Thoughts and Ruminations on Chapter 10: Development

Jack S.

3/28/16

Mr. Angus

AP Huaman Geography

Chapter 10: Development

                                                          Thoughts and Ruminations

Presentation Link: Presentation

Write Up: Sean Costello, Jack Shams, Quin Ramos, and Lexie Schmelzer

Development Case Study Write Up

In our statistical data collection, we found that Bent county needs the most help with development. Our group decided to choose Bent County because it was the poorest county when measured by GDP which is $16,505. One of the indicators we chose was liver disease death rate per 100,000 people. High death rates from liver disease can indicate heavy use of drugs and alcohol as well as mediocre access to adequate health care. Bent County’s death rate is almost four times higher than Boulder County’s due to liver disease. It was also a factor in our decision that many other groups chose Costilla county, and we wanted to distinguish ourselves by choosing a different county. There are also people in our class who have been through Bent County and shared their experiences in the county which was also a deciding factor for us.

Due to the poorer nature of the county, it is likely that most of the citizens of Bent county work in the primary or secondary sectors. While there are clearly tertiary, quaternary, and quinary workers in Bent, there are likely less of them.

Looking at our data the two metrics with the best correlation to development level were liver disease and teen pregnancy rate. Constant across the poorer counties was a high liver disease rate and teen pregnancy rate. All of the counties we selected had a higher teen pregnancy rate than Boulder County. Boulder County was at 18 percent while Bent County was at 71 percent. Liver disease in Bent was 23.12 while liver disease was 6.64 percent in Boulder (per 100,000). With the exception of Yuma, all of the selected counties had a higher liver disease rate than Boulder county as well.

The liver disease can be explained by inadequate access to health care and, to a lesser extent, alcoholism. The increased teen pregnancy rate is most likely attributed to lack of sexual education and low amounts of family planning centers. All of these problems stem from the lack of development in Bent county.

In order to get the most out of volunteer work and improving the quality of life in Bent County, we focused on churches and hospitals. Specifically, Bent County Healthcare Center, Las Animas Dental Clinic, Seed and Supply Church, Friends Church, First Presbyterian Church, and Seventh Day Adventist Church. Our group decided to pick these churches and hospitals in these counties mostly because there are very few volunteer opportunities within these counties outside of their local churches and hospitals.

Map: This is a map of Norway, Sweden, and Finland. This map is relevant to our chapter because these countries are three of the most developed countries in the world. In each country almost if not all citizens are above the poverty line which allows their economies to flourish. These countries also have very high GNP's which paves the way for development and wealth. These countries are what all coitmries strive to be like. 

Sentence: Farm Africa wanted to help underdeveloped periphery countries in Africa begin developing and provide sustainable food sources but the people in those countries don't have the tools or man power to build and sustain farms by themselves so Farm Africa was created to pioneer techniques that boost harvests, reduce poverty, sustain natural resources and help end Africa's need for aid and then 30,000 people in Kenya benefited from a doubled crop harvest. 

Link to Farm Africa:Farm Africa

Model: 

Stage 1: This stage would be a country with a weak economy where the majority of their money goes         to the military and religion.

Stage 2: This stage includes wealthy people in the population investing in infrastructure allowing it to grow and get better. Transportaion and sewage systems are put in place. 

Stage 3: This stage has small but quick growth and traditional practices are still in tact.

Stage 4: This stage is when madden technology beings to take hold and workers become more specialized and advanced.

Stage 5: This stage includes the economy being set on mass consumption and there is heavy industrial out put.

Stage 6: This is the final stage where all products are recylced and reused and there is no more pollution or waste and things like solar energy utilized daily.