Prometheus handbook by Christian Rydberg

This booklet includes working material used in the Erasmus+ School Partnership Life on PromethEUs.The involved schools in this aim is to develop, test and implement an innovative approach of learning focusing on cross-curriculum teaching and interdisciplinary learning working with sustainible development issues. The student task was created to help the teachers of the participating schools to achieve their objectives to develop the teaching. The aurthor of this material will follow the partnership and the teachers in their implementation process as part of his licentiate studies at Malmö University. The Eramsus+ Partnership has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects only the views of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Partners in this Erasmus+ Partnership have been: Gimnazjum im. dr. Wladyslawa Brzezinskiego, Krajenka, Poland Istituto Comprensivo E. D'Arborea, Castelsardo, Italy Kungsgårdsskolan, Ängelholm Sweden OS don Mihovila Pavlinovica, Podgora, Croatia Taclirler Egitim Vakfi Ilkokulu, Ensenler/stanbul, Turkey

Ängelholm, May 2015

Christian Rydberg Contact: christian.rydberg@mah.se

This material is licensed by Creative Commons. You are free: to Share — to copy, distribute and transmit the work to Remix — to adapt the work Under the following conditions: Attribution — You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Noncommercial — You may not use this work for commercial purposes.

Framework This document is an attempt to create a framework for the student task Life on PromethEUs. Even if this framework offers the participating teachers some guidance, it’s crucial for the partnerships success, that every teacher themselves transform the framework and adapt it to the conditions of one's own school. The framework provides an idealized version of how the teaching can be organized, but to get the best effect in the real world, usually adjustments are needed.

The planet PromethEUs The setting for the students work with these sustainability issues is the fictional planet PromethEUs. The amazing fact is that this planet is to a large extent exactly the same as planet earth! The climate is almost the same as on Earth and there are oceans, land, mountains, river and lakes just like at home. Incredibly enough, there seems to have been a parallel evolution process on PromethEUs as on Earth, and there are plants and animals similar to those on Earth. There seem to be one exception however – no forms of primates have evolved on PromethEUs, and there for no humans. The planet PromethEUs can be regarded as an unspoiled and untouched version of our, all too wasted, planet. By letting students to reason and argue about sustainability issues in this fictional environment, their minds can be freed from all "it’s not possible" – thoughts. This is a great way to open up for creativity and innovative thinking and those things are precisely what is needed if we on planet Earth are to meet all the challenges we have in front of us, in order for us to have a sustainable development.

Units The problems to be solved in the task include key themes of sustainable development – such as democracy, human rights, healthy living, food, lifestyle, employment, economy, ethics, environment, climate change, environmental protection, resources, innovation and new technologies. The problems are divided into five units that will be worked on in three work cycles:   

Sustainable government & Sustainable living Sustainable economy Sustainable energy flows and material cycles & Sustainable innovations

Theoretical background This teaching model is long-term, cross-curriculum, student-centered and integrated with real world issues and practices. This framework is based on ideas from the pedagogical method Inquiry-based learning, from the practice of teaching for sustainability- Education for sustainable development, from Socio-scientific issues education as well as from Content and language integrated learning. The framework also has several parallels to what is referred to as Global citizenship education, that is a form of civic learning that involves students' active participation in projects that address global issues of a social, political, economic, or environmental nature. Important aspects of this framework, and the methods mentioned above, are:       

Learning, where knowledge is built from experience and process, especially socially based experiences. The teachers having a dual role, both as providers and facilitators. Cross-curriculum teaching and interdisciplinary learning where subjects teacher work together. Promoting social scientific and natural scientific literacy. Providing effective opportunities for students to use their new language skills. Support of students’ development of argumentation and critical thinking skills by using openended problems which have multiple solutions. Building the students action competence and developing their ability and willingness to take action on issues that interest them.

Lesson Sequence This framework doesn’t provide detail lessons plan because this is a matter for each school to develop. However, the framework presents a division of the work in four phases to support lesson planning for each unit. This model is based on The BSCS 5E Instructional Model. The four phases can be labeled 1.The Engagement phase, 2. The Exploration and Explanation phase, 3. The Elaboration phase and 4. The Evaluation phase. Note that the four phases are not equally voluminous in either content or time. 1. The Engagement phase This phase is about inspiring the students and to spark their interest about the core content in the unit. The work in this phase may be initiated by seeing a movie-clip that have relevance to the unit or doing a valuation exercise such as Hot seat or Four corners. Examples on such activities will be shared between the partners on Fronter. In this phase the students will also be introduced to the tutorial of the unit and they can start reflecting on the issues and dilemmas presented. However it’s wise not to start too much debate about it at this stage, but some discussion can be fruitful in order for the teacher to get knowledge about the students’ preconceptions.

2. The Exploration and Explanation phase This phase is the most time consuming phase and a phase that shouldn’t be rushed through. It’s absolutely vital for the success that different subject teachers get involved in this phase, which teachers of course depending on the core content of the unit. It is also very important to set of time and lessons to develop the students’ abilities in reasoning and argumentation, their skills in making digital and oral presentations as well as developing the ability to express him/herself in English. The most logical is that the teachers that are experts in providing the students with these different forms of knowledge, abilities and skills do so! This phase requires therefor a lot interdisciplinary work and different subject teachers need to cooperate. Exactly how this teacher cooperation will constitute themselves will vary from school to school and everyone has to find their model. The core of this phase is for the students to take a stand in the tutorials various issues of dilemma character. This process can be described in this step by step model for decision making based on two different models, presented by Erminia Pedretti, University of Toronto and Matthew Keefer, University of Missouri: 1. Options—Identify different alternatives for the issue; 2. Information— Identify the relevant knowledge and unknown facts in a problem; 3. Survey—Evaluate pros/cons of each alternative; 4. Choice—Make a decision based on the analysis undertaken; 5. Review—Identify and evaluate consequences of the choice and consider alternative scenarios that argue for different conclusions There is of course different models to work after but this can serve as a basis of teachers' planning of the units. During the five steps the teachers need to assume different roles, which can be challenging. They need to be both facilitators who guide the students through the steps, but also get in a more traditional the role as providers of knowledge, especially during step 2. Subject teachers have a key role in step 2, in order for students to make well-founded decisions on the various issues. How the students acquire relevant facts and skills may look differently at the different schools. It depends for example on how the teaching is organized and how the school's curriculum looks like. Therefore, students from the different partners are likely to have varying depth of understanding of the issues, depending on how much they have studied this subject in regular education. As a start of this phases it's a good idea to let the students themselves find information about the current issue. However, it is important that the students learn systematic ways to collect evidence and then assess the credibility of the source and usefulness of the evidence in this case. When this is done the teacher can switch role from a facilitator to be more of a lecture and provide the students with more knowledge about the issue. In some cases maybe more than one subject teacher is needed to gain complete knowledge about the issue.

One must keep in mind that the issues are dilemmas where there is no right answer, instead there are several. It depends on which perspective you choose to take in the issue. It is also not uncommon for students to choose the argument to the issues that not is ones that the teacher might think "is the right answer". This is quite in order, as long as the students has considered different alternatives and made a well-founded choice. One success factor is to have an open climate in the classroom where everyone's views can be heard and that all other students are active listeners. In parallel with the work on the subject matter of the unit and making choices one also needs to develop students' abilities to reason and argue, just as skills in presenting, both digitally and orally. Generally, students need training in how to argue. They often draw conclusions and are good to express opinions and demands, but they very rarely justify these with evidence and facts. There are different models to use to help students learn to argue, for example, Toulmin's classic model (below).

3. The Elaboration phase The important part of this phase is of course the negotiation with students from the other partners. In order for students to succeed at this, it is important to allow students to practice to negotiate and argue. Important as well is that the students receive support in building their arguments in a wellfounded way and this starts already in phase two. A job well done in this phase will make preparations for the negotiations much easier. Supporting material on how to develop argumentation skills will be shared in the partnership, but the home language teacher will probably possess very good knowledge regarding how to develop these things. A model for how to prepare before the international negotiation is to divide the students in smaller groups when they work through step 3-5 in phase 2. When these groups have made their decisions on the issues in the units, representatives from the groups then can negotiate with each other, to agree on a common solution. This process can be repeated several times, depending on how many students are involved in the partnership. It is important to recall that the ultimate goal of the international negotiations is to agree on common solutions to the issues and then it is also necessary to compromise. An important ability to develop for the students is being able to see things from different perspectives and also being open to changing ones point of view, if someone else has more convincing arguments. If the students are

well prepared and have weighed the pros and cons against each other for the various decisions, this will go much easier. When the school's students have come up with a common solution on the unit's issues this should be compiled in a digital presentation. Also here itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important that the appropriate subject teachers support students in the work of the presentations. This part, as well as the final negotiations, will obviously be done in English. Thus is highly recommended to integrate English as much as possible and as early as possible in the first phases. How much of the work that will be conducted in English and the amount carried in the mother tongue will vary and it is a balance between the development of the English language and an understanding of the subject content. However by integrating content and language both things can enhance each other.

4. The Evaluation phase This framework focuses on the formative assessment aspect, which is the form of assessment that provides information to be used as feedback to help the teacher to modify the teaching, but also can guide the students in their learning process. Basic elements of formative assessment is to get the students first to understand where they are right now in terms of knowledge, but also to get an understanding of where they are on the way to higher knowledge. This assessment method has proven to be a successful method to increase student learning. To facilitate this, one can use a rubric and to each of the five units, a rubric will be attached according to the key competences that the unit aims to develop. A rubric is sets of criteria for the student work that describes levels of performance quality, regarding different abilities. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important that the students get familiar with the content of the rubric before the work starts and it is also crucial that students and teachers together, while the work is ongoing, investigate the student's development of knowledge,e based on the criteria in the rubrics. One doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need to assess and discuss all abilities at the same time, rather one can choose one or a few of the abilities to focus on. When the teacher sees studentss' progress during the work, the teacher can then adjust the next instruction in relation to this. Placing evaluation phase as number four is therefore not entirely accurate, instead formative assessment needs to be done in parallel with the work through all phases. But the rubrics can also serve as a tool for summative assessment in the end of a unit. The criteria in the three levels of the rubrics are equivalent to three grade levels from the knowledge requirements in the Swedish curriculum. Teachers, of course, also need to assess other thing when it comes to grading, but the rubric can still contribute to some degree in this inevitable task that a teacher has. If rubrics is used during the partnership these can also be an effective tool to evaluate the partnership according to the students development.

Supporting material All the supporting material will be uploaded to the learning platform Fronter. Hopefully all partners will contribute and upload material they develop during the process. Fronter will also be used to share the studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; presentations and other documentation. Tutorials To each unit a tutorial will be compiled and it will contain objectives for the student, the unit's core content divided in various school subjects, a brief background to the content, issues that students should argue and negotiate around and a rubric to use when assessing the work. The tutorials also serve as the agenda during the negotiations that completes each unit. Engagement material Different forms of movie clips and exercises will be presented on Fronter and all the partners can share and upload material. Material for developing argumentation skills When it comes to argumentation the students need activities to practice these skills. During the decision making and argument building process at phases 2 it can be useful for the students to have charts to help them structure their thoughts. Especially in the beginning of this partnership this will be a good tool to develop the studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; abilities regarding this and examples on charts will be shared on Fronter. These charts will also be helpful for the students in the third phase. Recommended reading On Fronter research articles concerning the teaching methods of this framework will be posted. These will be easy-to-read article written for teachers, and the aim for these is to build the teaching of this cooperation on a scientific basis. To get an introduction to the key elements of the Education for sustainable education (ESD), either UNESCO shorter text is recommended or the text from World Wildlife Fund (WWF), that describes this in more detail. There is also an article on Global Citizenship Education, which is close to ESD. The article Socioscientific Issues: Theory and Practice by Ziedler & Nichols a good introduction to the work process described in this framework and Socio-scientific Issues Based Education by Presley et al (2013) can deepen it further. This article is written from a natural science perspective, but very true also for work on social science issues. This goes also for an extract from the book Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s debatable! by Ziedler and Kahn, and this text describe teachers experiences while working inquiry-based and authentic learning through debate and argumentation. If you wish to immerse yourself more in Inquiry based education is also a description of the 5E Instructional Model and its merits on Fronter. There are also reading about Content and Language Integrated Learning CLIL.

Sustainable government Objectives for the students        

make students understand the society they belong to, make them aware of other societies that are different, develop their knowledge of and understanding of a society with diversities, and the importance of this for relations between people, improve the ability to reflect over international relations and international co-operation, acquire knowledge to be able to discuss local and global issues, which are important for a sustainable society, develop their ability to critically examine social conditions and be able to see the consequences of various alternatives, develop their ability to reason and to verbally express their standpoint, to debate, to persuade and convince, improve their ability to form conclusions, judgments and inferences, to induce change of opinion in others through presentation of arguments.

Core content Civics 

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What democracy is and how democratic decisions are made. Democratic freedoms and legal rights, as well as obligations for citizens in democratic societies. Ethical and democratic dilemmas linked to democratic rights and obligations. Opportunities for individuals and groups to affect decisions and development of society, and also how decisions can be affected within the framework of the democratic process. Some different states and forms of government in the world. The legal system in Sweden and principles of the rule of law. How views of norms and legislation influence each other. Crime, violence and organized crime. Tasks of the penal system and the position of crime victims. Human rights, their meaning and importance, including the rights of the child under the Child Convention. The role of the media in disseminating information, forming public opinion, as a source of entertainment and to scrutinize society’s power structures.

Biology ď&#x201A;ˇ

How our unique composition of genes is stored in the DNA-molecule and what a DNA database is as well as opportunities, risks and ethical questions arising from its application.

