Population, Consumption, and Earth's Systems
Aligned to MS-ESS3-4 — Next Generation Science Standards.
What this lesson teaches
As the number of people grows and each person uses more resources, the combined demand on Earth's land, water, and air increases. The total impact depends both on how many people there are and on how much each one consumes, so evidence about both is needed to argue how humans are changing the planet.
Worked example
One family switching from a garden hose to a swimming pool barely affects a river, but if a whole growing city does the same, the extra water withdrawn can lower the river until fish downstream are stranded. The impact scales with population multiplied by per-person use.
Practice questions
- Estimate how much water your household uses in a day, then multiply it by the number of homes in your town.
- Give evidence for how rising population could strain one resource such as fresh water or farmland.
- Argue whether reducing per-person consumption or slowing population growth would help a stressed resource more, and why.
Watch the lesson
Every lesson comes with a video taught in English and Spanish — the same video the QR code in the printed workbook opens.
▶ Watch this lessonEn español
Población, consumo y los sistemas de la Tierra
Al crecer el número de personas y usar cada una más recursos, aumenta la demanda combinada sobre la tierra, el agua y el aire del planeta. El impacto total depende tanto de cuántas personas hay como de cuánto consume cada una, así que se necesita evidencia de ambos para argumentar cómo los humanos están cambiando el planeta.
Ejemplo: Una familia que pasa de una manguera a una alberca casi no afecta un río, pero si toda una ciudad en crecimiento hace lo mismo, el agua extra extraída puede bajar el río hasta dejar varados a los peces río abajo. El impacto crece según la población multiplicada por el uso por persona.
More Earth & Space Science lessons
Teach this lesson today
An AI tutor that guides with questions instead of just giving answers — all K–12 core subjects, every child in the family.
Start free — no card required