Evaluating Scientific Issues in Social Terms

Within the social studies, teachers may explore science-based issues with their students to promote the development of their analytic skills and contribute to their civic role as critical decision makers. However, while many regard science as an authority, it is not infallible or without bias. This article outlines the skills students will need to develop in order to evaluate scientific issues in social terms. Once taught, the skills presented can easily be transferred to other areas outside the scope of scientific evaluation.

INTRODUCTION

What are the social implications of scientific issues, such as acid rain? What does acid rain do to buildings, how does it affect agriculture, and how does it affect society? A social studies class can explore these issues in a two-day lesson about acid rain.

To introduce this lesson, students observe what happens to vegetation when vinegar is poured on it. The teacher then tells them that in 1974 a rain in Scotland was found to be as acidic as vinegar. The class then learns what acid rain is and where it comes from, leading into a discussion about its possible affects on society. The next day the class dissolves Alka-Seltzer in hot water. This produces sulfur and water, the basic elements of acid rain. They learn that the Lincoln Memorial fizzes every time it rains in Washington, D. C. because the rain is eating away at it. The children brainstorm reasons this might happen. After this discussion, they are given maps of the United States and asked to hypothesize about which areas of the country have the highest amounts of acid rain and why. Another discussion about how acid rain affects society ensues.

Such a unit is not only interesting and engaging for students, but is also in keeping with the National Council for the Social Studies' 1989 recommendation that students be taught about the impact science, technology, and society have on a global scale and about the effects scientific advances have at various levels. The movement to integrate science-technology-society, or STS, as it is commonly called, into the curriculum is designed to help students learn about the social impact of our reliance on technology and science, while examining society's role in promoting or limiting scientific and technological advances through public policy, allocation of resources, and imposed regulations. Instead of developing courses focusing on STS, it is recommended that this area of study be integrated into all content areas and across all grade levels.

The responsibility to teach children to critically analyze and evaluate science no longer lies with science teachers alone, but also with social studies teachers. Social studies teachers need to learn about how science and technological advancements impact society, and teach students about that relationship.

This subject area interdependence is directly analogous to the world outside the classroom-the world in which students live and will grow to become a part of. Living in a society in which interdependence is increasingly necessary and commonplace, our children must understand and be able to participate in a democratic system. Yet the freedom that accompanies a democratic system is necessarily coupled with responsibility-responsibility that must be taught beginning in the early years and practiced often. As our world becomes more interdependent, the amount of responsibility children have will only increase.

From an early age it is ingrained in children to listen to authority. Historically, children have been trained not to question their parents, their teachers, or even their textbooks. Oftentimes, this allegiance to authority has carried over into adulthood. In 1963, Stanley Milgram led his famous experiment in which subjects were told they were to shock another person for answering questions incorrectly. Subjects sat in front of a control panel and were told by a man in a gray lab coat to increase the intensity of the shock for each incorrect response. Although the person strapped into the chair never actually received any shocks, they acted as if they did. As the intensity of the supposed shocks increased, the person in the chair banged on the wall, screamed in supposed pain, or stopped responding altogether. When these behaviors occurred, many subjects looked to the man in the lab coat for direction. Astonishingly, 65% of the subjects continued to shock the person when told to, demonstrating just how susceptible people are to the influence of authority.

Since science is based largely on objective measures, many view it as being an infallible authority. As demonstrated by Milgram's experiment, this authority can easily be utilized to get people to do things they normally would not. Given this power, and the presumed objectivity of science as a discipline, it is essential to remember, and to teach students, that scientists are human and are subject to personal as well as political bias. As a result, scientific work is also subject to these biases.

Scientific findings and innovations often carry with them significant positive and negative social implications. The social implications of these findings and innovations must be carefully considered if intelligent decisions are to be made about the future of our communities, nation, and world. By exploring the impact of various scientific issues like those arising from the acid rain unit above, students will learn methods of critical inquiry and problem solving that not only apply to scientific findings and innovations, but that can also be generalized to the daily, practical concerns of their lives as they grow to become the citizens of tomorrow.

