World Population Day
There are more than 6 billion people in the world! July 11 is World Population Day. Take this opportunity to explore with students the environmental, social, and economic impact of the world’s population. Each of these activities meets a variety of state and national standards for technology and core subject areas.
Grades K-2
Help students explore population differences within their own state. On the board, write the names and populations of five different significant cities in your state, including your own. Have students create a visual map with their state name in the middle and the cities around it. Along with each city name, students should use an icon to illustrate the city’s population. (As a class, decide on a pre-specified number that each icon will be equivalent to. For younger students, add to the list on the board the number of icons each population number represents.) Discuss with students what these numbers mean, which cities are larger and more populous in their state, and what kinds of factors influence the populations of different places.
EasyTech units: Visual Mapping Basics
Grades 3-5
Split students into four groups to look at world population in different ways. One group should look at trends in U.S. population growth over time; another at current U.S. population by state; another at trends in world population over time; another at world population by region/country/continent. Each group should use the Web for research and should use Spreadsheet software to collect data on their topic. Once data has been collected, students should use the Spreadsheet software to create charts and graphs that illustrate interesting trends or information. Encourage students to find fractions in their data: How long ago was the world population half of what it is now? What four states together make up one-third of the U.S. population? Then have students share their findings with the class. As a class, discuss how these trends affect the limited natural resources on the planet.
EasyTech units: Spreadsheet Basics,Web Browsing Basics,Graphing in Spreadsheets
Aha!Science units: Natural Resources
Aha!Math units: Fractions
Grades 6-8
Have students use the Web to research various environmental, social, and economic issues related to the world’s growing population. Have each student choose a specific topic that interests them and then create a multimedia presentation about the issue. Presentations should include cited statistics, general information, images and graphs, etc. Have each student share their presentation with the class. As a class, discuss the growing world population and brainstorm ways to ameliorate some of the challenges it is creating.
EasyTech units: Web Browsing, Presentation Software
