Introduction

What's the truth and who says so? In the old days (say just before you were born), people could read books, study, and feel pretty sure they knew what was going on. Then things started changing. We realized everyone had an opinion and if we listened, we could learn something. We also found that a lot of topics weren't separate, but connected to each other. So thinking in little boxes didn't work so well. Then along came the Web. Ah-oh... Because anyone can publish a Web page and passionate people tend to want to get their ideas out there, almost any interest, concern or issue has its online community.

Guess what: you're going to use the Web for learning. And grabbing someone else's ideas without giving them a close look is worse than silly. Think of it as intellectual slavery. So let's break the chains.

As a group you're going to explore the topic of Deer Population Growth. Each member of your team will become an expert in one part of the topic. Then you'll have to come back together to answer a question that gets to the heart of 'what's the truth and who says so?' Local parks often are overpopulated by deer. There are several solutions to this problem but each solution ends up with some people not happy. Your job is to research the problem of overpopulation from one of four perspectives and then debate and decide as a group the best method to control the population. Of course there will be some math along the way..... We want you to do a good job, so why not read the evaluation rubric for this WebQuest?

The Question

The main question you will be asked to find an answer for is:

After gathering information on your perspective, what is the best way to control deer population? Should we even intervene? What do the numbers say--is this a significant problem?

Background Information

Before becoming an expert on one aspect of this topic, we'd better make sure that everyone on your WebQuest team knows the basics. Make sure everyone on your team can answer all the questions before moving into your individual roles. The questions:
1. Determine the current deer population by...
Because information about the deer count at Wharton State Park is not readily available, data from a nearby facility, Fermi National Accelerator Lab, will be substituted. Information will be gathered specifically from a press release dated January 29,1998. Browse this source and find
2. the average number of deer per square mile
3. the optimum capacity of deer per square mile for a balanced system.
Use the above information to help calculate a range for the deer population at Wharton Park's Batso Natural Area by

4. connecting to Wharton's home page finding the actual size of the Batso Natural Area.
(Note: 640 acres = 1 square mile).
5. Determine a range of optimum capacity and what percentage is the current population over the optimal?
6. Predict the long term population growth rate using the Leslie model and the total population after 10, 11, and 12 cycles for the population distribution information given to you by your teacher.

fermi lab statistics

Wharton State Park

Individual Roles

Now that you have some overall background knowledge, it's time to return to the main question for this WebQuest. Questions this big and important are better answered when a few people are working on it at one time. Things work even better when a group of you decide to look at the question from different perspectives. This way team members can become experts on different aspects of the question and then come together to poll their learning. This is where team work pays off. So are you ready to divide and conquer this question?

animal rights activist

Use the links below to learn more about your role. Specifically, look for answers to the following questions:

1) Why is your perspective the best one?
2) List the pro's and con's of your perspective to bring back to your group.
3) What would happen to the problem if your perspective is choosen?
4) See if you can fine other links to support your perspective.

White tailed deer-creatures or crops?

Addresses different hunting techniques: muzzleloading and bowhunting. Supports other forms of population control.

Predator Control

government's involvement from the animal right's activist perspective

homeowner being effected by the area

Use the links below to learn more about your role. Specifically, look for answers to the following questions:

1) Why is your perspective the best one?
2) List the pro's and con's of your perspective to bring back to your group.
3) What would happen to the problem if your perspective is choosen?
4) See if you can fine other links to support your perspective.

Who is responsible for deer management?

responsibility of the landowner is discussed

Living with deer

How people can live more comfortably with deer and allow nature to control the population

politician

Use the links below to learn more about your role. Specifically, look for answers to the following questions:

1) Why is your perspective the best one?
2) List the pro's and con's of your perspective to bring back to your group.
3) What would happen to the problem if your perspective is choosen?
4) See if you can fine other links to support your perspective.

Balance Threatened by Simplifying Ecosystems Simplification of Ecosystems

description of the effects of deer overpopulation on the environment and on highway traffic accidents.

Deer Management Program

Shows how scientists develop plans to control population

hunter

Use the links below to learn more about your role. Specifically, look for answers to the following questions:

1) Why is your perspective the best one?
2) List the pro's and con's of your perspective to bring back to your group.
3) What would happen to the problem if your perspective is choosen?
4) See if you can fine other links to support your perspective.

Quality Deer Management Association

ethical hunting

Where hunting means preservation

discusses the benefits to hunting

Group Synthesis

Congratulations! Your team is now full of expertise. Each person (or pair) on your team have become experts on the topic of Deer Population Growth. You've all learned a lot of information. But guess what, gathering useful information isn't the same as truly understanding a topic. What experts in the field of learning suggest is that you now use that information in a new and challenging way. Then you'll really know about this topic.

So with you team members all gathered together, carefully read and try answering the main question for this WebQuest. See where you all agree and where differences arise.

Use information, pictures, movies, facts, opinions, etc you explored to convince your teammates that your viewpoint is important and should be part of your team's answer to the Task / Quest(ion). Your WebQuest team should write out an answer that everyone on the team can live with. Choose one of the four perspectives that your group feels the strongest about together to present to the class. You can present other options if you want but you are really shooting for one method of population control you would like to see enacted! In your presentation, you should give us all of your reasons and present alternatives to the disadvantages of your method. Visual aids, inventive methods of presenting, giving us other links you looked at will all help your grade. Make sure to give a quick presentation to the background and why this is even a problem.

Real World Feedback:

Conclusion

At the beginning of this activity, you were asked about the truth. Did you discover it? Was there only one? Did everyone on your team think so? How did you answer the main question for this WebQuest? Have you checked the evaluation rubric to guide what you did?

You deserve a lot of praise for all the work you've done. And so does your brain. You've sure put that gray stuff to the test. You gained background information, developed expertise in one particular area and got into some pretty expert analysis. At times, you must have felt confused with ideas spinning every which way. That's normal when you're building new mental connections. It's funny, with each link between what you already knew and the new learning going on, you broke another different kind of link, remember the intellectual slavery we spoke about earlier? You're free! How will you use these ideas and strategies as you continue to grow and learn? It's all up to you. Good luck.

created by Kathleen Haines email: khaines@srsd.org,kathih22@aol.com http://www.web-and-flow.com/members/khaines/population1/webquest.htm