According to the NCSS Curriculum Guidelines, the aim of social studies is to prepare youth to participate in an increasingly interdependent world. Keeping this goal in mind, social studies can become a vehicle by which young people learn to analyze and solve problems that are faced on a variety of levels. To help children develop the capacity for critical inquiry and problem solving, it is essential that they learn to recognize and identify qualities of authority, as well as how to analyze and evaluate socioscientific issues.

Science has contributed to the world in innumerable positive ways. Since it is believed by many to be based upon objective data that is obtained through quantitative measures, people regard this discipline with a great deal of respect and awe. As technology improves, science is able to expand in ways that previously seemed impossible. Oftentimes, new advances hold considerable promise for the future. However, negative effects can also accompany these innovations. For this reason, it is increasingly important for children to gather information concerning scientific issues that affect society.

RECOGNITION AND IDENTIFICATION OF QUALITIES OF AUTHORITY

NCSS has issued guidelines that direct social studies teachers to provide students with opportunities to "learn and evaluate" information about authorities, including "value positions of groups and individuals responding to science, technology, and social-related issue definitions and resolutions;" "attitudes and beliefs of people regarding science and technology including personal and societal values, ethics, and how these affect the interaction of science, technology, and societal change;" and "value positions as a source of unity or conflict within and among people and subsets of society."

In order for students to critically evaluate a situation, the qualities of the authorities providing information must be considered. Students who investigate the qualities will be better able to determine the legitimacy of that authority. This legitimacy is a crucial element because when an authority is seen as legitimate, they are more likely to be followed. If children are taught to evaluate the legitimacy of authorities, they are more likely to make informed and safe decisions in their lives. By guiding students to questions such as: who are the authorities on each side?; what are their backgrounds and credentials?; where do they get their information?; what do they have to gain or lose?; and what are their causes?; students can begin to see the motives behind the information they are encountering.

Even at an early age, the use of literature is an effective means by which children can be exposed to the characteristics of different authorities. At the elementary level teachers can present strangers as bad authorities with the book Never Talk to Strangers, as well as by looking at the character of Binlcy Barnes, the bully from Marc Brown's Arthur Adventure Series. In Stephanie's Ponytail, children can be introduced to the potential negative effects of being a follower. Higher-level readers can analyze the types of authorities and the source of their power in any number of young adult novels. The Vigils in Robert Cormier's The Chocolate War, the evolution of authority that takes the animals in George Orwell's Animal Farm from barnyard slaves to free comrades to barnyard slaves again, and the self-imposed, self-created, yet diametrically opposed authorities vying for control of the stranded boys in William Golding's Lord of the Flies are just a few examples of great literary works that deal with issues of authority. In Girls Who Rocked the World: Heroines From Sacajawea to Sheryl Swoopes, students can look at successful women as positive authorities, as well as how each of these women took on traditional authority to become successful.

The ability to recognize and identify the qualities of authority can easily be generalized and expanded upon to encompass many types of social situations, whether they are scientific in nature or not. For example, in the upper elementary years and beyond, students could begin to examine how people become regarded as authorities. This could lead into a discussion about peer pressure and peer groups. This type of inquiry will allow students to examine the social structures that immediately surround them more deeply than ever before, and, in the process, will legitimize the veiy practice of critical questioning and analyzing authorities. An extension activity for secondary students could be exploring the issue of intellectual freedom versus censorship in regard to banned books. The American Library Association offers information on their website, located at www.ala.org/pio/presskits/bbwkit/ index.html, that addresses the issues surrounding book banning, including references to the First Amendment, answers to questions about book banning, and a list of the 100 most frequently banned books. This type of activity could easily lead into questions about who has the right to limit what someone else reads. Combine this activity with a study of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, which offers a view of a world in which all books are banned, and the power of both resources is increased immeasurably.

