Human Geography - Population for Kids and Teachers Illustration

Human Geography - Population

For Kids: Human-geography is just what it sounds like - it's the study of humans and the geography around them - in the past, in the present, and in the future. Human-geography looks at where people live, how many people are in a place or a region, or how many people are in the world.  It also looks at the consequences of living in a densely populated area and why some areas have low populations.

Population pyramids are graphs, a map of sorts, a visual way to look at the whole population of a particular place. These graphs can include age, jobs, gender and more. If a population is growing, it is important to know what that population needs. If the population is growing with people 65 and older, you might need more hospitals or health care facilities. If the population is shrinking among the working population, it is important to know why so you can attract the people and businesses you need to your area to keep your area flourishing. If the population is growing among school age children, city planners need to think about how to fund more schools and more teachers. If the general population is growing, you probably will need more of everything, from grocery stores to parks and recreation to power grids and waste systems to internet towers. Population pyramids help people recognize trends and find potential problems and recognize the need for solutions.

The world population and me!

The Meaning of Beep: Population Growth game

Population games from the US Census Bureau

The Human Population game - Review the Human Population - vocabulary section  prior to playing

Human Population Growth game - Rags to Riches

For Teachers

What is population and why does it matter? Lesson plan with several activities

Population worksheets - Where can we live? What affects where we live?

About population growth - printout, find words

World Population - An Interactive Experience

Survey and Statistics - Creating a Classroom Almanac, free

Free Presentations in PowerPoint format about Geography