Chapter 9 Lesson Plan

CHAPTER 9
The Human Population
Kenneth Poczekaj
Table of Contents Page
Section 1: Studying Human Populations 2-28
Standards 2
Main Objectives 2
Unit Summary 2
Misconceptions 2
Lesson 1 3-4
Lesson 2 5-6
Lesson 3 7-9
Lesson 4 10-12
Lesson 5 13-14
Assessments 15
Thinking Levels 15
Accommodations 15
Supplemental Materials Disclosure 16
Introduction to the Human Population 17-18
Forecasting a Country’s Population 19-24
Multi-Genre Examples 25-26
Instructor Lesson Reflection 27
References 28
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Section 1: Studying Human Populations
Standards:
HS-ESS3-3. Create a computational simulation to illustrate the relationships among management
of natural resources, the sustainability of human populations, and biodiversity.
HS-ESS3-6. Use a computational representation to illustrate the relationships among Earth

systems and how those relationships are being modified due to human activity.
Main Objectives:
1. I can describe how the size and growth rate of the human population has changed in
the last 200 years.
2. I can define four properties that scientists use to predict population sizes.
3. I can make predictions about population trends based on age structure.
4. I can describe the four stages of the demographic transition.
5. I can explain why different countries may be at different stages of the demographic
transition.
Summary:
This unit will cover the material found in Chapter 9, Section 1 of the Environmental
Science textbook by Karen Arms (7). Students will be led through each subsection of this
portion of the text in lessons intended to be completed daily. Should the need arise, changes
should be made to the lesson plan based on students’ needs and constant assessment of the
students’ knowledge as this lesson progresses using various formative assessment and
summative assessment practices. The culmination of these lessons and activities satisfies the
NGSS standards listed above. Each lesson contains its own objectives along with the main
objectives seen above. At the end of this unit plan (Section 1) a quiz will be given using
questions from the Chapter 9 Environmental Science Test Questions document based on the
material that was covered and the instructor’s discretion as to which questions best assess the
students’ knowledge of the material covered in this unit. Due to these assessments being
standardized across all environmental science classes, this quiz cannot be completed at this time.
The first lesson introduces the students to the topic and the terminology in which they
will encounter through the chapter. The 2-4 lessons deal entirely with content with lessons 3 and
4 being lecture based while lesson 2 is more student and activity driven. The final lesson allows
students to explore the topics covered in this unit and use different literacy techniques to aid in
the development of the content knowledge they have gained during the unit.
Misconceptions (1):
1. Scientists are able to predict future populations with great accuracy 25 or more years
into the future.
2. Population problems of developing countries are not a problem for developed
countries.
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Lesson 1: Prior knowledge, chapter overview, and introduction to Section 1
Time: 1 class period/day
Objectives:
1. The student can recognize terms that will be covered in this chapter.
2. The student can describe a number of topics that will be covered in this chapter.
3. I can describe how the size and growth rate of the human population has changed in the
last 200 years.
Lesson overview:
Students will be completing a prior knowledge exercise using the Introduction to the
Human Population worksheet. This worksheet contains all of the vocabulary words and
definitions that will be found in this chapter. Students have done worksheets similar to this for
previous chapters and understand what is expected of them. After this is completed, we will
participate in our daily Good News announcements where students share good news with the
classroom. Once Good News is completed, instructor will follow a script pointing out the main
topics found within this chapter. Following the overview of the chapter, the instructor will
follow a script guiding the students through the first topic of the section, The Human Population
Over Time. The class will conclude with students reading Section 1: Studying Human
Populations which will be homework if not finished in class.
Setup:
Before class, the objectives listed above will be written on the whiteboard in the
Environmental Science Objectives section. A PowerPoint slide will be projected onto the board
containing the date, the objectives for the day, and an overview of the activities that will be done
during class. The Introduction to the Human Population worksheet will be printed off single-
sided and placed on the table next to the door through which students enter the room. Students
will be greeted at the door and reminded to pick up the worksheet as they enter the room. The
Chapter 9 reading packets will be printed off for each student and given to them at the end of the
lesson.
Class time:
“Good morning everybody, today we will be beginning our study on the human
population. This worksheet should look somewhat familiar. As you have done before, just place
a check mark next to all of the words that you recognize or have seen before.” Allow students
about 5 minutes to complete this task while taking attendance.
“If you haven’t completed checking off the words, that is alright. Remember this is not
graded on completeness or correctness, but will be used as a tool to monitor your progress and
understanding throughout the chapter. Now, I would like for you all to work with your groups
(groups of 3-4 sitting at the same tables) and try to figure out what definitions go to which
vocabulary word. Make sure you make note of which words your group members do not
recognize. You will have about 15 minutes to do this.” Allow students about 7 minutes to
complete this activity. During this time, walk around the class and observe which words groups
seem to be having trouble with. Also, use this time to check for misconceptions about these
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terms and their definitions. The words that will probably cause trouble are most likely
demography, demographic transition, emigration, and arable land.
After the designated time, ask “Which words did your groups struggle with the
most?” Listen to the responses but do not give any definitions or answers. Make a list of the
words on the whiteboard with a heading labeled ‘Unsure.’ “Awesome, now which words do we
seem a little more confident with?” Again, listen to the responses but do not give any
corrections, and write these words on the whiteboard with a heading labeled ‘We may
know.’ “Alright, as we have done before, we will be exploring these terms, their meanings, and
how they affect us and our world.
“So, it’s time to take a little break and hear about some good news. Does anybody have
any good news to share?” Give students the time they need to express themselves and give
positive responses. Make sure other students are being respectful as a student is sharing by
reminding them of the social contract they made if necessary. If no news is forthcoming, think
of your own good news to share with the class to see if that can get them started.
Once Good News is completed, be sure to read to the students what the objectives are for
the day as listed on the PowerPoint slide then begin the brief lecture using the following script:
“The chapter we are about to cover includes a variety of topics about the human population. We
will be covering topics about how our population has changed over time, how to forecast
population size, declining death rates, demographic transitioning, how rapid growth effects our
planet, how demographically diverse our world is, how we are currently trying to manage
development and population growth, and how growth may be slowing down now.”
“Does anybody know what the human population on our planet is currently?” The
answer to this question is 7.5 billion. Give students time to respond and guess. Feel free to
guide them with higher or lower, but only allow for about a minute for guessing before giving
the answer. “The human population is currently at about 7.5 billion people. What you may not
know, is that around the year 2000, the human population was around 6 billion, and in 1800 the
population was only 1 billion! That’s a huge change in population! Before this, it took almost
200,000 years to reach a population of 1 billion. So, what do you think might be the cause of
this rapid population growth from the 1800’s to now? Keep this question in mind as you begin
reading through this chapter. For tomorrow, I would like for you all to read through Section 1:
Studying Human Populations while thinking about this question.” Hand out the Chapter 9
packets to each student and collect their worksheets at this time. At this time remind the students
of the lesson objective. Students should begin reading if time permits for the remainder of the
class period. After class, place all extra worksheets and Chapter 9 packets in the Extra Handouts
cabinet. Complete the instructor reflection sheet for this lesson.
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Lesson 2: Forecasting Population Size
Time: 1 class periods/1 Days
Objectives:
1. The student can define four properties that scientists use to predict population sizes.
2. The student can determine survivorship curves based on population pyramids.
3. The student can describe how migration can lead to changes in population.
4. The student can describe how the total fertility rate can give evidence to population
growth rates.
Lesson Overview:
Students will be covering the information of section 1 titled Forecasting Population
Size. The class will begin with an opener asking a question about information that was covered
earlier in the text. Once the opener is completed, the daily Good News announcements will be
shared. After Good News, the opener will be discussed briefly and the instructor will follow the
scripts for this lesson containing some lecturing and the Forecasting a Country’s Population
activity.
Setup:
containing the date, the objectives for the day, the opener, and an overview of the activities that
will be done during class. Set up the question “What is a demographer?” on Google Classroom
for the students to answer. This should be set to be worth 5 points and be due at 11:25AM as is
the case with most openers for this class. The Forecasting a Country’s Population activity sheets
should be printed and placed on the table next to the door through which the students enter the
room. Students will be greeted at the door and reminded to pick up the activity sheets as they
enter the room. Students will need their Chromebooks in order to complete the tasks in this
lesson. It may be helpful to complete the Forecasting a Country’s Population activity before
class to help remember what needs to be done to complete this activity.
Class time:
“Good morning everybody, please complete the opener found on Google Classroom
about demographers while I take attendance. Your answer must be completed and turned in by
11:25 or you will not receive any credit for this opener.” At this time, also remind any student
who was not present for the previous lesson to take a little bit of time to complete the Prior
Knowledge worksheet after they have completed the opener.
At 11:25, begin Good News. “Does anybody have any good news to share?” Give
students the time they need to express themselves and give positive responses. Make sure other
students are being respectful as a student is sharing by reminding them of the social contract they
made if necessary. If no news is forthcoming, think of your own good news to share with the
class to see if that can get them started.
the day as listed on the PowerPoint slide then begin the discussion using the following script:
“So, who can tell me what a demographer is?” Give the students about 15 seconds and select a
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student who raises their hand. Take preference on selecting a student who does not regularly
participate or answer questions if able. The correct response should sound similar to: a person
who studies populations (or human populations). If students are unable to answer correctly or
are not willing to participate, look through the submitted answers on Google Classroom and
select a student to answer that has given a correct response. “A demographer is a person who
studies populations. Today we are all going to be demographers of different countries.
Demographers have a very important job in trying to predict population growth. Their
predictions can help us predict what kinds of infrastructure we may need to invest in or build in
the future. For instance, if we are seeing a decrease in birth rates and a decrease in death rates,
would it be best to invest in vitamins for children or vitamins for the elderly?” Give pause while
students think about this but don’t take answers. “It would be better to invest in the adults
because there is going to be more people living to elderly ages in the coming years than children
being born.”
“In your Chapter 9 packets, your reading mentions four properties that demographers use
to predict population size and population growth. Those four properties are age structure,
survivorship, fertility rates, and migration. You will be using these four properties to complete
the Forecasting a Country’s Population activity that you picked up when you walked in. Be sure
to follow the directions and read everything carefully. I will be walking around to help you if
you need it. What you do not finish in class will be homework.” During this time, help students
as needed, but be sure to mention that they can always ask their group members to help if they
get stuck. Before class ends, be sure to mention what the lesson objectives were again. After
class, place all extra handouts into the Extra Handouts cabinet. Complete the instructor
reflection sheet for this lesson.
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Lesson 3: Declining Death Rates and Review
Time: 1 class/1 day
Objectives:
1. The student can describe the main factors that have led to declining death rates.
2. The student can explain how new threats to life expectancy are arising.
Lesson Overview:
Students will be covering the information covered in section 1 titled Declining Death
Rates and then will be completing a review of the material covered in this and the previous two
lessons. The class will begin with an opener asking a question about information that was
covered earlier in the unit. Once the opener is completed, the daily Good News announcements
will be shared. After Good News, the opener will be discussed briefly and the instructor will
follow the scripts for this lesson containing a lecture which will then be followed by the review.
Setup:
will be done during class. Set up the question “What information can we determine from a
population pyramid?” on Google Classroom for the students to answer. This should be set to be
worth 5 points and be due at 11:25AM as is the case with most openers for this class. Students
will be greeted at the door and reminded to pick up the activity sheets as they enter the room.
Students will need their Chromebooks in order to complete the tasks in this lesson. The
Introduction to the Human Population worksheet will be printed off single-sided again to be
handed out later. The copy of the Introduction to the Human Population worksheet that the
students completed during the first lesson should also be at hand to give back to the students
after they attempt the worksheet again.
Class time:
about population pyramids while I take attendance. Your answer must be completed and turned
in by 11:25 or you will not receive any credit for this opener.”
At 11:25, begin Good News. “Does anybody have any good news to share?” Give students
the time they need to express themselves and give positive responses. Make sure other students
are being respectful as a student is sharing by reminding them of the social contract they made if
necessary. If no news is forthcoming, think of your own good news to share with the class to see
if that can get them started.
“Yesterday we completed an activity that allowed us to look at data that demographers use to
predict population growth. One of the things we looked at was the population pyramid. What
information can you determine from a population pyramid?” Give the students about 15 seconds
and select a student who raises their hand. Take preference on selecting a student who does not
regularly participate or answer questions if able. There is a lot of information that can be
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determined from a population pyramid. These include, but are not limited to: age structure,
development of the nation, predicted population growth, survivorship and survivorship curves,
and total fertility rate predictions based on replacement level. If students are unable or unwilling
to answer, begin scaffolding by asking by asking “What did I have you graph in your activity
yesterday?” This should get students to answer survivorship curves or survivorship. “And what
are the different types of survivorship curves?” Answers you are looking for are Type I, II, and
III curves or the type where most people live to an old age, the type where most people die at a
younger age, and the type where there is a similar death rate at all ages. “So, we were able to
determine that we can get survivorship curves and trends in death rates from a population
pyramid, what else can we determine?” Scaffold this as needed. Once completed, ask the
students to close their Chromebooks.
“One important factor in demography is death rates and life expectancy. Death rates
have gone down over the last two centuries and life expectancy has increased. Earlier in this
chapter we discussed two factors that allowed for the exponential population growth. What were
those two factors?” The answers you should be looking for are hygiene and food production. If
needed, ask the students to look in their packets on the first page. “Food and hygiene were huge
factors in the great rise in populations over the past two centuries. Because of these things, we
have seen a decline in death rates. With fewer people dying thanks to more food, clean water,
safe sewage disposal, and even vaccines, it can seem pretty straightforward that the population
would increase. While these things may seem simple to most of you, does everybody in the
world have access to these things?” You will probably hear a few no’s and see a few people
shaking their heads. “No, not everybody has access to these things, even here in the United
States. How do you think this might affect how long a person lives?” Give the students a few
seconds to think. The answers should revolve around having a negative impact on how long that
person lives. “Yes, it will have a negative impact on that individual’s life expectancy or the
average number of years that person is expected to live.”
“Another important factor in the declining death rates is the decrease in infant
mortality. Infant mortality is the death rate of infants less than a year old. What factor do you
think has played a very large role in decreasing infant mortality?” You should hear things
revolving around medical care, hygiene, and food. “Those are all contributors to the decreasing
infant mortality rate, the factor that I know has played a huge role in this is actually
education. Even in less developed areas where those factors you mentioned might not be readily
available, infant mortality has gone down because people know how to take care of infants better
