How Many?

We have begun our study of world population growth. Students were shocked to learn there are 6.7 billion people on Earth. Check out this population clock to see how fast the world is growing...http://opr.princeton.edu/popclock/ .

We will be using the thinking skills of cause and effect to study population growth. Also, we will interpret demographic data and population pyramids. A simulation on world population growth went well and made clear to the students the concept behind the term "population explosion".

This week we will watch a video entitiled "The Population Paradox" that shows some of our population trends in action. Go to the link and check out some of the other resources on world population growth.

Welcome to the 8th grade social studies blog!

This will be a tool I use throughout the year to communicate with students and parents. Weekly, I will update the blog with a new entry about what we are studying, resources that might be helpful or a website that relates to what we are doing. I will also try to introduce some Web 2.0 tools and help students and parents become more comfortable with technology and what it can do for us.


Don't let 21st Century Technology lingo scare you off!

Blog, Wiki, RSS, oh my! While they may seem intimidating if you've never heard of them, Web 2.0 tools can actually make life easier and more interesting. Commoncraft is a company who makes videos "in plain English". You may have seen some similar on commercials or in an email forward. If Web 2.0 is new to you, I suggest you go to the Commoncraft Videos link below and search for their videos on Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, wikis, RSS feeds, social networking, podcasting and anything else you want to know about! 

Commoncraft Videos