-----------> ENGLISH (ORIGINAL MESSAGE - traduction suit)
* Title * The Yahas curriculum project
* Author * Abraham Blum
___________
** Original Text **
Yahas (the Hebrew acronym for "Objective: EE") is an educational development
project at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. It specializes in sustainable
development issues and environmental problems, which concern society. Clearly,
EE qualifies as treating "scientific and technological issues which concern
society", the central topic of STS teaching.
The Yahas approach is based on three questions, which relate to any
environmental / development problem:
1. What factors created or aggravated the problem?
(To answer the question, scientific knowledge has to be applied) 2. What
technological solutions exist that can help to solve the problem? 3. What are
the optimal solutions from the point of view of society,
(whose members have often different value systems and contradictory
interests)?
So far, two modules were developed, tested, published and used in schools. The
first is called "As air to breathing" and treats air pollution. It starts with
the dramatic case of the "pea soup thick", London smog of 1952, which ended
with thousands of victims, but also triggered a major move towards the use of
more environmentally friendly sources of fossil energy. This story brings up
the inversion phenomenon, which can be easily demonstrated experimentally. The
study of inversion leads to the movement of gases and the role of chimneys.
Students use mini-Ringelman charts to estimate the content of solid particles
in the smoke emitted from factory chimneys.
So far the emphasis in the module was on the scientific and technological
aspects of air pollution. It the next chapter case studies are used to study
questions under debate, e.g. the case of a power plant which was planned close
to the highest population concentration in the country. The different
interests
of central and local government, industry and city dwellers ended (typical for
real life environmental situations) in a compromise. Students study the
follow-up: What were the clashing interests? In hindsight, how far were the
decisions taken positive? Where and how would you build a new power station -
if at all?
Another chapter is devoted to acid rain. Experiments with different
concentrations of acid, which are applied to chalk and steel wool, simulate
the
effect of acid rain on buildings and sculptures. From the societal point of
view, the main problem is that the acid rain comes from Europe and cannot be
controlled locally. Students realise that international cooperation in the
fight for a healthy environment is necessary. This leads to a discussion of
other global problems like the greenhouse effect and the hole in the ozone
layer. Students learn about different types of radiation, the electromagnetic
spectrum and the special problem of UV radiation. They are confronted with
clashing views on how serious the warming up effect might become, and learn
how
to accept uncertainty as a factor in decision making. Scientific
information on
the effect of CFCs leads to the search for alternative materials which are
less
damaging to the environment. Students study the qualities of these materials
and check in supermarkets what sprays are being sold. They devise a local
campaign to make the public more aware of the underlying environmental
problem.
The package for teachers contains task cards for two simulation games, which
give students a chance for role playing. In one simulation, "representatives"
from developing and industrialized nations, multinationals and greenpeace,
each
of which promotes a different interest, discuss how to plan energy consumption
in a sustainable development approach. The classroom turns into an
international forum, which decides what proposal to accept. In a second
simulation game, advocates for different approaches to the improvement of city
traffic and the reduction of air pollution, ask the class (acting as regional
parliament) to vote which of the suggested solutions should be adopted.
Many environmental problems, which we face in our modern world, were
created by
the use of technologies, which destroy the natural and social environment. To
understand their mode of action, we must be "science literate" and be able to
use popular scientific sources which can explain why a certain technology is
unsafe or leads to unsustainable developments. Based on this literacy, we can
then discuss alternative planning approaches, which (hopefully) are more
sustainable. Two of such issues are treated in another Yahas module:
In "Deafening noise" much emphasis was placed on the subjectivity of our
perceptions. The central question is, if the present central airport should be
enlarged, in spite of the noise pollution which affects the biggest population
concentration in the country, or if an alternative airport should be planned -
and if yes, where. This topic is since some years at the heart of a heated
discussion, which will continue for quite some time.
Students rate if different sounds (including various types of music) are
rather
thrilling or a nuisance. Then, they ask their parents to do the same. The two
ratings are not the same! In the next activity, students measure the decibel
level at different places and again get different ratings. They learn that we
often interprete subjectively what we hear, see and feel. A similar
subjectivity is encountered when students are presented with expert
statements,
which are in the interest of one of the parties, while the others bring
opposing statements, also from experts. The issue becomes even more
problematic, when for instance the Airport Authority publishes a plan of the
airport without showing the neighbouring towns, while the opponents emphasize
how close the airport is to these towns and what decibel level was measured
there.
