Classroom Questions

Questions for ‘Will the internet soon reach the one-third of people without it?’

an illustration showing thousands of people standing in the same general shape as a map of the world. There are gray lines connecting people to each other

More than a third of the world’s population lacks internet access. Many people who can’t get online live in rural areas or where industrialization has not yet arrived. New tech aims to help such communities connect.

Christoph Burgstedt/iStock/Getty Images Plus

By Science News Explores

To accompany “Will the internet soon reach the one-third of people without it?”

SCIENCE

Before Reading:

1. List at least five ways you use the internet in your daily life. Then pick two of these ways and describe how you might accomplish the same task if you did not have internet.

2. There are different ways for devices to connect to the internet. What are two ways that a cell phone can connect to the internet? What are two ways that a computer can connect to the internet?

During Reading:

1.  Why is it challenging to access and use the internet in Ivujivik?

2.  What did the United Nations declare about internet access in 2016?

3.  What is the digital divide? How large is it?

4.  List at least three ways that innovative technologies are helping to provide internet access in remote areas.

5.  What are three reasons why it is difficult to install fiber-optic cables in every town or village in the world?

6.  What is it called when a cellular signal provides an internet connection for an area?

7.  What two kinds of satellites are used to provide internet connections? How do the two types differ?

8.  In what situations might it make sense to send internet signals with laser light? What are the weaknesses of relying on this technology?

9.  Even in areas where internet is available, some people may not use it. Describe at least three reasons why some people might not use the internet.

10. How is the digital divide an equity issue?

After Reading:

1.  What are some reasons — beyond technology alone — why it may be challenging to make it possible for everyone to have access to the internet?

2.  Who would benefit if the digital divide could be reduced, and what might those benefits be? Give at least two examples, using evidence from the story to support your answer.