Students will debate several controversial issues such as human cloning, use of performance enhancing drugs in sports, and space exploration in order to determine which they deem more important to society: technology or ethics. After brainstorming a list of issues and cutting it down to 8, students will be given 4 to 5 days to research the issues and prepare for the debate. Students will not know which side they are debating until the debate begins. The purpose of this exercise is for students to carefully consider both sides of issues, as well as alternatives, and to understand the importance of maintaining a healthy balance between ethics and technology.
After the debate,students will write about what they have learned in terms of the issues themselves, their team's performance in the debate, and whether or not their opinion has changed on any issue due to some important point made during the debate.