than they did 100 years ago. Information has been passed down from generation to generation,
parent to parent as to what infants need and how best to keep them alive and well. After
education, an infant’s health is then determined by the parents’ access to the food, fuel, clean
water, and medicine that the infant needs to live.” During this time ask the students if they have
any questions and answer them as needed.
“Recently, new threats to life expectancy have emerged. Some of these threats can be
combated through education, medicine, and hygiene, but not always. Contagious diseases such
as AIDS and tuberculosis can spread quickly and rapidly in this modern age. Education can be
used as a preventative to these diseases, but once contracted, medicine can only delay the
effects. Other threats are factors like cancer. Cancer, while treatable if caught early, can
drastically reduce the life expectancy of an individual even if they are able “beat it.” Now, we
are also on the verge of creating superbugs and super viruses that are becoming resistant to
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treatments as we mentioned in earlier chapters.” During this time, ask the students if they have
any questions and answer them as needed.
“Thank you all for listening through all that lecturing. Now, it’s time for round two of
your Introduction to the Human Population worksheet. This time, you are to try and complete
the worksheet to the best of your ability on your own. Once you have finished, raise your hand
and I will bring you your old worksheet so you can compare what you thought you knew to what
you know now. Remember to do this without using any notes or materials, complete this like it
is a quiz.” At this time, walk around and help students as needed and answer any questions they
may have. Also, be sure to cover the objectives with the students during this time. Before the
students leave, be sure to collect both of their Introduction to the Human Population worksheets
as well as the Forecasting a Country’s Population activity. Complete the instructor reflection
sheet for this lesson.
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Lesson 4: The Demographic Transition
Time: 1 class period/1 day
Objectives:
1. The student can describe the four stages of the demographic transition.
2. The student can explain why different countries may be at different stages of the
demographic transition.
3. The student can explain how education and economic dependence of women can
contribute declining birth rates.
Lesson Overview:
Students will be covering the information covered in section 1 titled The Demographic
Transition. The class will begin with an opener asking a question about information that was
covered earlier in the unit. Once the opener is completed, the daily Good News announcements
will be shared. After Good News, the opener will be discussed briefly and the instructor will
follow the scripts for this lesson containing a lecture.
Setup:
will be done during class. Set up the question “According to your text, the worldwide life
expectancy in 1900 was about 40 years. By the year 2000, this jumped to about 67 years. What
factors contributed to this jump in life expectancy? Would this number be higher or lower in
more developed countries? Less developed countries?” on Google Classroom for the students to
answer. This should be set to be worth 5 points and be due at 11:25AM as is the case with most
openers for this class. Students will be greeted at the door and reminded to pick up the activity
sheets as they enter the room. Students will need their Chromebooks in order to complete some
tasks in this lesson.
Class time:
“Good morning everybody, please complete the opener found on Google Classroom about life
expectancy while I take attendance. Your answer must be completed and turned in by 11:25 or
you will not receive any credit for this opener.”
At 11:25, begin Good News. “Does anybody have any good news to share?” Give students
the time they need to express themselves and give positive responses. Make sure other students
are being respectful as a student is sharing by reminding them of the social contract they made if
necessary. If no news is forthcoming, think of your own good news to share with the class to see
if that can get them started.
“Who would like to answer today’s opener?” Select a student that usually gives descriptive
answers. Answers you to look for are education, hygiene, food production, clean water, proper
sewage systems, medicine, etc. For the follow up questions, a more developed country would be
expected to have a higher life expectancy and a less developed country would be expected to
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have a lower life expectancy. “Those are all great examples of factors that increase life
expectancy (if you did not receive correct answers, give those listed above instead). Also, a
more developed country would be expected to have a higher life expectancy and a less developed
country would be expected to have a lower life expectancy.” At this time, be sure that students
close their Chromebooks.
“Over the past few days we have covered how countries are classified based on their
population growth rates. So, how might a country transition between rapid population growth to
negative growth rate? For this we look at demographic transition. Demographic transition is
based on the idea that industrial development causes economic and social progress that affects
population growth rates. Demographic transition is also divided into four different stages based
on birth rates, death rates, population size, and the replacement level. These four stages are the
preindustrial stage, the transitional stage, the industrial stage, and the postindustrial stage. At
this time, could you open your text to the page on demographic transition and look at Figure 8
with me?” Wait until the students are ready. Project Figure 8 on the whiteboard.
“In the figure, we can see three things being compared; death rate, birth rate, and
population size.” Point to each line in turn. “During the preindustrial stage, what can we see
about the population size over time?” Look for answers concluding that there is little to no
change in the population size during this stage. “During the first stage of demographic
transition, there is little to no growth in population. What you can see is that the birth rate and
death rates are constantly fluctuating and balancing out the other. As we travel over to the
transitional stage, what do we see happen.” Students should conclude that the population size
increases dramatically due to the birth rate remaining constantly high while the death rate
decreases. “The main factor contributing to this change is a decrease in death rate. What have
we mentioned before that has aided in the reduction of death rates?” Again, you are looking for
clean water, food production, increases in hygiene, medicine, etc. “Awesome, can we think of
what the population pyramids and survivorship curve types might be or look like for these two
stages of demographic transition?” The pyramids should look like rapid growth and slightly
slow growth models while the survivorship curves would look like type III and type II. “As we
look at the transition line between stage 2 and stage 3 in Figure 8, what do we see happening to
the population size, birth rate, and death rate?” The death rate is leveling out, birth rates are still
higher than death rates but are decreasing, the population size is still high but leveling out. “So,
we are seeing some trends that have led to a low growth rate. The death rate has leveled out, the
birth rate is starting to go down, and the population size is leveling out. What survivorship curve
type would we see right now?” Type I is what to listen for. “Type I is right. Now look at stage
4, the postindustrial stage. What factor do you feel plays the most important role in determining
whether a country has reached this stage?” Look for the answer of the birth rate dropping and
going below the death rate. “We see another fluctuation of birth rates during this stage, what
other stage did we see this in?” Stage 1, the preindustrial age. “So, we see this same trend in
birth rates in the first and last stage of demographic transitioning, how can we distinguish if a
country is in the first or last stage of this transition?” The birth rate is much higher during the
first stage. The death rate is much lower in the last stage. The population size is much higher
during the last stage. “So, what we can see is that birth and death rates are key components to
determining a country’s demographic transition stage and that population growth is directly
impacted by these factors. Because of this we need to delve into the main factors that are related
to declining birth rates, education and economic independence for women.”
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“As we discussed in Figure 8, the second stage shows a decrease in death rate that can be
largely influenced by education. So, why is it important to be sure that women get education?
Women have the most influence over reproduction rates. By educating women, we can allow
women to understand that there is less need to bear as many children simply to ensure that some
will survive. By becoming more educated, women are able to learn more family planning
techniques allowing them to spend less energy bearing and caring for children. This in turn can
lead to women having more time to increasing the family’s prosperity by providing the
opportunity to work and increase the family’s economic status. In fact, educated individuals
often find that children can become a financial burden rather than an asset. While this may seem
irrelevant or strange to our current position here, women in other countries do not get the same
opportunities for education. The average total fertility rate in developing countries is about 3.1
children per woman. Women in these developing countries often times look at having more
children as an opportunity to increase the family prosperity through numbers and that more
children means more help.”
“With that, we have completed all of the material covered in section 1 of Chapter 9, are
there any questions that you have?” At this time answer any questions that may arise as needed.
“If you are looking for a little extra, there is a Quizlet on this material that can be found
here”: https://quizlet.com/38004565/chapter-9-human-population-flash-cards/ (5). Post this on
the board and also into Google Classroom. At this point go over the objectives for this lesson
again and ask the students if they feel they can complete these objectives. Complete the
instructor reflection sheet for this lesson.
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Lesson 5: Multi-Genre Project
Time: 2 class periods/2 days
Objectives:
• The student can describe what a multi-genre project is.
• The student can complete a multi-genre project within the context of the human
population.
• The student can describe the section 1 content using different literary techniques.
Lesson Overview:
Students will be exploring what a multi-genre project is and its uses. The class will begin
with an opener asking a question about demographic transitioning. Once the opener is
completed, the daily Good News announcements will be shared. After Good News, the opener
will be discussed briefly and the instructor will follow the scripts for this lesson containing a
description of what a multi-genre project is. This will then be followed by students spending the
rest of this class period and the next class period completing their multi-genre projects.
Setup:
will be done during class. Set up the question “What are the four stages of the demographic
transition.” on Google Classroom for the students to answer. This should be set to be worth 5
points and be due at 11:25AM as is the case with most openers for this class. On Google
Classroom, post the multi-genre project with a description, helpful links, and examples (Chapter
4 multi-genre project examples). Students will be greeted at the door and reminded to pick up
the activity sheets as they enter the room. Students will need their Chromebooks in order to
complete the tasks in this lesson.
Class time:
about demographers while I take attendance. Your answer must be completed and turned in by
11:25 or you will not receive any credit for this opener.” At this time, also remind any student
who was not present for the previous lesson to take a little bit of time to complete the Prior
Knowledge worksheet after they have completed the opener.
“So, who can tell me what the four stages of the demographic transition are?” Give the students
about 15 seconds and select a student who raises their hand. Take preference on selecting a
student who does not regularly participate or answer questions if able. The correct response
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should sound similar to: preindustrial, transitional, industrial, and postindustrial. If students are
unable to answer correctly or are not willing to participate, look through the submitted answers
on Google Classroom and select a student to answer that has given a correct response.
“After completing section 1, I want you to use your knowledge to complete a multi-genre
project. I know you are all unfamiliar with what that means so we will go over it. I also posted a
description, a few helpful links, and some examples on Google Classroom. A multi-genre
project requires you to write about topics in a new and creative way that you may not have
thought of before. You may choose to write a creative short story, make a recipe, write a poem,
or draw a cartoon depicting topics of your choice from section 1 of this chapter. For example, I
did a multi-genre project on Chapter 4 earlier and here are a few of my examples.” Open the
assignment up in Google Classroom and select the poem and recipe examples.
“The first example is a poem written to depict how environments change from location to
location and how the biotic and abiotic factors change along with them, even if some of the
things in the ecosystem stay the same. The second example is a recipe for Tide Pool Soup that
explains the community of a tide pool as well as some of its abiotic and biotic factors.” Now go
back and click on the link for resources on different genres
(https://writing.colostate.edu/gallery/multigenre/genrelist.html (6)). “Here are a number of
different types of writing you might choose to use, but if you feel you want to try something that
isn’t on the list like make a movie or skit, a video game review, or a juror’s notes from a made-
up criminal case, just let me know. You will have the next two days to complete this project and
you only have to complete two different genres. Does anybody have any questions?” Take
answers and answer as needed. “Feel free to get started and I will be coming around to help you
all out. I am not expecting professional level writing, I just want you all to use the information
from this chapter in a new and potentially fun way.” Walk around and help students. Most
students will have a hard time getting started, ask them what types of reading and writing do they
most enjoy and try to focus that into a genre that would be geared towards their interests.
The students will not have an opener on the following day, but the day should start with
Good News and the usual protocols with the PowerPoint slide. This class period will be
dedicated to the students work on the multi-genre project. Again, help the students as needed
and if students still seem to be struggling, allow for extra time if needed. Complete the instructor
reflection sheet for this lesson.
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Assessments:
Students will be assessed during each lesson. Most lessons contain dialogue and
discussion between instructor and students. During this time, the instructor will be assessing the
students’ knowledge on the content based on their responses. Most lessons also contain an
opener question that assesses the students’ knowledge on material that was covered in a lesson
prior. While students are working, the instructor will move around the room and ask questions
and answer questions. These interactions will also be used as assessment tools as well.
During lesson 1, the students will be completing a prior knowledge assessment. During
lesson 2, students will be completing an activity which will be used to assess their knowledge of
content being covered at the time. Lesson 3 reuses the prior knowledge assessment which allows
the instructor to measure changes in content knowledge as well as a self-assessment for students
when comparing to their previous worksheet attempt. Lesson 5 contains an assessment that
requires students to find new ways to express their content knowledge. At the end of this unit,
students will take a quiz as a summative assessment.
The multi-genre assignment will be graded on completion and the use of two different
genres to express any of the information covered in this unit.
Thinking Levels:
As students progress through this unit, they will engage in varying levels of thinking.
Opener questions tend to illicit the basic level of thinking, remembering. During lectures, the
students will be asked questions. These questions tend to move to higher levels of thinking as
the unit progresses. For instance, in Lesson 3, the students are asked about the two factors that
allowed for exponential growth. This question is a basic level of thinking question where
students merely need to remember the material. Shortly after, students are asked if everybody in
the world has access to these things which requires understanding of the material as well as
application of the material. As the lecture continues, more questions are asked requiring varying
levels of thinking including a question on infant mortality that requires students to evaluate all of
the information that has been given throughout the lecture. Students do not really reach the
creating level of Bloom’s Taxonomy until Lesson 5 where they must create a multi-genre project
that requires the students to take the information they have learned in this unit and present it in
new ways.
Accommodations:
This unit was created with the intent to deliver the material to students currently in East
Kentwood’s Environmental Science class with Mr. Page and Mr. Poczekaj as their instructor.
Students who require extra time or help when completing tests or quizzes will have the
opportunity to go to their designated location for that help based on their IEP’s. Students
currently enrolled in this class have all shown their ability to read and interpret the materials to
the level needed to complete this unit. Students designated as English Language Learners may
request extra time to complete assignments, but this request must be made before the designated
due date/time.
15
Supplemental Materials Disclosure:
Found below are supplemental materials that will be used during this unit. These include
the Introduction to Human Populations worksheet, the Forecasting a Country’s Population
activity, two multi-genre project examples, and the Instructor Lesson Reflection. The
supplemental material also contains the instructor reflection document to be filled out after each
lesson. This document does not contain the quiz, the final test which covers material for both
section 1 and section 2 of this chapter, or the textbook. The quiz will be adapted from the final
test based on the instructor’s discretion. The textbook and test are larger documents and will be
shared along with this unit plan as separate files.
16
Introduction to the Human Population
Match each term on the left with its correct definition by placing the number of the definition in
the blank next to the term.
10
___ Demography 16
___ Suburban sprawl
6 Least Developed Countries 1

