Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Grey, and I'm so excited that you've decided to join me to learn geography today.

Today's lesson is in our unit of "Population: Where do people live?" And the title of today's lesson is "GIS: Analysing the distribution of the world's population." By the end of the lesson, you'll be able to use a Geographic Information System or GIS to investigate population data and analyse world population distribution.

There are some keywords that we'll come across in today's lesson.

They are population density, population distribution, and GIS, Geographic Information System.

Population density is the number of people living in a defined area.

For example, 300 people per square kilometre.

Population distribution describes how the people in that population are spread out across the area.

And GIS is a computer mapping system that captures and displays geographic data to help understand spatial patterns.

Our lesson today is split into two learning cycles.

The first, how can we show population distribution using GIS? And the second, how can GIS help analyse population patterns? Let's take a look at our first learning cycle.

How can we show population distribution using GIS? Now, population is not even across the world.

Comparing images like those on the screen can be useful to visualise population density, but it doesn't give us a whole picture of the world.

Is there a better way of visualising population distribution? Well, yes, we can use choropleth maps.

They show population density and it's a good way of visualising where people live.

For example, on this map, the darker colours show more densely populated areas, and the lighter colours show more sparsely populated areas.

So our first check of the lesson then, which area is sparsely populated? So have a look at this map.

Is it area A, area B, or area C? What do you think? So pause the video, write down your answer, and then come back and let's see how you got on.

Okay, how did you get on? Which area is sparsely populated? The answer is A, because it's a lighter colour.

Well done.

Now, web maps such as ArcGIS Map Viewer can be used to help visualise population distribution by adding a population density layer as you can see here on the screen.

GIS can also help us show population change over time.

Can you identify areas where population is increasing? If you have a look at this GIF, it shows population change over time.

Where's population increasing? Alex says, "I can see population increasing here as the colour is becoming more dark over time." Well done, Alex.

That's right.

The colour is becoming darker over time, so population is increasing another.

Another check then.

Tick all the correct statements.

GIS can be used to show what? Is it A, population distribution across the world? B, the exact population of a place in the future? C, population change in a place over time? So pause the video, write down your answer, and then come back and let's see how you go on.

Okay, how did you get on? GIS can be used to show population distribution across the world and population change in a place over time.

Did you get those? Well done.

The ArcGIS geography visualizer is a different web map that has other layers of data that help us visualise where people live around the world.

We're gonna watch a video now that shows the ArcGIS geography visualizer and explain some of its features.

So this recording is going to go through how we can use a type of web map called the geography visualizer to look at where people live around the world.

So just a reminder of the geography visualizer, on the left-hand corner up here, we've got this search magnifying glass, which if we click on, we can type in where we want to go, what we want to look at.

We've got these zoom buttons, which we can click on to zoom in and out of the map.

We can also use the scroll bar on the mouse for this.

But the most important thing that we are going to look at is this toolbar along the bottom.

Can you see that here? So the first thing that I'm going to do is change the basemap because I want a simpler basemap.

So this one is a hybrid map showing natural features along with the boundaries of the countries, but I want something a little bit more simple so that I can see all of the data.

So I'm gonna click on the basemaps button here.

I'm gonna go across to all of these options.

I'm gonna scroll down and I'm gonna click on light grey canvas.

And can you see this gives us all different country boundaries, but it's a lot more simple.

There's no other information.

So I'm gonna be able to analyse and look at the information that I add, the different layers that I add much more easily.

So now what we want to do is add different layers to this map, different layers of geographical data, and that's what we can do with GIS, with a Geographical Information System, so that we can add different layers of geographical information and analyse those different bits of information on a map.

So I'm gonna click on this button here that says Add Layer.

It's a plus button inside a circle and it says Add Layer.

I'm gonna click on that.

And we can see all of these different options, all of these different layers of geographical information that we can add to our map.

So I'm gonna scroll down, I'm using the tool on my mouse to scroll, but you could also use this scroll bar here on the right-hand side.

I'm gonna scroll all the way down until we get to population by country.

We're gonna see if this layer of information is useful to us.

So I'm gonna click on this button here on the left-hand side.

It says Add, I'm gonna click that and add that layer of data to our map.

You can see it's populated the map because it's changed colour underneath.

And then if we click the X, then we can now analyse this information.

Now, this shows us the population of countries around the world.

