The
Environment - Who Cares?- An Awareness Week WebQuest:
In this WebQuest you’re going to find out about five
key concepts in thinking about the environment. They are:
Key
Concept 1: Endangered Species
Key Concept 2: Population Growth
Key
Concept 3: Pollution
Key
Concept 4: Energy Use and Climate Change
Key
Concept 5: Recycling
The
WebQuest has been designed for you to look at the concepts
in order, from 1 to 5; you should follow this order. Because
you'll be seeing the names of lots of countries, keep a
world map handy (use the one in your classrom, or photocopy
one from an atlas in the LRC). You'll also be seeing lots
of numbers, particularly about animal and human populations.
To help put these numbers in context, here’s one figure
to remember: the human population of Dubai is around 1,000,000.
By
Wednesday 12th November, you'll have to give your teacher
a CD with a record of your work on the webquest. For this
reason, be sure to do screenshots of the quizzes you do
during the quest, and save them into Word documents, along
with the Word worksheets you'll be doing. Organize them
into folders on your D-drive: one folder for each key concept,
all inside a folder called Environment WebQuest
Enjoy
your discoveries!
Key
Concept 1: Endangered Species
What’s
your favourite kind of animal (whether one you’ve
kept as a pet, or one you’ve just seen on TV)? Write
a couple of sentences in the discussion
board on Your Favourite Animal. Now, go to this
quiz and match the names of the animals with their pictures.
Go back to the Discussion Board and write about which of
these animals interests you the most.
Let’s
go back now to some of the animals whose pictures we saw
at the beginning of the quest, all of which are endangered.
Download
Work Sheet - When you have completed this work, save
it in your D-Drive.
What
do you think about what you’ve learnt so far? Do
you think these species can survive? Can you think of anything
that can be done to help them? Write on your discussion
group about your feelings.
Links
If you decide you want to learn more about endangered species
and habitats, here are some web sites from which you can
get more information and ideas:
Looking
at the figures for births and deaths, is the world population
rising or falling?
Let's
do some maths: how fast is the rate of change? Subtract
deaths from births in the world so far this year. Remembering
again that the population of Dubai is around 1,000,000,
answer this question: How many
new cities the size of Dubai does the world need to accommodate
the increase in its population so far this year?
How
long, and how fast has this been going on? Go to the World
Population History Quiz.Next, complete the World
Population since 1750 quiz.What do you think about the
numbers of people in the world, compared to the populations
of the endangered animal species we looked at in the last
section? Go to the Discussion
Board thread on Numbers of people, numbers of animals
and write about your thoughts.
In
a minute, you’re going to take a short internet tour
about the consequences of population growth. Before that,
do the world
population vocabulary quiz.
The
World Population Tour has seven slides. You’ve seen
the information on slide
one before - or have you? How is it different from the
information you got from the graph in the last exercise?
Now go to slide
two, and answer these questions:
What
is your environmental footprint?
As
the world population grows, there is less space for plants
and other animals.
According
to slide
five, and slide
six what are some of the ways that people sometimes
behave when there aren’t enough resources? In
this quiz, check the ones that the slide mentions.
Finally,
look at slide
seven, and think about the questions it asks. Then answer
them by writing about fifty words on your group
discussion board: What kind of world do you want to
live in?.
Links
If you decide you want to learn more about population growth
and its consequences, here are some web sites from which
you can get more information and ideas:
Energy
Use and Climate Change: you've already met terms
like “global warming” and “greenhouse
gas”; in this section we’re going to look at
these (and others) in more detail.
Next,
do Vocabulary
Quiz 3. Then think about this question: if the planet
is getting warmer, what will the consequences be? Here’s
a hint: the Arctic and Antarctic, at the north and south
of the planet, are covered by ice. If you have ice in a
glass of water and it warms up, what happens? What happens
to the level of water in the glass? Discuss your thoughts
with other students, and then write on the discussion
group thread Consequences of Global Warming.
Which
countries are the largest producers of carbon dioxide? Download
and complete the Carbon
Dioxide Emissions Worksheet. Then use this calculator
to figure out how many tonnes of CO2 your car produces each
year (if you don't have your own car, use a family member's
or a friend's). If you thought this was interesting, download
this list of Web-based
Personal Calculators you can explore in your free time.
Are
there any other choices besides fossil fuels for generating
our energy - choices that don’t threaten the future
of the planet? Do the Renewable
Energy Quiz, and then the quiz on Renewable
Energy Businesses in the UAE.
Finally,
think about what you have learnt in this Key Concept, then
go to the Discussion
Board and record your thoughts on the thread: What To
Do About Climate Change.
Links
If you decide you want to learn more about energy use and
climate change, here are some web sites from which you can
get more information and ideas:
Next,
we’re going to look at one kind of water pollution:
marine pollution, which is pollution of the sea. Do the
Marine
Pollution Quiz.
What
do you think about what you’ve learnt about pollution?
Do you think anything can be done to prevent it? Go to your
discussion
board and contribute to the Thoughts About Pollution
thread.
Links
If you decide you want to learn more about pollution, here
are some web sites from which you can get more information
and ideas:
Where
is the nearest recycling centre to your house? Do you ever
use it? Go to your discussion
thread A Recycling Centre Near Me and tell your class
about it.
Aluminium,
batteries, glass, paper, and plastic aren’t the only
things that can be recycled, though. Download and complete
the Recycle
City worksheet to find out more. After that, go to the
Recycle City thread on your discussion
board and write about what you think of Recycle City.
That's
the end of the WebQuest! Which of the five Key Concepts
did you find most interesting? Share your thoughts on the
Final Thoughts thread of your discussion
group.
Links
If you decide you want to learn more about recycling, here
are some web sites from which you can get more information
and ideas:
General
Environmental Links:
in addition to the links on each Key Concept page, here
are some general environmental web sites from which you
can get more information and ideas, including some relating
to the West Asian region and the UAE:
Foundations 
