James Madison University – College of Education

Social Studies Lesson Plan Format

MSSE 442/542H

Name: Matthew, Colson, Hayle, Anna Date: 1/29/2024

Subject/Class: World History/ Life Sciences, Statistics Grade Level: 7th
Topic: Environment and Population at the Turn of the Century

Unit Essential/Compelling Question:

EQ: How is the human population affected by the environment and technology, and how do they influence one
another?

Other Supporting Question(s):

Q1: How do human development and changes at the

Q2: How do living and nonliving components impact a population?
Q3: Is there a correlation between the human population and climate change?

SOLs addressed (number & letter):

History Standard:
USII.6 The student will apply social science skills to understand the social, economic, and
technological changes of the early twentieth century by
a) explaining how developments in factory and labor productivity, transportation (including the
use of the automobile), communication, and rural electrification changed American life and standard of living;
b) describing the social and economic changes that took place, including prohibition and the
Great Migration north and west
Math Standard:
8.11 The student will
a) compare and contrast the probability of independent and dependent events; and
b) determine probabilities for independent and dependent events.
Science Standard:
LS.8 The student will investigate and understand that ecosystems, communities, populations, and
organisms are dynamic and change over time. Key ideas include
a) organisms respond to daily, seasonal, and long-term changes;
b) changes in the environment may increase or decrease population size; and
c) large-scale changes such as eutrophication, climate changes, and catastrophic disturbances
affect ecosystems.

Social Justice Standard:

10. Students will examine diversity in social, cultural, political, and historical contexts rather than in ways that
are superficial or oversimplified.

Learning Goals & Assessment Chart: [Use U,V, D; Label and number them.]
Learning Goals: Assessment: How will you know they know?

SWBAT Understand that … Create a formative performance task to monitor/evaluate

U1: Population influences American life and
standards of living (USII.6)
U2: Technology advances population (USII.6)
U3: Living things have a range of conditions that
are optimal for survival (LS.8)
U4: Changes in the living and nonliving
components of an ecosystem can accelerate or
decelerate natural processes (LS.8)
U5: Real life data can be presented graphically
(M 8.11)
student learning for each U goal. Link assessment(s) here.
● History: Think-Pair-Share during interactive
lecture, closing discussion,
● Science: They will give examples of animals that
have been domesticated for human use.
● Math: Students will read and interpret data from
the world population graph and United States
population data and will make assumptions from
the data.

Students will know that…
K1: Migration patterns.
K2: Relevant technology (communication,
electricity, transportation, production, etc.)
K3: predicting the effect of changes to living
and/or nonliving factors on the size and
distribution of populations in an ecosystem
K4: how to analyze data and graphs
K5: Dependent variable is impacted by the
independent variable
K6: The x-axis represents the independent
variable and the y-axis represents the
independent variable
K7: Population is the dependent variable
Reflect on how you will measure success for this goal.
● History: Interactive lecture discussions, U.S. data
plotting on population map
● Science: They will have to guess the common fruit
or vegetable with the image before they were
domesticated.
● Math: Students will plot points on a coordinate
plane during the graphing activity and will be
asked to make connections between population,
time, and historical events taking place.

SWBAT Do . . . Create a formative performance task to monitor/evaluate

D1: Relate relevant technology to
advancement in population.
D2: construct a scientific explanation based on
evidence to explain the population changes
D3: compare the factors that increase or
decrease population size
D4: Represent data on a coordinate plane
D5: identify independent and dependent
variables
D6: predict trends based on the data
student learning for each D goal. Link assessment(s) here
● History: Exit Ticket about technology and its effect
on the population,
● Science: Exit Ticket about what they think
domestication will look like in 40 years
● Math: Graphing Activity where students read data
and plot it.

Language Objectives:
SWBAT… Write out how this lesson will promote students' language development through the four language
skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Each skill must be present in the lesson. In your Instructional
Plan (below), identify where/when each language skill will be utilized. See links for ideas here and here.
● Writing: Students will be asked to complete a worksheet where they fill in data points on a blank graph
of U.S. population growth.
● Reading: Students are reading and interpreting graphs and data
● Listening: Students will watch a YouTube video on world population growth, as well as an interactive
lecture on historical advances in technology and their relationship to the environment.
 ● Speak: Students will share their findings in their small groups and as a whole class during discussions.

Key Vocabulary terms: Analyze your content and sources to identify key terms to highlight before
(pre-teach), during (intentionally reference), and at the end of the lesson (include in assessment and/or exit
activities).
Math
- Independent variable, Dependent variable, Coordinate Plane, Prediction
Science
- Domestication
History:
- Automobile, overpopulation, Industrial Revolution, Great Migration, Prohibition, Assembly Line,
Factory labor, Urbanization, Industry, Electrification, rural,

Brief Content Overview: One paragraph (4-6 sentences) that explains the content you will discuss in this
lesson.
This lesson explores the relationship between the environment and human population growth at the turn of
the 20th century, with additional information on world population events (WWI, invention of the car, etc.)
during the 19th and 20th centuries. Students will also examine culturally relevant events such as the Great
Migration, rural electrification, and advances in medicine. Students will examine charts that show population
growth in the world and the United States, plot data points, and make inferences about the information
presented. Students will apply these mathematical concepts to the historical information. Scientific
information on the domestication of plants and animals will demonstrate the relationship between advances in
agriculture and science to population growth and technological innovation.

