Tag Archives: population growth

Ecology resources for students: Part 1

Good afternoon!

I’m back with another set of bookmarks for students and teachers. Because I’ve taught the IB Environmental systems and societies course for several years, this set of online resources is closest to my heart. Some of these links are here simply because I think they’re cool or fun. Many may also be applicable for studying biology and chemistry as well. Let’s get to it:

Happy learning!

Cheers,

Mr K

Sustainable Food Resources

My 8th grade classes developed independent projects focused on the role of plants in society, and I received a wide variety of products from them, from posters to presentations to animations. The one I’ve embedded below is a particularly solid example of the kind of work young people are capable of doing when given the freedom to choose a topic of interest and the resources to create something different.

Thanks for this, Abby!

Human Impact on Ocean Fisheries

Cod fisherman with their haul, courtesy of Wikipedia.

Cod fisherman with their haul, courtesy of Wikipedia.

The article linked below outlines the impact of human population growth on global marine fisheries. It has been well-established through scientific research that as people become wealthier, they consume more protein. And as Earth’s human population continues to grow, the pressure on fisheries becomes two-fold: not only are there more people fishing (population growth), but those people are becoming wealthier (economic growth) and eating more seafood per person. This article ties in brilliantly to ESS Topic 3 – Human Populations, Resource Use, and Carrying Capacity.

Click here for the full article.

Link

The struggle to tame Africa’s beast of a megacity

At the bottom of the post I’ve linked to a really interesting article from Reuters about some of the difficulties and opportunities associated with population growth in Nigeria. Here’s a quick summary:

  • Lagos is already 21 million people
  • Lagos adds 4,000 new people every day
  • Nigeria’s population will be 400 million people within 30 years, making it the 4th largest country on Earth
Lagos, Nigeria.  Image: REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye

Lagos, Nigeria.
Image: REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye

According to several sources, including the United Nations, Dar es Salaam is one of the 10 fastest-growing cities on Earth, which means that many of these same issues in Nigeria are either already relevant here, or they will be soon.

Click here for the full article. The article serves as a great case study for the start of Topic 3 – Human Populations, Carrying Capacity, and Resource Use.