Introduction: People! How many people inhabit the Earth? Why do people live where they do? What makes people move from one place to another? What do people bring with them to their new homeland? What kinds of migration patterns have we seen through time? Join us and other students and teachers from the nation, Canada, and Puerto Rico in the celebration of Geography Awareness Week. Students will develop a broader and deeper understanding of the dynamics of Earth's population - its composition, distribution, and movement.

Focus Question:
What is population?

Suggested Activities:

1. People, Places and Patterns: Geography Puts the Pieces Together - What does the theme mean to your students? How is population related to the theme? Concept map ideas gathered from classroom discussions. Use the theme poster from the Teacher Packet as a springboard for discussion. See "Introduction" of Teacher's Handbook for background information and other suggestions. To see an up-to-the-minute world population tally, check the website: www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html
2. Introduce the postcard contest to your students. See the attached postcard contest rules
3. Suggested lessons from the Teacher's Handbook: How Big Is A Million?
   (Read: How Much Is A Million by David Schwartz)
   • What On Earth is Habitable?
   • More and More People
   • What Sense is A Census?
   Lesson: Fact or Fiction - How Big is a Million
   Lesson: Finding a Million
   
4. Create a GeoMystery with your students. Include clues that address the theme. The lesson plan is posted online: www.hawaii.edu/hga
5. Note: Additional background information on the theme is available. Lecture notes from Dr. Michal LeVasseur, geographer at the Summer Geography Workshop in Washington DC, July 1998.

Focus Question:
What shape is your population in?

Suggested Activities:

1. Collect population data for the state, counties, or your community. Create a population pyramid and compare their findings with classrooms from other communities. What shape is your population in? To find demographic data, check the University of Missouri-St. Louis Urban Information Center and click on: "Basic Demographic Data: United States" www.oseda.missouri.edu/uic/index.html OR check out Hawaii's population data at the State of Hawaii Dept. of Business, Economic Development & Tourism website.
2. Suggested lessons from the Teacher's Handbook:
   • What "Shape" Is Your Population In?
3. Introduce the GAW theme song written by Ben Uyetake and transcribed by Kristi Lee Higuchi. Have students learn songs from other parts of the world. Tape and music available from HGA.
4. Use the GAW CD(look at the FAQ about the CD)..........learn about GIS.(follow the link to ArcVoyager)

Focus Question:
Why do people live where they live?

Suggested Activities:

1. T-Shirt Day: T-Shirts can tell us stories. Have your students wear a T-Shirt that can tell us about people and places. (Check HGA Website for GAW '97 T-shirt lesson.)
2. Share different kinds of literature books with your students. Possible topics may include children's stories from around the world, the migration of people, cultural practices from around the world, resources, *different agricultural practices, foods, etc.
   What connections can be made between people, languages, celebrations and the use of resources? See the HGA website for suggested literature bibliography.
3. Suggested lessons from the Teacher's Handbook:
   • Where There's Light, There Are People
   • Making Connections Between Maps
   • Quantile Mapping
   Lesson: Exploring Relationships - Quantile Mapping
   
4. See suggested bibliography for children's literature online.
5. Resources: If available, show World Populations video (Info online at www.zpg.org)
6. *National Geographic Society magazine, Dec. 1995, pgs. 60-89; A Farming Revolution
7. Lessons

Focus Question:
How do people adjust/assimilate to their new home?

Suggested Activities

1. Guest Speaker: Bring the world to your classroom! Invite a guest to share his/her experiences living in another part of the world. Why did he/she move from place to place? What did he/she learn from another culture? What role did Geography play in the guest speaker's life?
2. Where did your ancestors originate from? Using a world map, have the students place stickers where their ancestors originated from and where they migrated to. What patterns emerge? Discuss why their ancestors migrated to their new homeland.
   Resource: "Immigration to the United States: Journey to an Uncertain Destination." Population Reference Bureau, Inc. Vol. 49 (1994) No. 2. www.prb.org
3. Suggested Lessons from the Teacher's Handbook:
   • Where You Really Want to Live
   • Moving Experiences

Focus Question:
What do people take with them to the "new homelands"?

Suggested Activities:

1. School Activitiy Day: For example, celebrate the world's cultural diversity through a Food Festival. Share foods from other parts of the world. Discuss what foods people take with them to the new country.
2. Suggested Lessons:
   • Foods From Around the World: Use lessons from the back of the Motts and Nabisco poster.
     
3. Staff of Life: Wheat, rice, corn and soybeans...
   
   • Where would we be without these foods?
   • How do people around the world use these food items?
   • Where are these staples grown?
   • How are they prepared?
   • What other products are made from these staples?
   Collect product labels which contain any of these staples as an ingredient. Place these labels on a world map based upon their site of manufacturing origin. Discuss the patterns that emerge.
4. Lessons
5. Links to information on various staples.
   Soybean
   • Photographs of soybeans, rice, and sugar cane in Louisiana.
     http://www.m-prints.com/index.html
   • Site gives some background information on soybeans.
     http://www.agron.iastate.edu/soybean/history.html
   • Pammark Farms in Marysville, Ohio. It is a commercial site. However, topics may be of interest. They are: History of Soybean, Products From the Soybean, Processing the Soybean, and Oil and Meal Analysis.
     http://www.netexp.net/~pammark/index.htm
   • Site from Ohio Soybean Council includes topics on soybeans. Or, go directly to the Soy Kids:
     http://www.soyohio.org/soykids/soykid-f.htm
   • Site for kids, called Soy Kids. Topics include soybeans are in that? Soy Healthy, How does your soybean grow, Soyence (asks students if they want to create an experiment using soy beans), Kid's recipies.
     http://www.soyohio.org/soykids/soykid-f.htm
   Pasta
   • http://www.ilovepasta.org
   Wheat
   • Wheat Facts - Includes Six Basic Classes of Wheat, U.S. Wheat Growing Regions, Usual Start of Planting & Harvesting, Top Wheat Producing States 1994-96, Top Wheat Producing Nations, Wheat Nutrition, Trade, etc.
     http://www.smallgrains.org/whfacts.htm
   Corn
   • Describes Frequently Asked Questions about corn.
     http://www.ncga.com/04faqtor/page041.html
   • Includes Corn's Roots are Planted in History, Finding Corn in Your Supermarket, and Corn Word Scramble.
     http://www.ncga.com/10korn/page10.html
   Rice
   • Describes the History of Rice, Types and Forms of Rice, Processing and By Products, Milling, Nutrition, How to Prepare, and Cultivation.
     http://www.usarice.com/rice.htm
   Potatoes
   • Cool Stuff About Potatoes includes Facts About Potatoes, History of Potatoes, Types of Potatoes, How Potatoes are Grown and Harvested, How Potatoes are Packaged, Stored and Transported, Where Potatoes Grow, When Potatoes are Available, How to Select Potatoes, Why Potatoes are Good For Us - Nutrition News, Fun and Easy Ways to Eat Your "5 a Day", and Potato Crossword Fun.
     http://www.dole5aday.com/cool_stuff/potato/potato_menu.html
   Sustainable Agriculture
   • Site includes several articles on what is sustainable agriculture. Other articles of interest include Existing Agricultural Policies Affecting Sustainable Agriculture, and History of Sustainable Agriculture.
     http://www.eap.mcgill.ca/Indices/Alternative_Agril/AASA.htm
   • The site also links to tips for easy home pest control, organic gardening, etc. It includes topics like: aphids, beneficial insects, earthworms, mulching, organic garden, pest contros in gardens, weed control, weed management.
     http://www.eapmcgill.ca/General/FAQ.htm