1. Geography Lesson 1: What is population?
PLEASE NOTE:
Information on potential Assessment for Learning (AfL) strategies or Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities will appear in these notes in italics.
Instructions to the teacher, notes, or questions to discuss in class will appear in these notes as normal text.

2. what the term population means
Learning Intentions
We are learning…
what the term population means
that the human population of the world increases every year
that graphs can be used to display information
about population
how to interpret population graphs
AfL
Share these AfL learning intentions with pupils in your introduction to the lesson.
Share and negotiate success criteria with pupils.
Examples of success criteria
Pupils will be able to:
define the term population;
recognise that the population of the world is increasing, and know the (approximate) current population of the world;
complete a line graph showing how the population of the world has changed since 1850; and
describe what a population graph tells us about population change.

3. What is population? We can talk about the population of: the world
Europe
County Fermanagh
Dungannon
Portrush
AfL
This part of the lesson uses the following strategies:
effective questioning; and
scaffolding reflection by asking for feedback from pupils.
Discuss other populations with pupils. For example, you could ask them:
Are the people in your school a population?
What about the pupils in your geography class?
Can you give other examples of a population?

4. What is the population of the world?
AfL
This part of the lesson uses the following strategies:
effective questioning; and
scaffolding reflection
by asking for feedback from pupils; and
by encouraging peer and self-assessment.
Ask pupils to vote on each of the options on screen.
Then, ask pupils:
How many thousands make 1 million?
How many thousands make 1 billion?

5. Seven billion people worldwide
The Guardian: World’s ‘seven billionth baby’ is born (31 October 2011)
National Geographic: 7 Billion video (2011)
AfL
This part of the lesson uses the following strategies:
effective questioning; and
scaffolding reflection by asking for feedback from pupils.
The first link leads to a story in the Guardian about the seven billionth baby to be born in 2011.
The second link is to a National Geographic video from It talks about what 7 billion looks like and describes how the world’s population has increased from 1 billion in 1800 to 7 billion. It touches on birth and death rates and why the world’s population is increasing. Although some of the content in the video will not be directly covered in this unit, it nevertheless is related to it and very relevant.
Show the video twice, as the images change quite quickly. After the second showing, ask pupils to ‘3-2-1’ – write down 3 things they learned, 2 questions they would like to ask and 1 thing they were unsure of.

6. Population increase
The previous video shows that the population of the world is increasing. How much has it increased since 1800? Look at the graph in Resource 1. What does this graph tell you about the population change from 1600 to 1800?
AfL
This part of the lesson uses the following strategies:
effective questioning; and
scaffolding reflection by asking for feedback from pupils.
Give each pupil a printed copy of Resource 1. This resource contains a partially-completed line graph, which shows the population of the world in billions from 1600 until 1800.
Only the first four values are filled in on the graph. (Pupils will extend this graph in the exercise on the next slide).
Ask pupils specific questions about the population change shown on the graph, to show that they can interpret the graph information.

7. Population change
Use the table in Worksheet 1 to complete the world population graph in Resource 1.
Your new data will show how the world population changed from 1850 to 2015.
Work with a partner. Discuss the words you might use to describe the whole graph.
Together, write or record a description of the overall population change, using the hints on the worksheet to help you.
AfL
This part of the lesson uses the following strategies:
effective questioning; and
scaffolding reflection
by asking for feedback from pupils; and
by encouraging peer and self-assessment.
Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities
In this activity, pupils have the opportunity to develop the following skill:
managing information.
Give each pupil a copy of Worksheet 1. (They should already have a copy of the graph in Resource 1, showing world population change.)
Explain to the class that they are going to use the data in the table in Worksheet 1 to complete the world population graph in Resource 1. They must use the data to create extra points on the graph.
Once pupils have completed their graphs, ask them to get into pairs. Encourage them to use the prompts in the worksheet to describe the population change shown in the final graph. If pupils are recording their feedback, provide them with recording devices.

8. Your place in the world’s population
Visit this BBC web page to find out where you fit into the world’s population:
BBC News: The world at seven billion (27 October 2011)
AfL
This part of the lesson uses the following strategies:
effective questioning; and
scaffolding reflection by asking for feedback from pupils.
This link takes you to a BBC website where pupils can enter their date of birth and see where they fit in relation to the seven billion people in the world. Once pupils enter their date of birth, the website displays their position on a population graph. It also tells them their position in relation to the number of people who have ever lived.
Ask pupils to enter their date of birth in the website. Give several pupils the opportunity to try this out, and compare results.
Then, ask pupils to enter birth dates for their parents or grandparents to see how much the population has changed since they were born. Ask them to reflect on the results.