Curated OER
Selfless Service and The Giving Tree - Building Ethical Conscience
Upper elementary schoolers investigate philanthropy and selflessness by reading a children's book. In this ethics activity, they read The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, and research Mahatma Gandhi's troublesome, yet inspiring, life....
Curated OER
Using Fairy Tales to Debate Ethics
Is trickery ever justified? Is it okay to steal from someone who has stolen from you? Puss, from Puss in Boots, and Jack, from Jack and the Beanstalk, might have some ideas about these ethical questions. After listening to a series of...
Curated OER
Presenting Ethical Dilemmas in the Classroom
Students explore the dilemma of bioethics. Students review a cast study on a bioethical topic. They research the facts, values, and stakemakers in the controversial debate. Students consider the consequences and discuss their findings...
Curated OER
Recreating Marriage: The Same-Sex Union Debate
A debate continues regarding same-sex marriage as a constitutional right. This lesson requires learners to define marriage then formulate an argument that reconstructs the national debate perspectives. Many standards are addressed but a...
Curated OER
Students Press Law and Ethics
Learners research the rights and the responsibilities of journalists in dealing with First Amendment issues. In this First Amendment lesson plan, students research the Alien and Sedition Acts and study the five elements of...
Curated OER
Exploring Ethical Issues
High schoolers learn about ethical issues and its connection to journalism. Students examine examples of ethical issues some journalists have faced. in small groups, high schoolers collaborate to write a code of ethics for their school...
Curated OER
The Connection Between Medicine, Ethics, and Law: The Right to Die
Students in a special education class examine the United States Constitution. Using the text, they answer five research questions and discuss the amendments that concern medicine, ethics and law of the right to die issue. They develop...
ProCon
Drug Use in Sports
The ancient Greeks used performance enhancing drugs, such as opium juice, when they participated in the original Olympic Games. Pupils research a website with debate topics to decide if athletes' use of such drugs in modern sports is...
iCivics
Lesson 3: Bias
How do journalists balance bias and ethical reporting? The final instructional activity in a series of five from iCivics examines the different types of bias and how they affect the news we read. Young reporters take to the Internet to...
Curated OER
Pandora's Box
Some of today's technologies are controversial, in vitro fertilization being one of them. Mature high school biology classes examine the technology involved in and dilemmas created by this procedure. They play different roles in an...
Curated OER
Immigration: U.S. Policy in the New Millennium
Students explore U.S. immigration policies. In this immigration lesson, students read about the history of immigration policies in the U.S., uncover controversial issues regarding immigration, and speak to immigrants as well as...
Curated OER
Politics of Death
Young scholars examine the topic of euthanasia. In this religion and ethics lesson plan, students investigate the cases of Terri Schiavo and Hugh Finn in order to gain an understanding of the euthanasia controversy.
Curated OER
The Rules of the Game
Students debate whether college athletes should be held to a higher behavioral standard than non-athletes. Students determine whether behavior outside of school should be punishable by university administration, then write letters to the...
Curated OER
What Are the Ethical and Legal Aspects of Radon?
Students research a legal or ethical aspect of radon. They create their own legislation regarding radon and real estate. They present their information to the class.
Newseum
Free Press Challenges Through History: Analyzing Historical Sources
The debate over the integrity of stories in media is not new. Young journalists analyze historical sources that reveal freedom of the press controversies and draw parallels to challenges freedom of the press faces today.
Curated OER
Jurassic Park: The Science and Ethics of Genetic Engineering
Explore genetic engineering through an engaging "Jurassic Park" unit, which is an extensive use of a cross-curricular teaching event. Planned for AP Biology, English, and Calculus students, learners and teachers are involved for 4-6...
Curated OER
Stakeholder Debate: Ethics and Lead
Young scholars work in teams to develop a presentation and handout representing a particular point of view in a Lead Debate. They synthesize their varied knowledge of lead and its issues, organize this knowledge, and present it...
Curated OER
Human Genome Debate
Learners study the Human Genome Project and participate in a debate about the project. In this genome lesson, students review the terms related to the genome project, take a poll about the ethical issues of the project, and watch a video...
Curated OER
Genetic Engineering
Young scholars identify relationships between scientific concepts and their historical roots. They discuss and debate issues of ethics in science, specifically on the concept of genetic engineering and describe the processes of cloning...
Curated OER
Writing History: From Students to Scholars
An Online NewsHour article about scholarly ethics launches this study of plagiarism. Since historians are supposed to bring original ideas and perspectives to their publications, they must give credit to the ideas of others. After a...
ProCon
Vegetarianism
What do Mike Tyson, Ellen DeGeneres, and Paul McCartney have in common? They're all famous vegetarians. Using the resource, scholars learn about the pros and cons of eating a vegetarian diet. They read a fascinating history of...
Curated OER
Human Cloning, Genetic Engineering and Privacy
Review the aspects of human cloning and the moral issues associated with it. Individually, your students will keep a list of the articles related to this issue and research issues related to the ethic issues people are concerned with....
Curated OER
Why Amundsen Killed His Dogs
Students use Internet, video and text resources to gather information about the Amundsen/Scott race for the South Pole in 1911-12, dog sledding, and the ethical treatment of animals for science. They set up a debate to determine the...
Curated OER
Debate: "Indoor Air vs. Outdoor Air Pollution: Which Is the More Serious Threat to Public Health?"
Students work in teams to synthesize their air, asthma, air contamination, and environmental health knowledge as well as additional research to represent a particular point of view persuasively. They create a handout and presentatin...