Current+Events+-+Karen+Drodge

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National Geographic is currently running a year-long series on global population growth in both its print and online publications. Both publication sources have a wealth of information that could be used in an English classroom, as well as in other subject areas (social science, geography, environmental students, etc.)=====

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There are many resources on the website and in the hardcopy magazine, but I have chosen a few to highlight here. A teacher could choose from one or more of these ideas, depending on the class, grade, level, subject and allotted time.=====

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The video, “Are You Typical?” represents a compilation of global data that was used to produce a composite image of the world’s most typical person – a 28 year old, right-handed, Han Chinese male. The video offers a wealth of interesting statistics and analyses that could provide students with hours of engagement.=====

**Lesson ideas:**

 * =====Brainstorming (before video): Who is the world’s most typical person? What criteria would we use to measure this? (Students could create their own profile individually or in pairs=====
 * =====Brainstorming (during video): Who’s next? The video claims that the world’s most ‘typical’ person will change by 2030. Who will be next? (someone from India)=====
 * =====Watch video: Students could then watch the video to find the answers:=====
 * =====Brainstorming (after video): Students could brainstorm individually or in pairs about who the most ‘typical’ person would be in the school? In the class? What criteria would they use? (gender, age, grade, height, right/left handedness, first language, and maybe more personal data if the survey was anonymous (race, nationality, birthplace, religion).=====
 * =====Class project: The class could choose to do an “Are You Typical?” project of their school (this would need to be approved by school administration). Students would need to create surveys (could be anonymous) for the school population, distribute and collect them, and then analyze the data to create a profile of the ‘typical’ school student. They could post their results somewhere in the school and/or could create a poster(s) around the school=====

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This listening is an interview with Robert Kunzik, Senior Editor for the Environment for National Geographic magazine, and other experts about rapid global population growth and the environmental impact on the planet.=====

**Lesson ideas:**

 * =====Journal: Students could write a journal entry in response to a particular comment from the video=====
 * =====Opinion writing: Students could write an opinion piece relating to the author’s opinions (agree/disagree with the points made)=====

**Lesson ideas:**

 * =====Poster: Students could choose one fact/issue/statistic and create a poster representing that issue (eg. In 1975, there were three global ‘megacities” (10 million +) and now there are 21.=====
 * =====Opinion Piece: Students could also use this video as a starting point for an opinion piece on one issue (they could research it)=====
 * =====Group project: Students could do a group research project on changes to the school population since the school opened, and create a medium with facts/stats (video, blog, poster) about changes in the school and their implications (this could also be done for Toronto, but it would require more time/resources/external contact)=====

**Lesson ideas:**

 * =====Journal: Write a journal entry on one of the website photos: eg. A scene on a busy street in India – How would your life be different if you lived there?=====
 * =====Story: Choose a person in one of the photos and create a fictional story about them/their life=====

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This text is similar to the NPR radio show and addresses issue related to the implications for rapid global population growth. The teacher could use the same lesson ideas as were used in the NPR radio show lesson ideas list.=====