OVERPOPULATION IN
A WebQuest for grades 9-12 (Environmental Science)
Designed
by
a
Sheryl J.
Turk
You are a government official in
Figure 1.
World Population Density
1.
a. Family Planning –
b. Cultural Factors
1. Large part of
2. Preference for a son – Only with a son
can the parents go to heaven
3. 80% of the population are Hindus –
Hinduism is a pro-sex religion
4.
a.
World
Population Data
Family planning education is one way
You’ve been appointed as an advisor to the Indian
government, and you need to identify the problems that are causing
overpopulation in
In order for you to obtain your
quest, follow the steps listed below.
These steps are designed to take you on a master web-hunt and to get you
acquainted with the human resources surrounding you right in your own
neighborhood.
A. THE STRUCTURE OF
YOUR HUNT:
1. You will work
with one of your classmates to complete GETTING STARTED and THE
WEB BASED HUNT FOR INFORMATION
listed below including the worksheets and
answers to the questions posed below. Your FINAL END PRODUCT described in the
will be completed
individually. This means that only parts
B and C in this 
section will be completed by you AND your partner,
while you will conduct separate interviews from your partner. The letter
described in the will also be
completed INDIVIDUALLY.
B.
GETTING STARTED
Each of you will
use the following web-sites in blue to find answers to the question below:
Demographic,
Social and Economic Indicator Chart
·
Find
Reproductive
Health Indicators
·
Find
·
Describe the effects that the
population crisis is having on the crisis of resources.
o
Use the resource of water to give an example of what is
occurring.
Family Planning
Initiatives in India
·
What were the projects goals and
how were they achieved?
·
What is family planning and how is it implemented?
C. THE WEB-BASED
HUNT FOR INFORMATION
1. Below are some issues affecting the
population explosion in
v Religion
v Caste System
v Lack of Education
v Agricultural Society
v Family Structure
v
v Elements of
2. Find the
issue your group has been assigned to on the list below. You can use the websites listed
below each issue
to complete the Worksheets listed in Steps A-F.
You can also find more information
on each issue
using different search engines, such as www.yahoo.com,
www.google.com,
RELIGION
Customs, Traditions, and Rituals of India
CASTE SYSTEM
The Caste System now and then...
Discriminations in the
Caste System
NPR's
Report on the Caste System
LACK OF EDUCATION
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY
FAMILY STRUCTURE
Customs,
Traditions, and Rituals of India
ELEMENTS OF
Customs, Traditions, and Rituals of India
While investigating how these issues are affecting
overpopulation in India, you will complete a series of worksheets designed to
help you identify the problem, collect evidence, identify the causes of the
problem, evaluate a policy to help alleviate the problem, develop solutions,
and find the best solution.
A.
You and your partner need to print worksheet 1 and read it over. It will help you
clearly define the problem- Worksheet 1.
q
Read the World Wide Web pages about the
issue you’ve been assigned and answer the questions on worksheet 1.
B. You and your partner need to print the
following worksheet and read it. It will
help
you collect evidence
- Worksheet 2.
q
Read
the World Wide Web pages about the issue you’ve been assigned and answer the
questions on worksheet 2.
C. With your partner you will print the
following worksheet and read it to help you
identify the causes of the
problem - Worksheet
3.
q
Read
the World Wide Web pages about the issue you’ve been assigned and answer the
questions on worksheet 3.
D.
With your partner you will print the following worksheet and read
it. I will help you
to evaluate current
public policies - Worksheet 4.
q
Read
the World Wide Web pages about the issue you’ve been assigned and answer the
questions on worksheet 4.
E. With your partner you will print the
following worksheet and read it. It will
help you
to develop your own
public policies – Worksheet
5
q
Read
the World Wide Web pages about the issue you’ve been assigned and answer the
questions on worksheet 5.
F. With your partner you will print the
following worksheet and it will help you to
choose
the best solution – Worksheet 6.
q
Read
the World Wide Web pages about the issue you’ve been assigned and answer the
questions on worksheet 6.
D. THE INTERVIEW
1. How you will find subjects to interview:
In this hunt for knowledge, you
will interview an individual who is either from
During this “fieldwork” component of your quest, you must be mindful not
to assume anything! It’s possible that
you may ask an individual of Asian descent if they are from
2. How
you will conduct the interview:
A. Tell
the individual you are a high school student from Grace Dodge Vocational HS,
and that you are hoping to gather information for a class project on
POPULATION.
