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TECHNO-FIXES
Subject
Area
This activity
is designed for the Grade 11 advanced Biology curriculum as an
end-of-year summary. It functions as an application of concepts
from core units on Vertebrate Transport Systems, Reproduction
and Development, Bacteria and Viruses, Genetic Continuity, and
Vascular Plants.
Learning
Outcomes
Teaching,
learning and evaluation will focus on the student's ability to:
- Apply
concepts to problems faced by our society;
- Evaluate
and express their understanding of the role of technology in
our society;
- Formulate
and articulate a solution to a problem;
- Speculate
on alternative solutions to a problem.
Classroom
Development
- This
activity should be done towards the end of the course when students
have sufficient background to deal with these issues.
- This
activity could be treated simply as a brainstorming activity
without any resources, or it could be expanded into a research
assignment.
- Other
problems and their techno-fixes could be considered.
Timing
This could
be a one period activity, or it could be extended into several
periods of library research and a seminar presentation.
Cross-disciplinary
Links
A Law class
could discuss the legal implications of some techno-fixes.
Student's
Guide
Consider
one of the following problems, describe and evaluate the technological
solution and consider other solutions to this problem.
Your report
should include the following:
- A description
of the problem.
- A description
of the technological solution or "techno-fix."
- Evaluation
of the success of the solution:
- How
does it affect individuals, our society, the environment?
- What
are the economic costs; environmental costs?
- Is
this solution available to all individuals; should it be
available to all individuals?
- Is
the solution effective?
- Does
this solution create other problems?
- What
are other solutions to this problem?
- Determine
whether this is a 'Low Tech Fix' or a 'High Tech Fix,' and try
if possible to conduct some level of cost/benefit analysis.
Problems
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Techno-fixes
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| 1. Infertility
among females due to blocked Fallopian tubes |
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| 2. How can
the efficiency of our farmland be increased? |
- genetic manipulation of crop species
- irrigation
- addition of chemical fertilizers to
the soil
- crop spraying
- irrigation
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| 3. Domestic
sewage |
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| 4. Oil spills |
- genetic manipulation to produce oil
eating bacteria
- super-absorbent materials
- chemical dispersants
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| 5. Heart
disease |
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