Activity: Science and Values: Using Science to Shape Our Future, by Jason Albert

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Overview

Students will jigsaw several articles that make the connection between values and science explicit. They will build on their vocabulary, enabling them to better discuss the link between values and science.

Purpose and learning goals

This lesson expands students' understanding of how values are intertwined with science. Students will read selected articles on topics that embody the link between science and values. They will begin to appreciate that the practice of science can be filled with subjectivity and political underpinnings, i.e., that it is not necessarily the apolitical and objective domain that it was once thought to be. Finally, students will articulate their understanding of how science can be used as a vehicle to shape policies in a myriad of political spheres.

Prerequisite knowledge

(From lesson #2) Students will have a working definition of values and ethics and how they are applied to a myriad of issues. In addition, students should understand that values are very much dependent upon an individual's or group's agenda. Students will be given information on contentious issues to help elucidate the connection between science and values.

Intended grade level

8 - 12

Time involved

Approximately 60 minutes unless articles from this lesson plan are used. Teacher may wish to include articles of local interest for their article jigsaw.

Alignment to standards (for entire unit)

• Boulder Valley School District standard 5: Students know and evaluate interrelationships among science, technology, and human activity and how they can affect the world.
• Boulder Valley School District science standard 6: Students understand that science involves a particular way of knowing and understand common connections among scientific disciplines. (Met partly)

Background information

Students should have already completed lessons one and two in this unit. However, for students knowledgeable about the relationship between science and values, this lesson can be used independently.

Materials

Five articles, sample topics below.

• Human cloning
• Human space travel (good topic in light of NASA's reevaluation of the space shuttle program)
• Genetically modified crops
• Testing on animals for product development or medical research
• Drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
• Global warming

Guiding questions (to be answered by each group)

• How do science and values relate to each other?
• How can science be used to change the future as it relates to the topics discussed in your article? What does science promise for the future?
• What are the benefits and possible costs to society as a result of the actions advocated for in your article?
• How do we as a democratic society prevent specific technologies from being used for adverse or perceived negative uses?

Preparation

About 60 minutes (shorter if you already have articles available for discussion)

Student time: Full block period to read the articles and answer questions. Second half of period can be used to have each group present their article and responses. For classes easily engaged in oral discussion, allocate more class time for group presentations at the end of the unit.

Procedure

1. Break students into groups of 3 to 5 depending on class size.
2. Hand out the articles and guiding questions to the students.
3. Each group should have one recorder to document responses to the questions.
4. Use an overhead to preview the questions. You may want to use an exemplar article and responses so the expectations are clear.
5. Have each group select someone to report to the class on their article. The presentation should include the topic of the article, its main points, and the group's responses to the questions.
6. Have each group lead a short question and answer period to explore any remaining issues.

Extensions and applications

This lesson lends itself nicely to a social studies class investigating how science and technology have shaped our society. Since science and technology have caused so much change over the past 200 years, this lesson should mesh nicely with most social studies curriculum.

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