- Definition
A population is a complete group of things, like all the salmon in Lake Ontario, that share a common characteristic.
All the students in your child's classroom make up the population of that class.
How to teach this in 30 seconds
Try this analogy: A population is like all the people living in our house, counted together as one group.
Ask your child: Who are all the people who live in our house?
Common mix-up: Kids may think population just means 'a lot of people.' A population is any whole group of a specific type, like all the kids in your class or all the squirrels in a park.
Examples
- All the squirrels living in a park.
- All the people living in your town.
population is a term used in Ontario’s Kindergarten to Grade 8 curriculum.
Where this shows up
- Grade 1 Mathematics
- Grade 2 Mathematics
- Grade 3 Mathematics
- Grade 4 Mathematics
- Grade 5 Mathematics
- Grade 6 Mathematics
- Grade 7 Mathematics
+22 more mentions across the curriculum
The descriptions on this page are SmartStudy’s own original, plain-language writing — not the Ministry’s wording. They are aligned to the Ontario Curriculum, © King’s Printer for Ontario. For the Ministry’s official wording, see the source link below. SmartStudy is an independent service and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the Government of Ontario or the Ministry of Education. Ontario Curriculum and Resources ↗
