LESSON PLAN
Name: Elissa Spina
Title of Lesson: Exploring the Population on Earth
Grade: 6
STANDARDS
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CCSS.Math.Content.6.SP.B.4 Display numerical data in plots on a number line, including dot plots, histograms, and
box plots.
CCSS.Math.Content.6.SP.B.5a Reporting the number of observations.
MS-ESS3-4. Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capital
consumption of natural resources impact Earth's systems.
LESSON SUMMARY/OVERVIEW
This lesson will introduce population throughout the world and how it has been growing over centuries. We will also
explore how a larger population affects the earth’s resources and the problems that are caused. Students will learn how they
affect the world they live in. By calculating their ecological footprint, students will see how many planet earths would be
needed to support their current lifestyle. After each student calculates their ecological footprint, teacher will take data of each
student’s results and form a bar graph to compare the results. Objective is for students to see the impact they have on our
planet and then come up with solutions for minimizing their footprint.
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OBJECTIVES
Students will be able to define what the human population of the world is.
Students will be able to calculate their ecological footprint from a computer on the footprintnetwork.org website
Students will be able to reflect on the effect they have on earth
Students will be able to construct a bar graph with data from classmates’ ecological footprint
ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION
Teacher will gather each students’ data from their ecological footprint results. Then, collect each students’ bar graph to see
completion of classmates’ data on the graph. Students will have hand written notes of how they think they impact the earth
based off of their ecological footprint results.
PREREQUISITE KNOWLEDGE
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What is population defined as according to human population
How many countries are in the world; show geography of the parts of the world that occupy human population
What a bar graph is and what type of data is being compared on it; how to construct a bar graph on paper
Information about student’s individual lifestyles; send home some sample questions that students will need answers
for the ecological footprint calculator
What are the resources on planet earth that humans need; water, sun, energy, oil, food, etc.
Define human impact; how does this relate to a single person using resources compared to the rest of the human
population
MATERIALS
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Computers- access to the ecological footprint calculator
footprintnetwork.org website
Whiteboard
Projector
Paper (graph paper)
Pencil
Rulers
VOCABULARY/KEY WORDS
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Population
Earth
Environment
Footprint
Resource
Ecological
TEACHING PROCEDURES
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Teacher will ask students the question, “how many total people do you think live on planet earth?”
Students will think about the question to themselves and then write down their estimation on paper.
Teacher will have students share their answers and then give students the actual answer of 7 billion people
Teacher will show video, “7 Billion” from National Geographic on Youtube
Students will watch video. When finished, teacher will talk about how the video mentioned the current population
increase. Talk about how over time, the world’s population has increased due to new innovations, technology, and
ways of living
Teacher will tell students how earth’s resources are constantly used by all the humans on earth. Ask them to think
about the capacity of our earth and the population of humans. Propose the question, “how do all humans fit on earth
and at what rate are the earth’s resources used?”
Students will think to themselves their answer and share aloud when teacher calls on them.
Teacher will take students to the computer lab at school’s library
Teacher will introduce the website, footprintnetwork.org, and have students go to it on their computers
Teacher will go through the questions that are on the calculator on her own computer. Explain what each question is
meaning to the students and have them refer back to previous answers taken from home.
Instruct students to go through the questions to calculate their personal footprint. Have students print results when
finished.
Bring class attention back to teacher’s computer. Show students the teacher’s individual footprint and state how
many planet earths would be needed for lifestyle. Explain to students what this means in terms of using earth’s
resources over time. Propose the question, “How long would it take for a human to use up all of earth’s resources on
their own? Would it take them days, months, years?”
Students will say answers aloud to teacher. Teacher will start a discussion about what resources each student uses on
a daily basis. Students will then write down their personal resources on paper for their memory.
Back in the classroom, teacher will write all the student’s results of “planet earths needed per person”. This will be
the base of information for the bar graph.
After data is written on board, teacher will calculate average number of earths, within the class’ results. When class
average of earths is calculated, teacher will begin to construct a bar graph on the whiteboard.
Students will each have their own graph paper to begin to construct their bar graph. They will take data from class
mates and include the numbers on their graph.
Teacher will instruct students to finish completing their own bar graph and reflect on the results of their classmates.
Teacher will ask, “Write down the highest number of earths needed and the least amount of earths needed. This
information will be included along with your graph.”
Teacher will collect bar graphs as students finish up. Next, teacher will propose the following questions for students
to answer individually:
-What affect do you have on planet earth?
-Were you surprised by the number of earths needed for your current lifestyle?
-What resources do you think you use the most of each day?
-How could you reduce the number of earths in your footprint?
-What would our earth look like in the next 100 years with an increasing population?
Students will work on answering these questions and then turn them into the teacher.
Last, teacher will wrap up the day’s lesson with reminding students that our earth is home to all humans and species
of animals and plants. Not only do humans use earth’s resources but so do other species. Ask students to think about
the resources animals use compared to humans. This could be a homework question for them to complete.
RESOURCES
Geographic, N. (2010, December 27). 7 Billion, National Geographic Magazine. YouTube. Retrieved November 24, 2013, from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc4HxPxNrZ0
Footprint Calculator. (n.d.). Footprint Calculator. Retrieved December 14, 2013, from
http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/calculators/
WAYS OF THINKING CONNECTION
This lesson will connect Future’s Thinking which is envisioning the future by the choices we make today could become the
problems of tomorrow. Students will need to understand the uncertainty that the future holds and how we can make predictions of
multiple outcomes. By exploring the world population, students will need to realize the capacity of habitats the world holds and that
they have an effect on earth’s resources. The ecological footprint will have students connect their lifestyle to how the rest of the
human population on the earth lives. They can then see if they use more resources or less depending on their personal lifestyle. By
having students reflect on the process, this is having them think about how the future would look if humans used all of earth’s
resources. Students will think about how the earth would survive if the population of people increased; what problems will we
encounter in the future years to come. To connect the process, students will need to generate ideas for solutions for our growing
population and the earth’s capacity of resources. By having students generate solutions, they will be making predictions about what
the future will look like for the world. Since students are the future citizens of the world, they need to understand the impact humans
have on earth and think of what humans can do to regulate resources and an increasing population.