Lesson video

Hello and welcome, my name is Miss Harrison.

I'm so excited to be learning with you today.

Today's lesson is called Measuring and Mapping Development.

Grab everything you might need for today's lesson and let's begin our learning.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to describe and evaluate key indicators of development.

Before we can begin this learning, we need to define the key words that we'll be using throughout today's lesson.

The key words in today's lesson are development, development indicator, and composite indicator.

Development, this is the improvement in people's quality of life within a country or region.

Development indicator, this is a measurable piece of data used to assess and compare levels of development between countries or regions.

Composite indicator, this is a measure that combines multiple individual indicators to give a more complete picture of development.

Now that we've defined these words, we can begin our learning.

The first topic we are going to explore in today's lesson is common indicators of development.

Costa Rica is a small country located in Central America.

It's considered part of the larger North American continent.

It is bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the south, and the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west.

Despite its small size, Costa Rica is known for its rich biodiversity, beautiful landscapes, and strong commitment to environmental conservation.

How could we measure how developed Costa Rica is? Pause the video here whilst you have a think and press play when you're ready to continue.

Alex said, "I would measure how rich people are there," and Jun said, "I would measure how educated people are there." Well done if you came up with some of those ideas as well.

There are many different ways to measure inequality and development.

How we choose to measure may depend on our perspective, economic growth focus, human and social development focus, environmental sustainability focus, and grassroots focus.

Development indicators are used to measure and compare the development of countries or regions.

They can be categorised into three main types.

Economic indicators, these indicators measure the economic performance of a country.

Examples include gross domestic product, GDP per capita, income distribution, and unemployment rates.

Economic indicators are often used to gauge the wealth and productivity of a nation.

Social indicators.

Social indicators focus on the wellbeing of countries' population.

They measure aspects like healthcare access, life expectancy, literacy rates, and education levels and poverty rates.

These indicators are crucial for assessing the quality of life and the social conditions of a population.

Composite indicators.

Composite indicators combine several different indicators to provide a more holistic view of a country's development.

One well-known example is the Human Development Index, which combines life expectancy, education levels, and income per capita to measure overall human development in a country.

Other examples include Gini coefficient, measuring income inequality, and Environmental Performance Index.

Each category provides valuable insights into different aspects of a country's development and helps to identify areas of improvement.

Which category of development indicator is missing? Pause the video here whilst you have a think and press play when you're ready to continue.

Fantastic, it was composite indicators.

Well done if you managed to identify that correctly.

Economic indicators, these focus on the income or wealth of a region or country.

What perspective of development would someone have if they solely focused on economic indicators? Pause the video here whilst you have a think and press play when you're ready to continue.

Fantastic, it's economic growth focus.

Common economic indicators include gross domestic product, which is the total monetary value of all the goods and services produced in a country over a year.

GDP per capita.

This is the GDP divided by the population.

True or false, gross domestic product measures the total monetary value of all goods and services produced in a country over a year divided by the population.

Pause the video here whilst you decide if this statement is true or false, and press play when you're ready to continue.

Fantastic, this statement is false.

I would now like you to explain why.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to continue.

Fantastic.

The reason why this statement is false is because this is GDP per capita where the GDP is divided by the population.

Well done if you managed to explain that correctly.

The map on your screen shows GDP per capita in 2023.

Countries in North America, Oceania and Western Europe tend to have a higher GDP per capita because these regions have well developed economies, strong infrastructure, advanced technology, and high levels of industrialization.

Nations like the United States, Canada, Australia, and countries in Western Europe, such as Germany, France, and Switzerland, have a high standard of living, which is reflected in their GDP per capita.

On the other hand, countries with a low GDP per capita are often found in regions such as Africa and parts of Southern Asia.

These countries may face challenges such as political instability, lack of infrastructure, limited access to education and healthcare, and economic inequality.

Examples of countries with low GDP per capita include Afghanistan, Nigeria, Haiti, and India, although India is rapidly growing economically.

It's important to note that GDP per capita is just one indicator of development and doesn't always reflect the true wellbeing or quality of life for individuals in a country.