The NCSS Code of Ethics (1990) states that "social studies professionals have the obligation to recognize, and to foster respect for, the diversity of cultures represented by their students, and by the myriad of cultures in an increasingly interdependent world." Therefore, another social issue that could be examined is who has the authority to decide that one person is better than another. Racism, sexism, and religious intolerance have marred human society from the beginning, and all stem from the misuse of authority by the oppressors. There have even been periods of time when governments removed children from their families and placed them in orphanages because they did not like the culture in which the child was being raised. The dominant culture in society decided that the other culture was wrong or bad, and, based on that belief, stepped in to eradicate it. This happened on a large scale to the Native Americans. Children from many tribes were removed, placed in orphanages, and taught a new language and a new way of life. This issue is explored in a gentle manner in Eve Bunting's Cheyenne Again, and, in a book written for an older audience, Forrest Carter also addresses this horrific part of history in Education of Little Tree.

As alluded to often in the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, the ancestry of Australia's own Cathy Freeman, the gold medal-winning aboriginal runner, is shrouded in the fog of this same insidious practice by whiteruled Australian governments of the past. The newspaper article entitled "Sydney Sideshow: Aborigines still hoping" said that 100,000 light-skinned Aborigine children were placed in the custody of white families. This was supposedly done to save the children of a race that was considered doomed and to assimilate these children into the dominant culture. However, they were not considered citizens and were treated poorly by others in the country. While these occurrences happened years ago, the effects were devastating and long lasting. Families were torn apart and cultures were destroyed because without children, culture cannot continue. The question becomes, from where did the authority to remove these children come from?

More than anything else, it is crucial for children to understand where authority comes from. Often the qualities of an authority stem directly from its origin, and, as such, an understanding of that origin is vital to an understanding of the authority and its legitimacy.

ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF ISSUES

After students learn how to assess the character and qualities of each authority, it is time for analysis and evaluation of issues to take place. As students begin to analyze and evaluate issues, six skills must be learned, as outlined by NCSS in "Teaching Science-Related Social Issues". They are: 1) differentiating between fact and opinion, 2) examining supporting and contradicting arguments within one source, 3) identifying bias and propaganda, 4) critically evaluating information produced by various media sources, 5) determining the integrity of the information source, and 6) deciding what information is relevant to the issue being evaluated.

The first skill that students need to learn is differentiation between fact and opinion. It is important that students are taught to distinguish facts from perspectives. This is a skill that must be explicitly taught. Children may not have a clear understanding of fact verses an interpretation or opinion. At all levels, this skill is commonly underdeveloped. Students may not realize that many times an ostensible presentation of facts is really just the authority's opinion. Not only is it important to teach students to recognize opinions, but they must also be taught how to determine if an informed opinion is logically supported by facts.

The second skill that children must learn is how to examine both supporting and contradicting arguments within one source. While evaluating information within a source, contradictions and supporting arguments must be recognized, allowing students to determine the validity of the arguments. Students'must learn to compare information from various sources. Providing opportunities for students to see issues through different perspectives makes them aware that there can be many sides to any given matter, and that each side generally has some valid arguments. By reading and analyzing newspaper editorials, teachers can guide students in a way that allows them to recognize the authors' viewpoints, as well as the valid and invalid points in each position.

In order to truly be able to evaluate an issue, students must also be taught about bias and propaganda. Since everyone is subject to different types of bias, students need to understand what bias is, how it can affect the view of an authority, and how to detect bias in a given work. Students also should be taught how their own biases can affect their perspectives in regard to an issue. The ability to recognize bias and propaganda is imperative in the evaluation of issues. These skills can be taught to students by examining advertisements or political campaigns and identifying the techniques used to sell a product or promote a candidate, particularly with regard to the identified intended audience of the advertisement. Eventually, students should explore how bias and propaganda interact with societal values, beliefs, and politics to form public policy.

Much of the information in our culture is received from the popular media. Since it is so commonplace to receive local, national, and global information through the media, students tend to see the information as truthful and complete. Just as the assumed objectivity of the sciences often raise scientists above suspicion of personal and political bias, so too does the ubiquitousness of the media raise its figureheads. Students may not realize that the information put out by the media is reported by someone with personal and political biases, and therefore that the information itself is necessarily biased. Another facet of media that should be explored is popular music. An article entitled "Popular Music in Early Adolescence" provides a way for teachers and students to look at the effects of music on teenagers. By exploring this issue, students can gain insight into the messages portrayed by the music they listen to. Students should be encouraged to find both accuracies and inaccuracies in popular media, and support their findings with facts. This will help students realize that not everything written, televised, or sung is true. It will also allow students the opportunity to practice looking at the authorities that are providing information on issues being studied.

