The growth of cities
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain the process of urban growth and describe the distribution of cities around the world.
Key learning points
- The urban hierarchy explains how settlements range from small villages to global cities based on size and function.
- Urbanisation is the growth of urban areas and is a phenomenon experienced globally.
- The location of the biggest cities in the world has changed over time from high to low and middle income countries..
- The two main causes of urbanisation are rural to urban migration and natural increase.
- In 2008, for the first time in world history, over 50% of the world's population lived in towns and cities.
Keywords
Urbanisation - the increase in the proportion of people living in towns and cities
Natural increase - when a population grows because births outnumber deaths
Rural to urban migration - the movement of people from the countryside to towns and cities
Common misconception
Urbanisation only happens in rich countries.
Urbanisation is occurring fastest in low and middle income countries due to rapid population growth and rural to urban migration
Teacher tip
Use Our World in Data to show interactive graphs on urban population growth. Let students explore how urbanisation rates differ between HICs, NICs, and LICs to visualise global trends and challenge misconceptions.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is a city?
Q2.Which of these is usually found in a city?
Q3.What do we call an area where few people live?
Q4.A city has a population than a village.
Q5.Which of these is an example of a famous city?
Q6.What is the name for the very centre of a city, where shops and offices are often found?
Assessment exit quiz
4 Questions
Q1.What is urbanisation?
Q2.What is meant by "natural increase"?
Q3.Which term means people moving from the countryside to cities?
Q4.In which type of country is urbanisation happening fastest today?
To help you plan your 8 geography lesson on: The growth of cities, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 8 geography lesson on: The growth of cities, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 geography lessons from the Cities: What are they like to live in? unit, dive into the full secondary geography curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.