And if we click on this legend button on the toolbar at the bottom, can you see this legend, it says legend at the bottom, if we click on that, that then brings up a key here on the right-hand side and we can see what the different colours mean.

So the darker colours are the countries with the bigger populations, and the lighter colours are the countries with the smaller populations.

Now, you might want to pause this video and think for a second.

Is this information on this map here, is this useful for us? Is this useful data to think about where people live? Or does it potentially have some problems? Is it a little bit problematic? You might wanna pause and have a little think about that.

Do you think it's useful to us or do you think maybe it might be a little bit problematic? Now, actually, it might be a little bit problematic, ain't it, because it only really shows us the population of a whole country, nothing within the country, it just shows us the whole country.

So we can see the United States here, that's a darker colour.

So that tells us that there is a large overall population here.

But then if we have a look over another country, let's zoom in here and have a little look at Belgium, and that's got a smaller population.

And if you look at them both, it's not really a surprise, is it, that the USA has got a big population and Belgium's got a small population because Belgium's a much, much smaller country, the United States is much bigger.

So it's actually not very useful to us, is it, because that's obvious that the smaller country is gonna have a smaller population.

So it doesn't really give us a lot of useful information.

And you also expect that this population throughout the USA and the population throughout Belgium is going to be different.

It's not gonna have the exact same population throughout the whole country.

We're gonna expect areas of high and low density populations depending on different parts of the country.

So let's have a little look at something else then.

Let's go to this thing at the bottom here that says Open Map.

Now if we click on that, there's a variety of different options here.

And let's have a little look at human footprint, so we click on Human Footprint.

All right, and then let's look what that does.

So if we click again on Legend here at the bottom, that's gonna bring up a key which is showing us that the darker colours, the blue colours is a low human footprint.

And we go through from blue to green to yellow to orange to red, and the red at the top is the high human footprint.

So let's have a little look at what human footprint actually is then.

And if we click back to Open Map and we see here when we go to human footprint, there's a little I here for information.

So if we click on the information, then that tells us a lot more about human footprint.

And I would encourage you to read this.

You can scroll down and there's a big description here about exactly what human footprint is.

So the human footprint map here, if we can read this little bit here, the human footprint map was produced by combining 13 global data layers that spatially visualise what is presumed to be the most prominent ways humans influence the environment.

So these layers include human population pressure, which is population density; human land use and infrastructure, so built up areas, nighttime light, land use, land cover, and human access for coastlines, roads, railways.

So it's telling us all about the different ways that humans use the land.

So this human footprint map, combining all these little bits of information, is giving us an idea about where the humans are, where the most humans are in the variety of different places across the world.

So this map's not quite a population distribution map, but it's very, very close because it's about where people live and the areas that people have developed, things like infrastructure.

So it gives us a much better idea about where people live across the globe.

And also it gives us specifics within the country, which the other map didn't.

So we can look in more detail at individual countries and how that population is spread and distributed and how the land use is distributed around those different countries.

So another layer which could be really useful to us, and if we go to Open Map again, is this light pollution here.

So let's have a little click on Light Pollution and have a look at this one.

So this is the amount of light pollution at different places around the world, and this gives us an indication of where people live, different parts of the world.

We can move over and we can look at all these different areas.

The areas that have the most light pollution and some areas that don't particularly have any light pollution.

Now obviously, there are problems with this type of map.

There are problems with this map because it might be the case that there are lots of people living in an area, but it's not particularly developed.

It's not got lots of towns and cities where there's going to be lots of electrical devices, electrical equipment, which is emitting lots of light and creating that light pollution.

So it's not necessarily giving us a brilliant indication or an exact indication of exactly where people live because it's dependent upon the infrastructure that the people are using in those particular areas.

So although this geography visualizer doesn't have a specific map for population density, because it's got these different maps and this human footprint map, this can give us an indication of where people are living and the impact that people are having in different parts of the world.

And this then allows us to analyse and have a better understanding of where people live around the world.

Another check then.

True or false.

On a GIS using a layer showing population density is the only way of showing where people live.

Is that true or false? So pause the video, write down your answer, and then come back and let's see how you got on.

Okay, how did you get on? On a GIS using a layer showing population density is the only way of showing where people live.

That's false.

But why is it false? We can use layers showing the impact of humans to help visualise where people live.

