Back in April of this year I wrote the first in a series of blogs drawing together useful web sites for the geography classroom. The link is below:
I began with the theme of ‘population’, and since then have discovered a couple of new sites to add to my list.
First is the ‘World Population Project’ by the World Data Lab, which can be found at:
This site has a current world population clock ticking over as the top banner, with new additions saying hello in their own specific languages.
The main part of the site asks the question “What’s my place in the world population?’ and “How long will I live?” and after you have entered your date of birth, gender and country of birth, the site produces an interesting graphic placing you in a wider context. By altering the entry details, it is possible to study the position of different age groups and genders from other parts of the world.
The second site contains an excellent opportunity to download a map of the world where sizes of countries are determined by population:
It is interesting to compare this cartogram with a standard geographical map we are more familiar with. Small countries with a high population density increase in size in this cartogram relative to the traditional view, and this is clearly demonstrated by focussing on places like Bangladesh, Taiwan or the Netherlands. Consequently, large countries with a small population shrink in size, such as Canada, Australia and Russia.
I have left this idea of an index of web sites dormant for a few months, but intend to return to it soon. Look out for the second compilation which will cover web sites for the theme of ‘Weather and Climate”. Ultimately, I would like to put them all together into an e-book for teachers to use. All new suggestions gratefully accepted!
Devon Geography 