Students are presented with the relationship of bright lights, holiday lights and other intense uses of electricity in terms of the effects on air quality, and the subsequent effect on human health. If dirty air makes people sick, what can be done to reduce air pollution from electricity production and use? Students are asked to consider this question and develop recommendations for personal, policy, and advocacy actions.
Students assume roles representing competing perspectives with respect to energy use, examine the values inherent in these perspectives, explore the ethical implications of each and develop and promote a policy on energy use in keeping with their moral compass.
Investigation of some of the side issues such as the relative merits of various means of energy production or the impact of air pollution on peoples in the developed and developing world would require additional research by either the students or teachers.
The following tool will allow you to explore the relevant curriculum matches for this resource. To start, select a province listed below.
Principle | Rating | Explanation |
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Consideration of Alternative Perspectives | Good | Invites students to consider competing perspectives on the issue of holiday lights. Students are assigned roles reflecting variety of perspectives and encouraged to examine other perspectives through a jigsaw approach. |
Consideration of Alternative Perspectives:
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Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions | Good | Students are encouraged to consider the environmental consequences of energy use (air pollution); the social implications (individual and community health); the economic considerations (means of energy production) |
Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions: Effectively addresses the environmental, economic and social dimensions of the issue(s) being explored.
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Respects Complexity | Very Good | Students are required to explore different perspectives to ethical decision making and in doing so to clarify their own values on the issues raised |
Respects Complexity: The complexity of the problems/issues being discussed is respected. | ||
Acting on Learning | Satisfactory | Students are asked to develop a policy on the issue addressed in accordance with their preferred ethical approach; to test the merits of policy by inviting peer response; to revise the policy (if required) based on that response. |
Acting on Learning: Learning moves from understanding issues to working towards positive change — in personal lifestyle, in school, in the community, or for the planet
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Values Education | Very Good | In constructing their position on the issue raised, students are required to examine and to articulate their values inherent in the ethical approach they choose to adopt. |
Values Education: Students are explicitly provided with opportunities to identify, clarify and express their own beliefs/values. | ||
Empathy & Respect for Humans | Good | Students are required to consider the impact their decisions have on others and to act in a socially conscious manner. |
Empathy & Respect for Humans: Empathy and respect are fostered for diverse groups of humans (including different genders, ethnic groups, sexual preferences, etc.). | ||
Personal Affinity with Earth | Satisfactory | While the focus of the effects of energy use is on human health, opportunities are presented to consider ecosystem impacts. |
Personal Affinity with Earth: Encourages a personal affinity with -the natural world.
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Locally-Focused Learning | Very Good | The case study presented in the activity focuses on the impact individual actions have on the larger community - the environmental/health consequences of holiday lighting. The action component of the activity suggests that students consider a strategy that would have a positive impact on the community with respect to the concerns raised. |
Locally-Focused Learning: Includes learning experiences that take advantage of issues/elements within the local community.
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Past, Present & Future | Satisfactory | Attention is on a current practice, the health implications of that practice, and possible actions that may reduce the health risks to today's and future populations. |
Past, Present & Future: Promotes an understanding of the past, a sense of the present, and a positive vision for the future. |
Principle | Rating | Explanation |
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Open-Ended Instruction | Good | Students construct their own perspective on the issue of the responsibility attached to energy use through a framework that identifies multiple perspectives, ethical reasoning, and structured student exchange. |
Open-Ended Instruction
: Lessons are structured so that multiple/complex answers are possible; students are not steered toward one 'right' answer. | ||
Integrated Learning | Good | Issues addressed in the resource have relevance for science (energy production, air pollution), health (air quality), civics (citizen responsibility), ethics (values clarification), and language arts ( persuasive reasoning) curricula. |
Integrated Learning: Learning brings together content and skills from more than one subject area
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Inquiry Learning | Good | Students are presented with a question - To what extent do all electricity users have a duty to reduce consumption as much as possible?. A case study introduces the question and students arrive at their own position after a process that requires examining a variety of perspectives and clarifying their values through a process of ethical reasoning. |
Inquiry Learning: Learning is directed by questions, problems, or challenges that students work to address.
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Differentiated Instruction | Good | The pedagogy adopted by the resource includes role playing, cooperative learning within a jigsaw approach and student policy development and implementation. |
Differentiated Instruction: Activities address a range of student learning styles, abilities and readiness.
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Experiential Learning | Satisfactory | A case study(holiday lighting) introduces a simulation in which students role play possible responses to the issue of responsible energy use. Concluding activities ask students to develop a persuasive piece that may convince others in the community of the student's position on the issues raised. |
Experiential Learning: Authentic learning experiences are provided
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Cooperative Learning | Good | Group interaction within a jigsaw approach and requires students to articulate their position on the issues and to listen to an incorporate the perspective of others in deciding on a strategy or policy with respect to responsible energy use. |
Cooperative Learning: Group and cooperative learning strategies are a priority.
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Assessment & Evaluation | Good | Students review each other’s persuasive pieces and develop criteria for how well they address the essential question; develop criteria to rate their own and each other’s presentations; use magazines, newspapers and the Internet to identify analogous cases. |
Assessment & Evaluation: Tools are provided that help students and teachers to capture formative and summative information about students' learning and performance. These tools may include reflection questions, checklists, rubrics, etc. | ||
Peer Teaching | Good | Role playing and jigsaw components require that students listen and respond to the perspective presented by other students and to articulate their position so as to persuade others. |
Peer Teaching: Provides opportunities for students to actively present their knowledge and skills to peers and/or act as teachers and mentors.
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Case Studies | Good | The issue of holiday lighting provides the case study to introduce questions related to the production and use of energy, the health implications of our choices, and the issue of responsible energy use. |
Case Studies: Relevant case studies are included. Case studies are thorough descriptions of real events from real situations that students use to explore concepts in an authentic context. | ||
Locus of Control | Good | The resource represents a structured investigation of a pre-determined question but students may, as part of the extension activities, identify other areas of personal behavior that have larger environmental health implications; investigate the actual contribution of individual behavior change around energy use to air quality;or compare corporate contributions to air pollution and the effect of regulation |
Locus of Control: Meaningful opportunities are provided for students to choose elements of program content, the medium in which they wish to work, and/or to go deeper into a chosen issue. |