This lesson asks students to consider what it's like to be in heavily and sparsely populated places. Students will experience population density firsthand in a class simulation. They will then map their town or school to show the most and least populous areas.

Geography

Standard 9: "The characteristics, distribution, and migration of human populations on Earth's surface"

Three hours

• Drawing materials
• Glue
• Small pieces of dry pasta or other materials to glue onto the maps

Students will

• discuss their experiences in crowded places;
• go through a simulation to show what it's like to be in crowded and uncrowded places;
• map their town or school;
• glue pasta or other materials onto the map to show the most and least crowded areas; and
• draw pictures of themselves in crowded and uncrowded places on their maps.

Ask students if they have ever been to a place that's very crowded. What was it like? Did they enjoy being surrounded by so many people, or did they feel uncomfortable? Ask them to describe some of their favorite places and to state whether they think these places are crowded.

Explain to the class that some parts of the country and the world are more crowded than others. For various reasons (including access to water, food, and jobs) people tend to live in large numbers in some places and in small numbers in other places. Can they think of examples from their own lives (e.g., a city that's been built near a river with plenty of drinking water and access to transportation)?

Conduct a brief simulation to demonstrate what it's like to be in a very crowded place. Direct the majority of the class into a small area of the classroom, and allow a few (three or four) to "claim" the rest of the classroom to themselves.

Once students have taken their places, ask them to be as quiet as possible, and discuss their observations on their current situation. What do they notice? How do the students in the crowded area feel? How do the other students feel?

The crowded students might notice that they have to share space, that they bump against each other, or even that they feel more likely to get into a fight. The kids in the "open space" have more room to move but might feel a little left out or lonely.

Have students return to their regular places in the classroom, and ask them to describe what they think it would it be like to live in a place that's very crowded. Can they think of some advantages and disadvantages of living in a heavily populated place?

Draw a map of your town on the board, using suggestions from students about to what should be included and where things should be placed. Make sure the items on the map are places students are familiar with, such as downtown, the mall, or the park. (As an alternative, particularly if you teach in a large city, you might want to draw a map of the school instead of the town.)

Have students copy the map onto their own papers.

Give students pieces of pasta and glue (or use materials other than pasta). Ask them to help you decide which parts of the town or school have the most people or are the most crowded. Have them glue multiple pieces of pasta onto the part of the map that represents the most crowded parts of the town. Have them glue just a few pieces of pasta onto places where there are only a few people, and no pasta onto places where no people tend to go. You can demonstrate where they should glue their pasta by drawing pieces of pasta on the map on the board.

Tell students that they have just created a population map of their town or school, showing the places that have the largest and smallest numbers of people. Review the maps as a class: which parts of the town or school are the most and least crowded?

Have students draw pictures of themselves in crowded and uncrowded parts of their town or school. The pictures should illustrate activities they would do in both areas.

Discuss the students' pictures. What do they think would be good and bad about being in each of the places they've drawn?

Repeat this activity using a map of the United States. Give each student or pair of students a blank outline map of the United States. Make sure there's a large U.S. map at the front of the room that all students can see.

Give students glue and pieces of pasta or other materials. On the wall map, place removable pieces of tape on the most highly populated places in the United States, such as the East Coast, California, and the major cities in the middle of the country (e.g., Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas). Ask students to glue pieces of pasta to these parts of the map, following your example on the wall map.

National Geographic: Xpeditions Activity—Population Pasta
U.S. Census Bureau
U.S. Census Bureau's Kids' Corner