The World As Village: 100 People

This learning expedition is designed to get students thinking about global statistics concerning our world population.  In order to make sense of such big and hard-to-grasp numbers for over 7,500,000,000 people (the estimated world population) we imagine the world as one village with the population of 100.  Each of the 100 people represents 75 million people.    Themes include: gender, age, religion, literacy, education, access to internet and phones, access to clean water, levels of poverty, nutrition, housing standards, language, urban v. rural, etc…

From the “Geographical Imaginations” Radio Show/Podcast

Expedition Plan & Resources

100 People profiles.  The following resources will provide a classroom with the tools to create profiles for the 100 people:

1. 100 WORLD MAPS using the United Nations (UN) Statistical Regions. Labeled on the maps is the number of people living in each region.  Each of the 100 people is assigned a region accordingly.  Each of the 100 maps is given a number in the top right corner which corresponds to the statistical profile listed on the spreadsheet.
2. A SPREADSHEET with data from multiple online sources. The population data comes from Population Reference Bureau’s 2019 DATA SHEET and is quite official.  NOTE: There are a range of sources available.  There is plenty to discuss with students about how to rate and choose the “best” data.  In the end, this is part of the project.  The focus here is less on scientific accuracy and more on trying to better understand the living conditions of 7.5 billion people.  Remember, it is a generalization, but one we feel is worth exploring.
3. A TEMPLATE for you and your students to transfer the data from the spreadsheet in order to create the specific profile. Bear in mind, there are not 100 sheets, but there are 4 ready-to-use templates.  We simplified the process by creating templates based on the 4 WEALTH categories (1-4) as seen on the spreadsheet.  Look there and it will make sense.  You will need to make 1, 8, 23 and 68 copies of the four templates.  Each “template” corresponds to one of the 4 possible groupings.  Group 1=You are the 1 person who controls 50% of wealth. Group 2=You are 1 of 8 people who control 33% of wealth.  Group 3=You are 1 of 23 people who control 14% of wealth.  Group 4=You are 1 of 68 people who control 3% of wealth.

Note: The POVERTY groupings (1-3) from the spreadsheet correspond to: 1) < $1.90/day; 2) <$3.10 but >$1.90/day; and 3) >$3.10/day.

You are creating an 8.5×11 two-sided profile sheet (or card if you print smaller) that can be used for many different in-class activities.  It worked for us to print out the templates (#3 above), fill them in with the data found on the spreadsheet (#2 above) and then load the printer with them in order 1-100 so that we could print the other side with their corresponding maps.

In our discussions, we focused on what statistics can tell us about the world; how generalizations (in this case, by reducing the world to 100) affects how we know the world; how we can lose details with such generalizations; etc.

This project pairs well with Yves Arthus-Bertrand’s HUMAN.

See below for how a small school (100 students) used this for a school-wide event.