In keeping with the evaluation of the media, students must also learn how to determine the integrity of the sources of information. If the person reporting information stands for a certain cause, students must be keyed into the possibility that that person might be presenting biased information. In much the same way, students should be encouraged to evaluate the techniques used to gather and analyze the presented information. These processes will give students insight into the validity of the information. An excellent demonstration of these tactics can be seen in any political election. All sides of an issue will have their own reasons for viewing that issue as they do, and seldom will they agree. The student must learn to analyze each proponent, each position, and the underlying influences therein to make a truly informed decision as to who or what they support.

The final step students should take is deciding what information is relevant to the issue being evaluated. When students gather information, it is important that they understand that information not directly related to the issue should not be considered. Being able to determine the relevance of a support in an argument is imperative, since irrelevant supports can cause the focus of the argument to be lost. Again, politics and the tendency of politicians to redirect the questions or gloss over unfavorable or unpopular views they hold is often a prime example of the use of irrelevant issues. Teachers should also give several non-political scenarios and have students determine relevant and irrelevant information pertaining to each one.

Topics that are chosen for analysis and evaluation should be relevant to the curriculum; be relevant to the students' lives, interests, and needs; and explore both short and long term effects of current issues on society at all levels. Topics that have implications on various levels, from local, to national, to global, such as ecology, conservation, and pollution, provide a base from which students can begin to develop a stronger sense of global responsibility

One such topic is proposed in the article "Colonizing the Red Planet: An Interdisciplinary Activity." This article outlines activities that span the range of disciplines and raises questions about how to best colonize Mars. Easily adaptable to various age groups, this activity leads students to consider and anticipate the needs of colonists, how and what to build for their continued survival, and whether it would be best to try to turn Mars into a second Earth or to proceed in a more non-invasive way.

Teachers could also use this opportunity to discuss individual differences, discrimination, and the effects of prejudice. By introducing literature that addresses these issues in an appropriate and gentle manner, teachers can lead the class into the exploration of making good choices, following the crowd, standing up for your beliefs, and standing up for those who are being unfairly discriminated against. These powerful lessons must be taught in a caring manner and good children's literature introduces sympathetic characters that children can relate to and understand. Elementary teachers can look to popular children's book series like Marc Brown's Arthur Adventure Series, Mercer Mayer's Little Cfitter, and Stan and Jan Berenstain's Berenstain Bears for good stories exploring all of these issues in an age-appropriate manner. Inherent differences of every variety are the constant themes of young adult novels, in particular. Are You There God? It's Me Margaret deals with a girl's late menstruation among other issues. Additionally, Anne McCaffrey's Harper Hall Trilogy addresses a growing girl's journey to find her place in the world, far from the rigidity and cruelty of her paternal home. The short-story version of Flowers for Algernon deals with one man's mental exceptionality, first as a developmentally delayed intellect, then as a superior mind developed through the intervention of modern science which ultimately fails him and leaves him incompetent again. Obviously this last suggestion has implications for every level of the critical thinking hierarchy detailed here. Another exceptional short story revolving around inherent personal differences and the technological solutions applied to them is Harrison Bergeron, the story of a young man gifted in every conceivable way who challenges a society that frowns upon and systematically destroys giftedness of any kind.

Having the ability to cast a critical eye on issues is one that students must have not only in school, but also in their everyday lives. Since much of the information we receive is biased in some way, it is imperative that children develop higher-order thinking skills that will allow them to examine and judge issues that they face.

CONCLUSION

Since many presume that science is an objective field, it is commonly regarded as an infallible authority. Scientific discoveries and innovations are embraced on a daily basis by society without concern for the impact they may have locally, nationally, or globally. The social impact of science is one that must be explored by social studies teachers in the classroom.

