SUBJECTS: Math, Social Studies

TOPICS: Exponential Growth, Global Change, World Population Trends/History

Resource Overview

Watch human population grow from 1 CE to present and see projected growth in under six minutes.

We offer a Companion Text that provides additional information on the historical references and milestones in the film. Stream here or purchase your own copy of the World Population DVD that includes the narration in six languages and closed captions.

Want more? Explore the World Population History site. Created for both classrooms and a general audience, the site lets visitors zoom in on the map for a closer look at population centers and many of the population dots are annotated with events and information about the location. A historical timeline simultaneously gives context to the changes on the map through milestones that have impacted population over the years. Readings, interactive tools, and classroom lesson plans make the site even more interactive experience for all visitors.

Other Resources You Might Like:

Demonstration using bowls of water and measuring cups shows population growth when the birth rate exceeds the death rate
Grades ,
Stork and the Grim Reaper

In a short demonstration using water and measuring cups, students observe how populations grow when the birth rate exceeds the... Read more »

Lesson Plan
Students participate in a simulation that crowds them together to demonstrate population growth over the last 500 years
Grades , ,
Population Circle

Students experience the changing pace of population growth by actively simulating the Earth’s population growth over a 500-year span. Students... Read more »

Lesson Plan
Apple slices represent different areas of the Earth: water, inhospitable land, used arable land, and arable land for farming
Grades
Earth: The Apple of Our Eye (high school)

An apple is sliced into pieces to model the current amount of agricultural land on Earth. Then students read an... Read more »

Lesson Plan