If the World was a Village of 100 People

Every Thursday, Ethan has library day. During his library time, I have a free period (planning time). Sometimes I sneak out of class and head for the library. I use to go to see Ethan, but now I go to see what they're reading. Sue, our librarian, always introduces the students to some wonderful book. Ethan gets excited when I "know" about this book.

This past week, the students watched an animation of the book If the world were a village: A book about the world’s people by David J. Smith and Shelagh Armstrong.  


If we could reduce the world's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all existing human ratios remaining the same, the demographics would look something like this:

• 21 people would speak a Chinese dialect (16 would speak Mandarin)
• The village would have 60 Asians, 14 Africans, 12 Europeans, 8 Latin Americans, 5 from the USA & Canada, and 1 from the South Pacific
• 67 would be unable to read
• 33 would be without a safe water supply
• 1 would have a college education

I found it to be a real eye opener, and a book to put on our Christmas wish list. For more information on our fabulous library and the books they are reading, head on over here. 

Meanwhile, here's a, different, video of the book.