What does it mean for something to grow exponentially, and how does that compare to linear growth? This activity tries to help learners gain an understanding of these concepts while modeling real-world problems. Linear and exponential...

Build up from the previous activity where your learners charted the population growth and decay of a fish pond with M&Ms®. Have them look at the data from that activity and create a Now-Next, or recursive equations, to predict the...

Using technology, pupils find an exponential function to model the population growth of the US. With more information, learners derive the population growth formula for the world. Ultimately, they determine the amount of protein needed...

Working in groups, learners research four countries' populations over the past 30 years. Using the data collected, the teams find regression equations that best fit the data. Taking the regression equations, they then make predictions...

Students observe Americans through the eyes of the world.  In this human population lesson, students utilize the Internet to view the World Pop Clock and follow the world's population by the minute.  Students predict what the...

Upper elementary and middles schoolers discuss and solve real world applications of math. They use formulas for volume and percents to answer real world questions. In the second part of the lesson, groups write and solve word problems....

It's a small world after all. Classmates consider world population, languages, and religions in a cross-curricular lesson. Applying percentages and proportions, they determine what the class make-up would be if the class represented the...

In the deserts of Arizona and New Mexico, some tiny creatures show just how quickly natural selection can turn a mutation into an advantageous adaptation. Watch a video about rock pocket mice, who show that one small change can make all...

Students make estimates on how many people they believe live on Earth. While watching a video, they take notes on the issues facing Kenya, Japan and India. In groups, they calculate how long it takes for a country to double in size. To...

High schoolers engage in a lesson that is about the concept of measuring the statistical data of a population taken from a census. The data is interpreted and recorded looking for trends in subjects like world economy and job opportunities.

Students explore the various uses of the logistic function. Students use the internet to collect world population data and find a logistic model for their data and use their chosen model to predict future populations.

In this population worksheet, students explore the population of the world.  They determine the square miles that would be covered if the total population were standing in one spot.  This one-page worksheet contains 1...

Free yourself from the shackles of traditional math lessons. Young mathematicians investigate race, gender, and age differences in California's prison system. They use provided graphics to compare the prison population with the state's...

Students explore how the population decreased in native cultures.

Skeeters are used to model linear and exponential population growth in a wonderfully organized lesson plan including teachers' and students' notes, an assignment, graphs, tables, and equations. Filled with constant deep-reaching...

Your young microbiologists will interpret and solve exponential equations in this real-world context task set in a hospital research scenario. Learners think in terms of the functions as well as their rates of change. 

In this real-world problem about the rapid growth of rabbit populations, students must analyze two different scenarios and create mathematical models to represent them. They use their exponential models to answer questions about the...

Grow—not decay—your knowledge of exponential functions. Young mathematicians graph exponential functions and explore how transformations affect the graphs. They decide whether the functions represent growth or decay in the context of...

Students examine population density in Jewish ghettos. In this Holocaust lesson, students calculate population density of cities around the world using the provided information. Students then discuss the implications of high...

Not too much, not too little, but just right in the middle. Using researched census population data, young statisticians plot population data over time. They develop an idea of midpoints to estimate populations for years that census data...

Context makes everything better! Groups use real data to create models and make predictions. Classmates compare an exponential model to a linear model, then consider the real-life implications. 

Seventh graders participate in several learning/research stations in which they view artwork from various countries of the Eastern world and collect information on the populations of the Eastern countries. They then use this information...

Young scholars create a population pyramid based on current data for their final project country. They analyze data from comprehension trends of final project country. Students analyze populations of specific countries.

Learners examine the impact of the aging population. In this demographic lesson, students evaluate, analyze, and make predictions about the aging world around them.