choose the X and Y axes for a world statistics graph that can be animated over time.
2. Your group will be given two statistics to compare. FIRST develop a hypothesis for how you THINK the statistics will be represented among the world’s countries over time. Once you have developed a hypothesis, mouse over the title of each axis to change them, then click Play.
3. Play the animation several times. Look for patterns in the data. Here are a few hints:
- The circle or “bubble” sizes represent the country’s population and the color represents the region. (red for Southeast Asia and Australia, yellow for the Americas, etc.)
- You can also switch to a world map view if you have trouble stopping the animation and mousing over/tracking any of the bubbles.
- On the right you can choose which countries you want to watch or “deselect all” at the bottom of the list if you get stuck.
4. Answer the following questions and be ready to inform the rest of the class about the patterns you have found:
A. How did the bubbles move over time… were there any distinct patterns such as certain countries moving together or certain areas of the world (same color) grouped together? Why do you think this occurred?
B. Focus on the United States bubble. How did it move versus the other bubbles? Were there any bubbles that followed the U.S. bubble? Why or why not?
C. Focus on countries in specific regions (same color) versus other regions. Does a pattern exist among regions of the world for your given statistics? Why or why not?
D. Did any countries/bubbles move suddenly? When did this occur? Why do you think this happened? Hint: think about major world events such as wars, revolutions, and epidemics.
E. How does your hypothesis compare with the patterns you saw in the animated chart?
F. What do these patterns tell you about the connection between the two statistics you were plotting on the graph?
G. Describe the pattern(s) you think you would see if you were able to plot the past 100 years worth of data for A.) Cars per 100 people vs. Total CO2 emissions and B.) Total Forested Land Area vs. Total Land Area. Use specific examples comparing different regions and the U.S. vs. other countries.
H. How does this assignment connect with the variety of topics we are exploring this year in Environmental Science?