Factors like distribution of wealth, access to basic services, and socioeconomic inequality can also play a significant role in determining people's quality of life.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of using economic indicators of development? Pause the video here whilst do you have a think and press play when you're ready to continue.

Excellent.

Some of the strengths are that it's easy to measure and compare.

Economic indicators, such as GDP or income levels, are straightforward to calculate and can be compared across countries or regions, providing a clear numerical snapshot of a country's economic performance.

Money allows people to buy things that improve their lives.

A higher GDP or income level often means more resources are available to improve infrastructure, healthcare and education and other services to enhance people's quality of life.

Some weaknesses of economic indicators are it doesn't show inequality within a country.

Economic indicators like GDP per capita do not account for how wealth is distributed.

A country may have a high GDP, but that doesn't mean that everyone benefits equally.

Wealth inequality is often hidden in aggregate economic measures.

Another weakness is that it doesn't show whether the growth is sustainable.

Economic indicators often focus on short-term growth, but don't assess if the growth is sustainable in the long run.

For instance, a country might have high growth driven by unstable practises, such as over exploitation of natural resources or relying on non-renewable industries.

It also doesn't show whether people have a good quality of life.

Economic growth might not directly translate to better living conditions for all.

For example, it doesn't measure aspects, such as education, healthcare, safety, or environmental quality, which are crucial factors for people's overall wellbeing.

What is the strength of using economic indicators of development? Is it A, they show us how happy people are, B, they tell us about quality of life, C, they're easy to compare.

Pause the video here and decide and press play when you're ready to continue.

Excellent, the answer is C, they're easy to compare, well done.

Social indicators, these focus on the quality of life of people.

Common social indicators focus on health and education.

What perspective of development would someone have if they solely focused on social indicators? Pause the video here whilst you decide and press play to continue.

Fantastic, they would have a human and social development focus.

Well done.

Common social indicators include life expectancy, the average number of years a person is expected to live at birth, average years of schooling, this is the average number of years a person attends school.

Countries in Central Africa, like Nigeria, have some of the lowest life expectancies in the world.

In 2023, Nigeria's life expectancy was 54.

5 years, which reflects challenges such as poverty, poor healthcare, and limited access to basic services.

These factors can result in high infant mortality rates, lack of healthcare infrastructure, and diseases that affect the population's overall longevity.

On the other hand, countries like Japan have some of the highest life expectancies globally.

In 2023, Japan's life expectancy was 84.

7 years.

Japan benefits from excellent healthcare systems, a high standard of living, access to nutritious food, and strong public health infrastructure.

Factors like these help people live longer and happier lives.

The difference in life expectancy between countries like Nigeria and Japan highlights inequality in healthcare access, economic conditions, and social wellbeing between nations.

It also shows the importance of improving health systems, education and living standards to help raise life expectancy in lower income regions.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of using social indicators of development? Pause the video here whilst you have a think and press play when you're ready to continue.

Fantastic, some strengths are they directly impact quality of life.

Social indicators such as education levels, healthcare access and life expectancy, are measures that directly reflect the wellbeing of a population.

These indicators give us valuable insights into the quality of life people experience in a country as they're closely tied to people's day-to-day experiences.

Weaknesses, they don't show environmental protection.

While social indicators help measure people's quality of life, they don't consider the environmental impact.

For example, a country might have good healthcare and education systems, but could be suffering from environmental degradation, which may affect the overall wellbeing of its citizens in the long run.

It also doesn't measure happiness.

Social indicators typically focus on tangible aspects of life, like income, education or health.

However, they don't directly measure subjective factors, like happiness or life satisfaction, which are also important to understanding the full quality of life in a country.

People might have good access to services but may not feel happy or fulfilled.

Composite indicators, composite indicators of development use a single score that combines different pieces of economic and social data.

They provide information for people who may look at development from different perspectives.

These different perspectives are economic growth focus and human social development focus.

The most common composite indicator is the Human Development Index.

This gives countries a score between zero and one.

Human Development Index, this incorporates health score, education score, and income score.

The health score uses data such as life expectancy, the education score uses data such as averages in school, and income score uses the GNI per capita.

This is like GDP per capita, but takes into account foreign investment.

HDI means health, education and, A, environment, B, income, C, happiness.