The human footprint layer and the layer showing light pollution can help us visualise where people live.

Did you get that right? Well done.

We can also add our own data to web maps to help with our analysis.

Let's watch another video now to demonstrate how we can do that.

So in this video, I'm just gonna go through how we can add our own data to a GIS web map, like the geography visualizer.

So this isn't just using the information that's already on the web map.

This is actually adding some information of our own and like perhaps some text.

So I'm currently in the world imagery in the basemap, so I'm just gonna change that back to the light grey canvas.

And I'm going to open the map and I'm gonna open the human footprint.

So I'm gonna move up and I'm gonna zoom into a country in Africa.

I'm gonna zoom into Libya here and have a little look at Southeast Libya here.

Now, the good thing about these types of maps is when you've got the layers on there, you can actually click on there and see some specific information.

So I can actually click on there and see the percentage of the human footprint there.

So let's say I want to add a little bit more information.

Let's say I want to add some more information to different areas of the map.

I wanna add more text and keep adding to that.

I can actually put my own point onto the map and then add information to that point.

So the way I do that, the way I can add some information is if I go down to this toolbar at the bottom and I click on this one here that says sketch, it's like a picture of a little pencil, you can click on sketch and it brings up this options here on the right-hand side, all these different tools, and I'm gonna add some point data.

So under the tools, I'm gonna select point and we've got all these different symbols that we can use and we can also change the colour of those different symbols if we want to.

We can look on and we can choose whatever colour it is that we want and whichever symbol we want to use.

Then we're gonna just click here where it says add, and we can add some information.

So we can add a title and a description.

So if I click on the title here, I can add Southeast Libya, as the title, and then I could write some information.

So I'm gonna write that it has a low human footprint, and I'm gonna say that it was 0.

01%.

So I'm giving just that little bit extra information there.

Now that I've got all of that information in there, that's ready to go, I can actually move my cursor over to where I want it to be and click it and add that point.

So I've now added that point and all of that information that I put in.

So if I click X over here, what that means is that that point is now there and that has all of that information attached to it that I put in there.

So if I hover over and click on it, that now then comes up with the information that I put in that title and that description, the information that I put in, and I can actually add more information to that over time if I want to.

And you can also then add lots of different bits of point data across the whole of the map.

So this shows us how we can add our own information to these GIS systems. Another check for us now then.

Which option on the toolbar is used to add your own point data onto the map? Is it A, sketch? B, basemap? Or C, legend? So pause the video, write down your answer, and then come back and let's see how you got on.

Okay, how did you get on? Which option on the toolbar is used to add your own point data onto the map? The answer is A, sketch.

Did you get that? Well done.

Right, so onto our first task of the lesson now then.

So open the geography visualizer using the link on the screen.

Complete the following tasks to analyse the human footprint of different places.

Click on Basemaps in the bottom toolbar.

Select the light grey canvas basemap.

Click on the Open Maps tab in the bottom toolbar.

Select the human footprint layer.

Click on the legend in the toolbar to check you understand the colour shading.

Analyse the map and find two places with a low human footprint and two with a high human footprint.

Okay, make sure you follow each of those steps in turn.

The next task, for each location that you identified as having a high or low human footprint, do the following.

Click on the sketch tab on the toolbar.

Click Add in the popup window.

Type the location in the title.

For example, Southeast Libya.

Type whether it has a high or low human footprint and the statistic given by clicking on the map.

For example, low human footprint, 0.

01%.

You can save your work if you're logged in.

Okay, so pause the video, complete those tasks, make sure you read each point very carefully and do each one step by step, and then come back and let's have a look how you got on.

Okay, how did you get on? So your maps showing human footprint should look like this.

This one on the screen.

And then when you were analysing the map, you were to find two places with a low human footprint and two with a high human footprint.

This is an example of high human footprint.

We've identified on this map here London and Paris.

And this is the example of the low human footprint where Southeast Libya and Southwest Egypt has been identified.

Your maps with labels should look like this, and this is an example of a high human footprint.

This one is an example of a low human footprint.

How did you get on with those tasks? Well done.

Okay, so we finished our first learning cycle now on how can we show population distribution using GIS.

Now we're gonna go onto, how can GIS help analyse population patterns? So GIS web maps such as the Geography Visualizer can be used to analyse and explain geographic patterns.

It's possible to use the transparency slider or swipe functions to compare layers of data and help explain patterns.

