playing god? in the classroom is an educational resource designed to accompany the playing god? podcast, for use by instructors to introduce bioethics concepts and facilitate discussions of ethics among high school and above students. The playing god? in the classroom resources are free and available for non-commercial uses. For other uses and more information, please contact [email protected].
This Lesson Plan accompanies Episode 6, Season 1 of playing god?
Click here to access this Lesson Plan in a printable pdf format
Summary
When Laurie Strongin’s son Henry was born with the rare, often fatal disease of Fanconi anemia, doctors told her that the best way to save his life was with an umbilical cord blood transplant from a genetically matched sibling. But Henry had no matched siblings. Laurie and her husband then learned about a novel idea of combining three technologies to have a child who was guaranteed to be a genetic match, raising the question: is it ethical to create a life in order to save another?
This Lesson Plan uses the Podcast Episode about a controversial story from the 1990s to illustrate the ethics implications of new medical technologies and new uses of existing technologies. Students will deliberate about acceptable and unacceptable uses of genetic technologies. They can apply ethics concepts from this Episode to other emerging technologies. This Lesson Plan can also facilitate a discussion about political and moral theories of liberalism and respect for autonomy (in this case, parental autonomy).
Vocabulary
The following are key terms used in the Episode and their definitions. The terms are marked in bold when they appear elsewhere in the Lesson Plan.
Discussion Guide
The following Assessment Questions can be used by instructors to evaluate student comprehension of Laurie’s story and the bioethics concepts featured in the Podcast Episode. The Discussion Questions can prompt students to make claims and provide evidence and their reasoning. Student comprehension and views can be assessed before and after listening to the Episode and/or participating in the group activity.
Sample Activities
The activities allow students to actively engage with the bioethics questions at the center of the Episode. Students will develop critical thinking skills and reason-based judgment by citing evidence from the Podcast and other sources. In bioethics, there often isn’t a single “right” answer to a particular question; ideally, students will express and evaluate diverse viewpoints about complex, real-world problems.
Additional Resources
Further readings about key topics covered in the Episode.
Careers Mentioned
The following is a list of different careers and specific professionals mentioned in the Episode.
About this Lesson Plan
The playing god? in the classroom resources are free and open to use for non-commercial purposes. For other uses and more information, please contact [email protected].
To develop these materials, the Berman Institute has collaborated with a group of teachers participating in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program, which provides accomplished K-12 STEM educators the opportunity to spend 11 months working in federal agencies or in U.S. Congressional offices, applying their extensive knowledge and classroom experiences to national education program and/or education policy efforts. Eight of the Fellows, drawn from public and private schools across the country, formed an advisory board that is helping shape, review, and pilot the educational materials.
The playing god? Podcast is a production of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics Dracopoulos-Bloomberg iDeas Lab. Season One was co-produced with Pushkin Industries with support from the Greenwall Foundation.
© 2024 Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics
The Podcast Episode and this lesson plan are not designed to answer patient-specific clinical, professional, legal, or ethical questions. Information contained herein is not intended as a substitute for professional consultation.