The subjectivity of "noise" makes it difficult to devise laws to prevent it
(or
other nuisances that are below the real danger level, but are still
diminishing
the quality of life for the population in a given area). To enable citizens in
a democracy to use their legal rights, e.g. to prevent changes in their
environment which would create a serious nuisance, they have to know how to
read by-laws. This demands another kind of literacy, which is seldom taught in
school. Students also learn how to rank the issues involved in making
decisions
according to their value system (which they have to clarify), thus finding
which of several alternative has relatively more advantages over
disadvantages.
In another unit "Chemical or biological pest control?", students learn about
the relative advantages and disadvantages of chemical and biological pest
control. DDT is introduced as a classical case for the shortsightedness in the
use of synthetic chemicals. The developer of DDT, Muller, received the Nobel
price mainly due to the two qualities of DDT, which made it necessary to
ban it
all over the world. These qualities were: the wide range of harmful insects it
could kill, and its longevity, which meant that it had a long lasting effect.
Today we know that these two qualities are very bad. DDT kills also the
beneficial insects, and its long lasting action before disintegration has
brought about very serious unbalances in nature.
Students study biological control in the classroom by growing on Petri dishes
fungi, which can cause plant diseases, and opposite them fungicidal bacteria.
The results are dramatic. Then integrated pest control is introduced. This is
done mainly through a video film, which shows the action of the revolutionary
"solarisation" method developed at our university. In this methodology, which
is suitable for regions with hot and dry months, solar heat is caught under
plastic, which covers the soil. The heat kills many disease-causing
microorganisms without harming the useful ones. The video was based on an
instructional film produced by the extension department of the Ministry of
Agriculture. We cut out technical details, which are not important for high
school students, and divided the film into five sections, each of which ends
with a question for students to answer. Teachers are advised to show the film
section by section, and then again as a whole, to create closure.
The solarisation method uses safe solar heating instead of the ozone
destroying
methyl bromide, which was used so far for soil sterilisation. Is this the
happy
end of the story? What about the polyethylene sheets which remain in the field
without discomposing? Sure enough, plastic sheets, which discompose after
being
exposed to a certain amount of sunshine, were developed, but so far their
price
is too high for farmers. Again, the economic problem prevents (so far) a
clever
invention from being used to protect the environment.
Abraham Blum 03.01
-----------> FRANCAIS (attention : ceci est une traduction automatique révisée
uniquement pour en éliminer les contresens)
* Titre * Le projet de programme scolaire Yahas
* Auteur * ABraham Blum
____________
°° Note de la moderatrice °°
Du fait de la longueur du texte en anglais, la version francaise correspond a
un resume de l'original. La traduction de l'integralite suivra ulterieurement,
surtout si ce texte est integre aux fiches d'illustrations du cahier de
propositions.
** Resume du texte original **
Yahas (l'acronyme hebreu pour "Objectif: EE") est un projet de developpement
pedagogique a Universite hebreu de Jerusalem. Il se specialise dans les
questions du developpement durable et les problemes de l'environnement qui
interessent la societe. Clairement, EE se qualifie comme traitant " les
questions scientifiques et technologiques qui preoccupent la societe", le
sujet
central de l'enseignement STS.
L'approche Yahas est basee sur trois questions qui sont toutes en rapport avec
tout probleme environnemental / de developpement : Quels facteurs ont cree ou
aggrave le probleme? Quelles solutions technologiques existent qui puissent
aider a resoudre le probleme? Quelles sont les solutions optimales du point de
vue de la societe (dont les membres ont souvent des systemes de la valeur
differents et des interets contradictoires) ?
Jusque la, deux modules ont ete developpes, testes, publies et utilises dans
les ecoles. Ils integrent des methodes de l'enseignement completes et
pedagogiques, tel que des etudes de cas pour mettre les questions en debat,
les
jeux de simulation pour apprehender les questions precises, la mise en
situation sur des questions de societe telles que les pluies acides, la
pollution de l'air, la pollution par le bruit, les pesticides, ...
Cette methode met en avant le besoin d'une culture scientifique qui soit
capable d'utiliser des informations scientifiques motivantes et accessibles,
qui sachent expliquer pourquoi une certaine technologie est dangereuse ou
aboutit a un developpement insoutenable.
Abraham Blum
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