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Mission: Track the growth in the Human Population over a school year while systematically plotting the equivalent growth on the United States.
Materials
a. US and World Population Clockc. Set of colored pencils
d. Optional - Supporting data on the significance of population growth in the world vs resource depletion, disease, water shortages etc.... I use a whole raft of information throughout the year, including water and carbon footprints. You might want to look at some of the other jobs in this section.
One video that really brings the issue home is World Population: A Graphic Simulation by ZPG.
Instructions
1. Go to the US and World Population Clock . Get the World Population and also the population of your state, as well as neighboring states. (By the end of the year you may need the population of quite a few states!
2. Print out the Map of the United States and copy for each student and instructor
3. Have students write down the World Population on 9/11 on the margin of their Map of the United States. (You can use other dates too. I just use 911 as it is significant .)
4. Each month go back to the Clock and get the World Population. Then
a. Subtract from 9/11's World Population to get the growth.b. Find out the equivalent population of your and neighboring states.
c. Then select one color and color in the equivalent population growth on the selected states. (depending on your state, like California, you may have a 1/2 or even a 1/7th of a state to color in.
d. Have students document the World Population as well as the total growth on the margin in the same color.
e. optional: Have a short discussion about Does Population drive every environmental issue?
5. Continue each month. You can just do this as the bare bones and its guaranteed that the students will bring up their own questions. For Middle school or higher, I'd recommend blending in other pertinent environmental topics. (Consumption, Waste, Resource Depletion, Extinction, etc.)
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