P4-P6 Hong Kong population line graph: check an AI explanation

• StageP4-P6
• SubjectMathematics
• Learning strandreflection on the application of AI
• Official documentsAI Literacy Learning Framework for Primary and Secondary Schools (Examples of Application Scenarios)
• Session time1 lesson (60 min)

Students check an AI-generated explanation of Hong Kong's population: find the figures with no source, discover that the claim that the population 'rises every year' is wrong, and redraw the correct line graph using official Census and Statistics Department data.

• AudienceTeachers Students
• ThemeHong Kong inquiry

• EquipmentProjector; printed student worksheet (graph paper or spreadsheet)
• Version2.8
• Last updated2026-10-17

Classroom focus: the number series must be verified against official Census and Statistics Department data — do not take the AI’s figures at face value.

What this solves

Students will soon be using AI to get information. The real skill is knowing to ask AI where its information comes from — and actually checking it.

This lesson uses a topic close to everyday life (Hong Kong’s population) to let students discover for themselves that an AI explanation is partly right and partly wrong, then get the data from an official source and redraw the correct line graph.

The lesson can sit inside a school’s digital education planning and run in a maths lesson, showing how to check a figure an AI gives, with official data as the basis for assessment; the part of the explanation that is wrong is an AI hallucination the pupils catch for themselves, and the only way to remove it is to verify and fact-check it against the official figures.

Learning objectives

Students will be able to:

1. Ask AI where its information comes from, and judge whether the answer names a source.
2. Compare each figure the AI provides against the official Census and Statistics Department data.
3. Point out which statement in the AI explanation is wrong, and explain why using evidence.
4. Redraw the line graph using the official data, and describe the trend.

Written for the upper-primary learning stage, it covers the reflection on the application of AI strand of AI literacy, building critical thinking and keeping human judgement first.

How to use it

1. Hook and set up a checking method (15 minutes) — Project “the AI’s explanation” (see the download), and ask: can this be trusted? How would you check it? Then list the checking steps together: find the source → compare the figures → check whether each claim is supported by the data.
2. Group checking (20 minutes) — Students check each statement using the official Census and Statistics Department data.
3. Redraw the line graph (18 minutes) — Plot the graph using the official data, and describe the trend in one sentence.
4. Wrap up (7 minutes) — Discuss: if the AI got half its figures right, why is it still risky?

Census and Statistics Department

Population data table: Table 110-01001 (population figures by year) https://www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/web_table.html?id=110-01001

If the link has been updated, the corresponding data table can be found via the Census and Statistics Department website → Statistics → Population → Population figures.

Verified reference figure (a starting point for comparison)

Answer key and marking notes

The AI explanation has three problems:

1. No source. It never says where any of its figures come from — this is the first warning sign.
2. The claim that it “rises every year” does not match the data. Hong Kong’s population does not rise in a single direction year after year; after checking the official data, students will find years in which it fell. This is the lesson’s most important discovery.
3. The figures for future years have no basis. The AI presents an estimate as a fact, confusing “what has happened” with “a forecast”.

Also draw students’ attention to this: the part the AI got right (the 2021 population figure) does not make the whole passage trustworthy. A passage that is half right can still mislead.

Files

P4 Hong Kong population line graph worksheet(editable Word document)

Official documents

Every resource in this library is written to the AI Literacy Learning Framework for Primary and Secondary Schools and falls within the policy scope of the Blueprint for Digital Education Development in Primary and Secondary Schools.

This resource maps to:

• AI Literacy Learning Framework for Primary and Secondary Schools (Examples of Application Scenarios) (p.6): using a city population line graph as an example, it asks students to question the AI about its sources and to check the AI’s output against a reliable website (such as the Census and Statistics Department).

Learning strand: reflection on the application of AI

Official documents page: https://www.edb.gov.hk/en/edu-system/primary-secondary/applicable-to-primary-secondary/it-in-edu/debp.html

This page is an independent Beets teaching resource, not an official EDB document.

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