___ ___ Age Structure
11 Survivorship
___ 8 Fertility Rate
___
15
___ Migration 2 Life Expectancy
___
3 9
___ Demographic Transition ___ Population Pyramid
17 Survivorship Curves
___ 14 Total Fertility Rate
___
13 Immigration
___ 7 Emigration
___
4 Infrastructure
___ 5 Arable Land
___
12 Urbanization
___
17
1. The distribution of ages in a specific population.
2. The average number of years a person is likely to live.
3. The transition from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates as a country
develops from a pre-industrial to an industrialized economic system
4. The basic facilities and services that support a community.
5. Land that can be used to grow crops.
6. Countries that show few signs of development.
7. The movement out of an area.
8. The number of babies born each year per 1,000 women in a population.
9. A double-sided bar graph used to depict age structure.
10. The study of populations.
11. The percentage of members of a group that are likely to survive to any given age.
12. The process of more people living in cities than in rural areas.
13. The movement into an area.
14. The average number of children a woman gives birth to in her lifetime.
15. The movement of individuals between areas.
16. The process of people finding work in a city but move into suburban areas around the
city.
17. A graph that plots survivorship.
18
Forecasting a Country’s Population
Population Pyramids
In this activity, you will be analyzing various populations from different countries around the
world. To do so, you must understand how to read and make population pyramids, survivorship
curves, and how to graph migration and total fertility rates. Let’s begin by looking into
population pyramids.
• In your Chapter 9 packets, turn to the second page where it shows three different types of
population curves. What are the three different types and what does each one represent?
Rapid Growth represents least developed nations