Instructional Plan: This is the heart of your lesson. It includes step-by-step instructions with time increments
and serves as a “script” of what you will teach. Within the plan, include the following requirements:
● Intentionally planned “making connections” activities: various ways to connect include to
previous learning, to other subjects, to local/national/world issues, and affective studies.
● Language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing
● Formative Assessment
● Physical movement opportunities
● Plan and write out your transitions.
● Differentiation* (include in lesson when needed, see below for explanation)
● Technology**: (include in lesson when needed, see below for explanation)

+Lesson Components What the Teacher Will Do

& Time Frames

Staging the Students will be given an unlabeled graph with an exponential curve that shows the
Question/Hook population growth of the world from 1700 to the present. The graph (in Google
10 minutes Slides) will have a word bank that has events throughout the last 400 years
(Industrial Revolution, WWII, etc.). Students will first work individually to fill out
their graphs, then they will compare answers with their small groups and make note
of any notable shifts in population. Each small group will share any notable
changes/predictions.
World Population Video Students will compare their answers on the chart to the historical events in the World
10 minutes Population video. After the video, students will discuss any surprises/questions they
thought of.

Interactive Lecture History teachers will present a small PowerPoint (attached) going over major
20 minutes historical events in both the United States and the world. These will be connected to
population change and growth, as we have social, economic, and political situations
in the United States.

Science Nature around us has been changed to accommodate humans as their population
20 minutes keeps growing. Fruits and vegetables are examples of what has changed to help
increase resources. Students will watch a video on how the domestication of plants
and animals changed and advanced over time. Students will learn about
domestication and how it was used. Then will identify some fruits based on their
before domestication appearance. Then they will give examples of other things that
have been domesticated (like farm animals).

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1gaekCkDvoFD9XWT3cyRG7kpd3-rroBOA
/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=112088042540649214345&rtpof=true&sd=true

Graphing Students will take US population data starting from 1900 and plot it on a coordinate
20 minutes plane. Students will also be given a list of historical events happening in the US at
that time, and they should plot these historical events on the coordinate plane.

Closing Discussion The teacher will prompt a discussion on how the historical content discussed in the
5 minutes lesson interacts with present-day issues. This will include themes such as the Great
Migration, “Ghettos”, medical advances, automobile ownership, electricity access,
farming and slavery, overpopulation, etc. This will be a serious conversation
between the links between each discipline and our present climate.

Closure - Exit Ticket Students will be given an Exit Ticket and will be asked to fill it out individually.
5 minutes

Total: 90 Minutes

+Examples of lesson components include group work, primary source analysis, class discussion, direct instruction, games, video
resource, formative assessment as well as many others. Include links to all teacher materials developed for this lesson.
*Adaption/Differentiation: Please briefly include within your instructional plan how you would modify various parts of the lesson to
meet needs of ELs/struggling readers, ADHD students, and gifted students.
**Please also include technology applications needed for each activity. For example, if using a website, include a link to the site.
Materials Needed for the Lesson:
● World Population Graph
● Math Graphing Activity
● United States Population Data
● Vocabulary List
● World Population Video
● Powerpoint
● Exit Ticket
● Graphic Organizer - Accommodation
Culturally Responsive Teaching: Write a paragraph to discuss how the lesson will be geared towards this
framework. Essentially, show a common thread between the standards and the content that you are teaching
that highlights strategies useful in providing intellectual as well as cultural safety for all students.

This lesson touches on the Great Migration of the Black community from the South to the North and Midwest
during the turn of the century. This deals with the effects of the failure of Reconstruction and its impact
leading to this migration. After this migration, the development of tenement houses and “ghettos” emerged
and created lasting effects on the urban landscape. Finally, the lesson will discuss the effects of widespread
electricity and automobile ownership leading to the beginning of White Flight and technological inequalities.
This lesson also captures medical advances that led to the population boom and its problematic origins with
relation to white eugenics.

Post-Lesson Reflection: What went well and what will you modify when you teach this lesson again?
N/A

Accommodations Student Characteristic(s)

Adding manipulatives to help with graphing activity CLD, Autism, Fine Motor Skills*

Doing graphing activity on a whiteboard in small groups or CLD, Autism, EBD,

with a co-teacher ADD/ADHD, Reading/Learning

Adding a vocabulary word wall to showcase important words CLD, Reading/Learning, Autism,
for all subjects ADD/ADHD

Providing a graphic organizer that showcases important CLD, Autism, EBD,

historical events ADD/ADHD, Reading/Learning

Posting a schedule of the daily tasks CLD, Autism, EBD,

ADD/ADHD