Study Hub

Study Guides

This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.

Back to Study HubBrowse Year 5 Science Guides

Year 5 - Science

The impact of population growth ( non-statutory Climate Change & Sustainability)

Human development

Unit Summary

This unit describes the changes humans undergo from birth to old age. It involves planning scientific enquiries, measuring accurately, recording complex data, and presenting findings. Emphasis is on identifying evidence to support or refute ideas, drawing conclusions, and explaining results.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to describe the impact of a growing population on our planet and make predictions for the future.

Key Notes

  • Population growth is the increase in the number of humans on Earth over time.
  • The growing population has been driven largely by the increase in human life expectancy.
  • Plotting data into a line graph can help to make predictions of population growth for the future.
  • Population growth can lead to increased demand for food, loss of habitats and more production of greenhouse gases.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • population: The population of a place is all of the people living there.
  • life expectancy: Life expectancy is the measure of how long a person may live.
  • impact: The impact of something is the effect it has.
  • prediction: A prediction is a statement saying what you think will happen.
  • greenhouse gases: Gases which contribute towards global warming are called greenhouse gases.

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Pupils may think that population size is only affected by the number of people being born.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain the scientific idea in this lesson using two key points.

Population growth is the increase in the number of humans on Earth over time. The growing population has been driven largely by the increase in human life expectancy.

2. Define this scientific word and use it in context. 'population'

The population of a place is all of the people living there. Include the word in a full scientific explanation, not as a single label.

3. Correct this common scientific misunderstanding.

Mistake: Pupils may think that population size is only affected by the number of people being born. Correction: Use the lesson resources to explain that many factors have an impact on population size, with the main contributing factor currently being the increase in life expectancy.

More Lessons In This Unit

Browse all guides in the Year 5 Science guide library.