Hey there! I’m Doug, and I want to share something cool with you. I live in San Francisco, a city with lots of people. On weekends, the parks are full of people having fun. But did you know that a hundred years ago, there were way fewer people in the same park? It’s amazing how things change!
My friend Benjamin asked a great question: “How many people are in the whole world?” Well, there’s a special group of people who count everyone on Earth. They say there are almost eight billion people! That’s a super big number!
Let’s think about numbers. You’ve probably counted to 100 before, right? It takes a little time. But what if you tried to count to one million? That would take about a month! Now, imagine counting to eight billion. It would take over 200 years! That’s longer than anyone can live. Isn’t that wild?
So, how do we know there are eight billion people? Every few years, countries do something called a census. They try to count everyone living there. People even knock on doors to ask how many people live in each house. It’s a big job!
Every day, lots of babies are born. Just while you’re reading this, many babies have been born around the world. Some people worry there might be too many people one day. But smart scientists and engineers have found ways to grow more food and solve problems. Maybe you’ll help with this when you grow up!
Even though the world has lots of people, we still have enough food. But we need to keep finding new ways to make more food and solve other problems. Who knows? You might be the one to help with these challenges!
So, there are almost eight billion people in the world today. We know this because of the census. Thanks, Benjamin, for the great question! Now, I have more questions for you to think about: “How is bread made?” “Where does ink come from?” or “Why do leaves change color in the fall?” Let me know which one you want to learn about next. Stay curious, and see you soon!
Counting Activity: Let’s explore big numbers by counting objects around us. Find a jar and fill it with small items like beans, buttons, or coins. Try to count them all! How many do you have? Is it more than 100? Now, imagine if you had to count a million of these items. How long do you think it would take? Share your thoughts with a friend or family member.
Neighborhood Census: Conduct a mini-census in your neighborhood or with your family. Ask your family members or neighbors how many people live in their homes. Write down the numbers and add them up. How many people did you count? Discuss why it’s important to know how many people live in a place and how this information can help us plan for things like schools and parks.
Future Food Solutions: Think about how we can grow more food for all the people in the world. Draw a picture of a garden or farm of the future. What special plants or machines would you include to help grow lots of food? Share your drawing with your class and explain your ideas. How might your ideas help solve food problems in the future?
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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(ringtone trilling) – Hi, it’s Doug! This is one of my favorite parks in the city of San Francisco, where I live. On weekends, sometimes there are hundreds, even thousands of people here. But, take a look at this photo. It was taken from the same spot about a hundred years ago. Even though San Francisco was still a big city back then, you can see there were fewer people.
Someone named Benjamin has a question about the number of people in the world. Let’s give him a call now. (ringtone trilling) – Hi Doug. – Hi Benjamin. – I have a question for you. How many people are in the whole world? – That’s a great question. There’s a group of people whose job it is to keep track of how many human beings are on the Earth. According to them, they think the total number of people in the world, what we call the world population, is a huge number. It’s not a number in the thousands, not even the millions. It’s a number in the billions. The total world population is thought to be almost eight billion people.
Oh, that’s a huge number! That number is so big, it’s hard to even imagine just how many people that is. Let’s think about this. You’ve probably counted to 100 before, right? And it feels like it takes a while to do that. It probably takes you at least a few minutes to sit there and count all the way to 100. What about one million? That’s a much bigger number. If you were going to count to one million, now we’re talking about it taking not just a few minutes, but an entire month! The number of people in the world, though, is almost eight billion. How long do you think it would take to count to a number that big? Before I tell you, it might be fun for you to try to guess. Imagine every day, showing up to school, and all you do, all day long, is count. One, two, three, four. How long do you think it would take before you got to eight billion? Take a guess! Now would be a good time to pause the video and discuss.
Okay, here we go! If you wanted to count to the number eight billion, are you ready for this? It would take you over 200 years to do it. Think about that! That means if you know a grandparent, even if they started counting when they were in kindergarten, they still wouldn’t have gotten to eight billion yet. They’d still be counting. Every time you’d see them, they’d go, “Oh hey there, hang on, still counting.” “One billion, four hundred million, 90 thousand and two,” “one billion, four hundred million, 90 thousand and three.” That’s how big the number eight billion is.
But how do we even know that there’s eight billion people on Earth? I mean, it’s not like we can go out and just count every single person. Actually, we try to. You see, every few years, each country on Earth does something called a census. They send people out to actually try to count everyone who lives in that country. Then we add up all those numbers. Many countries have people who actually walk around and knock on each person’s door to find out how many people live in each house. I can remember this when I was a kid. Someone from the Census came and rang our doorbell because I remember my mom talking to them. In the United States, the next big census will be in the year 2020. So be listening for your doorbell then; maybe you’ll get to see them.
I make all of this sound so easy, but one of the things that makes keeping track of the world’s population so hard is that the number of people is constantly getting bigger. Think about it. Babies are born every day. Even just in the one or two minutes that this episode has been playing, about 500 babies have been born. Isn’t that incredible? Just as I said that last sentence, 15 more babies were born. You might worry that with the population growing so quickly, soon there will be too many people. You’re not alone in thinking that. This is something that a lot of very smart people have worried about for a long time. Even 200 years ago, a thinker named Thomas Malthus wrote a book about how much the population was growing. In his book, he predicted that there would soon be so many people on Earth, we simply wouldn’t be able to grow enough food for everyone to eat. But so far, at least, that hasn’t happened. Part of the reason for that is because as more people were born, more and more people grew up to become scientists and engineers. These scientists and engineers figured out new ways to grow more food. So, in a funny way, the world having more and more people has led to us having more and more food.
That said, some people worry that our population can’t keep growing like this forever. Won’t we eventually run out of space? And what about all of the other things people use and need besides just food? One thing is for sure. If the number of human beings on Earth is going to keep going up, we’re going to need to keep finding new ways to make food and solve lots of other problems. Maybe you’ll be someone who helps to figure these things out when you grow up.
So, in summary, we think there are almost eight billion people in the world today. We get that number, thanks mostly to each country’s census. The people who go out and try to count everyone alive. That’s all for this week’s question. Thanks, Benjamin, for asking it. Now, for the next episode, I reached into my question jar and picked out three questions submitted to me that I’m thinking about answering. When this video is done playing, you’ll get to vote on one. You can choose from: “How is bread made?” “Where does ink come from?” Or, “Why do leaves change color in the fall?” So submit your vote when the video is over. I want to hear from all of you watching. There are mysteries all around us. Stay curious, and see you next week.
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