Toto, Just where is Kansas Anyway?
Interactive Geography Program Makes the Grade
by Don Rittner


The National Geographic Society has declared the first of December through
the seventh as Geography Awareness Week. However, America faces a major
'awareness' problem as we enter 1992 celebrating the 500th anniversary of
Columbus' discovery of America, the birth of the European Economic Community,
and the International Space Year.   Our educational failure when it comes to
geography makes it no surprise that many students think Wyoming is another
country. 

The World Game Institute wants to change that and has produced an interactive
geography program called Global Recall for the Apple Macintosh computer.  Its
purpose is to make learning geography and facts about the world easy and
interesting. It succeeds at both.

Based on the simple point and click graphical interface of the Macintosh
computer and Hypercard software program, Global Recall opens with a world map
as the focal point, or main menu, of the program. This world map is based on
Buckminister Fuller's twenty sided polyhedron projection instead of the more
common Mercator projection or sphere most are familiar with.  The Fuller
Projection  is a more accurate projection of the world and represents the
sizes of the continents more accurately so students can grasp the true nature
of their relationships.  To illustrate, most students think Greenland is
larger than South America while the truth is Greenland is less than 1/8th its
size.

The student can examine the statistics about each continent or country by
clicking on them.  If a continent is clicked, the program will zoom in to
show all the countries on the continent.  A click on any country will then
zoom in to an enlarged view of that country as well as the names of major
cities.

Each of the maps, continent or country level,  are lined with icons or
buttons that allow the student to examine, by simply clicking the icon,
 statistics on population, agriculture, energy, communications, military,
economics, transportation and environment.  There is a great deal of
information found throughout these categories.  Moreover, each country has a
background button that gives some overall information and demographics about
the country. 

Several sets of statistics have been graphically laid out for the student as
well.  Students can see the global distribution of human populations for
1800, 1900, 1950, and 1990; rural and urban populations for 1990; food
production for 1989; calorie consumption for 1986; energy production and
consumption (1989; 1987); literacy and illiteracy for 1987;  external debt
for 1986; educational expenditures for 1986; health expenditures for 1986;
military expenditures for 1989;  armed forces personnel for 1986; reported
AIDS cases for 1987; computers in use for 1970, 85, 87, and 90; motor
vehicles in use for 1985 ; telephones in use for 1986;  and televisions in
use for 1987.   All of the maps can be printed.  

There is a special spinning 3D globe accessible from the world map to
illustrate the global population issue. To the bottom left of the the
rotating globe, the student can see the world's population growing
numerically.  It's  an effective way to illustrate the world's population
problem since there is a noticeable rise in population during the hour or so
the student uses the program.  

There is an amazing amount of information that is accessible for the student
in this program and the simple point and click access to it makes it
extremely easy and fun for the student to use.

The manual that comes with the program gives the sources for all the data but
perhaps the best part is the teacher's section of over 200 activities to use
while students operate the program.  These activities can be used
individually, as a class team project, or interactively between teacher and
student.  

Global Recall costs $85 for single copy,  or a lab pack of 5 copies for $325.
   A free subscription to their newsletter Macroscope is part of the
purchase.  You need a Macintosh computer (Plus, SE/30, or II series) and
Hypercard 1.2 or higher to use the program.  

The World Game Institute is a research and educational non-profit
organization founded after the death of Buckminister Fuller in 1983.  The
Institute leads workshops on how world resources can be better utilized to
audiences from elementary schools to government and corporate leaders. 

Rating: 4.5 (5 being highest)
User Friendly:  4.5
Significant Environmental Value:  4.5
Educational Value: 4.5

The World Game Institute, University City Science Center, 3508 Market Street,
Philadelphia, PA 19104.  (215) 387-0220

Copyright 1991, Don Rittner
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Don Rittner is the author of EcoLinking: Everyone's Guide to Online
Information (Peachpit Press), a columnist for Environment News Service, and
Host of America Online's Environmental Forum.