This site was created by the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris - France. It is designed to familiarize the visitor with current and future human population growth, the impact of several factors on world population growth, and the impact that humans have on the environment as a result of the rapid growth in the population.
The site is very attractively designed with a minimum of distracting or unnecessary text and excellent graphics and layout. It looks very much like a modern interactive museum exhibit. The flow through the site is linear, although a navigation bar (frame) lets the user skip forward or backward to different sections.
Identify Major Learning Goals:
The site lets users "personalize" the information they receive by asking questions about when they are born, when they would choose to marry, where they live, how many children they want, and how they might choose to regulate the number children they would have. Users can explore current world statistics, those on their continent or those on other continents. Statistics on death and survival rates are reported in terms of the cohort to which the user belongs. A graph of the world's population size shows the exponential growth shown by the human population and describes some important milestones and the events that affected growth rate. The site ends with a series of questions about the future and the effects of factors such as resource depletion and AIDS.
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
4
Very nice introduction to the topic offering students intriguing details and a customized view based on their own characteristics. Visually very attractive
Concerns:
This site offers less depth than many courses might need. It lacks a discussion of basic principles such as birth rates, death rates, and exponential growth. It also does not discuss demographic transition, a factor that has a great impact on future population growth, even through dynamic age distribution diagrams are included.
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
4.5
Students can manipulate personal parameters and get instant feedback on the effects on population parameters. Personal decisions are translated graphically into reproductive potential. Students can also view both U.S. data and those of other areas of the world. This greatly enhances comparisons of various cultures. The site can serve as an introduction to issues in human population growth or as way to show students the practical applications of population biology. Students will find the statistics interesting and be intrigued if not surprised by many of the details.
Concerns:
The depth is limited and the software does not always run uninterrupted on all systems or browsers. This latter problem may become less important as students and schools obtain newer equipment. While the site is interactive and engaging, it does not present much opportunity to adjust parameters and examine the impact on birth rates, death rates or growth rates. It does not present any explicit quantitative models or discuss any theoretical concepts. nor does it introduce much of the terminology typically taught in biology courses.
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
5
It is almost impossible to get lost. The graphics are excellent, the directions clear and there is very little unnecessary text or distracting visuals.
Concerns:
None
Creative Commons:
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