8-10 yrs old
11-13 yrs old
Geography
Math & Economics
Science
The number one issue facing our environment today is the over population of humans across the globe.
October 25, 2016
Top 10 Environmental Issues Facing our Planet
Global Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet
Mini-Lesson (whole class) o Building on prior knowledge and gaining background knowledge on overpopulation. o To gauge students’ understanding of key terms and their relation to the topic of over population. o Start with showing student this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=b98JmQ0Cc3k Guiding Question: How do you feel overpopulation has effected the following areas in various communities? • Atmosphere • Agriculture • Water Systems • Waste • Ecosystems • Animals
Class discussion: (Use the internet to pull up images) o Let’s look at what the land in our local area used to look like in 1950 when the world’s population was 2,555,982,611. o http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CdHVjfSXIAAW_tN.jpg o Now let’s look at what our city/county’s population is in present day.
http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/blog/posting.asp?ID=1913 o Watch these videos to help students conceptualize what overpopulation will affect the planet over time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4I39R1w_X4 https://vimeo.com/130468614 o Have students visit Population City to gather research on how the population will continue to grow in the future. They can even type in their birthday to see what the population will be on that day. http://population.city/world/
Activity
Students will each receive a paper arrow with one of the key terms. On the floor in the classroom or wide open space, have students create a circle standing shoulder to shoulder. Write the overpopulation on paper and place in the middle of the circle. The objective is for students to discuss their term’s relationship to overpopulation and then as a class discuss how each arrow connects to each other. As they connect the arrows on the floor they should make a circle around the term overpopulation. (*see example below)
Independent or cooperative group activity choices o Option One: Design and create an area of land in students’ local community as it was in 1950. • Students will choose an area of land and research the population in that area. • Students will design their world illustrating overpopulation in at least one of the following areas: • Atmosphere • Agriculture • Water Systems • Waste • Ecosystems • Animals
o Option Two: Design and create an area of land in students’ local community as it was in present day. • Students will choose an area of land and research the population in that area. • Students will design their world illustrating overpopulation in at least one of the following areas: • Atmosphere • Agriculture • Water Systems • Waste • Ecosystems • Animals
Evidence of Learning • Screenshots or screencast of world demonstrating the features of their chosen community area. • Describe the features included in their world and how the chosen area was affected by the current population of that time.
Extension Activities • Students connect their learning by comparing and contrasting the two different time periods and how each area was affected. • Students can find images of specific areas and share how they compare to their Minecraft worlds. o Atmosphere o Agriculture o Water Systems o Waste o Ecosystems o Animals
• Return to Minecraft world and make adjustments based on research. • Math tie-in: Determine the area of a chosen community and determine the human population in 1950 compared to present day. • ELA- Students identify the future population in a community and create Public Service Announcement movies related to specific areas and suggest an innovative strategy to help reduce the effects of overpopulation related to atmosphere, agriculture, water systems, waste, ecosystems, animals.