In a mock senate hearing regarding the development of ethanol as a fuel source, each person in the class is assigned a role to play and must uphold the stance of their character. Once the senate hearing is complete, each person writes a personal position essay about the topic.

Additional Tags

debate about environment, scientific debate, writing in science, science

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Pros

• Role-play activity allows multiple perspectives to be presented in a non-threatening way
• Personal position essay requires each learner to take a stance and back it up with evidence

Cons

• Requires some direct instruction on how to make a mock hearing work, unless your classes have already done such an activity

Common Core

SL.11-12.1.a SL.11-12.1.b SL.11-12.1.c SL.11-12.1.d SL.11-12.2 SL.11-12.3 SL.11-12.4 SL.11-12.6