Materials

• Atlas depicting population trends from early civilizations
• Class notes

Instructional Activities

1. Ask students to suggest factors they would want to consider when selecting a place to live and to give reasons why these factors matter. Ask them to list places they would not want to live and why. Encourage them to think internationally. Record their responses.
   
   
2. Provide an atlas that reflects the population trends from early civilizations. Instruct students to identify 10 observations about population distribution over time. Encourage them to think, when making their observations, about the reasons people changed their locations. For example, if they indicate that people began to move to certain locations, tell them to identify possible reasons for this movement. Prompt them with historical information.
   
   
3. Explain that population distribution is described by location and density. Ensure that all students understand the term population density. If desired, illustrate population density by directing half the students in the class to move to one corner of the room. Place a few students in another corner, a few more in another corner, and one or two in the fourth corner.
   
   
4. Explain that people move to different locations for different reasons. Review hunter-gatherer societies, explaining that the population began to spread as people searched for food and water. Groups split up as food becomes scarce. Illustrate on a map the patterns of early settlement. Encourage students to identify common elements in the settlement patterns. For example, a source of water may be a key factor in the pattern.
   
   
5. Display the following factors that influence population distribution, and discuss each with the students:
   • Natural resources (oil, arable land, water)
   • Climate (hot/cold; wet/dry)
   • Economic development
   • Government policy
   • Urban/rural settlement
   • Capital resources (transportation, technology)
   • Conflicts (refugees)
   • Provide photographs, slides, or maps to illustrate each of the above factors.
   
   
6. Ask students to write a sentence about each of these factors, explaining how it would influence population distribution.
   
   
7. Assign a teacher-selected reading, worksheet, or other reinforcement activity, using available teacher resources.