1. ________________________________________________________________
Slow Growth represents transitional nations

2. ________________________________________________________________
Zero or declining growth represents most developed nations

3. ________________________________________________________________
• At this point, please open your web browser and go to this

website: https://www.populationpyramid.net/ (2)
• Once at the population pyramid website take some time to look around. In the upper left-
hand corner next to the word “WORLD” is a drop-down arrow that allows you to search
by region and country. On the right side of the page, you can manipulate which year you
are looking at by clicking on the numbers next to “YEAR.” The graph above lets you
quickly see what the total population of your target area is, was, or projected to be at 5-
year intervals.
19
• At this time, please adjust the year to 2015. For each of these three countries, take a look
at their population pyramids in 2015 and determine if they would be considered a rapid
growth nation, a slow growth nation, or a zero/declining growth nation. Also mention
whether they would be considered a less developed, more developed, or transitional
nation.
Slow Growth
Turkey: ___________________________________________
Transitional nation
___________________________________________
Zero/declining growth
United States of America: ___________________________________________
More developed
___________________________________________
Rapid Growth
Papua New Guinea: ___________________________________________
Less developed
___________________________________________
20
Survivorship Curves
After practicing with population pyramids, it is time to work with survivorship curves. These
curves plot the percentage of a population that survives to a given time. Looking at your Chapter
9 packet, you can see a plot of three types of survivorship curves in Figure 3.
• Looking at Figure 3, what are the three different survivorship curves and what do they
tell us about the population? How can this relate to a population pyramid?
The three types of curve are type I, type II, and type III. They show us how much of the population
survives to a given age. Type I = zero/declining growth, Type II = slow growth, Type III = rapid growth
• Now that you described the different survivorship curves, sketch what you think the
curves should look like for the three countries you looked at earlier. Be sure to label the
axis of your graphs and give a title.
USA Turkey
Percent of population surviving
Time Time
Papua New Guinea

Time
21
Total Fertility Rate
Now that you have touched on population pyramids and survivorship curves, it is time to look
into the third property that demographers use to predict population sizes, total fertility rate.
• In your Chapter 9 packet, look at Figure 4, the graph depicting the United States total
fertility rate over the course of 80 years. What is the replacement level and what does it
represent?
The replacement level is around 2.1 and represents the average number of children each parent
must have in order to “replace” themselves in the population.
• In your browser, go to this website: https://www.populationpyramid.net/hnp/fertility-

rate-total-births-per-woman/2015/ (3)
Or you can simply scroll down on the population pyramid site you are on and click the
link for Fertility Rate. Make sure you are looking at the year 2015. What are the values
for the three countries you have been looking at? Are they above or below the
replacement level of 2.1, and what does that mean?
The replacement level is around 2.05. They are at the replacement level which means
Turkey: their population growth is not being influenced by birth rates during this time.
The replacement level is around 1.84. They are below the

United States of America: replacement level which reduces the overall population growth
during this time.
The replacement level is around 3.71. They are above the

Papua New Guinea: replacement level which increases the overall population growth
during this time.
22
Migration
The last property that demographers use to help predict population size is migration. Migration
has two components, immigration which is the movement into an area and emigration which is
the movement out of an area.
• Migration plays an important role in determining population growth. In fact, this
property of demography can be the difference between a growing and a shrinking
population despite what the other three factors indicate. Travel to this website:
https://www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/data-hub/charts/net-number-migrants-
country-1950-2015-five-year-intervals (4)
Take some time to look around then determine for each of the three countries, are more
people emigrating from that country or immigrating to that country as well as how much
that is impacting that country’s population size (use the 2015 population size as a
reference).
Turkey has a population of about 78.5 million people with a total of

Turkey:
2 million people moving into the country over the last 5 years. That
accounts for about 2.5% of the population which is can be seen as a
considerable impact on the population size.
The USA has a population of about 321.5 million people with a total
United States of America: of 5 million people moving into the country over the last 5 years.
That accounts for about 1.5% of the population. This can be seen as
a considerable impact on the population size.
Papua New Guinea has a net migration of 0 people meaning

Papua New Guinea: migration plays no factor in population size or growth during this
time frame.
23
It’s Your Turn
Now that you have some experience as a demographer, it’s time to work on your own
country. Choose a country other than the three you have currently worked with. With that
country give:
• Its name ____________________
• Its population in 2015 ____________________
• A description of its population pyramid (you may sketch this if you like) and what it
means
• A sketch of its survivorship curve based on its population pyramid
• Fertility rate values and whether it is above or below the replacement value of 2.1
• How much the population is affected by migration.
Look through students’ answers for this page. Take the time to learn about new countries. Make
sure they gave answers accurately based on the data found at each of these websites.
24
Multi-Genre examples
Genre: Poem
A Tale of a Drop of Water
A drop of water falls from the sky,

