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...

As the great and hilarious Tim Minchin once said, "Science is simply the word we use to describe a method of organizing our curiosity." Science is more than just a guess; it is based on questions, observations, and evidence. High...

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...

Your teenagers may have heard of fracking, but do they really know what it is? And could they debate the benefits and risks? Educate your environmental science class with a instructional activity about hydraulic fracturing,...

Students 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 of...

Pupils research controversial statements about biological applications and write a persuasive essay. In this biology lesson plan, students are assigned a controversial statement as a research topic, then they use this topic to create a...

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...

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...

"And the award goes to. . . " High schoolers investigate bias in the movie industry by reading articles, watching a short video, and examining data about the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) membership, nominees, and...

How can we keep racism out of our society? Analyze the factors that lead to racism today and research previous scientific findings that impacted social policy. Your high school learners identify ways to prevent past mistakes from...

What is all the fuss about genetically modified foods? PBS provides this resource designed to supplement the documentary Food, Inc. to help learners investigate the benefits and controversies of genetically modified foods...

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...

Students explore the endocrine disruption theory. They work in groups to research and develop a persuasive oral argument to support one side of the endocrine disruption theory. Students engage in debate and other activities to analyze...

Students analyze ethics issues as they read science fiction works. In this science and ethics lesson, students read science fiction short stories of their choosing, investigate the ethics issues raised in the stories, and...

The Electoral College's role in elections is sometimes confusing and controversial. Pupils use a debate topics website to research the pros and cons of the practice to debate whether the United States should still use the Electoral...

High schoolers 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. High schoolers consider the consequences and discuss their...

A debate is a forum for discussing controversial topics and environmental chemistry definitely fits that category. The lesson provides everything necessary to run a mini debate tournament. Use the suggested topics or come up with some as...

High schoolers research the two opposing views and biographical information about Ptolemy and Copernicus in order to be familiar with the societal viewpoints that influenced the thinking of these two scientists. Students role-play...

Students explore climate changes. In this climate changes lesson, students research what causes changes. Students search the Internet, summarize reports they find and create a poster with the information.

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...

Explore how Galileo's controversial theory raised objections in his time. In this physical science activity, learners research about current controversial issues. They role play both sides of the issue, and decide which one has a...

There's an elephant in your classroom. That's right — a big, awkward elephant named Dissection. Sure, you'd like to talk about him ... but how? Whether you're a seasoned teacher or fresh out of student teaching, the topic of dissection...

According to the United Nations, climate change affects every country on the planet. This research project encourages scholars to explore the factors that affect climate change from different perspectives: climate scientist, policy...

Twelfth graders explore controversy around genetically modified foods, identify source of controversy, and role play town hall meeting on genetically modified foods, to examine viewpoints and arguments for and against genetic modification.