Chemistry ď&#x201A;ˇ

Common chemicals in the home and in society and how they affect health and the environment.

Background Like here on Earth, there will be decisions that have to be made on PromethEUs and they have to be made for the best of the planet. The challenge of decision making is deciding what action a group should take so it's for the best of the group without harming the individuals. There are various systems designed to solve this problem generally different forms of democracy. But is democracy up for the challenges of sustainable development? However, for some decisions, there may be an alternative that is beneficial for a single individual in the short term, but the alternative may be unfavorable for the group in the long term. How much responsibility individual capable of? PromethEUs will need a legal system and principles of the rule of law. Views of norms and legislation influence each other and sometimes they can be highly influenced by politics and religions. What will it be like on PromethEUs? What means should be used to enforce the law? Vast amounts of information need to be stored and transferred in a society in order for it to function. A big question is the level of accessibility to the information. It's a dilemma - if sensible information gets in the wrong hands, it could be a possible threat for both an individual and the whole society, but on the other hand, if everyone has access to all the information, the risk of misleading and wrongful exploitation is low.

Sustainable government issues N.B. This is only guidance to some of the key aspects of the problems with how PromethEUs will be governed. As you work, you will probably come across other aspects you’ll need to look further into.

VOTING AGE A. How are the important decisions going to be made on PromethEUs?   

With majority decision where all the citizens get to vote? With a representative democracy where you elect some kind of parliament? With one leader that makes the decisions?

B. If there will be some kind of voting system -what will the voting age be? (What will be the minimum age that a person must attain to be eligible to vote in a public election?)

ELECTION SYSTEM C. If PromethEUs should have some elected parliament or leaders – how often should you have elections? 

Will there be a possibility to be a parliament member for all one’s life or should one only be able to be part of the parliament for a fixed number of periods?

D. If PromethEUs should have some elected parliament or leaders – should there be quota to ensure that there were as many women as men who were in power. ?

POLITICIANS E. Will the crew members be allowed to form political parties?  

If so, should some political ideas and views be forbidden?F. Should it be possible to remove some leader from office? For what reasons? Corruption? Incompetence? Other reasons?

PUNISHMENT IN THE LEGAL SYSTEM G. What should most severe punishment in the legal system be?    

Death penalty? Life in prison without parole? Life in prison with chance of parole? Imprisonment for a fixed number of years? How many years?

H. What kind of crimes can lead to this, the most severe punishment?

PUBLIC INFORMATION I. How long after a person has served his/her sentence will crime records be kept? J. Should people’s crime records be public and accessible for everyone? K. Should all public information be accessible for everyone on PromethEUs? If not – what kind of information should be restricted? If restrictions -should someone have access to all information? Who?

DNA DATABASES L. Should genetic information that is about individuals DNA be stored in a database on PromethEUs? M. If so, whose DNA would be stored?     

Everyone? Convicted criminals? Persons that have been in a criminal investigation? People with genetic diseases? Others?

N. If there will be DNA database PromethEUs, who will have access to it?      

Everyone’s? The police? Scientific researchers? Insurance companies? Job employers? Others?

FREEDOM OF THE PRESS O. Will there be freedom of the press or should some things be forbidden?     

Racist messages? Pornographic? Slander? Classified information? Other things?

ALLOW OR BAN COMMONLY USED CHEMICALS P. Will some commonly used chemicals on Earth, be banned on PromethEUs?     

Alcoholic beverages as wine, beer and liquor? Tobacco products? Artificial sweeteners used in soft drinks, candy and food, like aspartame? High tech water-repellent fabrics in clothes, like Gore Tex and similar trademarks? The use of synthetic pesticides in farming?

Rubrics for the key competences of Sustainable government issues Knowledge requirements for level 1 The pupil can study societal issues from different perspectives and describe simple relationships.

Knowledge requirements for level 2 The pupil can study societal issues from different perspectives and describe relatively complex relationships.

Knowledge requirements for level 3 The pupil can study societal issues from different perspectives and describe complex relationships.

2. Ability to assess and express different viewpoints

The pupil assesses and expresses different viewpoints and can to some extent switch between different perspectives.

The pupil assesses and expresses different viewpoints and can to a relatively great extent switch between different perspectives.

The pupil assesses and expresses different viewpoints and can to a large extent switch between different perspectives.

3. Ability to reason

The pupil can reason about different social sustainability issues and produce simple and to some extent informed proposals for solutions where some of the consequences for people, society and nature are taken into account. Pupils have basic knowledge of democratic values and processes, and show this by applying simple reasoning about democratic rights and obligations, and also the advantages and disadvantages of different forms of joint decisionmaking.

The pupil can reason about different social sustainability issues and produce developed and relatively well informed proposals for solutions where some of the consequences for people, society and nature are taken into account. Pupils have good knowledge of democratic values and processes, and show this by applying developed reasoning about democratic rights and obligations, and also the advantages and disadvantages of different forms of joint decisionmaking.

In written production, the pupil can express him/herself simply, understandably and relatively coherently. In oral interaction in different contexts, the pupil can express him/herself simply and understandably.

In written production, the pupil can express him/herself in relatively varied ways, relatively clearly and relatively coherently. In oral interaction in different contexts, the pupil can express him/herself clearly and with some ease.

The pupil can reason about different social sustainability issues and produce well developed and well informed proposals for solutions where some of the consequences for people, society and nature are taken Into account. Pupils have very good knowledge of democratic values and processes and show this by applying well developed and balanced reasoning about democratic rights and obligations, and the advantages and disadvantages of different forms of joint decisionmaking. In written production, the pupil can express him/herself in relatively varied ways, clearly and coherently. In oral interaction in different contexts, the pupil can express him/herself clearly and with ease.

1. Ability to study societal issues

4. Knowledge about decisionmaking processes

5. Ability to express him/herself in English

Sustainable government Comments to the teachers This document contains some comments on the various issues that this unit consists of. The idea is to describe some of the aspects of the issues that are worth highlighting to the students. There are certainly a number of other essential aspects of these, so look at these as suggestions, and not as an answer key. Again, it is important to emphasize that these issues are deliberately chosen so that they are of dilemma character, where there is no right or wrong answers. As a teacher, you should therefore allow students to make their own decisions on issues, provided that they fully understood the all the relevant facts surrounding the issue, even if the student’s opinion might be a bit radical. Obviously, provided that the student’s opinions aren’t offensive and in violation of your national curriculums core ideas.

How to work with the unit When the students are introduced to the unit through the Engagement phases, there are different ways to organize the students work with the issues of the units in the Exploration and Explanation phases and one suggestion is to work the issues in parts. Starting for example with issue A-B having the students do investigations about the content of these issues and beside this giving them some lectures about the same content. When this is done it is time for the students to evaluate pros and cons and then make decisions about the current issues - and in this process use the supporting documents. At this stage students can work in small groups and when they have made decisions you can have the small groups making their own presentations in Creaza on these issues, using the Creaza assignment for issue A and B for to the unit you currently work on. When these “working presentations” are finished, you can practice negotiations between the small student groups to reach a common decision according to the current issues. When this is done its time to make a final presentation on Creaza on issues A-B and this will later be used at the international negotiation. Then it’s time to take for example issues C and D and work through the same process. If you have many students involved and maybe some limited time you organize the work so not all students work with all issues, instead distribute the issues between student groups. It’s better to work with a little fewer issues properly- rather than rushing through all the issues.

Voting age - Issues A-B Democracy is one of the universal core values and will probably be part of principles of the PromethEUs society. These issues are about to problematize democracy and have the students to understand that this is nothing you can take for granted. There are also different forms of decisionmaking in a democracy, all of which have their pros and cons. The idea of democracy has furthermore some downsides that the students need to be aware of in order to defend this idea against other systems. For example in a democracy 49 % of the people don’t get their way when a decision is going to be made. In the neoliberal Europe people are given more opportunities to influence their lives, but it has also meant that one have lot more choices to make, for better or worse. In order to have a sustainable future a lot of uncomfortable and difficult decisions have to be made and the question is whether the democracy we have today is up to this challenge. Election system - Issues C-D The common form of democracy is to have elected representative of some kind and it’s not unusual that people in power want to stay in power for long time. Experience is of course important, but on the other hand it’s vital to change the leadership once in a while. Across the EU, women are underrepresented in positions of responsibility in all fields. The reasons for the underrepresentation of women in power and decision-making are multifaceted and complex. Particularly at the highest levels, women are still largely outnumbered by men in leadership positions in politics and business, as well as in other fields. An easy fix would be to have a quota system to guarantee that the numbers will be equal. With this system there will off course be a risk that the best suited person not will be appointed, just because of the gender. Is this ok in order to have equality or is it unfair? Politicians - Issues E-F To form political parties is a way achieving goals common to its members and this system is used all over the world, but is this the way to do it on PromethEUs? Young people in Europe today have in general low faith in political parties and politicians in general, and since it’s them who represent us it’s a big problem. It was the people who elected them so no one else is to blame. One reason for the low level of trust in politics is that the politicians who are in charge are considered to do a poor job. Still they are in office year after year. Maybe it would be better if it would be easier to remove them from office, or? But who will decide when to remove someone perhaps there is a risk that someone will be removed for unjustified reasons and thus can democracy be threatened.

Punishment in the legal system - Issues G-H The idea of having long sentences for the crimes that is considers being most serious ones is obviously that it will deter crime. In addition, a convicted person can’t commit new crimes while in prison. The death sentence is obviously the most deterrent sentence and it will detenitly prevent new crimes from this person. But is it right for a state to violate the most important human right - that is the right to life? Furthermore there is also the risk to convict the wrong person and with a death penalty it’s not possible to make amends for a wrong verdict. Another legal dilemma is how do decide what crimes is the most serious ones. This differs from culture to culture and in some parts of the world. Public information - Issues I-K A criminal record is a record of a person’s criminal history, i.e. the crimes a person has committed. If for example a school what to hire a new teacher they could ask for the persons crime record and therefor prevent to hire someone who can harm the pupils in some way. The same thing if someone wants to be a police, the police academy will check the crime record. This is obviously for a good cause and to protect the children and the society. But on the other hand, when a convicted criminal have served his or her sentence and paid his or hers dues – shouldn’t he or she be a free man or woman? Or at least have the crime record erased after some time? Maybe it just right that you will pay a “lifelong” price for the crime you done, or? This is an ethical question about guilt, remorse and forgiveness. Another aspect of this issue is if crime records should be easy accessible for everyone. In an open society court orders usually is public but everyone’s crime records aren’t general easily accessible through for example an open data base. In some countries companies offers a service where you can find out if there are convicted criminals in your neighborhood and where they live and their names. The companies argue that it give the public a sense of security to know that. But at the same time there are the risk of accusing innocent people and maybe this, in different ways, can force a person back into criminal activity. In a society there are all kinds of personal information stored in order to make the authorities, care systems and some companies work to run smoothly for everyone’s convenience. But what should be public for everyone and what shouldn’t? Also there is information about other things in a society and in some countries there is freedom of information to a large extent, while some countries have a lot of restrictions. This is dilemmas where freedom of expression and principle of public access to official records are set against as personal integrity and national safety.

DNA database - Issues L-N A DNA database can be used in the analysis of genetic diseases, genetic fingerprinting for criminology, or genetic genealogy. The police use a forensic database to produce matches between the suspected individual and crime scene bio-markers, and then provide evidence to support criminal investigations. In many countries the police store DNA from convicted criminals and in some cases also all persons who have been in investigations. This have helped to solve many crimes and with a larger databased even more crimes could be solved. On the other hand it would cost a lot of money to have a database with all people in it and since most crimes are committed by a limited group of people, which many already are in the database, it is questionable how many more crimes will be solve with a database with everyone in it. Researches use also DNA-databases to investigate how genetic diseases work and how lifestyle affects these diseases. This research will help to prevent many diseases and help people to a better lifestyle in order to not get ill. By using these DNA databanks it’s possible for the pharmaceutical industry to design new medicines that prevent various genetic diseases. Another possibility with a DNA database containing a lot of peoples DNA is to find correlations between successful, intelligent or healthy people and their DNA and this knowledge could be used in the future. On the other hand, a public database could also be of interest for others. For example, if a company would like to employ somebody they might want to do a “DNA checkup”. If for example the person has a high genetic risk for having heart problems at the age of 50, then the company probably doesn’t want to hire this person. Is this fair? Correspondingly, insurance companies that would be able to use information from such a database will not give insurance to people at high genetic risk of developing serious diseases. And at a personal level, if you met a new partner maybe you yourself would be tempted to do a checkup on her new partner! How would you handle information that the possible life partner has bad genetic characteristics? Freedom of the press - Issue O The United Nations' 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference, and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers". Freedom of speech and expression is not absolute and every government restricts speech to some degree. Common limitations on speech relate to: libel, slander, obscenity, pornography, sedition, hate speech, classified information, copyright violation, trade secrets, non-disclosure agreements, right to privacy, right to be forgotten, and campaign finance reform. The dilemma is where to draw the limits. The WikiLeaks have put the matter to a head with their disclosures. WikiLeaks goal is to bring important news and information to the public. The problem is that some information is considered to be classified by some governments and then it’s of course against the law. But if it’s important and serious information – doesn’t the people have the right to know it?