Let's watch a video now to demonstrate how we do this.

So in this video, we're going to see if we can explain geographical patterns or give some reasons as to why different geographical patterns might exist.

So we know that the human footprint in Southeast Libya was low.

We looked at that, didn't we? We know that the human footprint was low, so maybe this GIS can help us to explain why that might be the case.

And in order to do this, we're gonna add different layers of information to this map so that we can look at those different layers and analyse it.

And for this, I'm gonna keep the basemap that we've already got this hybrid imagery basemap that we've already got.

And this map shows us the satellite imagery so we can see all of the different satellite imagery, but it also shows us the borders of the country, which is obviously gonna be very useful for us.

So I'm going to add that human footprint layer that we've looked at.

So I'm going to go down here to Open Map and I'm gonna select human footprint because that's what we're gonna be using.

That's the best one that's on here to look at population density.

So we're gonna add that particular layer to the map.

So I'm gonna add some more layers to this map so that we can try and come up with some reasons and analyse reasons to the patterns of human footprint that we can see.

So I'm gonna go down to this Add Layer button here at the bottom, and I'm gonna scroll down and I'm gonna add some different layers.

So I'm gonna add global minimum temperature here.

I'm gonna click the plus button.

I'm also going to add global maximum temperature.

Click the plus button.

And I'm also going to add global rainfall.

Click the plus button here because I think all of these different layers are gonna be useful to help us to analyse the reasons for the patterns that we're seeing with the human footprint.

Okay, so we've selected all of the different maps and the different layers that I want to look at, so I can click off this now.

And then if I go down to the toolbar at the bottom and I click on Map Layers, then that brings up all of these different layers that I've selected.

And this button here on the right where it says toggle visibility, we can turn the different layers on and off.

So if that's ticked, that layer's turned on and we can see it.

And if it's unticked, it's turned off.

I'm gonna untick all of these so that we've just got the human footprint toggled so that we can just see the human footprint at the moment.

So we're gonna focus here on this area of Southeast Libya that we've looked at before, and we're gonna compare, the human footprint, to the satellite imagery that we've got and see if we can see any reasons for this law human footprint score.

So if we go over human footprint, we can see here the adjust transparency.

So we click on that, we can adjust the transparency of that so we can see what's underneath.

And we can see the satellite imagery of that area of Southeast Libya.

And we can maybe get some ideas just from looking at that already of some reasons of why perhaps this area hasn't got a very high human footprint.

Obviously it's very, very sandy.

You can see the areas of low human footprint.

It's very, very sandy in this area.

So it's likely to be a desert, isn't it? And that would make sense, wouldn't it, because this is the Sahara Desert here.

So let's have a look at another layer then.

Let's have a look at the global rainfall.

So if we click that on, and if we click here to where it says show legend, we can see that the annual precipitation in this particular area is very, very low, which is exactly what we'd expect for a desert, isn't it? And if we, this time, we use this function here that says swipe, we can actually now swipe and look at the differences and look at where the desert is and we can switch between these two different layers by swiping across.

So I can also do the same thing and compare and look at the other different layers that we've got on there.

So I can have a look at global maximum temperature.

So I can look at the temperature in the area and look at the different information there and compare it.

And you can see if you look at the legend here, that there's obviously a very, very high temperature in Libya, which all makes sense, doesn't it? It's a desert environment, it's got low rainfall and a high temperature, and therefore a low human footprint because not very many people are living there.

Yeah, it's got that low human footprint.

You can see that on here, look.

That low human footprint here because of all of those different reasons.

And what we can now do is add that information to the map as point data.

So we can go down here to sketch and we can add some information.

So we can add the title Southeast Libya, and we can add that there's a low human footprint and we can put what that was.

It was 0.

01%.

And we can add an explanation.

So this area has a low population because it is a desert environment with high temperatures and very low rainfall.

This means that not many people can live there.

So we've been able to add, then we can put that point on there, we've been able to add all of this information to the map, and we can click on that now and we can see that information that we've put in.

We can see the title and we can see this explanation that we've added in there to explain why the human footprint is as it is.

We've used all of those different layers on that map to find reasons for this pattern.

And then we've added that information ourself onto the map.

Now I can also add even more information to that, and I can edit that even further.

If I go back onto sketch and I click on this edit tool here, I can actually edit this particular bit of information.

