AP Human Geography
Unit 2 FRQ (Natural Increase) with Feedback
18 min read•july 11, 2024
Harrison Burnside
Harrison Burnside
AP Human Geography Free Response Question on the Rate of Natural Increase of Population
This was the 2018 AP Human Geography FRQ. Use exam-like conditions. Time yourself at 15 minutes for this prompt since there is one stimulus.
A. Identify the world region of the map with highest rates of natural increase
B. Using the region identified in part A, explain THREE factors that contribute to high population growth rates.
C. Describe ONE economic incentive that a country with a high population growth rate could use to decrease population growth, and identify ONE potential impact of this strategy.
D. Describe ONE social program or policy that a country with a high population growth rate could use to decrease population growth, and identify ONE potential impact of this strategy.
Sample Answers and Feedback
Student Submission 1
A. The region with the highest natural increase rates is Sub-Saharan Africa.
B. One factor that can contribute to high population growth rates would be lack in education for young women. this means that not many women are exposed to higher educational opportunities and are in the role of house-maker and child-bearer at a progressively lower age, leading to more children. Another factor that contributes would be a lack of contraceptives or planned parenting departments within the region. This can lead to more unplanned pregnancies within a nation and, again, more children born per generation. Lastly, a contributing factor could be pro-natal policies in a nation, meaning tax and job incentives for a child. If a country encourages more children to be born in a country by handing rewards out to each parent, it would lead to an increase in population.
C. An economic incentive that a country could use to decrease population would be to encourage a female labor force union and workforce. This means that the government would create programs that would encourage female to go out to find a job instead of staying at home as wife and mother, giving them more options and possibly delaying the child bearing years. Therefore, population is decreased.
D. A country could enact a restrictive one-child policy to decrease its population growth. This means that each couple could only conceive and bear one child per family as it was in China. However, the potential impact of this policy probably is a new social preference for a specific gender and increased rates of abortion. Moreover, as in China, male babies were preferred over females due to its paternal hierarchy, leading to more male babies being born than females due to abortions.
TA Feedback
your response was awesome, so i just have a little bit of feedback a) you identified the correct region! --> 1/1 point earned b) your first reason and second reasons are solid, nice structure and brief explanation also! --> 3/3 points earned c) your description of the economic incentive is great (i would have liked to see the phrase bank loans or microcredit, etc.) but your potential impact is less apparent. (the college board rubric says not to award credit for “population decreases”) for the impact, i would have liked to have seen a phrase like “A potential impact of this incentive is that the country population would decrease because… (reduced CBR, TFR)” --> 1/2 points earned d) your description of the social program is great (i would have liked to seen the vocab words anti-natalist but the one-child policy example works!) and the potential impact is well identified and explained in this section (: --> 2/2 points earned
overall) you scored 7/8 possible points on this frq!! that would be an awesome score if this were your real AP exam. keep up the great work
Student Submission 2
A.) The South Africa region has the highest rate of natural population increase in the world.
B.)
1.) Due to the low likelihood of a child reaching adulthood, many families have large quantities of children to compensate for potential childhood deaths.
2.) There is a lack of birth control options available and cultural stigma prevents many women from seeking out the few available options.
3.) Many families who are in poverty have lots of kids so there are more people in the family working for money and growing food.
C.) Since many families in south-Africa have many kids so they can have more people working, it would make sense for the government to give families with under a certain number of kids an annual paycheck for having few children. A potential impact is that many families would attempt to hide their excess children from authorities and national databases so they can get the payout.
D.) A policy south-Africa can implement would be to make a national program to promote the use and acceptance of birth control options. The government can increase the quantity and types of birth control options families have options to. Furthermore, the government can subsidize these options so more people can afford and buy them. Additionally, the government can promote a national sex-education program to promote these new birth control options and educate people on how and why they should be used. Educating people on the options would also decrease the stigma associated with them by highlighting the benefits.
TA Feedback
a) according to the college board rubric, you didn’t earn the point for the region because South Africa is a country (with a relatively low NIR for the region actually) and not a region to get this point you could have said, “Sub-Saharan Africa” or “Southern Africa” or “Africa south of the Sahara” --> 0/1 points earned b) all of your reasons are solid, nice structure and short/sweet explanation also! next time try to write another sentence to explain each factor if time allows you on the real ap exam --> 3/3 points earned c) your description of the economic incentive is great for a pro-natalist incentive program but your potential impact is less related to population and more related to a flaw of the program. since it’s not on the ap rubric, you don’t get the points for the impact this time --> 1/2 points earned d) your description of the social program is great, but the potential impact is not well identified in this section ): --> 1/2 points earned
overall) you scored 5/8 possible points on this frq! that would be a pretty good score if this were your real AP exam. try to be more specific when explaining your examples but also try to think big picture when identifying impacts or solutions (:
Student Submission 3
A) The highest rates of natural increase are mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa.