Allow or ban commonly used chemicals - Issue P In an exciting society there are chemicals that are used in large scale even if they have serious side effects. Since these disadvantages didn’t were known when the chemical first was introduced, they weren’t banned back then, as some of them maybe would had been, if they had known then what we know today. The use of alcohol is deeply woven into most cultures and therefor extremely difficult to ban. But if the concept of wine, beer and liquor would be introduced today as a new innovation to “intoxicate people” it would be very likely that it would be banned. If you get a chance to build a new society on PrometEUs – would you allow it? It’s possible to argue that alcohol has some good sides, but when it comes to tobacco product it’s very hard to find any upsides to these products. Even if the tobacco industry put much effort into finding good things the obvious cons like lung cancer and heart attacks is much bigger. Artificial sweeteners have gotten very popular in food and especially sodas and it’s been for a good cause. Since normal sodas contain a lot of sugar the body will get more energy than it can combust when drinking a lot of sodas, and the excess energy is stored as body fat. Rising consumption of sugary drinks has been a major contributor to the obesity epidemic all over the world and also a raising number of people with type 2 diabetes. Diet sodas contain artificial sweeteners and these chemicals don’t give the body any energy and therefor doesn’t contribute to obesity. At least not in theory - but research show that artificial sweeteners disrupts the body's ability to regulate food intake and confuses and slows the metabolism down, so the body burn fewer calories every day. Potentially it also will lead to sugarseeking behavior, which then offsets any calories saved by the no-calorie sweetener. On a new planet high tech water-repellent materials would be very useful. These materials like GoreTex used very much and have many advantages. Unfortunately, Gore-tex is made from the highly toxic, extremely persistent group of chemicals called perfluorochemicals (PFCs). Basically, materials like Gore-tex and similar is a waterproof/breathable fabric membrane that is treated with Teflon. Teflon is the brand name for polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). PTFE is created by a process involving the carcinogenic substance known as perfluorooctanoate (PFOA), which is a consistent environmental contaminant. Essentially, this is material that consists of extremely toxic chemicals, now thoroughly contaminate our air, water and bloodstreams and do not break down in the environment… ever! The companies are now claiming to find other, less toxic, chemical in the making of the fabrics. It’s easy to see similarities to the pesticide DDT, which was introduced in the 40’s and was popular used very much and The Swiss chemist Paul Hermann Müller was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1948, for his discovery! Twenty years later the downsides to the chemical started to appear since DDT is also highly poisonous to birds and other animals further up the food chain and it was soon banned. This example with water-repellent fabrics is to open the students eyes for the possibilities of chemical innovations but also the risks if you don’t analyze how it will affect the nature. The last

point about synthetic pesticides in farming is similar. Without pesticides, many conventional farmers would have trouble growing healthy crops. With synthetic pesticides the crops will be bigger and more people can be feed. However, synthetic pesticides have been proven to cause disease and environmental pollution and have shown that pesticides are responsible for several different kinds of cancer. Most of the organic farmers though also use pesticides, but then natural pesticides. Many of these have also been found to be potential â&#x20AC;&#x201C; or serious â&#x20AC;&#x201C; health risks. And if these are not so effective there is a possibility that the organic farmers need to spray their fields more often and then use his tractor a lot of more. If then the farmers during the extra spraying runs the tractors on diesel this will have negative affect on the environment. To sum this up another dilemma between gains and risks where there obviously is no specific right or wrong.

Sustainable living Objectives for the students        

gain insight into the importance of leisure for our well-being, reflect over ethical, existential and religious issues affecting their lives, develop an understanding of views on religious and ethical issues, as well as a fundamental ethical attitude as the basis for their own views and actions, have a familiarity with different social care systems and be able to discuss possible routes towards a sustainable society, develop the ability to discuss questions concerning health and inter-personal relationships on the basis of relevant biological knowledge and personal experiences, be able to discuss and reflect about alternative social structures in areas like families develop an understanding for the relation between carrying capacity and population. evaluate sports and other physical activities based on different views of health, movement and lifestyle

Core content Civics    

The family and different forms of cohabitation. Sexuality, gender roles and gender equality. Youth identity, lifestyles and well-being and how this is affected by such factors as socioeconomic background, gender and sexual orientation. What taxes are and what the public sector is, and what municipalities, county councils and the state use tax revenues for. Differences between people’s financial resources, power and influence related to gender, ethnicity and socio-economic background.

Religion     

How religions and other outlooks on life can shape people’s identities and lifestyles. The relationship between society and religion in different times and places and the role of religion in some political events and conflicts from a critical perspective. Conflicts and opportunities in secular and pluralistic societies, such as over issues concerning freedom of religious expression, sexuality and views on gender equality. Views of the good life and the good person are linked to different kinds of ethical reasoning, such as virtue ethics. Ethical concepts which can be linked to questions concerning sustainable development, human rights and democratic values, such as freedom and responsibility.

Biology  

Common diseases and how they can be prevented and treated. Methods for assisted fertilization

Geography  

How the Earth’s population is distributed over the globe, and also the causes of and consequences of the unequal distribution of population. The relationship of uncontrolled population growth, and the planet's carrying capacity.

Physical Education  

Physical and mental effects of some different types of training. Different definitions of health, relationships between movement, diet and health.

Background Today we take for granted to have a lot of leisure time, but that has not always been the case. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries factories required workers to perform long shifts, often up to eighteen hours per day, with only Sundays off work. Life in the agrarian societies also meant long working hours with little time for leisure. But leisure time isn't a modern invention, in fact when we lived as hunters and gatherers there was plenty of time for leisure and recreational activities. Workdays were seldom longer than five hours. A religion is a set of beliefs that is held by a group of people. There are many different religions, each with a different set of beliefs. The beliefs are about the world and the people in it, about how they came into being, and what their purpose is. These beliefs are often linked to "supernatural" beings such as God, a number of gods or spirits. Can a society be successful with religion - or can it exist without it? How the structures of the families are and how health care is provided in a society can be linked to religion and other ethical beliefs. The nuclear family is a term used to define a typical family group consisting of a married pair of adults, of different sexes, and their children. But looking back in history there have been alternate family forms –so why not in the future!? The goal for health systems is of course good health but it's also important that the system can give the population what it expects of it and that the financial contributions to the system are fair. But what is fair?

Sustainable living issues N.B. This is only guidance to some of the key aspects of the problems with how PromethEUs will be governed. As you work, you will probably come across other aspects you’ll need to look further into. A. How much spare time will people have on PromethEUs? How long working hours will they have?    

Should they work 8 hours every day? Work 8 hours per day, only Monday to Friday? Work 6 hours per day, only Monday to Friday? Other alternatives?

B. Should some recreational activities be encouraged? 

Give examples of such activities.

C. Should some recreational activities supported through financial contributions from taxes on PromethEUs?       

Sport? Music? Arts? Nature and outdoor activities? Handicraft? Computer gaming? Other activities?

D. Will any specific religions be practiced on PromethEUs?   

“Old” religions from planet Earth? A new religion will be created? Should religion be forbidden at all?

E. If it will be decided that “old religions” would be used, which ones will be allowed? Will any religion be banned (or parts of any religions)? F. If there will be different religions - which measures need to be taken in order to prevent religious conflicts? G. If it will be decided that a new religion should be created. What important elements will there be in this new religion?     

Gods? Commandments or pillars? Some persons authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion like a priest or similar? Rituals? Food?



Holidays?

H. How would the family forms be on PromethEUs?    

Only “normal” families - man, woman and children? Collective families? Same-sex partnerships should be allowed? Other kinds of families?

I. How many children would be allowed per person?  

Up to the individuals? Regulated to a maximum (to prevent overpopulation)?

J. Should In vitro fertilization (IVF), “test tube babies”, be used on PromethEUs? If so, for whom will it be used?   

People with medicine conditions that prevents normal pregnancy? For single mothers? For gay couples?

K. If IVF would be used would eggs and sperms be brought from Earth and used or just donors from the people that are colonizing PromethEUs? L. Should health care be free of charge or fee-based on PromethEUs? M. If it’s decided that health care should be fee-based, how much should the patient pay for?   

Every cost? Fee-based until one reaching a cost limit? Pay for some of the treatments - such as?

N. Should all diseases be treated?  

If not, which ones? Give examples of diseases that shouldn't be treated. What consequences would it lead to?

O. Should euthanasia, assisted suicide, be allowed? P. If it will be allowed – should it be encouraged sometimes?    

If someone is incurable sick? If someone is very old? If someone is depressed? Other reasons?

Rubrics for the key competences of Sustainable living issues Knowledge requirements for level 1 The pupil can study societal issues from different perspectives and describe simple relationships.

Knowledge requirements for level 2 The pupil can study societal issues from different perspectives and describe relatively complex relationships.

Knowledge requirements for level 3 The pupil can study societal issues from different perspectives and describe complex relationships.

The pupil assesses and expresses different viewpoints and can to some extent switch between different perspectives.

The pupil assesses and expresses different viewpoints and can to a relatively great extent switch between different perspectives.

The pupil assesses and expresses different viewpoints and can to a large extent switch between different perspectives.

The pupil can reason about different social sustainability issues and produce simple and to some extent informed proposals for solutions where some of the consequences for people, society and nature are taken into account. 4. Pupils have basic Knowledge knowledge of how about religions can be influenced religion and by and influence social values conditions and events. Pupils have basic knowledge about and an understanding of the importance of the individual’s own lifestyle and its impact on health.

The pupil can reason about different social sustainability issues and produce developed and relatively well informed proposals for solutions where some of the consequences for people, society and nature are taken into account. Pupils have good knowledge of how religions can be influenced by and influence social conditions and events. Pupils have good knowledge about and an understanding of the importance of the individual’s own lifestyle and its impact on health.

5. Ability to express him/herself in English

In written production, the pupil can express him/herself in relatively varied ways, clearly and coherently. In oral interaction in different contexts, the pupil can express him/herself clearly and with ease.

1. Ability to study societal issues

2. Ability to assess and express different viewpoints

3. Ability to reason

Sustainable living Comments to the teachers This document contains some comments on the various issues that this unit consists of. The idea is to describe some of the aspects of the issues that are worth highlighting to the students. There are certainly a number of other essential aspects of these, so look at these as suggestions, and not as an answer key. Again, it is important to emphasize that these issues are deliberately chosen so that they are of dilemma character, where there is no right or wrong answers. As a teacher, you should therefore allow students to make their own decisions on issues, provided that they fully understood the all the relevant facts surrounding the issue, even if the student’s opinion might be a bit radical. Obviously, provided that the student’s opinions aren’t offensive and in violation of your national curriculums core ideas.

WORKING HOURS AND SPARE TIME - Issues A-C We all need free time, time that is ours alone to do with as we wish. However, many people don’t have too much of it. They could fill every minute of the day with chores, activities, work. Long working hours is a new innovation and after the industrial revolution working time during the year increased significantly. Work schedules as long as twelve to sixteen hours per day, six to seven days per week were practiced in some industrial sites. Eventually the long hours were reduced and by the help of Henry Ford amongst others the work day was limited to eight hours. But the reason isn’t scientific or much thought out. It’s purely a century old norm for running factories most efficiently. Maybe it’s time to rethink things on PromethEus. Some developed countries spend a lot of tax money to make it easier for the people to have the opportunity to have an active lifestyle. There are socio-economic motives behind this as active citizens are healthier and happier, and then the costs of health and social care less. Other countries spend less money on these things, arguing it’s up to the individual to decide regarding this money and have lower taxes. For some recreational activities one can easily see a connection between this activity and improve public health, and then it can be justified to provide financial support for such activity. For others it is more questionable.

DIFFERENT RELIGIONS

- Issues D-F

In most cultures, there has been a religion of some kind. It has given meaning, comfort and hope for the followers, while it has been an effective tool for the community to keep control over the people and to promote an orderly and functional society for all. Unlike the common laws, which can only judge you while you are living, the religious laws are able to condemn you for eternity, to either paradise or to hell, and therefor they have proven to be very effective. Unfortunately have religions been misused by men, always men, who used them to empower themselves and in these process a lot of people have been hurt and killed. Religion is involved in many conflicts, but the cause is not the religion itself, instead it’s men who use it to gain power over others. In all religions is the idea of reconciliation substantial and love of the next one a pillar. The idea of these issues is not for the students to question their own religion, but rather to question how people use religion and how we relate to religions. Furthermore to experience that different religions have a lot of similarities, to reflect about parts of religions that we humans have difficulty handling and why it’s easy for groups of men to mislead people and use religion for bad things.

A NEW RELIGION

- Issues G

These issues are not so much about dilemmas, instead it’s about having the students to think about symbols, rituals and holidays that different religions have. Originally these things were created for a reason, and had importance for society and life. Through the years, the meaning have changed, and so have society, but these symbols and rituals nonetheless remains.

By inventing a new religion it will create opportunities to reflect on the contents of the old religions we have here on earth. What will important the PromethEUs society –and so important that it would be a part of a new religion?

FAMILY FORMS - Issues H-I The nuclear family is a term used to define a typical family group consisting of a married pair of adults, of different sexes, and their children and this family concept originated in Western Europe. For long grandparents were part of the “normal family“ but as the social care systems has been expanded in developed countries, this has become increasingly rare. The young do not seem to need the old ones anymore and vice versa and freedom and autonomy has become more important than togetherness. This family type was constructed due to religious and economic reasons and has obviously some cons since it’s been around for long. Still maybe there are better ways to form families, raise the children and to find community. One important factor to have a sustainable future is control the population. If each person have more than two kids the population will grow. Maybe there would be some regulation to prevent rapid population growth on PromethEUs as we have had on Earth? Let’s say that everyone on PromethEUs have four kids and then assume for simplicity that in each generation doubles the number of people the same way with four kids on average per person. Let’s do some calculation and start with a first generation with only two people that have four children who will be the people in the second generation. This will give us eight persons in the third and in the fourth there will sixteen persons and so on. In the beginning it doesn’t seem to be overpopulated but with this growth rate there would be over 8 billion people in the 34th generation! If we estimated that a generation is 25 years, it would therefore take just 850 years before it lived more people on Prometheus than it does today on Earth, provided that each person have four children. This question about overpopulation is very delicate and it holds both some dilemmas and a lot of misunderstandings. The increase of the population on Earth the coming 50 years will mostly be in Asia and Africa, but to a large extent because of the fact that there are comparatively fewer people at middle age and high age today and not much because of that too many babies are born. To problems for the Earth to feed everyone on these all of these countries are therefore wrong. Actually countries like Bangladesh, Indonesia, Egypt and Mexico are down to just above two children per family. The challenge for the future is to reduce the population growth also in the very poorest of all countries so that the world population will stabilize on 9 billion.

