Geography and Graphing

Understanding Statistics on Arable Land and Population in Africa

(Images of graphs from: www.echonet.org, library.thinkquest.org, www.transkor.com)

A 7th Grade Social Studies Web Assignment

Arable Land in Lesotho, Africa
(Photo by Tjeerd Wiersma from the Lesotho Picture Gallery at Go2Africa.com)

Your Assignment

Step 1:
Using the CIA World Factbook website fill in columns 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9 on your
data chart.

Step 2:
Using the GeoHive website fill in columns 4, 5, on your data chart.

Step 3:
Using a calculator fill in column 10 on your graphic organizer

Step 4:
Using the graphing directions for:
Line Graph
Bar Graph
Pie Chart


Create Excel spreadsheets and graphs for each set of data

Step 5:
Answer the questions attached to your data chart.

Step 6:
Be prepared to talk about your data, graphs and questions in class.

 

Did you know?

Did you know that every second the population of our planet increases by 3 people?

Did you know that arable land, or land that can be used to grow food, is decreasing by one hectare (2.47 acres) every 7.67 seconds?

Watch as the numbers add up

Did you know that Africa is the continent with the highest population growth rate?
The population is growing twice as fast as any other continent.

Did you know that the Sahara Desert is increasing in size at a rate of 1,000,000 acres per YEAR!

How does increasing population and decreasing productive land affect the world we live in?

• Who does this affect most?

• What happens to countries where food is scarce?

• How does that affect us?

• Why is it important to our future?

Non-Arable Land in Africa

Created by: Nicki Callahan, Library Media Specialist
Jennifer Vilenski, Computer Resource Teacher
for 7th grade Social Studies

Roger Ludlowe Middle School, Fairfield, CT