Students assume the roles of federal legislators and explore several Cell Biology and Cancer website resources to identify reasons to support or oppose a proposed statute that would require individuals under the age of 18 to wear protective clothing when outdoors.

After completing this activity, students will:

• understand that science can help us improve personal and public health,
• be able to explain that good choices can reduce an individual's risk of developing cancer and can improve an individual's chance of survival if he or she does develop it,
• understand that ethics brings to public policy debates two presumptions: that we should protect individual autonomy and that we should protect individual and societal health and well-being,
• recognize that ethical values sometimes conflict in public policy debates about strategies for reducing the risk of cancer, and
• understand that it is possible for people to hold different positions on a controversial topic and still participate in a reasoned discussion about it.