Pause the video here whilst you have a think and press play when you're ready to continue you.

Excellent, the answer is B, HDI measures health, education and income, well done.

According to the Human Development Index, which measures development based on factors, like life expectancy, education and income, the world shows clear differences in development levels.

What areas of the world are most developed and least developed according to the HDI? Pause the video here whilst you take a closer look and press play when you're ready to continue.

Excellent, the most developed areas are North America, including the United States and Canada.

They have a high HDI value due to high levels of education, long life expectancy and high income levels.

Northern and Western Europe, including countries like Norway, Sweden and Germany, also have high HDI levels, reflecting the excellent healthcare, education systems and high standards of living.

Oceania, particularly countries like Australia and New Zealand, have high HDI scores as well thanks to their good healthcare, education and economic systems. The least developed areas are areas like southern Asia, including countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

They tend to have a lower HDI value due to challenges like lower income levels, limited access to quality education and healthcare, and lower life expectancies.

Sub-Saharan Africa, including countries like Chad, South Sudan and Mali, have some of the lowest HDI levels with factors such as poverty, limited access to healthcare and education, and high mortality rates contributing to lower scores.

These regional differences show how economic, social and health factors impact the overall development and wellbeing of people in different parts of the world.

Why are composite measures often seen as a good way of measuring? Pause the video here whilst you have a think and press play when you're ready to continue.

Excellent.

Lucas said, "By combining three different scores, it gives us a broad picture on the level of development in place." Well done.

By combining factors like life expectancy, education levels and income, composite measures, like the Human Development Index, focus not just on economic growth, but also on people's wellbeing and this better reflects the quality of life in a country.

Also, using a single composite index allows for easier comparison between countries, rather than comparing multiple individual indicators, you can assess overall development more efficiently.

Since composite measures account for different dimensions of development, they also reduce the risk of bias that might come from focusing too much on one area, such as looking at economic output, which may overlook poverty and inequality.

In short, composite measures offer a more complete and balanced assessment of development, incorporating both material wealth and human wellbeing, which makes them a valuable tool for understanding and comparing development across countries.

I would like you to use an atlas to help you annotate the map to show how the HDI varies around the world.

Pause the video here whilst you attempt this task and press play when you're ready to continue.

Excellent.

Before we look at our answers, I would like you to complete one more task.

I would like you to complete the table to describe common ways of measuring development.

We're going to focus on GDP per capita, life expectancy at birth, and Human Development Index.

Pause the video here whilst you have a think and press play when you're ready to continue.

Fantastic, let's check our answers.

I asked you to use an atlas to help annotate the map to show how HDI scores vary across the world.

You might have noticed that most of North America, Northern and Western Europe has a HDI over 0.

9.

Japan and South Korea and east Asia and Australia and New Zealand and Oceania have high HDI scores of over 0.

9 as well.

Many countries in Africa and south of the Sahara have low HDI scores as do countries such as Afghanistan in Southern Asia.

Countries like Bolivia and Venezuela in South America also have a low HDI.

Well done if you managed to identify those all correctly, I then asked you to complete this table.

For GDP per capita, it's an economic, the description, the total monetary value of all goods and services produced in a country over a year, its strength, it is easy to measure.

Weakness, it doesn't show evenly the wealth is spread.

Life expectancy at birth.

This is social, the age someone is expected to live to.

It gives us an idea about the health of people, doesn't show how many of these years people are healthy.

Human Development Index, this is composite.

This is a measure of income, health, and education.

It measures multiple things, so it gives a fuller picture of development.

Doesn't show how happy people are.

Well done if you manage to complete that correctly.

You've done brilliantly.

We're now going to explore our second topic of today's lesson, alternative indicators of development.

Although HDI is often seen as a good indicator of development, there are still criticisms of it depending on people's perspectives.

Can you think of any reasons why people might criticise HDI as a development indicator? Pause the video here whilst you have a think and press play when you're ready to continue.

Excellent.

One way that people might criticise HDI indicator is through an environmental sustainability focus.

Sam said, "HDI doesn't include any measures that focus on the environment." Well done if you identified that correctly.

Grassroots focus and human and social development focuses would also disagree.