Although there have been innumerable scientific developments that have positively impacted society, there also have been many negative side effects that result from an association with science. Oftentimes children do not possess the skills needed to view this field and its contributions critically. It is the job of social studies teachers to teach students the skills that will allow them to act in a democratic manner. Young people must evolve an understanding of their role as citizen, including the promotion of the common good and challenging the impact of scientific innovations. Social studies teachers can foster these skills by providing authentic opportunities for students to judge issues based on the information they have gathered so that they can decide what course of action is appropriate to take.

By giving students the responsibility of reflecting on scientific issues, the social studies teacher is not only teaching students how science impacts our world, but is also giving students practical experience in participating in a democracy. This opportunity, according to the president of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Havel, is "the richest possible participation in public life."

Suggested Literature

Judy Blume, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, (New York: Econo-Clad Books, 1999).

Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, (New York: Simon Schuster Trade, 1993).

Marc Brown, Arthur Adventure Series, (New York: Little Brown and Company, 2000).

Eve Bunting, Cheyenne again, (New York: Clarion Books, 1995).

Forrest Carter, Education of Little Tree (New Mexico: University of New Mexico Press, 1990).

Robert Cormier, The Chocolate War (New York: Laurel Leaf, 1991).

William Golding, Lord Of The Flies, (New York: Putnam Publishing Group, 1997).

Irma Joyce, Never Talk To Strangers, (New York: Golden Book Publishing Company Incorporated, 2000).

Daniel Keyes, Flowers for Algernon, (New York: Creative Education, Inc, 1993).

Anne McCaffrey, Dragondrums: The Harper Hall Trilogy, Part 3, (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1979).

Anne McCaffrey, Dragonsinger: The Harper Hall Trilogy, part 2, (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1977).

Anne McCaffrey, Dragonsong: The Harper Hall Trilogy, Part, (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1983).

Robert Munsch, Stephanie s Ponytail^ (New York: Firefly Books, Ltd, 1996).

George Orwell, Animal Farm, (New York: New American Libraiy Classics, 1974).

Kurt Vonnegut, "Harrison Bergeron," in An ABC Of Science Fiction, ed. T. Boardman, Jr. (New York: Avon Books, 1966), 181-186.

Amelie Weiden, Girls Who Rocked the World: Heroines from Sacajawea to Sheryl Swoopes, (Hillsboro, OR: Beyond Words Publishers, 1999).

References

Christenson, P. G. & Roberts, D. F. (1990). Popular music in early adolescence, Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development, Washington, D.C.: ERIC, ED 323021.

Giroux, H. A. (1998). Education incorporated , Educational Leadership.

Holt, M. (2001). Indian Orphanages, Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas.

Kuhn, T. S. (1996). The structure of scientific thinking, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Langan, J. (1997). Ten steps to improving college reading skills, 3rd ed., New Jersey: Townsend Press.

National Council for the Social Studies Science and Society Committee, (1982). "Teaching Science-Related Social Issues."

National Council for the Social Studies Citizenship Committee, (1983). "Essential Characteristics of a Citizenship Education Program."

National Council for the Social Studies Science and Society Committee, (1989). "Teaching about Science, Technology and Society in Social Studies: Education for Citizenship in the 21st Century."

National Council for the Social Studies Professional Ethics Committee. (1990). "Revised Code of Ethics for the Social Studies Profession."

Rosenblum, M.(September22,2000). "Sydney Sideshow: Aborigines Still Hoping, Waiting." Associated Press.

Rubin, Z. (1987). Psychology: Being Human, 4th ed., New York: Harper & Row Publishers.

Tomblin, D. C. & Bentley, M. L. (1998). Colonizing the Red Planet: An interdisciplinary activity, Science Activities, 35:28-34.

Aimee L. Fogelman is a doctoral student in social science education at the University of South Florida in Tampa. Her research interests include child advocacy, the development of connections between home and school, family literacy, and the integration of technology in the classroom.

Michael J. Berson is Associate Professor of Social Science Education in the Department of secondary Education at the University of South Florida. His research explores technology in social studies education and global child advocacy.

Copyright California Council for the Social Studies Fall 2003
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