7d. Global Citizen | Math | Grades 9-12
Teachers explain that the world’s population continues to expand, but there are variables that can impact the number of people on the planet. For this activity, teachers put students in group of three, and each group is to identify the ideal total population of people on the planet in 100 years and explain their rationale. In addition, each group will have to explain their plan for reaching that number in 100 years. Specifically, they will need to run models based on life expectancy, number of children per woman, and the ratio of children by gender. They will also need to explain if and how the world can sustain their estimated population based on food, housing, educational, and medical needs, among others. When finished, students can present their population estimates along with the availability of the resources needed to sustain that population.
EdTech Resources for Estimating and Modeling the World’s Future Population
EdTech Resources for Creating Presentations
Student Objective
Instructions
Justification
This instructional idea requires students to explore the issue of population using technology and then prognosticating the resources needed to sustain it, which will help address potential challenges connected to the population.