B) One factor would be the lack of access to education. Education, particularly about safe sex and care for children, as well as higher education, might lead to more workers and less young families, decreasing population growth rate. Another factor that would contribute would be the decline of death rates due to increased access to medicines. If people are still having the same amount of children due to social norms, but less are dying to due increased medical safety, the population will grow. Another reason would be the lack of access/acceptance of birth control. When women are not able to access birth control, they are more likely to have more children, therefore increasing the population.
C) One economic incentive that a country could give would be an increase in jobs for women. This would create an influx of workers(helping the economy) and it would cause the families to have less children in hopes of a male child to support the family.
D) One social program would be increasing the education that women have access to. This could cause more educated women and a lower infant mortality rate ( due to more education about safety), which over time would cause a decrease in births needed to produce an able child, causing the birth rate to drop.
TA Feedback
a) you identified the correct region! --> 1/1 point earned b) all of your reasons are solid, nice structure and short/sweet explanation also! for the responses though, try to identify (clearly) the effects on women or girls to do well on the ap exam. --> 3/3 points earned c) your identification of the economic incentive is great but there is no clear impact stated. also try to describe the economic incentive more on the ap exam to receive full credit --> 1/2 points earned d) your identification of the social program is great, but the potential impact is not well identified in this section, also try to, again, explain your program more for full credit on the ap exam ): --> 1/2 points earned overall) you scored 6/8 possible points on this frq! that would be a pretty good score if this were your real AP exam. try to just write more when explaining so the ap readers really know that you know what you are talking about !! (:
Student Submission 4
A. The world region of the map with the highest rates of natural increase is Sub-Saharan Africa.
B. One factor that contributes to high population growth rates is a lack of access to birth control and limited family planning. Access to contraceptives decrease the likelihood of an unplanned pregnancy drastically reduces the birth rate. Another factor that contributes to high population growth is low female employment. Females in the workforce are less likely to have as many children, because both parents are employed. In many regions with high growth rates, less females actively participate in the workforce and instead take care of the children. A third factor that contributes to high population growth rates are increasing life expectancies. Advancements in medical technologies allow people to live for longer periods of time. As a result, the population continues to grow since less people die.
C. One economic incentive countries with high population growth rates could use to decrease population growth rates is promoting female participation the workforce. A greater number of females in the workforce can transition a country along the DTM into stage 3 and 4. This raises the standard of living for many families and decreases the need of having a large number of children. Birth rates will decrease and so will the total fertility rate as more women choose to have less kids because of their employment in the workforce.
D. One way countries can use social program to decrease population growth rates is promoting the rate of urbanization. It becomes less economically feasible to have larger families in cities since the cost of living (housing, food, etc) is much higher in urban areas. Policies that promote urbanization will also help a country progress along the DTM. Families will have less children and will have greater access to services such as healthcare and a higher quality education. These factors will limit the rate of population growth as less people are born.
TA Feedback
a) you identified the correct region! --> 1/1 point earned b) all of your reasons are solid, nice structure and great explanation for all 3! --> 3/3 points earned c) your identification of the economic incentive is great and your impact is relevant and correct. also try to describe the economic incentive more on the ap exam to receive full credit there. also, try not to give multiple answers to the questions when you are only asked for one of each! (ap readers can only count your first response to “each question” on the ap exam) --> 2/2 points earned d) your identification of the social program is great, and the potential impact is well identified in this section. in this section, you did explain the factors better, so use this as your model moving forward!! --> 2/2 points earned
overall) you scored 8/8 possible points on this frq! that would be a super awesome if this were your real AP exam. try to just write more when explaining so the ap readers really know that you know what you are talking about !! (: **this could be the great example frq if you had just gone into a little bit more depth on females in the workforce in part c!
Student Submission 5
A. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rates of natural increase.
B. Three factors that can contribute to high population growth rates could be that there are no access to birth control which can lead to unplanned pregnancies. Another factor is education that is not properly given to women such as sex ed classes which women are not educated about protected sexual intercourse. A third factor is access to medicines and treatments that can can slow the death rate and increase the rates of natural increase into that region.
C. One economic incentive that a country with a high population growth rate can use is to give more jobs to women. This will allow production of babies to decrease thus, could help decrease the population growth. This will allow women to spend more time into their jobs rather than focusing on becoming a house wife taking care of their children.
