Name:
Block:
Date:
Human Population Webquest
Directions: Visit the website www.worldof7billion.org, and use the information on the homepage to
answer the following questions.
1. When did the world surpass 7 billion people?
2. What is the current world population? You may pick one value that you see, since it changes
quickly.
3. Use the changing number and a timer or watch. How many people are born in the world per
minute, approximately? At this rate, how many are born per hour? Per day?
People born in the world per minute:
____________________
People born in the world per hour:
____________________
People born in the world per day:
____________________
4. What is the current US population? You may pick one value that you see, since it changes quickly.
5. Use the changing number and a timer or watch. How many people are born in the US per minute,
approximately? At this rate, how many are born per hour? Per day?
People born in the US per minute: ____________________
People born in the US per hour:
____________________
People born in the US per day:
____________________
6. Scroll to the middle of the homepage, where it gives the current human population per region. Fill
in the table below with the information from provided on the site.
Region
North America
Europe
Asia
Oceania
Latin America
Africa
Current population
Percent of world population
7. In the space below, graph the population trends of each region over time. Each region should be
plotted in the same graph. Be sure to distinguish the lines in some way (use color or different
types of lines) and have a key. Don’t forget to include a title and axes titles in addition to your
key! You should have 6 different lines on your graph, one for each region. Use a ruler or
straightedge to make the graph neat and accurate!
The next set of questions involves the wall chart provided by the website. The wall chart can be found at
http://www.worldof7billion.org/teacher-resources/wall-chart/. Rolling over the picture will magnify
the image so that it is easier to read.
8. Find the years in which the population increased by 1 billion people. Fill these values into the
chart below. To the right, graph the population trend. Again, be sure to include a title and axes
titles! Also, be sure that your years on the x-axis are evenly spaced out. Use a ruler or straightedge
to make the graph neat and accurate.
Population Increase
Year
1 billion
2 billion
3 billion
4 billion
5 billion
6 billion
7 billion
9. What type of growth is displayed in your graph above?
10. What is eventually expected to happen to the human population?
11. Look at the front side of the wall chart. In the table below, fill in 10 different events between 1798
and today that impacted the human population along with details about each one. Follow the
example given, but do not repeat the example.
Event
Ex. First refrigerator
Year
1917
How did it affect the human population?
Allowed food to be kept cold for longer.
Reduced food-borne illness, increasing life span
and decreasing death rate.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
12. The blurb at the top of the chart references Thomas Malthus, a famous demographer who studied
human populations over 200 years ago. What was the population when he published his writings?
13. Research Malthus’s predictions about populations (specifically the human population) and
summarize below.
The bottom part of the page shows the back of the wall chart. Use the information provided in the chart to
answer the following questions.
14. What is the projected population in 2100, depending on the fertility rate?
High fertility variant:
____________________
Medium fertility variant:
____________________
Low fertility variant:
____________________
15. Find the section titled “State of the Global Family: Then and Now”. Look at the chart comparing
1960 to 2011.
a. What was the average life expectancy in 1960? In 2011?
b. What do you notice about the total fertility rate between 1960 and 2011?
c. How many more metric tons of CO2 were emitted in 2011 than in 1960?
d. What percent of the population faced a chronic water shortage in 2011?
e. What was the ecological footprint in 1960? In 2011?
f. How many people had access to the Internet in 2011?
g. How many people had a mobile phone subscription in 2011?
16. During what year were there the most undernourished people in the world? How many were
there (in millions)?
17. What types of countries have the highest energy usage? What types of countries have the lowest?
18. How much of the Earth’s surface is used by livestock?
19. How much has the world consumption of paper grown over the past 40 years? How many trees
are used in paper industries each year?
20. What is an ocean “dead zone”? What causes them?
21. What percentage of the coral reefs is threatened?
22. What percentage of the coral reefs was live in 2000? How does that compare to the percentage in
1970?
23. How do the fertility rates and mean years of education compare around the world?
24. What are Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and what is included within these goals?
25. What do you think is the most dangerous factor in the growing population trend (e.g. resource use,
ocean dead zones, deforestation, etc.)? Why?