Upon the mountaintop reaching so high.
It sees around it a world so cold,
A frozen wasteland with few trees taken hold.
As it falls it finds a stream so small,
Flowing quickly down slopes and waterfall.
As the drop flows down it sees creatures new,
Thick fur is found out on the ground.
Within the stream are creatures few,
Gills and scales of glittering hue.
The drop moves farther and stream grows wider,
More creatures it meets like insects and a spider.
The plants grow denser with trees wide and tall,
Even now the drop can remember the songbirds call.
Wider still the stream does get,
The winding stops and still new creatures met.
The fish are many of sizes and shapes,
The ground more open for animals to traipse.
The stream, now river, is wide and huge,
But less light is in the water for plants to provide refuge.
About and around the drop looks to see,
Rolling hills and meadows full of birds and bees.
Again, still flowing a salty taste is found,
All around the droplet, big changes are bound.
The animals all change their colors and faces,
The plants are sparse and found in few places.
Finally, the drop settles, hardly moving an inch,
The saltiness is strong, much more than a pinch.
What could live in this vast open space the drop did ponder,
As tiny little specs floated and sparkled in wonder.
Eventually the drop saw a shadow in the distance,
The shadow grew quickly with every new glance.
The drop had heard stories and knew without fail,
This creature must be what everyone called,
The all great and powerful, mighty killer…
…snail.
25
Genre: Recipe
Tide Pool Soup
Ingredients:
3 whole star fish
1 sea cucumber
120 gallons of saltwater (pre-mixed)
36 crab legs (bodies still attached)
15 barnacles
14 sand dollars
3 small fish (flounder is preferred)
2 sea urchins (extra pokey)
3lbs of TidePool to Go microorganism mix
15lbs Live Rock (can be purchased at your local aquarium store)
25lbs sand
Empty shells to taste
Directions:
1. Grab your 150-gallon pot out of storage (if you don’t have one, you are out of luck).
2. Add your pre-mixed saltwater and microorganism mix to the pot and begin stirring.
3. Stir for 5 hours to ensure uniformity of the mix.
4. Add sand and let the sand settle
5. Add the rocks in an aesthetically pleasing way
6. Place pot (you will probably need a forklift) onto stove so that it covers each burner.
7. Turn all stove tops to high until the temperature reaches about 70℉.
8. Once at temperature add all of the other ingredients one at a time. Avoid urchin spines as
these can produce a toxin that may cause paralysis.
9. Give the ingredients time to settle.
10. Add shells as needed.
11. Maintain temperature and empty and refill your pot according to your local moon’s
location.
26
Instructor Lesson Reflection
Did the students reach their learning goals (objectives), how do you know?
What went well during this lesson?
What did not go as planned?
What improvements would you make to this lesson?
27
References:
1. discovermagazine.com/1996/apr/tenmythsofpopula737/
2. https://www.populationpyramid.net/
3. https://www.populationpyramid.net/hnp/fertility-rate-total-births-per-woman/2015/
4. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/data-hub/charts/net-number-migrants-
country-1950-2015-five-year-intervals
5. https://quizlet.com/38004565/chapter-9-human-population-flash-cards/
6. https://writing.colostate.edu/gallery/multigenre/genrelist.html
7. Arms, K. (2008). Holt environmental science. Orlando: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
28
Section 2: Changing Population Trends
NGSS Standards:
HS-ESS3-3. Create a computational simulation to illustrate the relationships among
management of natural resources, the sustainability of human populations, and
biodiversity.
HS-ESS3-4. Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human

activities on natural systems.
HS-ESS3-6. Use a computational representation to illustrate the relationships among

Earth systems and how those relationships are being modified due to human activity.
ELA/Literacy Standards:
RST.11-12.1. Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical
texts, attending to important distinctions the author makes and to any gaps or
inconsistencies in the account.
RST.11-12.4. Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific
words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to
grades 11-12 texts and topics.
RST.11-12.7. Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse

formats and media in order to address a question or solve a problem.
RST.11-12.8. Evaluate the hypotheses, data, analysis, and conclusions in a science or

technical text, verifying the data when possible and corroborating or challenging
conclusions with other sources of information.
Main Objectives:
1. I can describe three problems caused by rapid human population growth.
2. I can compare population growth problems in more-developed countries and less
developed countries.
3. I can analyze strategies countries may use to reduce their population growth.
4. Describe worldwide population projections into the next century.
Summary:
This unit will cover the material found in Chapter 9, Section 2 of the Environmental
Science textbook by Karen Arms. Students will be led through each subsection of this portion of
the text in lessons intended to be completed daily. Should the need arise, changes should be
made to the lesson plan based on students’ needs and constant assessment of the students’
knowledge as this lesson progresses using various formative assessment and summative
assessment practices. The culmination of these lessons and activities satisfies the NGSS
standards listed above. Each lesson contains its own objectives along with the main objectives
seen above. At the end of this unit plan (Section 2) a test will be given using questions from the
29
Chapter 9 Environmental Science Test Questions document based on the material that was
covered and the instructor’s discretion as to which questions best assess the students’ knowledge
of the material covered in this unit. Due to these assessments being standardized across all
environmental science classes, this test cannot be completed at this time.
The first lesson assesses prior knowledge from the previous section and some of the
content that will be covered in the upcoming unit. This lesson will also cover the problems
revolving around rapid population growth. The next three lessons deal entirely with content.
The final lesson allows students to explore the topics covered in this unit and use different and
explore how the tragedy of the commons may be relevant to modern day activities and how rapid
population growth only increases the need for resource management to avoid this tragedy. At the
end of every lesson, the instructor will complete the Instructor Lesson Reflection sheet.
Misconceptions:
1. The tragedy of the commons is only found in less developed areas.
2. Population problems of developing countries are not a problem for developed
countries.
3. The population growth rate is still increasing.
4. Strategies for decreasing population growth for in more developed countries cannot
be used in less developed countries and vice versa.
30
Lesson 6: Prior knowledge and Problems of Rapid Growth
Time: 1 day/1 class period
Objectives:
1. The student can describe three problems caused by rapid human population growth.
2. The student can explain how rapid human population growth can lead to an exponential
decrease in available fuel wood.
3. The student can identify differences in the infrastructure and arable land of a more
developed country and a less developed country.
Lesson overview:
Students will be completing a prior knowledge exercise using the Introduction to the
Human Population worksheet. This worksheet contains all of the vocabulary words and
definitions that will be found in this chapter. Students have done worksheets similar to this for
previous chapters and understand what is expected of them. After this is completed, we will
participate in our daily Good News announcements where students share good news with the
classroom. Once Good News is completed, instructor will follow a script covering the
introduction to Section 2: Changing Population Trends as well as the sub-section Problems of
Rapid Growth from Chapter 9 of their textbook. This script will include class discussions, group
discussions, and lecturing.
Setup:
containing the date, the objectives for the day, and an overview of the activities that will be done
during class. The Introduction to the Human Population worksheet will be printed off single-
sided and placed on the table next to the door through which students enter the room. Students
will be greeted at the door and reminded to pick up the worksheet as they enter the room. The
students’ previous Introduction to the Human Population worksheet will be up front to be
distributed after completion of the new worksheet they picked up upon entering the classroom.
Class time:
“Good morning everybody, today we will be continuing our study on the human
population. The worksheet you picked up should look somewhat familiar. As you have done
before, just place a check mark next to all of the words that you recognize or have seen
before.” Allow students about 5 minutes to complete this task while taking attendance.
“If you haven’t completed checking off the words, that is alright. Remember this is not
graded on completeness or correctness, but will be used as a tool to monitor your progress and
understanding throughout the chapter. Now, I would like for you all to work with your groups
(groups of 3-4 sitting at the same tables) and try to figure out what definitions go to which
vocabulary word. Make sure you make note of which words your group members do not
recognize. You will have about 7 minutes to do this.” Allow students about 7 minutes to
complete this activity. During this time, walk around the class and observe which words groups
31
seem to be having trouble with. At this point most of the words have been covered in this
chapter. Words that have not been covered are infrastructure, arable land, urbanization,
suburban sprawl, and least developed countries.
After the 7 minutes are up, hand back the worksheet they had filled out at the beginning
of the chapter. “Take this time to compare what you know now to what you knew at the
beginning of the chapter.” Allow for about 5 minutes of comparisons. After the 5 minutes, go
around and collect both worksheets from each student. “Does anybody want to share what they
have noticed in how much they have learned?” Allow students a minute or two to respond.
“Thank you for sharing. Now, it’s time to take a little break and hear about some good
news. Does anybody have any good news to share?” Give students the time they need to
express themselves and give positive responses. Make sure other students are being respectful as
a student is sharing by reminding them of the social contract they made if necessary. If no news
is forthcoming, think of your own good news to share with the class to see if that can get them
started.
the day as listed on the PowerPoint slide then begin the brief lecture using the following script:
“The section we are about to cover includes a variety of topics about the human population. We
have already covered topics about how our population has changed over time, how to forecast
population size, declining death rates, and demographic transitioning. Now we are going to look
at how rapid growth effects our planet, how demographically diverse our world is, how we are
currently trying to manage development and population growth, and how growth may be slowing
down now.”
“We have discussed how death rates have decreased and some of the trends with age
structures. Most importantly, we have mentioned that the world population is still growing
rapidly. What does this mean for our planet, or to be more precise, what problems might this
rapid growth have on the planet we live on? At this point, I want you to work with your groups
and on your group’s whiteboards, list some of the effects that you think rapid population growth
will have or has had on this planet.” Give the students about 7-10 minutes to brainstorm and
come up with ideas. After asking the question and giving the prompt, write on the whiteboard at
the front of the class “Rapid population growth effects:” and then proceed to walk around the
room and listen in on students’ discussions. Many students will probably mention something
about limited resources; ask them to be specific as to what resources in particular.
After the allotted time, collect answers from the groups. “Alright class, can I have your
attention back on me. What are the effects that your group came up with?” As students respond,
write their responses on the whiteboard under “Rapid population growth effects.” As you write
these down, place stars next to any effect that references or has an impact on unsafe water, fuel
wood shortages, and arable/livable land. “These are all great examples. You probably noticed
that I put a star next to a few of these. Those with stars next to them are examples of the three
resources most critically affected by rapid growth; vegetation, water, and land.” If needed, take
some time to clarify how some of what was starred is associated with one or multiple of these
things.
“Vegetation is more than just something we use for building materials and to produce
food, it is also a major source of fuel in developing countries. Firewood is used to not only
produce heat, but to also cook food to make it safe and easier to eat and digest. It is also used to
boil water to remove water-borne parasites and other diseases. In populations with little
population growth, fallen trees and limbs or deadwood is used to provide the fuel needed. What
32
do you think happens when a population like this undergoes rapid population growth? Talk with
your groups briefly.” Allow for about 2 minutes for students to express their thoughts in their
groups. “So, what did we come up with?” Listen for answers that consider harvesting live
plants instead of just deadwood. “These populations end up destroying their living trees and
depleting their fuel wood supply. Over time this effect can create an area with no fuel wood
left.”
“When you are thirsty and need a drink of water, what do you do?” Listen to what
students answer back with. “Here, it isn’t very difficult to find a faucet or drinking fountain or
even purchase a bottle of water. Is this water clean, where does it come from?” Again, listen to
what students answer back with. “Here in Michigan, we are able to take water from lakes, rivers
and streams, or underground aquifers and wells. We have huge filtering and cleaning facilities
that clean up the water before that water gets to you. Not only that, but when we wash our hands
or use the bathroom, we have devices that take our waste water away from us and to treatment
facilities to again clean the water and make it safe for the environment and even consumption
again. These facilities and devices are all examples of infrastructure. In less developed
countries or areas undergoing rapid growth, the required infrastructure to support a community
might not be present. These past examples are all related to having safe water. Places without
this infrastructure may have unsafe water. The local water supply may be used not only for
drinking and washing, but also for sewage. Without proper infrastructure to clean these water
supplies, organisms that cause diseases such as dysentery, typhoid, and cholera can populate the
water.”
“That brings us to our last point, land. People need not only space to live, but space to
grow crops used for food and production purposes. This land for crops is referred to as arable
land. As populations grow, there is increasing competition between uses for land such as
agriculture, housing, and natural habitats. In the United States, there is a large supply of arable
land, but this isn’t always the case. Only 4% of Egypt’s total land mass is arable land, and it is
all centralized along the Nile River valley. That’s where they can grow the food, that’s where
the jobs are, that is where people want to live, that is where most of Egypt’s ecosystem diversity
and species richness can be found. What should be done with this small part of land? For the
remainder of class, I want you to read through section 2 of the text to the end of page 227. I also
want you to annotate your text as you have been doing throughout the semester. What you do
not finish in class will be homework and I will be checking your annotations at the beginning of
class tomorrow.” Let students take this time to read through the section that was just covered in
class.
Research and Theory:

In this lesson, the focus is covering material found in the textbook. To start, the students
will be completing a vocabulary exercise that allows them to recognize and familiarize
themselves with some of the difficult terminology before diving into the actual text. This
worksheet requires the students to look at their text-self, text-text, and text-world knowledge and
then work with others to share that information. After this activity, students are reminded of key
topics that were covered in the previous section. This is then followed by the anticipatory set or
key question that defines the content about to be covered: what problems might rapid growth
have on the planet we live on? This question again tests students’ text-self, text-text, and text-
world knowledge and invokes critical thinking about the content that has not been covered yet.
Students are asked to write on whiteboards and present their ideas to the class which assesses
33
their current knowledge. Only after the activity and asking questions are students given the
content based on the text. This allows students to make better personal connections to the
information that is being provided to them and reduces the chances of generating fragmented
knowledge on the content.
Throughout the lecture, students are being asked questions and given examples that they
can make real-world connections to. For instance, mentioning how the infrastructure relevant to
plumbing and water filtration in this area might be taken for granted, but in other areas they do
not have these luxuries.
At the end of this lesson, students are asked to read through their text that covers the
information found in this text (frontloading). By having the students read the text after the
lesson, students are able to make more connections and strengthen their conceptual knowledge
more than if they were to simply read the text first. When dealing with complex text, students
may often simply skim or not really read the text. By having students annotate their text (text
marking), it requires the students to pick apart the text piece by piece and actively think about the
text they are reading as opposed to simply looking for answers or reading without
comprehension.
34
Lesson 7: A Demographically Diverse World
Time: 2 days/2 class periods
Objectives:
1. The student can compare population growth problems in more-developed countries and
less developed countries.
2. The student can determine the diversity transitional stage of a country and the factors
involved in determining this.
Lesson overview:
This lesson will span the duration of two class periods. The second day is merely a work
day. Students will be covering the information on the demographically diverse world. The class
will begin with an opener asking a question about information that was covered earlier in the
text. Once the opener is completed, the daily Good News announcements will be shared. After
Good News, the opener will be discussed briefly and the instructor will follow the scripts for this
lesson containing some lecturing and the geoguessr activity. There will be no opener on the
second day and Good News may be completed if desired.
Setup:
will be done during class. Students will be greeted at the door and reminded to begin working on
the opener they enter the room. On the computer, get to the geoguessr.com website. Create the
geoguessr activity assignment on Google Classroom using the following prompts: Go to the
website www.geoguessr.com and at the title screen, select single player. Your goal in this game
is to determine where in the world you are. Once you have a guess, click on the map and select
Make Guess. Select the option to skip ad and continue the game unless you want to sign up.
Keep track of the country of where you actually are which is designated by the flag symbol.
After completing 5 attempts (minimum) select two countries that are not the United States.
Begin researching each country to determine where you believe it fits in with the demographic
transition model. Is it a more or less developed country? How did you determine these things?
What population strategies, if any, are in place to try to move the country to a more developed
stage?
Class time:
about suburban sprawl while I take attendance. Your answer must be completed and turned in
by 11:25 (7 minutes after the start of class) or you will not receive any credit for this opener.” At
this time, take attendance and answer students’ questions if there are any.
35
Once Good News is completed, be sure to read to the students what the objectives are for the
day as listed on the PowerPoint slide then begin the discussion using the following script: “So,
who can tell me what suburban sprawl is and some of the problems it causes?” Give the students
about 15 seconds and select a student who raises their hand. Take preference on selecting a
student who does not regularly participate or answer questions if able. The correct response
should sound similar to: the process of people moving to suburban areas from cities which leads
to things like traffic jams, inadequate infrastructure, and the reduction of arable land. If students
are unable to answer correctly or are not willing to participate, look through the submitted
answers on Google Classroom and select a student to answer that has given a correct
response. “Suburban sprawl is the process where people are moving away from cities where
they may be working to live outside of the city. This process results in the increased usage of
livable lands outside of the city, can cause infrastructure issues like traffic jams, and a reduction
of arable land and wildlife habitat. Where do we see suburban sprawl around here?” Students
will probably answer with Grand Rapids and/or its surrounding neighborhoods. “Grand Rapids
and the towns nearby are a great example of suburban sprawl, but it can reach out much further
than that. The Grand Rapids metropolitan area actually includes Holland and Muskegon.” You
may choose to take this time to show its size on a map if time permits.
“In the last section of this chapter, we talked about the demographic transition. This
model contained four stages; the preindustrial, the transitional, the industrial, and the
postindustrial. Which stage do you feel Grand Rapids is in?” Students should be answering
either industrial or postindustrial. “Grand Rapids is in the earlier stages of the postindustrial
stage. Unlike Grand Rapids though, other countries are often found in the transitional stage of
this model. However, due to the complexity of development, many of these countries find issues
in different areas. For instance, some countries have achieved stable and educated populations,
but have not succeeded in industrializing. Other countries have modern industries but have
lower incomes. Those countries within the transitional stage often have rapid population growth
but can’t manage to make enough progress in their economies and/or their education to reduce
their birth rates and move into that industrial stage. These countries are often referred to as less
developed countries.”
“At this time, I want you all to get your Chromebooks out and go to the website
www.geoguessr.com (write this on the board). At the title screen, select single player. Your
goal in this game is to determine where in the world you are. Once you have a guess, click on
the map and select Make Guess. Select the option to skip ad and continue the game unless you
want to sign up. Keep track of the country of where you actually are which is designated by the
flag symbol.” During this time, model how to do all of this on the smart projector. “After
completing 5 attempts (minimum) select two countries that are not the United States. Begin
researching each country to determine where you believe it fits in with the demographic
transition model. Is it a more or less developed country? How did you determine these things?
What population strategies, if any, are in place to try to move the country to a more developed
stage?” Write these prompts on the whiteboard and post them in Google Classroom as an
assignment as well. “You have the rest of the class period to work on this assignment. This
assignment will be due in three days. Remember, be sure to share where you found your
information from. Tomorrow in class, you will be continuing to work on this assignment and
reading pages 228-229.”
36
The opener of this lesson is a review of one of the ideas found in the last lesson and the
required text. It requires the students to remember the terminology and understand the term of
suburban sprawl conceptually. Students are then asked to think of it in a more relevant sense by
determining where they can see it. The instructor will mention that this concept effects a very
wide range which may be greater than what the students anticipated using local examples to help
them visualize the idea. This strategy helps students connect text-text, text-self, and text-world
knowledge.
Students, like in Lesson 6, will be given a lecture about the material found in their text
before actually reading the text (frontloading). Students will also engage in an online
activity/game that helps them make further connections to the real world by researching different
areas. By having some choice as to which areas to research, this activity builds on student
inquiry to a small extent. Students have to think about whether they want to do an area that may
be easier or harder, if there is an area they want to learn more about, and why they may be
interested in that area.
37
Lesson 8: Managing Development and Population Growth
Objectives:
1. The student can analyze strategies countries may use to reduce their population growth.
2. The student can determine the demographic transition stage of a country and the factors
involved in determining this.
Lesson overview:
Students will be covering the information on the managing of development and
population growth. The class will begin with an opener asking a question about information that
was covered earlier in the text. Once the opener is completed, the daily Good News
announcements will be shared. After Good News, the opener will be discussed briefly and the
instructor will follow the scripts for this lesson containing some lecturing and the gallery walk
presentations.
Setup:
the opener they enter the room. Whiteboards, dry erase markers, and erasers will need to be
available to each group for this lesson.
Class time:
about Thailand’s population strategies while I take attendance. Your answer must be completed
and turned in by 11:25 (7 minutes after the start of class) or you will not receive any credit for
this opener.” At this time, take attendance and answer students’ questions if there are any.
“So, who can tell me what strategies they thought were most beneficial strategies in causing the
country to become more developed and why?” Give the students about 15 seconds and select a
student who raises their hand. Take preference on selecting a student who does not regularly
participate or answer questions if able. There is no correct answer, but students should be using
strategies found in the table on page 229 and giving in depth responses to their reasonings. If
students are unable to answer correctly or are not willing to participate, look through the
submitted answers on Google Classroom and select a student to answer that has given a correct
38
response. “Thailand implemented a number of population management techniques that are
found on page 229 in the table. Many of these strategies were talked about in some way in
section one. Thailand, along with other countries, has implemented strategies to move their
country forward in the demographic transition. Some countries have tried to directly reduce
birth rates and fertility rates using campaigns that may include public advertising, family
planning programs, economic incentives, or legal punishments.”
“Today, I want you to work with your groups to develop strategies that your group feels
would help move less developed countries through the demographic transition. I would highly
recommend reading page 230 and looking at the ICPD goals in Table 1 for help. I want your
group to come up with at least two original strategies per person. In about 20 minutes, I want
each group to briefly present their strategies to the class using a gallery walk and your
whiteboards.”
Allow the students 20 minutes to collaborate on strategies and walk around the class
listening to discussions and helping students stay on track. They should be writing down their
ideas on the whiteboards to be ready to present. If the students are having trouble getting started,
ask them “What does the country you are thinking about look like right now in terms of
population growth, water, land, infrastructure, and fuel wood?”
After 20 minutes ask the students to please take their seats and finish their last thoughts.
“During this gallery walk, I want 1 person from each group to head to another group and have
them present their strategies and reasoning for each strategy for about 3 minutes. After this time,
the person who moved returns to their table and another person from the group goes to another
table to be presented to until each person has had the chance to see at least one other group’s
strategies.” Have the students begin and time for 3 minutes at least 4 times so that every student
has a chance to explore.
At the end of the gallery walk presentations: “So, were there any interesting strategies
that you feel might work or might not have worked and why? On a blank sheet of paper, write at
least two strategies you found interesting from another group and explain whether you think each
of these strategies would be effective or not.” This will lead to the end of the class. If class time
is available, put up the following YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xhy-fu-
Mq7M “People are Awesome vs Fail Army!! This helps to provide a brief reprieve from all of
the material that has been covered up to this point if time allows.

