Instructions:
Part 1:
Read through the questions below. Record a video, 60 seconds minimum, in
response to one or more of the questions below that interest you. Also, please provide your first name on the video, mention OU's Biology 1003 course, and tell which week's assignment it is.
Technical details: You should be able to record this video on a smartphone, iPad, digital camera, or webcam. If you need equipment, check with the Student Learning Center in Wagner Hall 245. You can log in to mymedia.ou.edu to either record a video directly there or to upload your previously recorded video file (make sure you set the permissions to allow us to view it; DON'T make it "private"). Then, you can post a hyperlink to the file or embed it in your D2L discussion board forum. Alternatively, you're welcome to post your video at a publicly accessible site at your own risk (e.g., YouTube, dropbox.com, portfolio.ou.edu, or your own server space), and post a stable, hyperlinked address to your production in the D2L forum.
Part 2:
Post a typed response to the Starting Assumptions posts of at least two other students. (If
you are the first or second person to post, you will have to check back later
to complete this part of the assignment).
- Please spell check and proofread your typed responses.
- Please respond to posts with 0 responses first; once every post has at least
one response, you are free to choose any post to respond to.
- When you respond, please use the name of the student you are responding
to. That is, say "Hi Jessica" or "Hi Paul" so that you
can get used to the names of the people in class. (You can find a list of
"real" names and preferred names posted on D2L).
- What constitutes a substantive response? This means that
you have read and thought about the original post, and that after some reflection,
you are extending one or more of the thoughts in the original post or offering
an additional perspective as you might in a good conversation. It is not enough
to say simply "nice job," "I liked that," "I think you're right about XXXX," "I disagree," etc. It is OK to disagree or agree,
but the goal is to thoughtfully add something else interesting and new related
to the content of the original post. At a minimum this should be at least
50 words, and 50-100 is preferable. Check out this page for more on the topic of good and bad responses.
After you have posted your video and responded to at least two other students,
go to Desire2Learn and complete the Gradebook
Declaration for this week's Starting Assumptions assignment. (Do not declare that you have completed these assignments until AFTER you have made your posts. Your Gradebook
Declaration is subject to the Honor Code.)
Here is the text of the Desire2Learn Gradebook Declaration:
(3 points) I have posted my Starting Assumptions
video (60 seconds minimum) at D2L.
(2 points) I have responded to the posts of at least two other students
(1 point per response; 50-100 words for each). |
Here are the questions to get you started:
- Look at this human
population clock or this cool world clock site. What does it say right now for world and U.S. population?
Does the size of the population (or any other statistics on that page) surprise you? If so, did you think it was
bigger or smaller?
- Does human population growth worry you at all?
- Why do you think that populations in some countries are growing exponentially, while other countries are practically begging citizens to have children?
- Assuming that the human population will eventually outgrow Earth, do you
think that we should seek to establish permanent colonies on other planets?
- A photographer named Peter Menzel took pictures of families from around the world, surrounded by all of their possessions. Look at the cover of his book on Amazon.com, which shows the difference between an average American family and an average
Bhutanese family in their worldly possessions. You can also check out a gallery of his photos (go to photos ~21-31 for some striking images of differences in food consumption around the world). Do these types of image inspire
any emotions in you?
- What do you think would happen if the whole world consumed fossil fuels
and other resources at the rate that we do?
- When you buy clothes or furniture, do conditions in the country of origin
influence your decision at all?
- If overpopulation is a global problem affecting Earth’s environment, then why are more U.S.
businesses involved in infertility research than in contraceptive research?
- Where will Americans get food as prime farmland in California and elsewhere
is paved over for residential developments?
- What do you think should be the role (if any) of genetic engineering in
producing food for a growing population?
- What is the relationship between population growth and the greenhouse effect/global
climate change? Do you think it is an important problem now? Do you think
it will be an important problem in the near or distant future?
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Contemporary Issues in Biology -- BIOL 1003
Mariëlle H. Hoefnagels, Ph.D. © 2004-2015.
biology1003 at OU dot edu (at = @, dot =.)
Last Updated
August 5, 2014 11:02 PM
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