TEST TUBE BABIES

- Issues J-K

In vitro fertilization (IVF), “test tube babies”, is the most common and most effective type of assisted reproductive technology to help women become pregnant. The fertilizing of the egg is done outside

the body, in a laboratory dish, and then the egg is implanted it in a woman's uterus. The mother then carries the baby and has an otherwise normal pregnancy. For couples consisting of a man and woman that have problems getting pregnant there maybe isn’t so much controversy a part for some religious arguments. But some people oppose that for example single mothers get IVF by getting sperm from an anonymous donor and in some counties there is also a lot of debate about same-sex couples and even unmarried couples using IVF. There are also other ethical dilemmas about this, for example the risk of mixing up eggs or sperms in the procedures and the fact that older mothers have gotten pregnant with IVF. With IVF there is also a possibility for women to manage the reproduction basically alone, as long as they have sperm donors, and this also an aspect to take in consideration – for the male population at least. The PromethEUs population will be descending from a smaller number of individuals, the so called founding population, since it is the people from Spaceship Santa Maria. There is a risk of founder effect, which is the loss of genetic variation that occurs when a new population is established from a very small number of individuals. There is then risk of high frequencies of a severe genetically inherited disorder because of the little variation of genes. In the future of PromethEUs the probability that two persons with the same “bad gene” will fall in love and have babies is much larger than on Earth. One thing to prevent this is to make the variation bigger by using sperm or eggs from Earth by introducing different genes in the common gene pool on PromethEUs. This will of course mean that some people will raise kids that genetically aren’t their own. This is not so unusual but in this case there is no chance that the children can meet their biological parents.

HEALTH CARE

- Issues L-P

There is a wide variety of health care systems around the world. In some places health care is based on “out-of-pocket payments” where you pay directly for the costs. Other countries have systems with different forms of insurances and some have systems where health care, and other types of care, are funded through taxes. Most countries' systems are actually a mix of different models, but what will it be on PromethEUs? In a country with care systems that are financed by taxes, the tax itself will of course be considerably high. About 1/8 of the tax money goes to health care in these countries. One obvious upside is that everyone have the right to health care, but you can also argue that a downside is that you will contribute equally whether your healthy doesn’t need so much care as if you have lived an unhealthy life and need a lot of care. In a fee-based system the taxes are lower and it’s up to the individual to decide over his or hers own money. If you sound and healthy life healthy you won’t have to by as much and maybe this is fair? A lot of money is spend on trying to find cures for different diseases, both deadly diseases and nondeadly. But maybe we should accept the fact that some diseases aren’t curable and use this money for other things? I some cases there is also a risk that we use medecin to much and by doing this

causing more dangerous deceases, like the misuse of antibiotics that caused mutations of cold viruses into dangerous multiresistant viruses. Euthanasia is an ethical dilemma between “everybody’s the right to a dignified life" and “sanctity of life”. One can claim that everyone have the right to end one’s life when you want to, for example if one is incurable ill. But on the other hand if it’s allowed how would it be regulated? If euthanasia is allowed to happen for people asking to die, people might then think that it is ok to allow euthanasia for people who are very sick but are not able to ask to die. And if that was allowed, then maybe they would allow euthanasia for people who are very sick and will not recover, but do not want to die.

Sustainable economy Objectives for the students 

   

gain awareness of the national economy, household economy and private economy as well as get the chances to discuss possible routes towards a sustainable society both locally and globally. gain awareness of and increase their involvement in the social economy. develop skills and confidence to argue and influence the development of the society. use knowledge to examine information, communicate and take a view on questions concerning health and natural resource. raise awareness of the importance of entrepreneurship and its impact on the development and sustainability of the modern society.

Core content

Civics     

The public sector. What taxes are, and what municipalities, county councils and the state use tax revenues for. Welfare structures and how they function, such as the health care system, the pension system and unemployment insurance. The financial responsibilities of individuals and families compared to what is financed through public funding. How the finances of households, companies and the public sector are linked together. Causes of changes in the economy and what their effects are on individuals and groups. Education routes, choice of occupation and entrepreneurship in a global society. Some factors influencing individual choice of occupation and salary differences.

Geography 

Conflicts of interest over natural resources, such as access to water and land.

Chemistry  

People’s use of and control of natural resources and what this means in terms of sustainable development. Chemical processes in the manufacture and recycling of metals and life-cycle analysis of some common products.

Biology 

How physical and mental health is affected by sleep, diet, exercise and social relationships.

Home and consumer studies 

Individual needs for energy and nutrition, such as for sports, and the importance of meals in developing a sense of community and well-being.

Physical education and health 

Words and concepts, and talking about experiences of health, different physical activities and forms of training, lifestyle, understanding of the human body and self-image.

Technology  

Recycling and reuse of materials in different processes. How technological solutions can contribute to sustainable development. Consequences of choice of technology from ecological, economic, ethical and social perspectives.

Background In order for PromethEUs to function, there must be economic sustainability. In history there have been different views on how this can be achieved and so far no system has worked our very well. Should it be a market-based economy where goods and services are produced without interference from the state or a planned economy, an economic system where the main economic decisions are taken by the state? Or maybe, should it be something else? In the EU the men earn, on average, about one-fifth more than the women. There may be several explanations for this but whatever these may be, one need to ask oneself whether it is right? There may also be major differences between different professions. To some extent it may be justified but the question is if it is so in all cases. The goal for the public care systems is of course good care but it's also important that the system can give the population what it expects of it and that the financial contributions to the system are fair. This is debatable and there is a wide variety of care systems around the world. In some places different types of care are based on â&#x20AC;&#x153;out-of-pocket paymentsâ&#x20AC;? where you pay directly for the costs. Some countries have systems with different forms of private insurances and others have systems where the different types of care are funded through taxes. Most countries' systems are actually a mix of different models. The running of the different services in the public sector has two extremes, nationalization and privatization, and then a variety of options between these two. The goal is the same no matter which model you choose: to give the citizens the best service possible, but which model will do, this is up to debate since there are advantages and disadvantages to all systems. The fact that a product is "Fair Trade" means that this product is sustainably produced not only with the environment in mind, but also considering health issues and working conditions. There is probably no one who thinks the Fair Trade-concept is bad - but the question is whether people are willing to pay a little more for a Fair Trade product compared to a "standard" product... The fact that unhealthy food is hazardous to one's health is well established, still most people eat this kind food from time to time â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and enjoy it! Besides the fact that unhealthy food often tastes good, this unhealthy food also tends to be cheaper than healthier food. To take care of one owns health is clearly everyone's responsibility, but perhaps there are things to do to prevent obesity epidemics through taxes and other regulations. In the same way as taxing cigarettes helped to reduce smoking and related illnesses, could making junk food more expensive cut obesity rates on PromethEUs? Rare earth metals are used in many devices and gadgets that people use every day, such as computer memory, tablets, rechargeable batteries, cell phones, catalytic converters, magnets, fluorescent lighting and many more. At the same time, as these metals are vital for the renewable energy industry, the mining and refining of them have severe environmental impact. The dilemma is if these drawbacks are something one must accept to have a technological development and renewable energy.

Sustainable economy issues N.B. This is only guidance to some of the key aspects of the problems with how PromethEUs will be governed. As you work, you will probably come across other aspects you’ll need to look further into.

ECONOMIC SYSTEM A. How are the wages for different kind of jobs going to be decided on PromethEUs?  



Same wage for every kind of job? Set wages by the government according to profession? o Give examples of professions that will have high wages? o Give examples of professions that will have low wages? Wages will be products of market forces (supply and demand)?

B. Will there be equality between the sexes according to wages? C. In what way are the prices of goods and services going to be determined? • • •

By the state? By the free market? In some other way?

PAYMENT SYSTEM D. What should be the means of payment on the planet PromethEUs?    

Physical money (notes and coins of eg US dollars, Euros) issued by central bank? An independent digital currency (eg BitCoin)? Barter system? Some other way?

SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS – ILLNESS, DISABILITY AND PARENTAL CARE E. Will people with illness or disability get financial support? • • •

Financial support from the state with the same salary as when working? Financial support from the state, but only a portion of the salary that you have when you are working? What proportion? Financial support from a private health insurance?

F. Will people that are at home taking care of their children, get financial support? • • •

G. Regardless of the social security systems available on Prometheus, there may be people who are poor. Could begging be possible source of income for these people? • •

Yes No, street begging should be banned. o If no, how would this ban be enforced?

SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS – SENIOR CITIZENS H. When should people be able to retire from work with financial support from the state? • • • •

Never? At a fixed age? If so – at what age? Depending on the profession that the person had in life? Depending to his/hers physical condition on a case-by-case basis?

I. Who should have the primary responsibility for the care of elderly needing care? • • •

The old people’s relatives on their own? The old people’s relatives with financial support from the state? Retirement homes on PromethEUs?

PUBLIC SERVICES J. Who will own and run the services in the public sector on PromethEUs? Will it be owned and run by the state (or similar) or by private companies – or something in between? What about:            

Hospitals and other health care? Elderly care homes and services? Schools? Banks? Trains? Highways? Airlines? Electricity? Internet? Fresh water service? Waste management? Fire brigade? Police?

K. Who will own and control the natural resources on PromethEUs? Will it be owned by the state or by private companies – or something in between? What about:   

Land for agriculture? Forests for wood processing? Fresh water sources?



Metals findings?

PRODUCTION OF NON-SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTS L. Should goods that have negative impact on the environment and human health, either when they are manufactured and when used, be permitted on Prometheus? It does not apply to goods that are directly toxic or similar but rather goods that have some negative impact, perhaps limited but nevertheless negative. • • •

Yes they should be permitted, because it is up to the free market to regulate this. Yes they should be permitted, but there should be higher tax on such goods. No, only healthy, environmentally friendly and fair trade goods can be sold on PromethEU's.

FAT TAX M. Should high-calorie/low-nutrient food have higher tax compared to healthier food, so called “fat-taxes and “sugar-taxes”?

RARE EARTH ELEMENT MINING N. To what degree should rare earth metals be mined and refined on PromethEUs?   

Not at all. To a limited extent and the metals should be recycled. To the extent of the demand for these metals.

Rubrics for the key competences of Sustainable government issues Knowledge requirements for level 1 The pupil can study societal issues from different perspectives and describe simple relationships.

Knowledge requirements for level 2 The pupil can study societal issues from different perspectives and describe relatively complex relationships.

Knowledge requirements for level 3 The pupil can study societal issues from different perspectives and describe complex relationships.

2. Ability to assess and express different viewpoints

The pupil assesses and expresses different viewpoints and can to some extent switch between different perspectives.

The pupil assesses and expresses different viewpoints and can to a relatively great extent switch between different perspectives.

The pupil assesses and expresses different viewpoints and can to a large extent switch between different perspectives.

3. Ability to reason

The pupil can reason about different sustainability issues and produce simple and to some extent informed proposals for solutions where some of the consequences for people, society and nature are taken into account. Pupils have basic knowledge of how social, economic and political structures in society are organized, and show this by applying simple reasoning about this, and also the advantages and disadvantages of different systems.

The pupil can reason about different sustainability issues and produce developed and relatively well informed proposals for solutions where some of the consequences for people, society and nature are taken into account. Pupils have good knowledge of how social, economic and political structures in society are organized, and show this by applying developed reasoning about this, and also the advantages and disadvantages of different systems.

The pupil can reason about different sustainability issues and produce well developed and well informed proposals for solutions where some of the consequences for people, society and nature are taken Into account. Pupils have very good knowledge of how social, economic and political structures in society are organized, and show this by applying well developed and balanced reasoning about this, and the advantages and disadvantages of different systems. In written production, the pupil can express him/herself in relatively varied ways, clearly and coherently. In oral interaction in different contexts, the pupil can express him/herself clearly and with ease.

1. Ability to study societal issues

4. Knowledge about social economic and political systems

5. Ability to express him/herself in English

Sustainable economy Comments to the teachers This document contains some comments on the various issues that this unit consists of. The idea is to describe some of the aspects of the issues that are worth highlighting to the students. There are certainly a number of other essential aspects of these, so look at these as suggestions, and not as an answer key. Again, it is important to emphasize that these issues are deliberately chosen so that they are of dilemma character, where there is no right or wrong answers. As a teacher, you should therefore allow students to make their own decisions on issues, provided that they fully understood all the relevant facts surrounding the issue, even if the student’s opinion might be a bit radical. Obviously, provided that the student’s opinions aren’t offensive and in violation of your national curriculums core ideas.