Lucas said, "HDI doesn't include any measure that tells us how included people feel in local or national decision making.

It also doesn't tell us how happy people are." Well done if you manage to come up with that.

What is a criticism of HDI? Is it A, it doesn't tell us anything about income, B, it doesn't tell us anything about the environment, or C, it doesn't tell us anything about education.

Pause the video here whilst you have a think and press play when you're ready to continue.

Fantastic, the answer is B, it doesn't tell us anything about the environment.

Well done.

Indicators that show us the health of the natural environment, like ecological footprint, help us to assess the sustainability of development by measuring how much pressure human activities placed on the Earth's planet.

The ecological footprint is a way to measure the demand humans place on Earth.

It looks at how much land and resources are needed to produce food, energy, goods and services, and to absorb the waste humans produce, especially carbon emissions.

This map uses colour and size to give information on ecological footprint.

This is the impact of humans on nature.

Why is this important? If a country or region's ecological footprint is larger than its natural resource can support, it means it's living beyond its environmental means and that's not sustainable in the long term.

By tracking ecological footprints, countries can understand how much land and resources they consume compared to what the Earth can regenerate.

This helps governments and organisations plan for more sustainable development practises.

This map allows us to compare how different regions are managing their environmental resources.

For example, some countries may have a very high ecological footprint because of heavy industrialization or resource consumption, while others may be more sustainable.

What does this show us about the ecological footprint of places around the world? Pause the video here whilst you have a think and press play when you're ready to continue.

Fantastic.

High per person ecological footprints are found in North America and western Europe.

Low per person ecological footprints in Africa and Southern Asia.

Well done if you managed to identify those correctly.

The countries with the highest GDP per capita are often the countries with the highest ecological footprint.

What do you think about this? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to continue.

Excellent.

Jun said, "It's not surprising as people and businesses in richer countries have lifestyles that are more likely to impact the environment." Alex said, "Yes, but this suggests that development in these countries has not been very sustainable." Well done if you came up with these ideas as well.

The World Happiness Report is an annual publication that ranks countries based on how happy their citizens are.

The rankings are derived from survey data where people report how satisfied they are with their lives.

The report considers several key factors that contribute to a nation's overall happiness.

Countries with higher average incomes tend to have happier citizens because they can afford better healthcare, education and living conditions.

Higher incomes also provide access to more opportunities and experiences that contribute to a good quality of life.

People's relationships with family, friends and their communities play a really important role in their happiness.

Strong social networks provide emotional support, improve mental health, and contribute to overall life satisfaction.

Personal freedom, the ability to make one's own decision and having control over one's life are all significant contributors to happiness.

In countries where people feel they have more autonomy and opportunities to make choices happiness levels are higher.

Countries where people are more generous, whether through donations, volunteering or helping others often have higher happiness rankings, helping others increases individual wellbeing and creates a more connected society.

Trust in public institutions and the government can also have a significant effect on happiness.

Countries where people feel they can trust their leaders and have confidence in their fairness and transparency of institutions tend to score higher in happiness.

Which countries would you expect people to be most satisfied with their lives? Pause the video here whilst you have a think and press play when you're ready to continue.

Excellent.

There is a positive correlation between GDP per capita and life satisfaction, meaning that as income increases, people tend to be happier.

However, it's not a perfect correlation because other factors like health, education, and social support also influence happiness.

After basic needs are met, more income has less impact on happiness.

People value different things, so happiness can vary in wealthy countries.

High GDP can leave unequal wealth distribution and can lower life satisfaction, and environmental and psychological factors can also affect happiness beyond income.

In short, while high income can improve life satisfaction, it's not the only factor.

Can you identify any countries that are much more or less satisfied than you may expect? Pause the video here whilst do you have a think and press play when you're ready to continue.

Excellent.

Costa Rica is ranked 12th in the world in the 2024 World Happiness Report, which is a significant achievement.

Costa Rica is known for its high levels of social support, a strong sense of community and access to healthcare and education, all of which contribute to high levels of happiness.

The country also has a reputation for its pura vida lifestyle.

Costa Rica ranked 12th in the world in the 2023 World Happiness Report, which is a significant achievement.

