Population Circle

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A simulation of the history of world population growth

Classroom tip: Be sure that your students clearly understand that they are counting from 1 to 100 to fast-forward through 500 years of human history. With each number they count, the clock jumps five years ahead. When they reach 100, they will have arrived at the present.

Classroom tip: The Extra People Cards, listed under Facts and Background Materials below, can be useful if you do not have enough students in the class to complete the simulation.

Format:
» Whole class hands-on

Grade Levels:
» Lower Elementary
» Upper Elementary

Materials:
» Chalk, yarn, or tape
» Population Circle "counting cards"
» Extra People Cards (optional)

Subjects:
» Math
» Social Studies

Time:
» Prep: Under 5 minutes
» Activity: 10 minutes
» Discussion: 5 minutes

Facts and Background:

» Extra People Cards
This PDF includes four "extra people" faces for use in activities when class size alone may not be sufficient to present activities.

» History of Population Growth Graphic
A table showing milestones in human population growth.

» What Is a Population?
An elementary-level reading that discusses populations and habitat.

» World Population Video
This seven minute film depicts the history of human population growth and distribution from 1 AD through the present, then projects future growth (at the current rate) to the year 2030.

Eight frames of the video are presented here: the opening in 1 AD; then skipping ahead to 1800, when the population reached the first billion, followed by the years in which the population reached each successive billion; and the closing frame at 2030, showing the 8.2 billion people expected to inhabit the Earth by then if current growth rates continue.

Activities:

» Crowding Can Be Seedy
Students experience the effects of increasing population density when they pretend to be sprouting plants in a garden.

» Food for Thought
A simulation where students populate "continents" drawn to scale in yarn on the classroom floor and discuss how people and resources are distributed worldwide.

» World Population DVD
This seven minute film depicts the history of human population growth and distribution from 1 AD through the present, then projects future growth to the year 2030.

Eight frames of the film are presented here: the opening in 1 AD; then skipping ahead to 1800, when the population reached the first billion, followed by the years in which the population reached each successive billion; and the closing frame at 2030, showing the 8.2 billion people expected to inhabit the Earth by then if current growth rates continue.

Standards:

» Geography: Standard 4: Human Systems

» Geography: Standard 6: The Uses of Geography

» History (Grades 5-12): World History: Era 9: The 20th Century Since 1945

» Mathematics: Numbers and Operations

» Mathematics: Geometry

» Mathematics: Connections

» Mathematics: Representations

» Science (Grades K-4): Standard F: Science in Personal and Social Perspectives

» Science (Grades 5-8): Standard C: Life Science

» Science (Grades 5-8): Standard F: Science in Personal and Social Perspectives

» Social Studies (Grades K-4): Time Continuity and Change