How to work with the unit When the students are introduced to the unit through the Engagement phases, there are different ways to organize the students work with the issues of the units in the Exploration and Explanation phases and one suggestion is to work the issues in parts. Starting for example with issue A-B having the students do investigations about the content of these issues and beside this giving them some lectures about the same content. When this is done, it is time for the students to evaluate pros and cons and then make decisions about the current issues - and in this process use the supporting documents. At this stage, it could be a good idea to split the class into groups where each group of students goes through decision making processes on their own. After that each groups make their own Creaza presentations for issues A and B for to the relevant unit. When these “working presentations” are finished, you can practice negotiations between the small student groups to reach a common decision according to the current issues. When this is done, it is time to make a final Creaza presentation on issues A-B and this will later be used during the international negotiation. Then it’s time to take for example issues C and D and work through the same process. If you have many students involved and maybe some limited time, you organize the work in the way that not all students work with all issues. Instead you can distribute the issues between student groups. It’s better to work with a little fewer issues properly- rather than rushing through all the issues.

Economic system - Issue A-C If one wants to simplify the matter, one can say that there are two extremes of the economic system, capitalism and socialism - and then of course a lot of variations between them. Capitalism's main rule is that all individuals should have full freedom to make their own choices and make their own decisions with free access to full information. In a capitalist society, nothing is centrally controlled; instead it is up to the owners of capital to decide how they want to use their investments. Socialism is basically the name of an ideology that promotes a form of society in which the economy is under public control. In socialism it is a planned economy, which is when the community plan and decide what goods and services are to be sold and at what prices and peoples wages – depending of the need in the society. It is hardly a secret that both these systems have obvious drawbacks, as history clearly shows. Many countries also have a mixture of these extremes, but the question is what extreme you should be closest to? The old economic systems above are in general not sustainable and have just a short-term focus and only consider economical profits. The green economy is defined as an economy that results in reducing environmental risks and in its simplest expression, a green economy can be thought of as one which is low carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive that doesn’t focus on short term monetary profit. This is a concept that probably will work perfectly for everybody’s best - if it wasn’t for greed. Payment system - Issue D Whatever economic systems you have, some kind of payment system is needed. Nowadays monetary system is used and currencies are controlled by central banks. Since the value of the currency is controlled by the state through a central bank, the value can use to affect the country’s economy. This opportunity has often been used by central banks - for good and for bad. Bitcoin is the first digital currency that is completely distributed and not controlled by a single organization or government. The network is made up of users like ordinary people so no bank or payment processor is required between traders. The question is if such a digital system is safe? Social security benefits – illness, disability and parental care - Issue E-G Everybody will presumably agree that the PromethEUs state needs to be responsible for ensuring that all citizens in the society have access to the social care they need. This means a social security system for health care, elderly care, pensions, unemployment and parental insures for example. A decisive issue to pose is how social care systems will be financed, either by the government takes in taxes from citizens or having the individuals getting private insurances. Those in favor of having private insurance mean that you then only have to pay for the insurance you want and need. If you live healthily and have no children for example, you do not have as much insurance and therefor you will have more money left from the monthly salary. If the government is not in charge of the care systems, obviously the taxes won’t be as high. Usually those in favor of

private insurances still agree on that there need to be some basic governmental insurance for the weakest in society. On the other hand, people who are in favor of a system where the different types of care are funded through taxes are convinced that this is the fairest system. Everybody pays their share and everybody has equal right to use the social security when they need it. Since it is not possible to know who will need care in the future, everyone should take part in financing all kinds of care. The students may have some difficulties to “choose” between these two “polarized” systems above and since it in “the real world” usually is a mix between them it’s no wonder either. The free movement of persons is a fundamental right guaranteed to European Union (EU) citizens and people in misfortunate situations in parts of the union have used this right to come to richer countries as beggars. This has caused a lot of discussions of different kind. Some people give money and feel that it’s natural to help people that are in need and other say that giving money is contra productive for the ones in need and mean that aid can be given in another way. Often the debate about this issue involves stories about mafia and expensive cars - but usually with inconclusive proof of the truth of allegations. Begging is restricted or prohibited in some countries, typically reasons revolving around a desire to preserve public order or to induce people to work rather than to beg for economic or moral reasons. However, beggars have existed in human society since before the dawn of recorded history and begging has happened in most societies around the world. Whatever one thinks about begging, it is clear that it provokes strong emotions. Therefore, perhaps one can look at beggars as they actually do some work when they beg, a job that involves illuminating for the rest of us that we live in an unjust and unsustainable world. This reminder might be worth a euro now and then in the long run. Social security benefits – senior citizens - Issue H-I When people get older, they eventually can’t work any longer and towards the end of their lives they usually also need elderly care. The forms of financing this have been discussed on the prior issues but both the retirement age and who will take responsibility for the elderly care could also be discussed. The age at which a person is expected or required to cease work and is usually between 60-67 years in the EU. These ages are, however, set for a society with both lower life expectancy and a larger proportion of young people compared to old. But children born in the EU today have a life expectancy of 90 years and percentage of older people in society is increasing which can cause major problems in the future. If people only are productive (that is work and pay taxes) half their lives, that is from e.g. 20 – 65, and will live on tax money (or their parents) for the other half, some economists claim the society won’t work. The working population can produce money enough to pay pensions for the retired. This is probably true, at least for the way we live today. Who should be held responsible for the care of dependent elderly differs between cultures. In some places people think that the main responsibility lies with their children, in the same way as a parent

is responsible for their minor children. Responsibility can of course also be supported financial by the state or by private insurance. Others argue that it is the social security system that is responsible and shall ensure that the elderly get a place in a retirement home. Public services - Issue J-K Public services are seen as so important that for moral reasons their provision should be guaranteed for everyone. They may also be associated with fundamental human rights (such as the right to water). There should be no questions about whether these shall be provided in a community, but what is debatable is whether public services should only be provided by the government, or also private companies should be allowed. In most countries public services are provided by local or national government, but there are big exceptions like the U.S. and the UK, where privately provided public services are more significant. Developing countries have also been quick to jump on the privatization bandwagon. Privatization, when the government turns over assets like airports, roads or buildings, or contracts out a public function, to a private company is a result "neo-liberalism” and “new public management”. This is a set of economic and management policies that have become widespread during the last 25 years or so. The justification for privatization is the old argument that private companies do everything better and more “efficiently” than government, and will find ways to cut costs. Opponents of privatization point out private companies in the public service sector have a primary purpose to make a profit, and this will mean that in order to do this they have to cut back on something in the service, which then means lower quality for the citizens. If privatization provides better or worse quality and which model is the most economically is up to debate and which option you prefer have usually ideological reasons, rather than logical. Production of non-sustainable products - Issue L At the same time, as many people are in favor of environmentally friendly and healthy products produced in a fair way - we do not show this when you go shopping. When we make our purchasing decisions, we do it on entirely different grounds. Sometimes, but not always, the sustainable products are a little more expensive, but sadly it seems you do not want to pay a little more for this. It is almost like shopping and “consumerism” have become a, if not the, religion of our time. Fat tax - Issue M That fatty and sugary foods tend to taste good has simple evolutionary explanations. Our bodies and our instincts work exactly the same way as they did when we humans lived as hunter-gatherers in the nature. At that time it was a matter of survival to always make sure to eat as much fatty and sugary foods as could be once you got the chance. With this energy could survive until the next opportunity arose to get food, which could sometimes take a while. Evolution has therefore enabled positive feelings associated with this in the brain in order for our ancestors to really take the chance to “fatten up” when the chance was given.

The issue of how societies go about tackling the obesity epidemic raises thought-provoking questions on the ethical issues involved. The ‘fat tax’, is the idea that people should pay extra for their ‘unhealthy’ foods considering the long-term repercussions of their choices. Besides, the tax will make people buy less of this food for economic reason. The other justification is that people who are overweight or obese run considerably higher risks of chronic diseases and the money from this tax will be put back into the health service. But there are some ethical objections to this tax. For example, this may intrude upon personal freedom regarding lifestyle choices and raising children as well as regarding freedom of private companies. Furthermore, such taxes will neglect the social and cultural value of eating and moreover the causes of obesity are considerably more complex than that people eat unhealthy. Another aspect of this is that it is difficult to draw the line between what products should have higher taxes and what shouldn’t be extra taxed. In addition, researchers’ answers on what is healthy tend to change over time. Rare earth element mining -Issue N Rare earth elements (REE) or rare earth metals are a group of seventeen chemical elements that occur together at certain positions in the periodic table .The group consists of yttrium and the 15 lanthanide elements (lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, and lutetium). However, the rare earth elements are not as "rare" as their name implies, instead, the metals can be found in several places. Rare earth metals and alloys that contain them are used in many high tech devices that people use every day such as computer memory, rechargeable batteries, cell phones, catalytic converters, magnets, fluorescent lighting and much more. Environmentally friendly inventions like solar power, wind power turbines and electric cars are highly dependable on REE, so these metals can in that sense contribute to a sustainable development. But on the other hand, the list of environmental concerns that can be connected with rare earth elements is not a brief one. Throughout the cycle of mining processes that rare earth elements go through, there is potential for negative effects on the environment. They are found with elevated concentrations of radioactive thorium and uranium and their processing typically requires harsh toxic chemicals like sulfuric acid. Processing of the ore makes the radioactive elements more mobile in the environment.

Sustainable energy Objectives for the students     

develop knowledge about how people, society and nature interact and the consequences of this on nature and people’s living conditions, develop abilities to use knowledge to examine information, communicate and take a view on questions concerning energy, natural resource use and ecological sustainability, assess solutions to different environmental and development issues based on considerations concerning ethics and sustainable development, identify and analyze technological solutions based on their appropriateness and function, assess the consequences of different technological choices for the individual, society and the environment.

Core content Geography   

Climate change, different explanations for this, and the consequences of changes on people, society and the environment in different parts of the world. Renewable sources of energy, such as solar and wind energy and alternative fuels. Relationships between poverty, ill-health and factors such as population density, climate and natural resources.

Civics 

Awareness of the complexity between personal integrity and citizen responsibility in a digital society.

Home and consumer studies  

Issues to consider when choosing goods and services, such as the purchase of clothes, food and travel from the perspective of economic, social and environmental sustainability. How food and other goods are produced and transported, and how they impact the environment.

Biology  

Impact of people on nature, locally and globally. Opportunities for consumers and citizens of society to contribute to sustainable development. Energy flow of ecosystems and recycling of materials. Photosynthesis, combustion and other ecosystem services.



Biological diversity and factors threatening and favoring this. Public discussions on biological diversity, such as in the relationship between forestry and hunting.

Physics  

Energy flows from the sun through nature and society. Different types of energy quality, and their advantages and disadvantages in relation to the environment. Supply and use of energy historically and currently, as well as possibilities and limitations in the future.

Technology   

Electricity production, distribution and use in society. Consequences of choice of technology from ecological, economic, ethical and social perspectives, such as in questions about development and use of biofuels. The Internet and other global digital technical systems – their advantages, risks and vulnerabilities.

Background At the same time as millions of people will go to bed hungry every night, enough food are produced here on earth to feed twice as many people living on earth. How can this be? What should people eat at Prometheus to prevent people to starve? And how should the food produced on PromethEUs going to be handled in the most efficient way? The planet PromethEUs is, like planet Earth, an ecosystem where plants, animals, and microorganisms interact with each other and with the environment and work together as a functional unit. From time to time there are ecological disturbances like flooding and fires that will alter the conditions and this is part of the normal changes in nature. Human activities, especially the last hundred years, have created major disturbances to nature reducing biodiversity. In the building of a society on PromethEUs there is a lot of work to be done and to explain the concept energy in a few words - energy is something that can do work. Energy can be in different forms and it can changes from one form to another. Still, the amount of energy always stays the same, but unfortunately every change means that quality of the energy reduces and in the end all energy has become “useless” heat that radiates out in space. That means that the planet will need a constant flow of new energy with high quality and this will come from the sun in PromethEUs solar system. The flow of solar energy that hit the planet then can be used by the humans in form of different energy sources like wind power, water power, fossil fuel, biofuel , wave power as well as directly as solar power. All of these sources have their pros and cons which one is the best depends on the perspective you have. Besides these sources there also are a couple that doesn’t flow from the sun, nuclear power and geothermal energy. Like the others these also have advantages and disadvantages.

If there will be legal regulations according to energy use, health, food and other life style issues digital technology may be helpful to make sure that these limitations and regulations will be enforced. Combining information from personal health band, implanted microchips, gps-navigation, and sensors at the homes and in other personal devices with stored information this could ensure that people have sustainable live styles for everyone’s wellbeing and also increase security.

Sustainable energy issues N.B. This is only guidance to some of the key aspects of the problems with about PromethEUs. As you work, you will probably come across other aspects you’ll need to look further into.

FUTURE FOOD A. What will the people on PromethEUs eat?  

Only vegetarian food? Also animal foodstuff o but only insects? o but only wild animals? o including livestock?

B. Should there be some kind of shelf life labeling be put on fresh food?     

Date of packing Sell-By Date Use-By Date Expiration Date Others?

C. Should preservative be used in food? D. Should GMO and Genetically modified food be allowed on PromethEUs?

A BALANCED ECOSYSTEM E. Will there be any naturalization of species from Earth (besides humans)?  

Any plants? Any animals?

F. Will there be any organized hunt on the apex predators (also known as top- predators) on PromethEUs?

FUTURE ENERGY SOURCES G. What energy sources will be used on PromthEUs? It will probably be a division between different energy sources and make priority list of 1-7 between the various options available below.       

Fossil fuels (oil, coal and natural gas) Biofuel (fuels made from plants) Nuclear power Wind power Water power Wave power Solar power

TRANSPORTATION TOMORROW H. What kind of transportation will be prioritized for short distance trips (< 5 km)? Make priority list.      

Walking? Bicycles? Cars? Busses? Trams? Other options?

I. What kind of transportation will be prioritized for long distance trips (> 250 km)? Make priority list.     

Cars? Busses? Trains? Airplane? Other options?