Costa Rica is known for its high levels of social support, a strong sense of community, and access to healthcare and education, all of which contribute to a high level of happiness.

The country also has a reputation for its pura vida lifestyle, which emphasises living in a way that focuses on happiness, wellbeing, and enjoying life's simple pleasures.

On the other hand, Afghanistan ranked as the country with the least happy population.

This can be attributed to various challenges, including political instability, conflict, economic hardship and poor healthcare, and limited access to education.

Afghanistan has faced decades of turmoil, which has severely impacted people's quality of life and overall happiness.

These factors combined with the lack of basic services and security contribute to a low life satisfaction score for the country.

These contrasting rankings highlight how factors like political stability, economic opportunities, social support, and access to basic services can greatly influence the happiness and wellbeing of people in different parts of the world.

This graph shows a correlation between GDP per capita and life satisfaction.

Pause the video here whilst you have a think and press play when you're ready to continue.

Excellent.

The answer is it shows a positive correlation.

Well done.

Countries at the top of the World Happiness Report scale with scores between seven to eight are often the regions such as Scandinavia, Finland, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, and Oceania, for example, New Zealand and Australia.

These countries typically have high levels of social support, economic stability, and trust in institutions which contribute significantly to their residents' happiness and wellbeing.

Countries with scores between 6-7 include many countries from South America, Europe, and North America and East Asia.

Countries like Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Columbia in South America, as well as South Korea, Japan and Taiwan and east Asia fall into this category.

Many of these nations also have improving economic conditions, social support and access to education and healthcare, which contribute to relatively high levels of happiness, though challenges like inequality, political instability or social unrest may lower their scores compared to the top ranking countries.

Countries with happiness scores between two to three tend to have very low levels of happiness and are often affected by conflict, political instability, and economic hardship.

One of the countries in this range is Afghanistan, which has a score below two in the 2023 World Happiness Report.

The reasons for such low scores in Afghanistan include ongoing conflict, political turmoil, poverty, and lack of access.

We also have Lebanon, South Sudan, both of which have faced significant challenges such as civil war, economic crises and humanitarian issues.

In Lebanon, the political instability economic collapse and the aftermath of the Beirut explosion in 2020 have contributed to a decrease in the quality of life for its citizens.

Similarly, South Sudan continue to struggle with the impact of civil war, famine and lack of infrastructure.

Countries with a happiness score between three to four are generally found in Africa.

Many of these countries such as Sierra Leone, Chad, Central African Republic and Burundi face challenges like poverty, low access to education, poor healthcare systems, and ongoing conflict.

Is this map showing places with a high or low life satisfaction? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to continue.

Excellent, it's showing a high satisfaction, well done.

Using different indicators helps us to build a picture of the level of development in a country.

For example, Costa Rica, it has a GDP per capita of $26,293, happiness is 12th in the world, ecological footprint, it's a quarter of the average per person in the USA, HDI of of 0.

08, and life expectancy of 81.

I would like you to look at this statement, "Happiness is the best indicator of development." I would like you to place a cross on the line representing your opinion, whether you agree or disagree, or maybe you're in the middle.

I would like you to state your opinion, do you agree, disagree, or partly agree with the statement? And then justify your opinion.

Refer to different indicators of development in your answer.

Pause the video here whilst you attempt this task and press play when you're ready to continue.

Excellent.

This is an example of a justified opinion.

The score has been placed in the middle.

I partly agree with the statement as making sure most people are happy is what we should be aiming for.

However, if making people happy comes at the cost of destroying the environment or making other people from other places less happy, then it doesn't seem like a very sustainable idea of development.

Well done if you managed to explain your answer.

You've done brilliantly.

We've now come to the end of our learning in Measuring and Mapping Development, and you've done fantastically.

Before we end this lesson, let's summarise everything we've learned today.

There are many different ways of measuring development.

Economic indicators of development, such as GDP per capita, are a common way of comparing countries.

Composite indicators of development, such as HDI, take into account multiple measures and are often seen as a more rounded way of measuring development.

Indicators that measure happiness and ecological footprint are important as they go beyond simply measuring wealth.

Well done on today's lesson, you've done fantastically and I look forward to learning with you again very soon.