Unlike the other lessons, this lesson does not really use much frontloading before the
students read the disciplinary text. However, students are given a task which requires them to
read the content in a way that gives their reading purpose and requires critical thinking. Students
must determine how they can apply the text to the scenario given which incorporates the match
techniques used in the other lessons. Students are then asked to present their findings in a new
way where they must present to their peers. This activity addresses reading, writing, listening,
speaking, viewing, and representing of the content.
39
Lesson 9: Growth is Slowing
Objectives:
1. The student can describe worldwide population projections into the next century.
2. The student can use real world data to show evidence for decreasing population growth
trends.
Lesson overview:
instructor will follow the scripts for this lesson containing some lecturing, class discussions, and
a student survey.
Setup:
the opener they enter the room.
Class time:
“Who would like to share their answer to the question: what is the definition of infrastructure?”
Give the students about 15 seconds and select a student who raises their hand. Take preference
on selecting a student who does not regularly participate or answer questions if able. If students
answers on Google Classroom and select a student to answer that has given a correct response.
“Infrastructure is the basic facilities and services that support a community. Who wants to give a
few examples other than the ones listed in the text’s definition?” Again, give the students some
time to think and then select students to give their answers. “Those are a lot of great examples.
Infrastructure has played a large role in countries advancing through the demographic transition.
40
Education has also played a huge role as well. The amount of education available, especially to
women has led to decreases in fertility rates and increased life expectancy across the globe. One
of the key aspects determining whether a country is moving through the demographic transition
is lowering population growth. What we have seen is that the global population growth is in fact
slowing down. Fertility rates have been declining globally since the 70’s in both more-
developed countries and less developed countries. Take this time now to read through page 231
and annotate the text. When done, discuss with your group what is being shown in Figure 17.”
Give the students about 15-20 minutes to read through, annotate, and discuss page 231. During
this time, walk around the class to ensure students stay on task and answer questions they may
have. Also, begin writing Figure 1 on the whiteboard.
Figure 1: Comparison of siblings across generations.

Your siblings A parent’s A grandparent’s
siblings siblings.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
“What did you all come up with?” Allow students to answer. “This graph is showing the
global population change over time and the projected growth rates in the future. Why does the
line split into three lines?” Students should be answering with statements regarding these lines
representing a range of possibilities for the population growth rates. “These are the predictions
or the range of possibilities that demographers are expecting the population growth rate to follow
up to the year 2050. In the text, it was mentioned that demographers are expecting the growth
rate to follow that middle line which shows a reduction in the rate at which the population is
currently growing. I want to see if we can conclude the same thing as these demographers using
our own experiences.”
“Up on the board I drew up this chart and we are going to fill it out. By a show of hands,
how many of you have no siblings or are an only child?” This process may lead to students
asking if step-siblings or adopted siblings count in this. For the sake of the students and not
necessarily true accuracy, say that they should be counted. If students ask or argue why, just
mention that for this study, it should not affect our results too much. Go through 0-6+ and put
the number of students that raise their hands for each category in the chart. “Now, we have to
think a little harder, how many siblings do your parents or guardians have. If you do not know,
you do not need to raise your hand. If you have more than one parent/guardian, raise your hand
for each one individually. If they both have the same number of siblings, raise both of your
hands.” Proceed the same way as with the students’ siblings and write down the number of
hands raised. “Now for the hard part, how many of you know the number of siblings your
grandparents have?” Don’t worry if there aren’t many responses, use your own family (or mine)
as an example, but continue through having students raise their hands as you move through the
grandparent’s siblings portion. Once completed, find the average number of siblings for each
generation. You may or may not see a decreasing trend. If you do, use the class example as
41
evidence for reducing population growth. If there is not a decreasing trend mention that the
United States might not be the best example of a decreasing trend. At this point use your own or
my family as an example. The following is my family’s data. “My maternal Grandmother had a
total of five siblings. My maternal Grandfather had a total of four siblings. My paternal
Grandmother had two siblings and my paternal Grandfather had four siblings. This averages out
to about four siblings for that generation. My mother had five siblings and my father had two
siblings. This averages out to 3.5 siblings. I have two siblings. Over three generations, you can
see a general decrease from 4 to 3.5 to 2 siblings.”
“You have two opportunities for extra credit that you may spend the remainder of the
class period working on but will be due tomorrow. The first is for you to create a family tree
using your family or your guardian’s family. Use the grandparents as the top of the tree and give
the names or number of siblings that they have. The next tier of the tree should be your parent/s
or guardian/s and their siblings. The following tier should include you and your siblings as well
as the children of your parent/s or guardian/s siblings. Write a brief explanation as to what the
population growth trend according to family size is showing according to your tree.”
“The second opportunity for extra credit is to read page 239 and answer the “What do
you think?” question in the bottom corner. This is a great example of using all of the
information we have learned in this section.” Make sure to post these things on Google
Classroom. Adjust the point values according to the grading scale and should be graded on
completion and effort. The family tree and the page 239 should be worth the same number of
points as 3 openers (in my case 15 points each).

