Preview · the opening missionRead this to the class:
On 15 November 2022, the United Nations marked the day the world's population reached 8 billion people. In class, Leo said, "That's it, then. More people means more of everything gets used up." Amara said, "It's not that simple. It depends how much each person uses." They both have a point. Your team's job: use real data for six countries to find out what makes a country's total use big, and build an argument from the evidence.
Teams of three, with jobs that rotate after two cards: Reader (reads each card aloud), Calculator (does the multiplying) and Checker (checks every answer and fills in the ranks).
Look inside the PDF
Sample pages, stamped “preview”. The download is the clean, full lesson.
In the full lesson PDF
9 printable pages
- Predict (5–10 min)
- Hunt (20 min)
- Reveal (10–15 min)
- Act (10 min)
- Background for the teacher
- Assessment
- Student sheet
- Worksheet: Country cards
- Worksheet: Label it
- Worksheet: Try it at home
On the student sheet
- My prediction
- Country table
- My argument
- Exit ticket
- Country cards
- Label it
- Try it at home
US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white. The student sheet is on its own page, ready to photocopy.
Free with an account (any 3 lessons), or US$19 for all 4 lessons in this unit.
What students show by the end
- Calculates totals
- Per person vs total
- Argues from evidence
From the lesson’s rubric, which scores each one as not yet, getting there or got it.
Questions teachers ask
How long does “Do more people always use more resources?” take?
50–60 min. Group size: teams of 3.
How much prep does it need?
10 minutes. Print one set of country cards per team and cut it apart. Print the student sheet for everyone. Calculators help but are not needed.
What materials do I need?
None. No materials needed: just the printed sheets.
Which curriculum standards does it cover?
NGSS (US): MS-ESS3-4 (partly). It also matches England National Curriculum, Key Stage 3 and Cambridge Primary Science and Lower Secondary Science (not endorsed by Cambridge).
What’s in the lesson PDF?
A teacher guide that walks you through predict, hunt, reveal, act, background for the teacher and assessment, then a student sheet (“My prediction”, “Country table”, “My argument”, “Exit ticket”, “Country cards”, “Label it” and “Try it at home”) on its own page, ready to photocopy. It’s US Letter and prints cleanly in black and white.
Can I try it for free?
Yes. A free account includes any 3 full lessons of your choice, and this can be one of them. After that, this unit is US$19 for all 4 lessons, yours to keep, or every lesson is US$199 a year.