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Thematic Teaching
global population: related resources
Activity Ideas | Related Resources
Find Below: PBS Web Sites, Other Recommended Links, Recommended Books
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Rx For Survival: A Global Health Challenge
Learn about the stunning breakthroughs in public health and how these advancements have yet to benefit the developing world.
NOW: Global Health
Examine how the health of people around the world has real and immediate consequences for America's citizens, economy and security.
NOVA: World in the Balance
Explore recent trends in population worldwide and examine the environmental implications of countries undergoing industrialization.
Harvest of Fear
Join the debate over the benefits of genetically modified foods for agriculture, ecosystems, and human health, and feeding a world population bursting at the seams.
Journey to Planet Earth
Learn how we can balance between the needs of a growing world population and the needs of the environment.
NOW: Global Inequality
Examine facts and figures depicting global poverty.
recommended web sites
Global Polio Eradication Initiative
http://www.polioeradication.org/
Polio is a viral disease that can cause total
paralysis within hours and usually affects children
under the age of five. This site provides information
about the disease, country statistics on new cases,
audio and video clips from health officials, photos,
and information about the vaccine. By the end of 2003,
polio had been wiped out from all but six countries of
the world, Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Niger,
Afghanistan and Egypt. When this initiative began in
1988, polio was paralyzing more than 1000 children
every day. Success stories like this give us hope that
maybe other childhood diseases may be eradicated.
Subject: Health & Fitness
More Recommended Health & Fitness Links
Communicable Disease Surveillance and Response
http://www.who.int/csr/en/
The World Health Organization tracks communicable
diseases such as avian flu, hepatitis, plague, and
smallpox. Information about the Global Outbreak Alert
and Response Network highlights how this group
contains outbreaks of diseases like ebola in Uganda to
avoid the spread of a disease. You can search by
country to find current disease outbreaks, health
expenditures, health coverage, and general
demographics. Check the Media Centre for multimedia
and fact sheets about specific diseases, conditions,
and preventative measures.
Subject: Health & Fitness
More Recommended Health & Fitness Links
World Health Report
http://www.who.int/whr/en/
The World Health Organization publishes an annual
report providing an assessment of global health,
statistics, and a special focus each year. Reports
from 1995 to 2005 are available in a variety of
sections, from the entire report to chapter downloads
to overviews. Some years have reports available in
other languages including Spanish, Russian,
Portuguese, French, Arabic, and Chinese. Topics for
prior years have been mental health, health systems,
and mother and child health. All reports are in PDF
format.
Subject: Health & Fitness
More Recommended Health & Fitness Links
World Health Statistics 2006
http://www.who.int/healthinfo/statistics/en/index.html
Statistics on 50 health indicators in 192
countries were published in 2006. The data, notes, and explanations are downloadable in PDF and Excel spreadsheet in English. Some content is available in French and Spanish. Categories of data include mortality (death), morbidity (disease), health service coverage, health systems, demographics and socio-economics, and behavioral and environmental risk factors.
Subject: Math
More Recommended Math Links
100 Best Global Brands by Value
http://bwnt.businessweek.com/brand/2005/
Interbrand Surveys and Research conducts an annual
survey for Business Week and reports on the top 100
brands in the world that have a value greater than $1
billion. The interactive table allows you to sort by
column and has direct links to a brand's corporate
stock snapshot. Brand names are listed with their
parent companies and show the rankings from 2001
through 2005. There is also a column indicating the
percentage of change per brand, either positive or
negative.
Subject: Math
More Recommended Math Links
Population Reference Bureau for Educators
http://www.prb.org/template.cfm?Section=Educators
Resources for middle and high school educators from
the Population Reference Bureau include resource
guides and lesson plans, like the currently important
topic of Populations in the Path of Natural Hazards.
The resource guides are data sheets, activities, and
slides, many in PDF format. Lessons are correlated to
National Council for the Social Studies and National
Geography standards. The site content is also
available in French and Spanish.
Subject: Social Studies
More Recommended Social Studies Links
State of the World Population
http://www.unfpa.org/publications/index.cfm?filterPub_Type=5
United Nations Population Fund publishes a report on
the state of the world population related to themes
such as reproductive health, adolescent health, and
how population affects the environment. Archives of
these reports are available from 1996 to the present.
Several of these are also in French and Spanish. Click
on a specific report and you may also find it
available in Arabic and Russian. Another feature of
the site are population issues which include
preventing HIV infection, promoting gender equity, and humanitarian responses to crises such as the Asian tsunami in 2004.
Subject: Social Studies
More Recommended Social Studies Links
recommended books
George Soros on Globalization
By George Soros
Published March 2002
Grades: 9-12
Subjects: Social Studies
Although the world is closely linked, not everyone is happy with what has come to be called globalization. George Soros, international financier and philanthropist, is aware of the social and political implications of globalization. He has tried to promote "open societies" to balance expanding markets. In this book, Soros identifies problems and proposes practical solutions. The concluding chapter addresses the role of the United States, cautioning that the unilateral exercise of power is not the answer.
More Recommended Social Studies Books
It's All for Sale: The Control of Global Resources
By James Ridgeway
Published November 2004
Grades: 6-8; 9-12
Subjects: Social Studies
Underlying this look at the world's resources and the corporations that control them is the belief that commodities have been at the center of slavery, war, colonialism and empire, migration, and emigration. In separate chapters, Ridgeway examines commodities as obvious as water and food and as overlooked as the sky and biodiversity.
More Recommended Social Studies Books
If the World Were a Village: A Book About the World's People
By David J. Smith and Shelagh Armstrong
Published March 2002
Grades: 3-5; 6-8
Subjects: Social Studies
If you find it hard to comprehend a world of six billion people, what about a village of 100? This book presents worldwide statistical information on nationality, language, age, religion, food, air and water, schooling and literacy, money and possessions, and electricity as if the world were a village of 100 people. Sections examine the village in the past and in the future. Suggestions for teaching children about the global village are included. An endnote discusses sources and calculations.
More Recommended Social Studies Books
Hope's Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet
By Frances Moore Lappe and Anna Lappe
Published January 2002
Grades: 9-12
Subjects: Health & Fitness
Food is scarce, right? Yes and no. In the U.S., we turn sixteen pounds of grain and soy into one pound of meat. That would be enough to provide a bowl of food every day for every person in the world for a year. Suddenly vegetarianism seems as practical as it is healthy. Part polemic, part cultural examination, part cookbook, this is necessary reading for the 21st century.
More Recommended Health & Fitness Books
Hungry Planet
By Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio
Published August 2005
Grades: 6-8; 9-12
Subjects: Health & Fitness
What foods does your family eat in a week? This book features full page photos of thirty families from around the world and everything they eat in a week. The book provides nutritional data and translates the food cost into U.S. dollars. Essays and photo galleries look at different kinds of food and show you what the rest of the world eats.
More Recommended Health & Fitness Books
Outgrowing the Earth: The Food Security Challenge in an Age of Falling Water Tables and Rising Temperatures
By Lester R. Brown
Published January 2005
Grades: 9-12; Professional Development
Subjects: Social Studies
Founder of the Earth Policy Institute, Brown is an environmental analyst who has written on population, food, fossil fuels, and other global issues. In this book, he examines the global population stress on food
production: water, energy, land, and climate. Climate's role in food production is especially crucial. A one degree Celsius rise in temperature leads to a ten percent decline in wheat, rice, and corn yield. Not a happy prospect when the world's population increases at more than 70 million mouths a year.
More Recommended Social Studies Books