Watch the Earth Breathing

Sociology should take you around the World I heard about this website called Breathing Earth on the BBC’s Click programme. OK, the AS/A2 specs don’t have much about demography, but not everything worth learning is always on the syllabus or comes up in an exam.

The key angle that the site is trying to focus on is the issue of climate change. Click on a country and the site will tell you the death rate and birth rate, as well as give info about CO2 emissions. It seems to me that the site could be a really good way to get students thinking about the family and social policy; the differences in birth and death rates are very interesting and should promote a lot of discussion. And after all, how different societies manage their population is a key building block of sociology. You can of course, also bring in globalisation, and even climate change!