And if I've got like an image, for example, a URL that I want to add into that, I can add that in there as well.

So now when I come out, if I click on that, that's added that image in there as well.

So I've added all of that information and all of that data onto the map.

And so now that I've added that piece of information, and I can add bits of information to all these other places in the map, so we can come to anywhere and zoom in and compare those different layers and come up with some reasons as to why we're seeing those different patterns.

And then add all of that information and add that point data to that map ourself.

Now, if you are logged in, then you are able to use this and save your progress.

You can click on Save and you can save everything that you're doing, but you've got to be logged in to be able to that.

You've got to be signed up and have an account and be logged in to be able to do that.

So if you do, if you have got an account and you can sign in and log in, then you're gonna be able to save everything that you're doing and all of this information so that you can come back to it and add to it and build it up over time.

Another check for us now then.

Which tools can be used to compare two layers of data? Tick all that apply.

So A, swipe? B, transparency slider? And C, legend? So pause the video, write down your answer, and then come back and let's see how you got on.

Okay, how did you get on? Which tools can be used to compare two layers of data? It's swipe and transparency slider.

Did you get those? Well done.

True or false? GIS web maps are only a tool for visualising geographical patterns in data.

They can't help us explain geographical patterns.

Is that true or false? Pause the video, write down your answer, and then come back and let's see how you got on.

Okay, how did you do? GIS web maps are only a tool for visualising geographical patterns in data.

They can't help us explain geographical patterns.

That's false, but why is it false? The GIS are a useful tool to visualise, interpret, and analyse geographical data.

This means they can be used to explain geographical patterns by comparing different layers.

So point data could be added here to help explain what? Is it A, high human footprint? B, low human footprint? Or C, high temperatures? So have a look at that map, pause the video, write down your answer, and then come back and let's see how you got on.

Okay, how did you get on? Point data could be added here to help explain? Low human footprint.

It's a low human footprint area.

Well done.

A map with lots of point data added is a great way of presenting geographical data visually.

This shows information for a specific point, and these are point data added at different locations.

Another check now then.

True or false? Adding data on a map could be used to present information collected during fieldwork.

What do you think? Is that true or false? So pause the video, write down your answer, and then come back and let's see how you got on.

Okay, what do you think? Adding data on a map could be used to present information collected during fieldwork.

That's true.

Presenting geographical data using a GIS is a great way of showing your data collection after completing fieldwork.

It makes it easier to see patterns over geographical space.

All right, so onto our final task of the lesson now then.

So open the geography visualizer using the link on the screen.

Complete the following steps to compare the human footprint with layers of physical geography data.

Select the imagery/hybrid basemap using the toolbar.

Click Open Map in the toolbar and select Human Footprint.

Click Add Layer in the toolbar and select Global Maximum Temperature, Global Minimum Temperature, and Global Rainfall.

Click Map Layers in the toolbar and make sure only human footprint is selected.

Use the transparency slider and the swipe function to compare the human footprint with the imagery/hybrid basemap for the places identified in task A.

Experiment using other added layers.

Task two.

Explain why you think each location has a high or low human footprint and add this to your map by completing the following steps.

Click on the sketch tab on the toolbar.

To add data to a previous point symbol, added in task A, select the arrow button, edit tool, in the pop-up window.

Click on the symbol on your map and add the data in the pop-up window.

In the description, add an explanation for why you think the human footprint is low or high.

For example, low human footprint 0.

01%.

This is because of the desert environment, low precipitation, and high temperatures, so people can't live there.

Complete this for four locations and save your work if you're logged in.

Okay, so pause the video, work your way through those two tasks.

Make sure you read each point very carefully and do it each one step by step and then come back and let's see how you got on.

Okay, how did you get on? So your map showing human footprint with the swipe function should look like this.

Your map showing an explanation of human footprint should look like this.

Okay, we're at the end of our lesson now on "GIS: Analysing the distribution of the world's population." Let's have a look at what we've learned today.

A GIS allows us to store and display data on a digital map.

A GIS can be used to visualise population data within a country and across the world.

Layers showing the world's human footprint shows us information on where people live and includes where has been impacted by humans.

GIS can be used to help analyse the world's human footprint.

Thank you for joining me for today's geography lesson.

I've really enjoyed it and I hope you have to.

I'll see you next time.