REGULATIONS ON ENERGY EFFICIENCY J. Will some types of products used on Earth or everyday activities be banned or regulated in order to ensure efficient energy use on PromethEUs?    

People should only be allowed to live in energy-efficient apartment building? The maximum indoor temperature at home should be limited? People should only be allowed to live in certain areas of PromethEUs near power plants, work places and social services? There should be a limit to households electricity use?

   

Food that needs much energy in the production of it will be limited? People’s possibilities for leisure travelling will be limited? Only recyclable product is allowed be sold on PromethEUs? Or should these things be up to the individual to decide?

A NETWORKED SOCIETY FOR SUSTAINABILITY AND SECURITY K. Will digital technology be used for sustainability and security reasons to:      

Monitoring the personal health and intake of food and medicine with the help of heath bands and implanted microchips which are uploading information to the person’s doctor? Help parents to keep track of their children with gps tracking for reassurance reasons? Monitor the energy use at people’s homes to ensure that people doesn’t use energy inefficient? Weighing and storing information about home’s waste to encourage recycling and reuse? Controlling people’s car driving by storing information from gps to ensure that people are making energy efficient trips? Storing information about people’s long distance flight and train traveling for energy efficiency and security reasons?

Rubrics for the key competences of Sustainable energy issues Knowledge requirements for level 1 The pupil can study societal issues from different perspectives and describe simple relationships.

Knowledge requirements for level 2 The pupil can study societal issues from different perspectives and describe relatively complex relationships.

Knowledge requirements for level 3 The pupil can study societal issues from different perspectives and describe complex relationships.

2. Ability to assess and express different viewpoints

The pupil assesses and expresses different viewpoints and can to some extent switch between different perspectives.

The pupil assesses and expresses different viewpoints and can to a relatively great extent switch between different perspectives.

The pupil assesses and expresses different viewpoints and can to a large extent switch between different perspectives.

3. Ability to reason

Pupils can talk about and discuss questions concerning energy, technology, the environment and society, and formulate their views with simple reasoning, and also describe some possible consequences.

Pupils can talk about and discuss questions concerning energy, technology, the environment and society, and formulate their views with developed reasoning, and also describe some possible consequences.

4. Knowledge about energy and ecology

Pupils have basic knowledge of energy and ecology contexts and show this by giving examples and describing these with some use of the concepts. Pupils can apply simple and to some extent informed reasoning about these issues in daily life and society.

5. Ability to express him/herself in English

Pupils have good knowledge of energy and ecology contexts and show this by explaining and showing relationships between these with relatively good use of the concepts. Pupils can apply developed and relatively well informed reasoning these issues in daily life and society. In written production, the pupil can express him/herself in relatively varied ways, relatively clearly and relatively coherently. In oral interaction in different contexts, the pupil can express him/herself clearly and with some ease.

Pupils can talk about and discuss questions concerning energy, technology, the environment and society, and formulate their views with well developed reasoning, and also describe some possible consequences. Pupils have very good knowledge of energy and ecology contexts and show this by explaining and showing relationships between these with good use of the concepts. Pupils can apply well developed and well informed reasoning these issues in daily life and society.

1. Ability to study societal issues

Sustainable energy Comments to the teachers This document contains some comments on the various issues that this unit consists of. The idea is to describe some of the aspects of the issues that are worth highlighting to the students. There are certainly a number of other essential aspects of these, so look at these as suggestions, and not as an answer key. Again, it is important to emphasize that these issues are deliberately chosen so that they are of dilemma character, where there is no right or wrong answers. As a teacher, you should therefore allow students to make their own decisions on issues, provided that they fully understood the all the relevant facts surrounding the issue, even if the student’s opinion might be a bit radical. Obviously, provided that the student’s opinions aren’t offensive and in violation of your national curriculums core ideas.

How to work with the unit When the students are introduced to the unit through the Engagement phases, there are different ways to organize the students work with the issues of the units in the Exploration and Explanation phases and one suggestion is to work the issues in parts. Starting for example with issue A-B having the students do investigations about the content of these issues and beside this giving them some lectures about the same content. When this is done it is time for the students to evaluate pros and cons and then make decisions about the current issues - and in this process use the supporting documents. At this stage students can work in small groups and when they have made decisions you can have the small groups making their own presentations in Creaza on these issues, using the Creaza assignment for issue A and B for to the unit you currently work on. When these “working presentations” are finished, you can practice negotiations between the small student groups to reach a common decision according to the current issues. When this is done its time to make a final presentation on Creaza on issues A-D and this will later be used at the international negotiation. Then it’s time to take for example issues E and F and work through the same process. If you have many students involved and maybe some limited time you organize the work so not all students work with all issues, instead distribute the issues between student groups. It’s better to work with a little fewer issues properly- rather than rushing through all the issues.

Future food - Issues A-D When man began to cultivate the land, it meant that we eased our lives by using the sun's energy to produce food in a controlled manner. In recent decades, however, farming has changed radically in many parts of the world. Today we often spent 10 times as much energy (from coal and oil) to produce the food, as it is in the food for us to use We have moved from farming which utilizes the energy from the sun to farming that requires energy from oil and coal. The big problem here on Earth is actually not that we are becoming more and more people – it’s the fact that we have started to eat differently. We currently produce enough food in the world to feed double the world population. But still around one billion live in chronic hunger. But a lot of the food produced is used as feed to breed animals for meat production and this means that we have to produce many times more food than when we ate a greater portion of vegetables. To produce 1 kg of meat you need to feed the animal with about 10 kg plants. From this aspect, it is a clear advantage if everyone just ate vegetarian food, and there is a health benefits to this. At the same time to eat meat is deeply rooted in us and many traditions and pleasures can be linked to eating meat. Grazing animals like free ranging cows are also useful because they keep the grasslands open that benefit flora and fauna. These animals, like wild animals, don’t need “farmed food” to live and then the argument about that meat needs ten times as much energy in the former section doesn’t really apply on this kind of meat. If we would only eat meat from wild animals it would probably not be sufficient, at least if we are to eat in the amount we do today. However, there is a large amount of wildlife that we do not think of as food, namely the insects. But in Asia, insects are a natural part of the diet. Grasshoppers, for example, contain lots of protein, crickets are rich in calcium and termites full of iron. An insect's diet is nutritious and could be part of the solution to Earth’s food shortage and climate problems. Insects do not need much water or expensive feed and do not emit greenhouse gases. Another negative aspect of our food consumption is that an average European households waste around 20% of all the food they buy. All the world's nearly one billion hungry people could be lifted out of malnourishment on less than a quarter of the food that is wasted in Europe and North America. Furthermore, 10% of rich countries' greenhouse gas emissions come from growing food that is never eaten. Food in many countries shelf life labeled in various ways (Use-By Date, Expiration Date and so on) and this is of course for adequate health reasons. The downside is that a large portion of the large amount of wasted food was still good to eat at the time it was thrown in the garbage can. Products with expiration dates are designed to last longer than the date, provided that the products are stored and handled correctly. However, food is often thrown away days before and this is expensive for the wallet and for the environment. If we instead would have relied on our taste, our sense of smell and our view we would be able to eat more sustainably. The use of preservatives in food means that it stays fresh longer and this may therefore contribute to less food is thrown away, which then is sustainable. Research has shown, however, that some preservatives may be bad for your health and can for example create hyperactivity and allergy. Some have also been found to have harmful effects in the environment.

Some people claim that food production with genetically modified organism (GMO) is a way to increased production of food and at the same time have other positive environmental impacts. But since GMO is an organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques there can be risks that these plants spread to the wild and affect the ecosystems. A balanced ecosystem - Issue E-F Before humans settled on PromethEUs the natures ecosystems were in balance as they were on Earth until a couple of hundred years ago. We humans make a lot of disturbance on the ecosystems to say the least. One way we did it is by introducing new spices in another part of the world and by reducing the number of individuals in other spices. A classic example is when the European fox and rabbits were introduced into Australia in the nineteenth century for recreational hunting purposes. Since these species are natural enemies one can think that the number of foxes and rabbits will control each other but didn’t happen. The foxes found easier pray among the native spices. Today, foxes are found in most areas of the mainland and are responsible for the extinction of up to ten native spices of mammals. For the foxes Australia had ideal conditions for a population explosion and with mild winters, rabbits were able to breed the entire year. In the absence of natural predators, they have multiplied by the millions and have outcompeted many native species. They are notorious as pests, and destroy every year crops worth millions of Australian dollars. They also cause erosion by eating wild plants that otherwise would have tied the soil with their roots. There are many examples of that man disturbed the balance of ecosystems by hunting the large carnivores. This has since been unforeseen consequences as this American example explains. In the 1930s some sheep farmers in Arizona feared that the coyotes would kill all of their sheep and therefor the started to shoot a lot of coyotes. But the coyotes in the area didn’t normally eat much sheep instead their main food was rabbits and rodents and with the coyotes gone the population of the rabbits and rodents exploded. All these animals needed a lot of food which led to that they eat all crops growing on the sheep owners farms who now had a real problem! They tried to solve this issue by hunting heavily on the rabbits and rodents and the number of decreased. One can think that now everything was ok – but of no -the coyotes that still were around couldn’t find any of the ordinary food so they had to find something else and of course they now started killing the sheep! Future Energy Sources - Issues G Sunlight is by far the predominant source, and it contains a surprisingly large amount of energy. On average, even after passing through hundreds of kilometers of air on a clear day, solar radiation reaches Earth with more than enough energy in a single square meter to illuminate five 60-watt lightbulbs if all the sunlight could be captured and converted to electricity. With a solar panel one can convert the sunlight this way to electricity, but this still this technology needs to be made more efficient.

The Sunâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s energy warms the planetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s surface, powering titanic transfers of heat and pressure in weather patterns and ocean currents and this energy can be used in wave power. The resulting air currents drive wind turbines. Solar energy also evaporates water that falls as rain and builds up behind dams, where its motion is used to generate electricity via hydropower. Most people, however, use solar energy in its secondhand form: fossil fuels. When sunlight strikes a plant, some of the energy is trapped through photosynthesis and is stored in chemical bonds as the plant grows. We can recover that energy months or years later by burning wood, which breaks the bonds and releases energy as heat and light in the form of different biofuels. More often, though, we use the stored energy in the much more concentrated forms that result when organic matter, after millions of years of geological and chemical activity underground, turns into fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, or natural gas. Either way, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re reclaiming the power of sunlight. Nuclear power is the use of nuclear fission, splitting atoms, to generate heat and electricity. Geothermal energy is about tapping underground reservoirs of steam and hot water to generate electricity or to heat buildings directly. Unfortunately there is no perfect energy source. Each and every one has its own advantages and compromises and the students need to explore the pros and cons of the various energy sources. Transportation tomorrow - Unit H-I More than a quarter of the energy we use is for transportation and close to a third of the emissions of greenhouse gases comes from the transportation sector. Greenhouse gas emissions from various trips vary widely. The choices for a sustainable future can be to find other ways to travel, but also change how often or how far you travel. Most significant for climate change are driving (using fossil fuel) and the long-distance flights. Short trips by car (less than 5 km) can usually be replaced by bike, walking or using public transportation and there is great potential for reducing emissions, saving energy and better health in this. Every third drive is less than 2 kilometers and almost half of the commuting by car are shorter than 5 kilometers. More than 40 percent of all trips today are already made on foot or by bike. Ecodriving, car sharing or car pools are other ways for sustainable short distance transportation. Railways are the most energy efficient mode of transport on land and electrified railway involves minimal carbon footprint and can be powered by locally produced renewable electricity from wind and hydropower. To divert trips from road to rail is therefore a major reduction in climate impact of transport. The obvious drawback of the railroad to transport requires rail and expansion of this form of transport requires large investments. For very long-distance travel airplanes is needed, but this provides a significant impact on the climate. However in these cases there are no alternative modes of transport to deliver lower emissions. Facing the future, perhaps to fly more often and maybe stay away longer once you go?

Regulations on Energy Efficiency - Issue J The rebound effect and a zero-sum game are two important and central concepts when talking about sustainable development, both from an environmental and climate perspective. Rebound effect means that energy savings that you make, often because of more efficient and improved technology, are spent on other energy-consuming activities instead so that the energy savings we initially made will be lost, and we achieve at best a zero sum game. An example could be taking the car more often when using biofuels, or to let all the lights at home be lit because of that invested in energy saving lamps and so on. The risk of rebound effect is that the real development is not progressing and if we ultimately do not solve the fundamental problem: our lifestyle. A critical question to ask is what can we do to change our lifestyle? A follow-up question on this is how responsibility for these critical lifestyle changes is on the individual to decide or whether the state should regulate certain things? This is a social dilemma and of course in the long run everyone would benefit from a cleaner environment, yet how many are prepared to voluntarily reduce their ecological footprint by saving more energy or driving or flying less frequently? In this social dilemma each person has an individual rational strategy, a non-cooperative choice, which gives better results for oneself and their family. Therefore people tend to stretch to the limit and use more energy than what is sustainable. For this selfish strategy to work in the long term, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s provided that not everyone thinks this way because then the system collapse. One real world situation to illustrate is told to have occurred during the winter of 1978/1979 in the Netherlands. Due to an unusually heavy snow, a small village in the North of the Netherlands was completely cut off from the rest of country so that there was no electricity to use for light, heating, television, etc. However, one of the 150 inhabitants owned a generator that could provide sufficient electricity to all people of this small community if and only if they exercised substantial restraint in their energy use. For example, they should use only one light, they should not use heated water, the heating should be limited to about 18 degrees Celsius, and the curtains should be closed. As it turned out, the generator collapsed because most people were in fact using heated water, living comfortably at 21 degrees Celsius, watching television, and burning several lights simultaneously. After being without electricity for a while, the citizens were able to repair the generator, and this time, they appointed inspectors to check whether people were using more electricity than they agreed upon. But even then, the generator eventually collapsed due to overuse of energy. And again, all inhabitants suffered from the cold and lack of light, and of course, could not watch television. This is an illustrating metaphor for the Earths situation right now. A Networked Society for Sustainability and Security - Issue K In the networked society everything will be connected and this will mean that our world changes. Communications technology will embrace entire societies, empowering and advancing the individuals and businesses within them. Could the new digital technology make our society more sustainable and secure â&#x20AC;&#x201C; or could it be the other way around?

