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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Teaching Controversial Science Issues Through Law Related Education

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Discuss the differences in dialogue and debate when considering a controversial topic. Your class can work in small groups to complete a guided discussion of this controversial topic and then participate in a simulation of the Scopes...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Teaching Controversial Science Issues Through Law Related Education

For Teachers 7th - 9th
A set of lessons help aspiring scientists practice the critical thinking skills required for facing controversial issues such as evolution. As a group, they discuss what controversy consists of. They compare and constrast the concepts of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

AP Environmental Science-Food Fight

For Teachers 10th - 12th
The content in this instructional activity is of a controversial nature. Please review to make sure it is suitable for your class. A video, The Meatrix is shown to the class, and then they discuss the emotionally-charged language that it...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Debating Controversial Issues: Integrating Science and Current Events

For Teachers 9th - 12th
In order to give young scientists experience with critical thinking skills, introduce them to a current controversy and prepare them to debate. Choose a topic, such as genetically modified organisms, and assign groups to represent...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Air Pollution: The Issue of Global Warming

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Here is an outstanding 10-page lesson plan on global warming. Learners discover that there is a lot of controversy surrounding this topic in that the science behind global warming is difficult to prove. The best thing about this plan is...
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Lesson Plan
Virginia Department of Education

Biotechnological Issues and Bioethics

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Culminate a bioethics unit with the implementation of a instructional activity that incorporates the Socratic method to encourage class feedback and participation. Pupils participate in a discussion on bioethics and morality, complete a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Controversial Issues

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Hot topics are often engaging and can get heated. High School young scholars engage in an academic discussion were they must learn to engage with a person holding a different view than their own. They practice discussing different...
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Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Kennewick Man: Science and Sacred Rights

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
"Have respect for the dead!" Scholars investigate how science and religion often clash. As they look into the laws of science and the laws of religion, the legal ramifications at the federal level of both play into an argument they...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Looking for Trouble - Using the Internet to Research Structured Controversy

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Discuss controversial issues with your charges. More importantly, discuss how you have to research both sides of a controversy before taking a stance. In groups, middle schoolers research the controversial issue of dog sled racing. They...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

When Art Conveys Political and Social Conflict

For Teachers 12th
Twelfth graders consider art as a medium to convey information and opinions on social conflict and issues. They analyze images from the Crocker Art Museum, discuss their effectiveness in raising awareness of an issue, and create a...
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PPT
Curated OER

Issues and Ethics

For Teachers 9th
Awakening young scientists to the notion of ethics and its impact on developing topics, such as biotechnology, will be simple if you use this basic PowerPoint summarizing some of the current controversial practices.    
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Lesson Plan
Media Smarts

Media Awareness Network: Hate or Debate?

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Discuss the difference between legitimate debate on a political issue and arguments that are based on hate through a science-fiction scenario that shows how a controversial issue can be discussed in both ways. Then learn how purveyors of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Dealing with DNA Controversy

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Pupils research controversial statements about biological applications and write a persuasive essay. In this biology lesson plan, learners are assigned a controversial statement as a research topic, then they use this topic to create a...
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Lesson Plan
Constitutional Rights Foundation

Issues of Asylum in the U.S.

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Who gets to come to the United States? Examine cases of individuals seeking asylum with an informative reading passage that includes examples, statistics, and representations of public opinion regarding asylum. Groups then go on to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Why is Evolution Controversial?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers examine the controversy surrounding evolution --- the challenges to science, the battles over teaching evolution in the schools, and the reconciliation of religion and science. They also examine an interactive time line...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Genome: Controversy for All Times

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Students examine the genome and discuss the ethical and moral issues surrounding it. In groups, they discover the differences between ethics and morals and discuss where the concepts of good and bad come from in society. After reading...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Student And Teacher Behaviors In Science Classrooms

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Students work in cooperative learning groups and respond to cases involving ethical choices by students and teachers in science classrooms. They create and submit additional cases and questions for use throughout the school year.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Wilderness Concept: Our National Parks, History and Issues

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine the history of the National parks. In groups, they discuss the concepts of conservation and preservation. They discuss the use of natural resources and how some are renewable and non-renewable. To end the lesson, they...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Science and Values: Using Science to Shape Our Future

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Learners explore and discuss the link between values and science. They read several articles on such topics as global warming, cloning, genetically modified crops and animal testing and then identify the subjective aspect of science in...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

My View's Write!

For Teachers 6th - 8th
After researching issues involving panthers, middle schoolers practice writing persuasive letters.  They  become familiar with a controversial issue related to panthers and write their position on the issue. This lesson would be a good...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Genetic Engineering

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students 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 and...
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Lesson Plan
UNICEF

Get Real on Climate

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Climate change isn't just about a warming planet; it will affect humans' health, spread of disease, changes in heat waves and droughts, and changes in storms and wildfires. Participants explore global climate change through discussions...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Understanding Scientific and Social Implications: Acid Rain

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars examine the social and scientific implications of acid rain. In this acid rain lesson plan, students read an article about acid rain, the causes of acid rain, the effects of acid rain on the environment and the proposals...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Discussion Web: Ender's Game

For Teachers 6th - 9th Standards
Designed to encourage readers to consider both sides of of the question of whether Ender is responsible for the death of all the buggers, individuals search for examples from Orson Scott Card's popular science fiction novel, Ender's Game...