Gene Jury
DNA Detectives
Police find a man murdered in a local hotel, DNA everywhere, and now they need scholars' help. Budding detectives step into a crime scene playing the roles of victim, suspects, and investigators. They apply knowledge of criminology and...
Integrated Physics and Chemistry
Law of Conservation of Matter
Does mass change during a chemical reaction? Demonstrate the Law of Conservation of Matter while encouraging class members to be creative with a two-part lesson. First, learners use Alka-Seltzer® tablets and water to demonstrate the...
Curated OER
Galileo and the Inevitability of Ideas
Students research Galileo's work and contributions to science. They make a timeline of Galileo's life, discuss the historical context for his book "Dialogue on the Two Chief World Systems" and examine his trial by the Inquisition for...
Agriculture in the Classroom
Farmland: GMOs and Organic Agriculture
Learn more about genetic modification, organic farming, and the role of biotechnology in agriculture by watching a documentary that shows how newly gained knowledge can be applied to specific situations involving farmers and the choices...
Curated OER
Faith-Based Initiatives: Separation of Church and State
Middle schoolers examine the role of religion in everyday life. In this religion and ethics lesson, students investigate the use of government funds to support faith-based initiatives. The lesson calls for middle schoolers to conduct...
Personal Genetics Education Project
Genetics, history and the American Eugenics Movement
A poignant 20-slide show introduces high schoolers to the amazing accomplishments of genomics and raises the question of eugenics. This instructional activity is only for mature audiences, as it deals with rape and other sensitive...
Curated OER
Which Side to Choose? An Exercise in Choices and Ethics
Students evaluate their reaction to a series of statements to investigate that personal choices are based on personal goals, peer and social pressures, ethic and religious beliefs, and the knowledge of biological consequences. This is...
Curated OER
Religion and Ethics: Living with Special Needs
Students explore human behavior by exploring mental and physical disabilities. In this learning disability lesson, students identify the different disabilities students have which prevent them from working at the same pace as the rest of...
Curated OER
Issues and Ethics
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.
Curated OER
Research Ethics
Young scientists discuss the results of carelessness during experimentation and the temptation to misrepresent findings. These activities are intended to develop the ability to identify scientific error, misconduct, and fraud. Use this...
Curated OER
Bioethics and Effective Health Care
High Schoolers participate in a class discussion on the ethical issues faced in the health care industry today. In groups, they develop their own definition of bioethics and role play the role of one of the various types of members of...
Curated OER
Ethics In The Science Classroom - Pine Barrens
Students explain the complexities of environmental decisions, rather than to recreate the actual circumstances and outcome of the original case. They simulate a real environmental case a regarding the Pine Barrens of Long Island, NY.
Curated OER
Recycling and Composting
Students set up composting sites that allow food scraps and paper to be recycled by nature. They are introduced to one aspect of recycling; composting. Students see how God recycles as the worms change garbage into something that brings...
Curated OER
"Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow"
Do you want to live forever? After reading Kurt Vonnegut’s short story, “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow,” class groups adopt the roles of an ethics committee, product manufacturers, concerned scientists, and potential users of an...
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....
PBS
Technology: Conveniences and Consequences
It's a delicate balance—using technology to improve our lives while still protecting the environment, and ourselves, from the hazards of technology use. Class members examine statistics about the increase in media use, complete a survey...
Nuffield Foundation
Measuring the Vitamin C Content of Foods and Fruit Juices
Are you getting enough vitamin C? Young scientists determine the amount of vitamin C in fruit juice samples. They accomplish this task by adding DCPIP solution to the samples until the blue color of the DCPIP persists. Once this happens,...
Serendip
Where Does a Plant's Mass Come From?
Where does the mass for a growing tree come from? Scholars consider a few different hypotheses and guess which is correct. They then analyze data from different experiments to understand which concepts science supports.
Curated OER
Walter Reed's Yellow Fever Studies
Middle schoolers and high schoolers examine the ethics of using human test subjects in scientific research. They do a simulation which focuses on yellow fever and how human subjects were used to develop a treatment/cure for the disease...
Curated OER
What are the Ethical Considerations of Radon?
In this radon contamination worksheet, students explore the legal and ethical issues associated with radon found in indoor air of homes. Students construct a set of laws that promote fairness to all sellers, buyers and real estate agents...
Curated OER
Science and Values: Using Science to Shape Our Future
Young scholars 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...
Curated OER
Environmental Health Ethics
Learners use inductive reasoning to study different scenarios related to environmental issues. They evaluate various scenarios to develop common definitions and key concepts in environmental health ethics.
Curated OER
With Liberty and Justice for all
Students act as are property owners who learn that soil on their property is contaminated with lead. They consider the issues involved in addressing this problem so that further harm is avoided and a fair solution is developed and...
Teach With Movies
Title: "The Time Machine" - Topics: Science-Technology
Director George Pal’s film The Time Machine, based on H. G. Wells’ 1895 science fiction novella and starring Rod Taylor, Alan Young, and Yvette Mimieux, is the focus of a lesson plan that considers the consequences of time travel....