D. One social program or policy that a country with a high population growth rate could use to decrease the population growth is to have a one child policy similar to China’s one child policy. This will limit the parents in the country to allow them to only have one child causing the population growth to decrease.
TA Feedback
a) you identified the correct region! --> 1/1 point earned b) your first response is great, just try to describe it with at least another sentence. your second response is the same topic on the college board rubric as your first response about family planning your third response is solid though, but i could use again, a bit more explanation --> 2/3 points earned c) your description of the economic incentive is great (i would have loved to see some vocab words but it’s okay) but i don’t clearly see an impact ): --> 1/2 points earned d) your identification of the social program is great, but the potential impact, again, is not well identified in this section. --> 1/2 points earned
overall) you scored 5/8 possible points on this frq! that would be a pretty good score if this were your real AP exam. try to just read the whole question and clearly identify where your responses to each part of each question are next time
Student Submission 6
A. Central Africa has the highest natural increase rates.
B. The large NIR in central Africa is due to most of the countries within this area being in stage 2 of the DTM. Stage 2 is characterized by plummeting death rates, due to agriculture, and high birth rates. Countries within stage 2 of the DTM may not be very educationally advanced; individuals, especially women, would not the risks of having kids or prevention methods. Central African countries may also have less empowerment for women; because women may be less likely to have a job, they will have more time to dedicate to starting a family. Another feature of central Africa is subsistence farming, families farm for their own survival; individuals may choose to produce many kids, as they serve as more help on the farms.
C. A country could try to introduce more work opportunities, particularly for women, that allow them to focus more on their career, and less on starting a family. When women have the ability to enter the workforce, they are usually forced to pick between having a career or starting a family. Providing more work opportunities may limit the amount of individuals who decide to start a family.
D. A country may implement a policy that forces families to have a limited number of children, similar to China’s one-child-policy. This forces families to have less children, thus reducing the overall birthrate.
TA Feedback
a) you identified the correct region! --> 1/1 point earned b) all of your reasons are solid, nice structure and brief explanation also! i would have liked to have seen more description on each of them --> 3/3 points earned c) your description of the economic incentive is great but your potential impact is less apparent. for the impact, i would have liked to have seen a phrase like “A potential impact of this incentive is that the country population would decrease because… (reduced CBR, TFR)” --> 1/2 points earned d) your description of the social program is great (i would have liked to seen the vocab words anti-natalist but the one-child policy example works! and maybe a little bit more explanation like i said in part b) and the potential impact is well identified and explained in this section (: --> 2/2 points earned
overall) you scored 7/8 possible points on this frq!! that would be an awesome score if this were your real AP exam. keep up the great work!
Student Submission 7
A. The world region of the map with the highest rate of natural increase is Sub-Saharan Africa.
B. Three factors that could contribute to high population growth would be: education, natal policies, and politics. Education is very limited in countries that are in stage 2. Therefore, they do not get educated on the use of contraceptives or birth control. Natal policies could also contribute to high population growth by for example, if in Sub-saharan Africa, the population growth is slow, the use of natal policies in order to bring up the population can be used. Natal policies could include benefits such as monetary benefits or health care benefits which would make people want to have kids. Politics could play a role in population growth because for example, if a country is at peace with other countries, there will be no wars. This means that the males could stay at home. This would potentially lead to an increase in birth rates as compared to if the men had to leave for war.
C. One economic incentive that a country with a high population growth rate could use to decrease population growth is giving money to citizens of a country who are not having children. By giving money to the people, you are rewarding them for not having children and slowing down the population growth rate. One potential impact of using this strategy is that the economy can go down drastically. If everyone decides to stop having children in order to get monetary compromise for it, the country will eventually run out of money. If a country does run out of money, it could potentially lead to a civil war.
D. If a country has a high population growth rate, they could implement an anti-natalist policy. This means that the country will provide you with benefits if you do not have children or have one child. China had implemented a one-child policy a while ago, but that later led to a drastic decrease in population, so they took it off. One impact of using an anti-natalist policy is that it could decrease the population growth so much to the point where the population pyramid is way too thrown off. If people are not having kids, there will be less people who are able to work and can lead to a declining population in later years.
TA Feedback
a) you identified the correct region! --> 1/1 point earned b) your first reason and second reasons are solid, nice structure and brief explanation also! i don’t love your third reason or explanation though because the opposite could also be true (look up baby booming after world war 2 in the usa to understand what i’m saying)–> 2/3 points earned c) your description of the economic incentive is great and your potential impact is apparent. i don’t love the content of your impact though --> 1/2 points earned d) your description of the social program is great and the potential impact is well identified and explained in this section (: --> 2/2 points earned
overall) you scored 6/8 possible points on this frq!! that would be an great score if this were your real AP exam. keep up the great work!
