Activity
1: Line ’Em Up and Spread ’Em Out (60-120 minutes)
This activity
is designed to introduce students to the concept of high and low population
density, to the calculation of population density, and to the terms linear,
scattered and clustered as they relate to population.
Teacher
Note:
Prepare a list
of country names on small pieces of paper selected from the list in Population
Characteristics - Selected Countries and Selected Data, Appendix 1.1. Have the students select one country at random. Provide each student
with a scrapbook or have them make one. In the culminating activity, each
student will fill the scrapbook with information about their chosen country.
Expectations
Students will:
- identify the three main patterns
of settlement: linear, scattered, and clustered;
- identify and describe the
characteristics common to places of high population density and the
characteristics common to places of low population density;
- use
appropriate vocabulary to describe their inquiries and observations.
Assessment
- formative self-assessment,
directed by teacher, to check that each student’s note contains the
definitions and appropriate examples of high and low density population
and clustered, scattered and linear patterns
- formative assessment by
teacher through observation of each students’ ability to distinguish
between high and low population density
- formative assessment by peer
pairs of students exchange their population density calculation and
classification
The partner
checks that the calculation is correct and that they agree with the
classification. The partner will also include a comment about neatness,
grammar, and spelling.
Teaching/Learning
Strategies
- Explain population density.
Population density refers to the number of people per unit of area. Large
numbers of people in a small area is a dense population density. A few
people scattered over a large area means a sparse population density.
- Students form a closely
spaced group in one corner of the classroom. Explain the term cluster and
have the students compare a cluster to being scattered around the class in
their regular seats. Cluster pattern means a closely spaced grouping while
scattered pattern means spread out.
- Students line up, shoulder to
shoulder along the width of the room and again down its length. Multiply
the two numbers to determine how many people their size room could hold.
The teacher explains the term density and then students provide other
examples.
- Based on their calculations,
students decide if the calculated number of people that their classroom
could hold would be a dense or sparse population if they were spread out
in the gymnasium or on the playground.
- Students determine if this
would be different if that calculated number of people were lined up along
the hallway. Use this to define the term linear and have the students
provide other examples of a linear pattern. Linear pattern means following
a line.
- Students suggest some
positive and negative effects of living in areas of high and low
population density, living in clusters, living in linear settlements, and
of living spread out in scattered homes. Use The
"Think, Pair, Share" Strategy, Appendix 1.2.
- As a class, students create a
co-operative note (Co-operative Note, Appendix 1.3) using T–Organizers,
Appendix 1.4, to separate the positive and negative effects of these
different lifestyles. Note: For some students it would be useful to talk
in terms of high-rise apartments, row housing or town homes, and single
detached homes. For others it might help to talk of living in a village or
town, living along a main road, or living on scattered farms.
- Model for the class how to
divide the population by the area to find out the population density in
people/ per square miles (people/m2). The United
States’ population in 1998 is 270.2
million people and its total land area is 5.8 million m2. The United
States’ population density is 46.6 people/m2.
- Prepare a list of country
names on small pieces of paper selected from the list in Population Characteristics
- Selected Countries and Selected Data, Appendix 1.1. Have students select
one country at random. Provide each student with a scrapbook or have them
make one. Using the same method as in #8 above, each student calculates
the population density for the country they chose for their scrapbook.
Working with a partner they compare the population density for their
country with the population density of their partner’s country. Based on
this comparison, students decide whether their country has a dense or
sparse population, and explain their choice.
- Each student writes a short
note to clarify the concepts of population pattern and density using the
terms high, low, clustered, scattered, and linear in an appropriate way.
Modifications/Expanded
Opportunities
- As a related math activity,
calculate the maximum number of pupils/km2 for the class, gym and
playground using the same strategy as for the classroom.
- Students formulate or predict
the meaning of the term population density then compare results or read
reference material to confirm or revise their definition.
- For students having
difficulty visualizing population patterns, show slides, textbook
pictures, or magazine advertisements to illustrate a variety of population
distributions and densities around the world. For example, a Hong
Kong street scene as well as a North American
apartment complex might show a dense population. A picture of Central
Australia might show a sparse population density. Use a
Jeopardy-type game to have the students identify and classify these
visuals by formulating appropriate questions (Jeopardy Game, Appendix
1.5).
Resources
- access to gymnasium and
playground
- an atlas and textbooks
- various visuals depicting
settlements from around the world