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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 10, Season 1 of playing god?
Click here to access this Lesson Plan in a printable pdf format
Summary
In the 1960s, a committee of seven Seattle residents met regularly to decide which patients with chronic kidney disease were “worthy” of getting access to a new but scarce technology, life-saving dialysis. Whoever wasn’t selected by the committee would likely die within months. An exposé of this so-called “God Squad” helped spark the formation of a new field: bioethics. In this bonus Episode to the playing god? Podcast, students will hear how this early committee made life-and-death decisions, and why its approach is unlikely to be used again.
This Lesson Plan uses a historical case study to facilitate a discussion on allocating scarce life-saving resources in healthcare. Students will critically examine how decisions were made in the 1960s and contrast this story from the past with contemporary allocation decisions featured in other Episodes.
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 the Seattle residents’ 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.