To conclude our genetics unit we will be creating an argumentative project that includes facts, data, and information that focuses on a controversial topic in genetics. You will be assigned a topic and you will create a project based on that. It will demonstrate your understanding of the topic and how it relates to us as humans. Ethics refers not to whether something is possible, all of the technologies in this project are mostly possible, but whether it should or should not be used. Be sure to include a statement that describes your topic, everyone will be doing a different topic so you are essentially teaching the rest of the class what your ethics topic is. The teacher will tell you what your assignment is according to each individual class.
For the poster: The final project for our genetics unit will be for you and a group of up to three total members to create a poster that discusses the ethics of a particular topic in genetics. Your project should examine both sides of of this ethical debate. When you present your poster you will talk about the statements on your poster in more detail so write an explanation of each pro and con. Also, each group member is responsible for writing their own conclusion to this project. Conclusions should take a side in the ethics debate and and explain what evidence you feel most strongly supports your argument. The conclusion should be written neatly and clearly on nice paper or typed. Please no more than two or three paragraphs.
For the debate: You and your group will work together to build an argument for one side of a topic (regardless of whether you truly agree or not). You will find positive or negative aspects of that topic in order to support or oppose the topic. If you are the proposition, you still need to research negative points in order to rebuttal the opposing side's argument better, and vice versa. The debate will be ran in traditional debate format with timed arguments and a judge. We will combine classes for an interdisciplinary experience with social studies! This assignment is a summative grade for science and social studies.
The Ethics in Genetics topics are listed below. If you click the images you will find links to all of the recommended resources to use for this project. If you want to use a resource not listed among the links, you must get it approved by your teacher. Make sure it is a credible source like peer reviewed articles and non-profit organizations that are not writing the information in a biased point of view. Credible sources include websites that end in .edu or .gov. If you have questions about whether it is a credible source, see your teacher.