All ready today you can buy a health band that keep track of your sleep and activity. Today the sensor is on your wrist but soon it will be possible to have sensors in the body, for example medicine containing microchips, measuring all kind of things concerning one’s health. Connecting this to a computer at the hospital it could mean that it would be possible for the doctor to react before someone gets seriously ill. At the same time, it is a matter of personal integrity and how much information about one’s health one wants. For a person with Alzheimer's, for example, it might be a big help, but need healthy people this monitoring - maybe this information instead make them sick just worrying! There also the risk that person’s health information ends up in the wrong hands. Tracking your kids with GPS is definitely a debatable topic. Some parents want the reassurance of knowing where their kids are, if they have arrived at their destinations and if they are where they say they’ll be. Other argues that using GPS to track your kids shows that you don’t trust them. When all homes and all the home appliances are connected and online it opens up opportunities for monitoring to ensure efficient energy use both the homes and the peoples travelling. This could make life on PromethEUs more sustainable and people how life according the laws and other regulation wouldn’t have anything to fear. But at the same time this is also a matter of personal integrity and how much surveillance that should be in society.

Sustainable innovations Objectives for the students   

     

develop abilities to express and assess different standpoints in societal issues and arguments based on facts, values and different perspectives, being able to reflect over human rights and democratic values, principles, ways of working and decision-making processes. develop the ability to reflect over, assess and evaluate the consequences of different technological choices by analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of the impact of technology on nature, society and the living conditions of individuals develop the ability to incorporate their technical knowledge into their own personal views of the world and practical actions, develop an interest in new technology and their ability and their judgement when handling technical issues. assess solutions to different environmental and development issues based on considerations concerning ethics and sustainable development, develop abilities to use knowledge of biology to examine information, communicate and take a view on questions concerning heath and genetics. develop the ability to reflect over life issues and their own and other’s identity, develop the ability to reason and discuss moral issues and values based on ethical concepts and models,

Core content Religion  

Ethical concepts which can be linked to questions concerning sustainable development, human rights and democratic values, regarding future technologies. How life issues, such as the purpose of life and the right to create life is viewed from different perspectives.

Civics  

Changes in conditions on the labour market and working life in the future. Ethical and democratic dilemmas linked to democratic rights and obligations regarding robots in society.

Biology  

Genetic engineering, opportunities, risks and ethical questions arising from its application. Current research areas in biology, such as biotechnology.

 

Scientific theories about the origins of life. The development of life and diversity from evolutionary theory perspectives. Biological diversity and factors threatening and favoring this.

Physics  

The importance of discoveries in physics for technology, the environment, society and people’s living conditions. Supply and use of energy historically and currently, as well as possibilities and limitations in the future.

Technology    

Technological solutions in communication and information technologies for the exchange of information, such as computers, the Internet and mobile telephony. Consequences of choice of technology from ecological, economic, ethical and social perspectives, such as in questions about development and use of biofuels. The Internet and other global digital technical systems – their advantages, risks and vulnerabilities. The relationship between technological development and scientific progress. How technology has enabled scientific discoveries to be made, and how science has made possible technological innovations.

Background At the moment we live in the Information society but pretty soon we will step in to the Robot society. Robots will play a major part in our lives in, for example household, elderly care and medicine like surgeries and prosthesis. Estimations are that in the next two decades robots will be capable of replacing humans in most manufacturing and service jobs. Robots and artificial intelligence will develop rapidly and according to Moore's law (which describes the relentless exponential improvement in digital technology with uncanny accuracy) computers will have the same processing power as human brains by the year 2029, and that by 2045 artificial intelligence-enhanced robots will reach a point where it is able to improve itself. Actually the Swedish robotics professor Lars Asplund predicts that by 2048 a robot-team will be skilled enough to win the World Cup in football (if they will be able to participate that is)! Genetic engineering is a branch of biology that has developed very fast over the last decade and will develop even faster in the future. For now it mainly focuses on making food, animals and plants better adapted to the need of humans but it will also be possible to do Human genetic engineering where scientist make registering and modification of an individual's genotype. Synthetic biology is an interdisciplinary branch of biology, that in many ways are related to genetic engineering. The common goal is to design and construct new biological functions and systems not found naturally. This may create new opportunities for health care and farming for instance, but there are also many ethical questions surrounding this.

Sustainable innovation issues N.B. This is only guidance to some of the key aspects of the problems. As you work, you will probably come across other aspects you’ll need to look further into.

ROBOTS AT WORK A. If you are looking 25 years ahead robots will start doing more and more of the work humans used to do, and doing it so much more efficiently than we ever did. Researchers estimate that in half of the jobs today human will be replaced by a robot in 25 years. In that timespan:   

In what jobs do you think that robots could replace humans entirely? In what jobs do you think that it needs to be a robot between doing the job under human supervision? In what jobs do you still think that they should be done by humans?

B. Regardless of the division between humans and robots at work half of the job employments will be gone. How will this be resolved?    

The most suited half of the PromethEUs will work ordinary 8 hours days as on Earth and the other half will be unemployed. Working days will be half-time allowing as many people to have employment as today. People will retire at sufficiently younger age compared to today. Other resolution?

C. In what way will new rules of the labour market be decided when robots are taking over more and more jobs?   

By self-regulation by the market forces (i.e. the companies). By laws and regulations from the government. Other solution

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE D. The potential benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) are huge but at the same time is artificial Intelligence a threat to mankind.  

Should development be delated or accelerated? Give examples on ideas how to keep AI “safe” and beneficial for humanity.

ROBOT RESPONSIBILITIES AND RIGHTS E. What happens if a robot at work does something wrong? Who will be responsible?   

The robot? The owner? The operator?

 

The robot constructor? Other?

F. What “robot rights” (compared to human rights) and responsibilities should an intelligent robot have?       

Salary? Recreation? “Robo-healthcare”? Pension? Right to vote? Right to get married? Right to produce robot-kids?

ROBOTIC SPORTS G. Different kind of robotic prosthesis may mean a lot to give people with disabilities, congenital or due to some accident, a good life. Should so called cyborgs, humans with artificial parts, be allowed take part in sports, like the Olympics or FIFA World Cup?  

Yes? No?

H. If so, what kind of robotic prosthesis will be allowed? I. Should intelligent robots be allowed take part in sports for humans, like the Olympics or FIFA World Cup?  

Yes? No?

GENETIC THERAPY J. Should genetic therapy be allowed (that is replacing genes in living humans)?  

Yes? No?

K. If it should be allowed, would there be some regulations on when it would be allowed?    

No regulations, it would be up to everyone if one would like to improve their own body organs function like muscular strength, the capacity of the lungs or brain capacity. To treat serious diseases like sickle cell anemia and cystic fibrosis? To treat physical defects like genetically caused hearing loss or color blindness? For other reasons?

GENETIC TESTING OF EMBRYOS L. Should you allow genetic testing of embryos?  

Yes? No?

M. If it should be allowed, would there be some regulations on when it would be allowed?    

No regulations, it would be up to the parents to investigate if the child has good or bad genetic qualities In case of high risk of severe disabilities or disorders due to illnesses in the parents genetic history? To investigate if the child has risk for genetic illnesses in the future? For other reasons?

GENETIC ENGINEERING IN EMBRYOS N. Should it be possible to do genetic engineering of embryos by replacing genes?  

Yes? No?

O. If it should be allowed, would there be some regulations on when it would be allowed?    

No regulations, it would be up to the parents to improve the child’s genes. In case of high risk of severe disabilities or disorders? To reduce the risk for genetic illnesses in the future? For other reasons?

SYNTHETIC LIFE P. Should it be allowed to create synthetic plants?  

Yes? If so what kind of plants and for what reasons? No?

Q. Should it be allowed to create synthetic animals?  

Yes? If so what kind of plants and for what reasons? No?

R. Should it be allowed to create synthetic replacement organs for humans?  

Yes? No?

Rubrics for the key competences of Sustainable innovation issues Knowledge requirements for level 1 The pupil can study societal issues from different perspectives and describe simple relationships.

Knowledge requirements for level 2 The pupil can study societal issues from different perspectives and describe relatively complex relationships.

Knowledge requirements for level 3 The pupil can study societal issues from different perspectives and describe complex relationships.

2. Ability to assess and express different viewpoints

The pupil assesses and expresses different viewpoints and can to some extent switch between different perspectives.

The pupil assesses and expresses different viewpoints and can to a relatively great extent switch between different perspectives.

The pupil assesses and expresses different viewpoints and can to a large extent switch between different perspectives.

3. Ability to reason

Pupils can talk about and discuss questions concerning genetic engineering, robotics, health technology, the environment and society, and formulate their views with simple reasoning, and also describe some possible consequences.

Pupils can talk about and discuss questions concerning genetic engineering, robotics, health technology, the environment and society, and formulate their views with developed reasoning, and also describe some possible consequences.

4. Knowledge about energy and ecology

Pupils have basic knowledge of genetic engineering and robotics. Pupils can apply simple and to some extent informed reasoning about these issues in daily and future life and society.

5. Ability to express him/herself in English

1. Ability to study societal issues

Pupils can talk about and discuss questions concerning genetic engineering, robotics, health technology, the environment and society, and formulate their views with well-developed reasoning, and also describe some possible consequences. Pupils have good Pupils have very good knowledge of genetic knowledge of genetic engineering and robotics. engineering and robotics. Pupils can apply developed Pupils can apply well and relatively well indeveloped and well informed reasoning these formed reasoning these issues in daily and future issues in daily and future life and society. life and society. In written production, the pupil can express him/herself in relatively varied ways, relatively clearly and relatively coherently. In oral interaction in different contexts, the pupil can express him/herself clearly and with some ease.

Sustainable innovations Comments to the teachers This document contains some comments on the various issues that this unit consists of. The idea is to describe some of the aspects of the issues that are worth highlighting to the students. There are certainly a number of other essential aspects of these, so look at these as suggestions, and not as the answer key. Again, it is important to emphasize that these issues are deliberately chosen so that they are of dilemma character, where there is no right or wrong answers. As a teacher, you should therefore allow students to make their own decisions on issues, provided that they fully understand all the relevant facts surrounding the issue, even if the student’s opinion might be a bit radical. Obviously, provided that the student’s opinions aren’t offensive and in violation of your national curriculums core ideas.

How to work with the unit When the students are introduced to the unit through the Engagement phases, there are different ways to organize their work in the Exploration and Explanation phases and one suggestion is to work the issues in parts. Starting for example with issue A to C, Robots at work, having the students do investigations about the content of these issues and beside this giving them some lectures about the same content. When this is done, it is time for the students to evaluate pros and cons and then make decisions about the current issues - and in this process use the supporting documents. At this stage, students can work in small groups and when they have made decisions, you can have the small groups make their own presentations in Creaza on these issues, using the Creaza assignment Robots at work. When these “working presentations” are finished, you can practice negotiations between the small student groups to reach a common decision according to the current issues. When this is done, it is time to make a final presentation on Creaza for Robots at work and this will later be used at the international negotiation. Then it’s time to take the following issues and work through the same process. If you have many students involved and maybe have limited time, you can organize the work so not all students work with all issues, instead distribute the issues between student groups. It’s better to work with a little fewer issues properly- rather than rushing through all the issues.

Robots at work - Issues A-C The role of the robots in jobs in the future have been discussed for decades, at least since robotic arms started replacing auto workers on the assembly line in the early 1960s. Optimists claim that robots at work will mean greater productivity and economic growth, while pessimists are afraid that it will lead to unemployment and social injustice. Each has a point, but however one feels the robots are coming. Oxford researchers Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael A. Osborne have found that 47 percent of all jobs will be replaced by robots within 20 years. It should be noted that robots are not only the type of robot that you see in movies or comic books. A robot is a machine that gathers information about its environment (senses) and uses that information (thinks) to follow instructions to do work (act) and it could be as â&#x20AC;&#x153;simpleâ&#x20AC;? as a washing machine. Two professors at MIT in Boston, Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee claim that we are heading into The Second Machine Age. The industrial revolution meant we got ourselves machines that were stronger than men, but now we are heading towards a revolution when the machines become smarter than humans. Occupations that are predicted to be taken over by robots are economists, translators, expiditer, drivers, pilots, journalists, lawyers, stockbrokers, bankers and doctors. Jobs predicted to survive longer in all cases are designers, inventors, scientists, project managers, psychologists, therapists and system developers. Notably, this is a guesswork and history teaches us that reality can be quite different. What if both optimists and pessimists are right? As robots start doing more and more of the work humans used to do, and doing it so much more efficiently than we have ever done, what if the need for jobs disappears altogether? What if the robots end up producing more than enough of everything that everyone needs? There could be economic growth with only a little human effort and it could mean more leisure time and more time to do fun things. However, this is provided that these new economic rewards are distributed fairly and solidarity between people. The question is whether this will happen naturally or if it simply against human nature...

