COUNT ON US: CONCEPTS AND APPLICATIONS OF DEMOGRAPHY
Part 1: Fundamental Population Concepts:
Overview:
This section provides an introduction to the concepts and skills which are fundamental to the study of any population: the world, a region, a country, a state, or even a community.
- Social Studies terms and concepts include:
- birth rate
- death rate
- natural increase
- growth rate
- doubling time
- population change
- population distribution
- age distribution
- population momentum
- Math terms and concepts include:
- number sense
- numeration, sequences
- patterns
- functions
- percent increase
- percent decrease
- graphing
- scientific notation
- Introduction to the World Wide Web:
- Throughout Part I, questions relevant to classroom activities and assignments will be posted in Social Studies and Math classes.
- Periodically, students in each class will take turns answering those questions for the class using the World Wide Web at a computer attached to an overhead display unit.
- Each time a question is successfully answered, all students will enter the address of that site on an annotated "bookmarks" page in their notebook. That way, students will gradually develop an understanding of the Web's scope and build a list of Web sites to use in future projects and assignments.
- Population Size & Distribution
- Activities:
- Population Jeopardy-game format to introduce unit
- Video: "A Popular Little Planet"
- How Big is a Billion?
- Web Sites:
- CIA World Factbook UN gopher, Population of Countries
- World Population Growth
- Activities:
- Lesson, "Gloomy Malthus Predicts," Thomas Malthus, Arithmetic vs. Geometric growth, sequences, patterns (The National Dairy Council)
- J-Curve Graph, World Population Change
- Web Sites:
- UN gopher, World Population Milestones
- Variables in Population Growth
- Activities:
- Lesson, "The Stork and the Grim Reaper," simulation of world population growth (Connections, Population Reference Bureau)
- Video: "World Population"
- Construction of Growth Rate "Geographs" with data collected from MacGlobe
- Web Sites:
- World Population Clock
- UN gopher, World Population from Year 0 to Stabilization
- The Importance of Age Distribution
- Activities:
- Lesson, "Pies Are Us," comparing pie graphs of population distribution
- Constructing Population Pyramids
- Web Sites:
- World Bank, Social Indicators of Development