B. EXPLAIN the assignment to them.
C. ASK
THE INDIVIDUAL if it is o.k. for you to interview them.
D. Have
between 5-7 questions ready to ask them.
Have these questions written out in front of you where you can easily
access them. You may wish to have
multiple copies of these questions available for the individual to answer in
writing. HINT: It’s more fun if you ask
the questions aloud and get into a discussion with the individual. If this occurs, try to document everything
said.
E. BE SURE TO RECORD THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION:
a. The name of the individual
Ask the individual for his or her name. If they are
uncomfortable
giving you their full name, just get
their first
name.
b. The
location of the interview
c. The date and time of the interview
d. Any other relevant information that you thing may have swayed the
interview…
Your entire class will
participate in a debate. You and your
partner will be split up for the debate.
One of you will support the PRO-Government Family Planning position and
one of you will support the CON-Against Government Family Planning position.
You will debate the PRO or CON side of the
issue you have been assigned and working on.
All of the information presented throughout the debate must be based
on the evidence you discovered during
your QUEST for knowledge. At the great
debate, you must be prepared to be on camera, as I will have a Digital Camera
and Video Camera recording your findings.
Each student will be evaluated and
graded on the following criteria. Note:
All of the percentages (%) add up to 200%, which means that this
WEBQUEST will count as 2 exams!
|
ASSIGNMENTS TO BE JUDGED… |
IN PROGRESS…KEEP WORKING. |
SATISFACTORY |
IDEAL |
POSSIBLE SCORE |
YOUR SCORE |
|
Team Work, Both in the computer
lab and debate |
Worked collectively with your
partner |
Worked collectively with your
partner, showed maturity and courtesy |
Above and beyond satisfactory,
showed leadership qualities |
30% |
|
|
Getting Started Questions |
Answered most questions
adequately |
Answered all questions adequately |
Answered all questions
adequately, Showed advanced understanding |
20% |
|
|
Worksheets #1-6 |
Answered most questions
adequately |
Answered all questions adequately |
Answered all questions
adequately, Showed advanced understanding |
50% |
|
|
Created and Implemented an
interview |
Created an interview questionnaire |
Created an interview
questionnaire, conducted the interview, and recorded all findings |
Created an interview
questionnaire, conducted the interview, recorded all findings and
incorporated them into your letter |
20% |
|
|
Composed a Letter to |
Wrote a letter stating the
reasons backing your stance |
Wrote a letter stating the
reasons backing your stance and showed understanding of the reasons you
stated |
Everything in the previous box ß, and composed a letter suitable to publish in our
school-wide TIPS newspaper |
40% |
|
|
Participated in a class debate
with your partner |
Showed up prepared and assisted
in team debate |
Showed up well prepared and
assisted in team debate, played leadership role |
Above and beyond well prepared,
team leader, great presenter |
20% |
|
As an advisor to the Indian
Government, you have researched certain causes of
a letter to the top official of
to ease the overpopulation
problem. You have debated this problem
with your classmates. Now it’s time to
publish your findings in The Dodge Newspaper.
To all of my students for accepting
this technological challenge and being patient, thank you. To Bill Mulqueen, Howard Kreiger,
Joe Montaclavo, Miss Battah,
and Mr. Didonato, for all of your support and
confidence that the final product would be this good…
S3e Demonstrates an understanding of natural
resource management.
S4a Demonstrates an understanding of big
ideas and unifying concepts.
S4b Demonstrates an understanding of the
designed world.
S5a Frames questions to distinguish cause
and effect; and identifies or controls
variables.
S5d
Proposes,
recognizes, analyzes, considers, and critiques alternative explanations;
and distinguishes between fact and opinion.
S5e
Identifies
problems, proposes and implements solutions; and evaluates the
accuracy, design, and
outcomes of investigations.
S5f
Works
individually and in teams to collect and share information and ideas.
S6a
Records
and stores data using a variety of formats.
S6d
Acquires
information from multiple sources.
S6e
Recognizes
and limits sources of bias in data.
S7a
Represents
data and results in multiple ways.
S7b Argues from evidence.
S7c
Critiques
published materials
S7d
Explains
a scientific concept or procedure to other students.
S7e
Communicates in a form suited to the purpose and the audience.
S8b
Demonstrates scientific competence by completing fieldwork.
S8d
Demonstrates scientific competence by completing secondary research.
Current World Population Clock