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Could Too Many Children End Humankind?
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- Parent Category: Lower-Intermediate News Lessons
- Category: Environment Lessons
- Written by Chris Cotter
Many couples have two or three children. But in the future, what if the population of the world became too large for the resources because everyone had two or three children? What if humankind's future survival were in danger? Could too many children end the human race?
For example, America consumes huge amounts of resources. The ecological footprint of the US is twenty-four acres per person. In other words, one person requires the resources of twenty-four acres of land per year. If everyone on Earth lived like Americans, then we would need the resources of 5.5 planets. On the other hand, China uses fewer resources than America, but they have very high pollution levels. Europe pollutes far too much as well.
It should be said that only a few people believe two children per family would cause a problem. The birthrate of developed nations has dropped, and this will happen in other developing countries in the future too. As a result, the global population will eventually stop increasing. And with more green technology in the future, nations will probably pollute less too. The ecological footprint will decline to a more stable and manageable level.
Surprisingly, there are some organizations who want humankind to become extinct. Although they support a voluntary end to the human race by stopping reproduction, some wouldn't mind seeing the world spiral out of control.
Preview some of the lesson material:
Discuss: Do you agree or disagree? Why?
- Global warming will kill the human race.
- Humankind will end in one hundred years.
- America is the biggest polluter in the world.
- If couples have fewer children, this will help the environment.
- I don't care about the environment!
Fill in the Blanks: Fill in the blank with the correct word.
- What if humankind's future ( ) were in danger?
- America ( ) huge amounts of resources.
- One person ( ) the resources of twenty-four acres of land.
- The ecological footprint will decline to a more ( ) level.
- There are some organizations who want humankind to become ( ).
- They support a ( ) end to the human race by stopping reproduction.
post-Comprehension: Talk about the following questions in pairs/groups. Remember to support your answers!
- Do you think humankind will become extinct? Why/not?
- What is the birthrate of your country? Is the population increase or decreasing?
- What's your opinion on organizations that want the human race to end?
- How responsible are your when it comes to maintaining a low ecological footprint?
- Argue your value to the human race. What do you do that benefits humankind?
Google Search: Type "ecological footprint" into Google. Look at the websites, and/or read additional articles on this topic. Discuss or write an essay about your findings.
