| Questions: (please circle the answer you choose) A. Using recycled/recyclable materials is more expensive than using raw material and then disposing of it afterwards. How much material used in factory products should be recycled or recyclable? 1. 90% 2. 60% 3. 30% 4. 0% B. Shorter car warranties will benefit factory owners but not the employed or the environment. How long should car warranties be? 1. 10 years 2. 7 years 3. 5 years 4. 3 years C. Automated work benefits factory owners greatly but results in lay-offs. How much automated factory work should be allowed? 1. 15% 2. 30% 3. 60% 4. 90% D. High emissions standards benefit the environment but harm factories. What kind of emissions standards should there be for new cars? 1. high 2. medium high 3. moderate 4. low E. Putting taxes on certain products makes them unpopular with consumers so that they purchase other products. Should there be taxes put on the price of products that do not meet the above standards? 1. always 2. most of the time 3. sometimes 4. never F. Higher taxes make people spend less money. How much taxpayers� money be used to fund research on technology that is better for the environment? 1. a lot 2. a fair bit 3. some 4. none G. Established companies often produce things that are harmful to the environment. Should the government fund a new company that offers technology that is less harmful to the environment? 1. always 2. most of the time 3. sometimes 4. never H. Should it be left up to the corporations to decide whether to use alternative energy sources instead of fossil fuels in their factories and consumer products? 1. never 2. sometimes 3. most of the time 4. always I. Should the government enforce systems like carpooling that reduce the use of technology harmful to the environment? 1. always 2. most of the time 3. sometimes 4. never J. Should large company trucks have to meet the same emissions standards as regular cars do? 1. always 2. most of the time 3. sometimes 4. never When you have answered all of the questions, add up the numbers of the 10 answers you selected. If you chose 1 every time, your total would be 10. If you chose 4 every time your total would be 40. Your total must be between 10 and 40. Total: _______ |
| In this activity, students chose one of the following identities: factory owner, environmentalist, employed individual, unemployed individual. The people having the same identity got together to decide on how to answer the questions below, of which they were given a copy. When they had done so, new groups were formed having different identities of people. Each group had a different composition of identities: |
Meeting # 1 2 3 4 |
Score |
| Factory Owners 1 2 3 4 |
| Environ- mentalists 1 2 3 4 |
Employed 1 2 3 4 |
| Un- employed 1 2 3 4 |
| Politics and Environment |
| The members of these mixed groups had to come to a consensus on each of the questions, using democracy on a small scale. Each answer is numbered (1-4) and these numbers are totalled at the end of the voting. |
| The teacher records each group's total on the chart above and shows the chart to the class. The class can then discuss how the numbers came about. What is the relationship between the composition of the group and total number? Feelings about the advantages and drawbacks of the democratic process can be brought out. What does it feel like to be in the minority? We can elect who will be in power, but we cannot elect what kinds of people are in the majority. The importance of public debate and of voicing one's opinion through voting and demonstrating can be revealed by talking about the following: What outcomes would you predict for a society that got a low total? A high total? A medium-range total? Is there anything a minority group can do to beat the odds against them? Is there anything that factory owners, who are never in the majority, do to control what happens in society? |
| Reflections: I designed this lesson for a Science and Technology 11 class. The students in this class tend to be very sluggish and unenthusiastic in the classroom. I set up the identity groups and got them to start going through the questions. This was the most difficult part, as the students were intimidated by the questions being put to them. Some groups tried a question or two but then stopped. I had expected there to be problems such as this, and I was constantly going around the class to give hints and explanations. In some cases I had to show the importance of a certain question for a society, in others I had to clarify what sorts of things people of a certain identity would likely choose. I tried, however, to allow them to come to their own conclusions. Things went better during the mixed groups, as students had disagreements and some became quite adament about their opinions. There were, however, a few who didn't take part in the voting. The noise level in the class was low enough to show that the students still weren't fully engaged. After all of the groups had finished, I put the results on the board. |