This lesson also does not contain much in terms of frontloading, but does introduce the
ideas of the content before students engage in the text. Students will be asked to annotate the
text requiring them to read the material more carefully and generate ideas about the text as they
read it. The students are then asked to discuss with their peers what they have determined from
reading the text. The class discussion later really emphasizes text-self by students generating
personal examples of population growth changes within the generations of their families. This
activity models the information students need to complete one of their extra credit assignments.
42
Lesson 10: Population Growth and The Tragedy of the Commons
Objectives:
1. The student can explain the tragedy of the commons.
2. The student can develop strategies to prevent the tragedy of the commons.
Lesson overview:
instructor will follow the scripts for this lesson containing some lecturing, class discussions, and
a tragedy of the commons activity and video.
Setup:
the opener they enter the room. For each group, there will need to be one paper bowl, a blank
sheet of computer paper, 50 M&M’s, 50 large jelly beans, and a pair of chopsticks for each
student. A timer will also be needed for this activity. Do not put these out until the start of the
activity.
Class time:
“Who would like to share their answer to the question: what is the definition of arable land?”
Give the students about 15 seconds and select a student who raises their hand. Take preference
on selecting a student who does not regularly participate or answer questions if able. If students
answers on Google Classroom and select a student to answer that has given a correct response.
“Arable land is the land that can be used to grow crops. Earlier, we talked about how some
countries that have rapid population growth often have difficulty with determining the uses of the
43
limited arable land that is available. Today, we are going to do an activity that represents issues
with resource availability.” Begin handing out each groups’ materials (bowl, candy, chopsticks,
paper) while explaining the activity.
“Today we are going to pretend that we are fisherman. You will notice that you have a
bowl, chopsticks for each person, and a bag of M&M’s and Jelly Beans. The candy represents
fish, a limited resource. I want you all to place four M&M’s and two Jelly Beans into the bowl
for each person in your group. These candies represent fish, the bowl represents the community
pond, and the chopsticks represent your fishing tools. Your goal as a fisherman is to feed your
family each year from the fish in the pond. The Jelly Beans represent large fish that will count as
two points. The M&M’s represent small fish that will count as a single point. To feed your
family, you need to collect four points each year. At the end of this activity, you do get to eat all
of the “fish” you fished out. If fish are left in your pond at the end of the year, those fish will
reproduce. For each Jelly Bean left in the bowl, another new Jelly Bean can be placed into the
bowl. For each M&M left in the bowl, another two new M&M’s can be placed into the bowl.”
Write Figure 2 on the board.
Figure 2: Fishing correlations.

Candy Type of Fish Point Value Reproduction Rate
Jelly Bean Large 2 1:1
M&M Small 1 1:2
“I do not want you to talk with one another during this activity, it is every fisherman for
themselves. You may not use anything other than the chopsticks to remove candy from the bowl
and you will be competing against the others at your table. You will have one minute to fish,
when the time is up, place your chopsticks down and count up your points. Your minute of
fishing starts now!” This is a free-for-all and students should have fun with it. If students knock
candy out of other students’ chopsticks, that is fair game. After one minute: “Times up, place
your chopsticks down.” Make sure students don’t cheat and if caught cheating they will be
included as a starved family. “Count up your points, if you did not reach four points, your
family has starved and you will not be able to continue. What you might have noticed is that it is
hard to have everybody fish in the same bowl at the same time. It is also difficult to pick up the
candy with the chopsticks. Fishing is a trade or talent that is developed over time. Only the best
fishermen were able to provide for their families, and their techniques will change and develop
over the years.”
“At this time, I would like for your fish to reproduce. Again, for every M&M still in the
pond, add two M&M’s from your bag of candy. For every Jelly Bean, add one more Jelly Bean.
After your fish reproduce, place the sheet of paper over the top of your bowl. At this time, if you
were able to reach at least six points, you may choose to take this time to move to any other
group and fish at their pond instead. You cannot look at how many fish are in their pond though.
When resources are available, people can use their excess resources to travel to other locations to
practice their trade. We will begin our next round shortly, please make sure you are ready and
know that points do not carry over year to year. Now, take off the sheet of paper and your
fishing minute begins now!” Repeat this process until four years have passed.
“Please return to your groups with your fish. Whatever is left in your bags of candy and
pond, please divide evenly amongst your group members. You may eat the candy at this time.
During this time though, I want you to discuss with your group what happened during this
44
activity. Consider questions like what effect does not talking have, what happened to your pond
and its fish, could something have been done different?” Give the class about five minutes to
discuss. “What did you find out about this activity?” Go around to each group and have each
group share their findings and ideas. At the conclusion of this discussion: “This activity
represents something called the tragedy of the commons. When a resource exists that is
unregulated, people tend to utilize it in a selfish way. But is it selfish to provide for your family?
I am going to show you a quick video on the tragedy of the commons. During this video I want
you to think about how this is relevant to the problems of rapid population growth.” The video is
found at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxC161GvMPc. After the video: “I want
you all to briefly write about your thoughts about the activity, the video, and how they are
relevant to problems of rapid population growth.” Give the students until the end of the period to
complete this task. If there is not enough time assign this as homework.

This lesson may be changed as it may be used as the lead in to my Project Based
Learning lesson. This lesson does not have disciplinary text that covers the information found in
this lesson. Instead, this lesson revolves around inquiry and students discovering the tragedy of
the commons through activities. The tragedy of the commons is not a part of the text for this
chapter, but uses the information relevant to population growth and applies it to real-life
scenarios. This inquiry-based lesson results in critical thinking of the content covered in this
entire unit.
45
Supplemental Materials Disclosure:
Found below are supplemental materials that will be used during this unit. These include
the Introduction to Human Populations worksheet and the instructor reflection document to be
filled out after each lesson. This document does not contain the final test which covers material
for both section 1 and section 2 of this chapter, or the textbook. The test will be adapted from a
test found in a separate document. The final test cannot be disclosed at this time as it must be
standardized across all Environmental Science classes at East Kentwood High School. This will
be determined near the end of the unit. The textbook and test are larger documents and will be
shared along with this unit plan as separate files.
46
Introduction to the Human Population
Match each term on the left with its correct definition by placing the number of the definition in
the blank next to the term.
___ Demography ___ Suburban sprawl
___ Least Developed Countries ___ Age Structure
___ Survivorship ___ Fertility Rate
___ Migration ___ Life Expectancy
___ Demographic Transition ___ Population Pyramid
___ Survivorship Curves ___ Total Fertility Rate
___ Immigration ___ Emigration
___ Infrastructure ___ Arable Land
___ Urbanization
47
1. The distribution of ages in a specific population.
2. The average number of years a person is likely to live.
3. The transition from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates as a country
develops from a pre-industrial to an industrialized economic system
4. The basic facilities and services that support a community.
5. Land that can be used to grow crops.
6. Countries that show few signs of development.
7. The movement out of an area.
8. The number of babies born each year per 1,000 women in a population.
9. A double-sided bar graph used to depict age structure.
10. The study of populations.
11. The percentage of members of a group that are likely to survive to any given age.
12. The process of more people living in cities than in rural areas.
13. The movement into an area.
14. The average number of children a woman gives birth to in her lifetime.
15. The movement of individuals between areas.
16. The process of people finding work in a city but move into suburban areas around the
city.
17. A graph that plots survivorship.
48
Instructor Lesson Reflection
Did the students reach their learning goals (objectives), how do you know?
What went well during this lesson?
What did not go as planned?
What improvements would you make to this lesson?
49

Chapter 9 Lesson Plan

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Chapter 9 Lesson Plan

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CHAPTER 9

The Human Population

Section 1: Studying Human Populations 2-28

Supplemental Materials Disclosure 16

Introduction to the Human Population 17-18

Forecasting a Country’s Population 19-24

Multi-Genre Examples 25-26

Instructor Lesson Reflection 27

HS-ESS3-6. Use a computational representation to illustrate the relationships among Earth

Time: 1 class period/day

Time: 1 class periods/1 Days

Time: 1 class/1 day

Time: 1 class period/1 day

Time: 2 class periods/2 days

6 Least Developed Countries 1

Rapid Growth represents least developed nations

Slow Growth represents transitional nations

Zero or declining growth represents most developed nations

• At this point, please open your web browser and go to this

Percent of population surviving

Papua New Guinea

• In your browser, go to this website: https://www.populationpyramid.net/hnp/fertility-

The replacement level is around 1.84. They are below the

The replacement level is around 3.71. They are above the

Turkey has a population of about 78.5 million people with a total of

Papua New Guinea has a net migration of 0 people meaning

• A sketch of its survivorship curve based on its population pyramid

• How much the population is affected by migration.

A drop of water falls from the sky,

What went well during this lesson?

What did not go as planned?

What improvements would you make to this lesson?

HS-ESS3-4. Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human

HS-ESS3-6. Use a computational representation to illustrate the relationships among

RST.11-12.7. Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse

RST.11-12.8. Evaluate the hypotheses, data, analysis, and conclusions in a science or

Time: 1 day/1 class period

Research and Theory:

Time: 2 days/2 class periods

Time: 1 day/1 class period

Research and Theory:

Time: 1 day/1 class period

Figure 1: Comparison of siblings across generations.

Research and Theory:

Time: 1 day/1 class period

Figure 2: Fishing correlations.

Research and Theory:

___ Demography ___ Suburban sprawl

___ Least Developed Countries ___ Age Structure

___ Survivorship ___ Fertility Rate

___ Migration ___ Life Expectancy

___ Demographic Transition ___ Population Pyramid

___ Survivorship Curves ___ Total Fertility Rate

___ Immigration ___ Emigration

___ Infrastructure ___ Arable Land

What went well during this lesson?

What did not go as planned?

What improvements would you make to this lesson?

Вам также может понравиться

_ Demography _ Suburban sprawl

_ Least Developed Countries _ Age Structure

_ Survivorship _ Fertility Rate

_ Migration _ Life Expectancy

_ Demographic Transition _ Population Pyramid

_ Survivorship Curves _ Total Fertility Rate

_ Immigration _ Emigration

_ Infrastructure _ Arable Land