Student Submission 8
A) Sub Saharan Africa has the highest rates of natural increase.
B) The first factor that contributes to high population is crude birth rates of these countries. The second factor is the lack of education and the fact that it doesn’t allow citizens to become economically independent and more knowledgeable. The third factor is that due to the lack of education, for females especially, they tend to get married off earlier and have as many children to add to the family.
C) An economic incentive that a country with a high population could use is to promote education, especially female educating. By educating more females, they will spend more time focusing on their studies to build a future for themselves and be able to provide for themselves and the people around them. The impact could be very forthcoming because it would allow women to spend less time having to birth and raise children and more time joining the workforce, contributing even more to the nation’s fundamental infrastructure and core.
D) A social program could be the implementation of birth control to reduce the constant and heavy population growth of the country. However, due to the cultural and religious norms, birth control plans aren’t deemed very acceptable in society especially since most of the countries are Muslim nations. This could potentially be detrimental to many women’s lives because of how strict their families and social structures might be.
TA Feedback
a) you identified the correct region! --> 1/1 point earned b) your first reason and second reasons are solid, nice structure and brief explanation also! your third reason is the same as your second–> 2/3 points earned c) your description of the economic incentive is great and potential impact is good --> 2/2 points earned d) your description of the social program is great and the potential impact is well identified in this section (i would have liked to actually see the word impact but i read the explanation) (: --> 2/2 points earned
overall) you scored 7/8 possible points on this frq!! that would be an awesome score if this were your real AP exam. keep up the great work!
Student Submission 9
A. The region of the world with the highest rates of natural increase is Sub-Saharan Africa.
B. Three factors that contribute to high population growth rates are the lack of education, decreasing death rates, and a lack of access to healthcare.
C. One economic incentive is promoting more women to get an education, and this would lead to more jobs, and less women having children young.
D. One policy that a country with a high population growth rate could use to decrease population growth is the encouragement to have less children, and this would impact the amount of people in the working age when they grow up, because there would be more elderly people to take care of, than there are people in the working age to do it.
TA Feedback
a) you identified the correct region! --> 1/1 point earned b) your reasons are solid, but there is no EXPLANATION, i can’t give you any points --> 0/3 points earned c) your reason is not economic so it can’t be an economic incentive. think about money when you see the word economic on the ap exam or in the future on ap hug frqs. no clear impact since there is no clear incentive --> 0/2 points earned d) your description of the social program is great (i would have liked to seen the vocab words anti-natalist but the one-child policy example works!) and the potential impact is well identified and explained in this section (: --> 2/2 points earned
overall) you scored 3/8 possible points on this frq!! that’s not a bad score for the AP exam because you got almost half of the points. if you did just a little better on the other frq on the exam, you might be able to get a 3 ! work on lengthening your responses and your descriptions to do better on the exam
Student Submission 10
A. The region on the map with the highest rate of natural increase is Sub-Saharan Africa.
B. Sub-Saharan Africa has high rates of natural increase because technology is improving, so a lot less people are dying. Most of Sub-Saharan Africa is agricultural, so families need to have a lot of children to work farms. In addition, women have limited access to education and contraceptives, which contributes to a high total fertility rate.
C. An economic incentive is to offer wage bonuses to people who have a set number of children or less. A potential impact of this incentive is that the extra income, combined with having less children, will pull families out of extreme poverty and set both the parents and children up for better lives.
D. A social program or policy that a country with high population growth could use to decrease growth is to offer free contraceptives and counseling to families to help with family planning. A potential impact of this strategy could be that women become more aware of their rights and start to push for equality. Their children also will grow up with a different frame of mind than their parents did. This social change may help push a country in stage 2 to stage 3.
TA Feedback
a) you identified the correct region! --> 1/1 point earned b) your third reason and second reasons are solid, nice structure and brief explanation also! but your first reason could use some vocab words like crude death rate but it’s still a correct response. --> 3/3 points earned c) your description of the economic incentive is great and your potential impact is apparent. for the description of the incetive, i would have liked a little more writing, but the answer is still correct --> 2/2 points earned d) your description of the social program is great and the potential impact is well identified and explained in this section (love the DTM reference with correct stages !) (: --> 2/2 points earned
overall) you scored 8/8 possible points on this frq!! that would be an awesome score if this were your real AP exam. keep up the great work