Focus: If there are 20 square mile in Dallas, how many do you think there are in the Mesquite
Guided Practice:
- List the population and mileage statistics of various countries
United States: Population 271,648,000 Land 9,363,520
-Ask Students to find how many people there are per square mile and describe how they found this
- List several countries
Denmark: Population 5,248,000 Land 42,077
Ghana: Populaion 18,338,000 Land 238,533
- Ask students to find which country is most dense by estimating the four figures
->This can be found by reasoning that Ghana is aboutthree times more populated than Denmark and has about 6 times more land. This proves that Denmark is the more densely populated
->A diagram of circles in boxes could be very helpful for visual learners
Independent work:
Students can go to a computer lab if time permits and visit:
www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/infonation/e_infonation.htm
If this isn't possible students could work do group work on the denseness of countries
Walk around making sure students are on task and understanding the procedures
Closure:
Ask students why they think some countries are so crowded? Do you think this is a problem? What did you learn about Math today?