Artificial intelligence - Issue D Looking a little further into the future, 40 -50 years or so, it is likely that the development goes so far so that you can create artificial intelligence AI. This means that the robots' computers are so developed that they learn from their own experience and can find their own solutions to complex problems. The robot operates largely as our human brain, but is much faster. This opens up a number of opportunities for humans to simplify our lives with the help of AI, but there are a whole range of risks with this. Persons like Stephen Hawking, one of the world's preeminent scientists, technology entrepreneur Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak express concern about the development of AI. The actual concern is different from the Terminator-like scenarios that most media outlets round off this issue too. A much more likely scenario is that a

super intelligent system with neutral or benevolent goals that is misused in a dangerous way. Like in the field of genetic engineering and nuclear and chemical weapons there are possibilities for humanity to draw some lines that shouldn’t be crossed.

Robot responsibilities and rights- Issues E-F Once artificial intelligence (AI) exceeds human intelligence, however, problems may begin to develop. The superhuman intelligences who are not granted rights can out-think their human masters, effectively resisting control. On the other hand, the AI’s of superhuman intelligence who are granted rights, may begin to feel themselves superior to humans and that the rights granted by humans are insufficient. They may view that it is then their decision of what rights to grant to humans, and not the decision of humans of what rights to grant to them. Societal tensions will mount. Even if robot technology will develop rapidly and be better than humans doing many jobs, the robots will also make errors. In today's society there is always someone who can be held accountable if mistakes happen. If a patient dies during an operation, it is the surgeon's responsibility and the pilot is responsible for the aircraft landing safely. If a stockbroker speculates away all assets, at least there is someone to blame, although he or she probably does not take responsibility for what happened. But, without responsibilities where would the world end up? Wouldn’t there chaos, anarchy, lawlessness, rampant cruelty, mistreatment and oppression? So if responsibly is needed, who will be responsible for the robots error? Robotic sports - Issue G-I New robotic technology makes it possible even today to make prosthesis that is controlled by nerve signals from the person’s brain. It will make it possible for disabled to get fully functional body parts which of course would facilitate their lives. One in this context a bit more easygoing issue is the question if people with different robotic prostheses will be allowed compete in professional sports with people without prosthesis. The prosthesis improves the course of the person's performance. However, where is the line between what is permitted and what is unlawful. Parallels can be naturally drawn to doping. Another aspect is if intelligent human-looking robots will be allowed to compete together with humans. Would it be fair? Genetic therapy - Issue J-K Gene therapy is a technique that uses genes to treat or prevent disease in a living person. If a person has a disease that is because the persons gene is damaged, the doctor can implant the working genes to the patient and cure them. Today the use for gene therapy is limited, but in the future, this technique may allow doctors to treat many disorders by inserting a gene into a patient’s cells instead of using drugs or surgery.

It will also be possible to replace other genes and for example make the muscles grow bigger which will be a form of genetic doping. This could also change physical appearance, metabolism, and mental faculties such as memory and intelligence. For people, then gene therapy could be regarded as another enhancement technique to add to diet, exercise, education, cosmetics and plastic surgery. Genetic testing of embryos - Issue L-M Prenatal diagnosis is commonly used testing for diseases or conditions in a fetus before it is born. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s possible to screen the fetus DNA, but normally you only check genes that are known to cause diseases and conditions. The result is that there is a possibility to either try to treat the disease in an early stage or to make an abortion. It would be possible to do the tests early in the pregnancy and in case â&#x20AC;&#x153;test tubeâ&#x20AC;?- pregnancy it will be possible to make tests on a one-cell embryo. With more efficient gene testing technics, it will be cheap to get a full DNA-analysis of the fetus genome. However, there are ethical issues concerning this. First of all, the parents may have to take a difficult decision if they find out that the fetus has a severe disease. The question of what should be considered a severe disease needs also to be raised. It could be a sliding plan where we end up in people choosing which embryo they carry depending on what personality traits that gene tests show There is also the risk that the gene test could be wrong and a life changing decision is based on this information. The possibility to sort out the fetus due to various diseases raises also questions of the value of mentally or physically disabled people in society. Genetic engineering in embryos - Issue N-O By combining the gene therapy technology and the genetic testing, it will open up the possibility to change bad genes in small embryos to good ones and therefor prevent children to be born with severe genetic diseases. If you change a gene in a one cell-embryo this change will affect all the cells in the growing fetus and in the newborn baby while in normal gene therapy this only affects the changed cell and the cells that this cell I divided into. On the other hand it opens up the possibility to make "designed babies" where the parent could make genetic changes in the embryo to get desired looks, skills, or talents. This could mean that we create a race of superior humans that are looking down on those without genetic enhancements and maybe suppressing them. Only minor changes could also have negative effects on the human gene pool. On the other side, it could mean that a better suited human race is created for the better of all life on the planet. Synthetic life - Issue P-R Nobel laureate Hamilton Smith and DNA pioneer Craig Venter are some of the scientists who managed to produce a totally artificial replica of living organisms DNA. It's a big step closer to the possibility of producing synthetic life. It has already been possible to replace the DNA of a yeast cell with synthetic DNA and since yeast cells is similar to animal and plant cells this is important.

This will create opportunities to make designed plants that can be use as biofuels, health food or antibiotics, within a twenty year period. It will also be possible to create animals with completely new properties, both for meat production and for pets. It will also possible to combine this technology with genetic engineering and inserting new genes with completely new properties in species living today. Another possible use is to create spare organs in the laboratory available to care for transplant if anyone would need it. And why not create synthetic humans and combine it with artificial intelligence! At the same time, as the research on synthetic life opens up new opportunities, there are risks with this. You can create living organisms with which any characteristics you want and this can create dangerous organisms. It will also establish the possibility of creating extremely dangerous biological weapons, such as virus that attacks the body in ways not seen before. There is also a risk that new species may out-compete the natural and this can cause an imbalance in the ecosystem which may have completely unpredictable consequences. All the issues in this unit are to a large extent ethical issues concerning philosophy of life. Weather you believe in a God or not, one still has to ask oneself if we as humans have the right to engage in technology that enables us to create and control life like this. Regardless of oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s religious or ethical views, this is questions that we all need to discuss. In the 20th century, our existence here on Earth was threatened by technology that could destroy life - chemicals, air pollutions and the atomic bomb. In this century, it seems like the new and even more severe threat instead is our ability to create life.

Hot seat - Sustainable government To get the students to start reflecting on their own over the issues in the tutorial they do a valuation exercise called “hot seat”. Each student takes one chair each and places them in a ring. One extra chair is also put in the ring. Then the teacher start reading statements and the students that agree sit still and the ones who disagree move to a new chair. After the students have moved or sat still, depending on if the agreed or not, you can have a discussion about the statement. After the discussion you can read the statement one more time and the students who wish can change their opinion.

Here are some ideas for statements: In the world everyone have the right to think, feel and say what they want. I think it’s good if my country is a member of the EU. It's more important that I have a roof over their heads than the freedom to express my own opinion. It’s ok for the police to intercept telephones belonging to criminal suspects. No one should have the right to read private messages on the internet. I can sometimes be ok to kill another person. Anyone, regardless of his/her history and background, should be allowed to run for office in a public election. The state should not decide if the individual want to use of alcohol, nicotine or other drugs or not.

Learning the Skills of Argument Convincing and persuading is what and argumentation is all about. To have skills in speaking in front of others is a necessity for life and there will countless times in life when one will need skills in this. A person may have numbers of very good ideas and suggestions, but if he or she aren’t able to present them in a convincing manner, they are not worth anything. If the students will learn the skills of argument in school, they will have very big advantage in their future life.

Ancient Greek Rhetoric The ancient Greeks, who lived over 2000 years ago, were good at arguing and persuading others and how to do to be persuasive in an argumentation is called rhetoric after the Greek word rhētorikē. The art of rhetoric was divided into three parts by the Greeks - logos, pathos and ethos. To describe the three components of the rhetoric, we can take an example about if one should use bills instead of credit cards, when shopping in the stores. Logos These are logical arguments to convince the brain and the sense that explains why the idea or proposal is a good one. These arguments are often based in science, technology and economics and from knowledge of how society or politics works. Important is that one should consider in what the listeners might think is good when you choose your best arguments. It is also important that before the discussion think both about which are your strongest arguments and also about the counterarguments of your idea. Logos-examples promoting bills instead of credit cards:   

You know how much you have to spend because you can always count the money. Credit cards require that you need to remember the code. To have a credit card cost money, about 30 Euro per year.

Pathos These are emotional arguments to convince the heart. Even if the logos-argument seems to be the rational arguments to lean on when one should make a decision, research show that tradition, esthetics, ethical beliefs and other emotional issues affect people a lot in a decision-making process. Especially knowledge in science is used seldom in real life decision-making, even if the issues have clear scientific content. Pathos-examples promoting bills instead of credit cards:   

Bills look nicer than credit cards. I like the feeling of having a many bills in my wallet to know that I have money. It's a fine old tradition of using bills.

Ethos This is about creating trust and making yourself more credible. It may be how to talk and present your arguments in general, but also how you look and what cloths you’re wearing. There are a lot of tricks in the book that sales men know and use to convince potential customers. Ethos-examples promoting bills instead of credit cards:  

Ensure that capture the listeners directly and start with your strongest argument. You can describe that you have used both credit cards and bills for many years and thus seem more credible.

To become good at arguing it is important to find the right mix of logos, pathos and ethos. With just Logos one becomes dull, but with only Ethos there will be very little substance in the arguments. If you only have Pathos you won’t have any arguments and therefore not be able to convince anyone. In fact, if you will develop your rhetoric skills you don’t even need to believe in what you are arguing for - you will still be able to convince others!

Modern argumentation models There are different modern models on how to make good argumentation and the most famous one is the model the British philosopher Stephen Toulmin made. He was the first researcher to present the model of argumentation and practical reasoning, which includes fact, warrant, backing, claim, and rebuttal in 1958. Below is a chart of simplified version of his model. Claim

There are some key elements in the Toulmin Model. A claim is the point an arguer is trying to make and the proposition an arguer wants another to accept. Fact refers in this model to the proof or evidence an arguer offers. Warrant is the principle, provision or chain of reasoning that connects the fact to the claim and can start with the word “since”.

Backing is the support, justification, reasons to back up the warrant and a backing argumentation can start with “because…. Finally, rebuttal is an exceptions to the claim; a description of counterexamples and counter-arguments that can start with “unless…”. Another model to help students to improve their skills of informal argumentation is made by Chang & Chiu, 2008. There are of course similarities with Toulmin’s model but Chang & Chiu choose to describe it as five indicators for good argumentation. These five are: 1. Making claims 2. Providing supporting reasons Students should provide their own claim supporting by one or more reasons. 3. Presenting counterarguments Based on the claim, students should know the limitation of the claim they made. 4. Showing qualifiers Based on the claim, students should know the strengths of the claim and be able to develop it. 5. Evaluating arguments Students should be able evaluate different arguments. Chang & Chiu place the five indicators in a model as below where they place the claim and the reasons in the core and having a protective belt (the arrows) surrounding it by both “negative” counterarguments and “positive” qualifiers. This will lead up to the evaluation process in which the students way their claims against others, and if they are convinced change their mind.

Counterarguments Evaluation process

Claim and reasons

Qualifiers

These two models focus more on the logical arguments that you can back with facts and qualifiers. But when working with the PromethEUs issues, and socio-scientific issues and sustainable issues in general, it’s important always to keep in mind that the students also can use ethos-arguments in the

decision making and in the negotiations. These arguments don’t always fit in these models, but are nevertheless valid arguments in a discussion. Even if the science teacher doesn’t always appreciate all ethos-arguments in the science classroom and see them, rightfully, as non-scientific – the students still needs to be able to use them. Of course the students still need to learn about, and consider, the logical arguments, as for example the ones the science teacher explain to them, but there are no law yet that require people to make decisions only on scientifically proven foundation. Therefor it’s important that teachers from different subjects work together with the PromethEUs issues so the students are given the chance to have issues illuminated from different perspectives, before making decisions and preparing argumentation. Furthermore, let the students negotiate what they believe to be the right solution to the issue, although it is not exactly what the teachers think is best. Obviously, this provided that students have examined the issue from different perspectives and obtained basic knowledge about the current topic. The content of this text can be used to train the students’ skills of argument and these are truly a 21st century skills. Discussion about these things probably is best done using the mother tongue but hopefully this text can be at some help structuring lessons about this along with the other supporting documents on Fronter. On the next page is text aimed for the students on how to prepare for the negations. Even if this is a general model it can be adopted for the negotiations on the PromethEUs issues. It can maybe be printed and used directly by the students, since it’s written in simple English. It contains probably some grammatical errors; however, these may be used for educational purposes in English class.

Argumentation in practice

To think before the negotiation!     

What arguments and facts do you want to present. Remember that which is the strongest of your arguments depends on who it is that you are going to convince. Consider the order in which you should present your case. Learn what it is you want to express, but don’t learn it “word by word”. To read from a written text, on paper or in your head, is not convincing. Think about how to sit and how to talk. Reflect also on what the rest of your body language should express. Put yourself in the opponent's situation. What arguments are his / her strongest? What are your toughest counterarguments?

During the negotiation!  

Always think if you yourself really are convinced that "I’m right. Keep an open mind to be able to change it. Reflect also if you and your counterpart really have different opinions. One should’t argue too much if you already agree!

Below is a simple step by step method on how to present your arguments. 1. First try to capture the listeners' attention. 2. Think about your ethos, that is how to speak and look in order to create trust and make yourself more credible. 3. Choose a couple of arguments on your case and present them in order of importance. Take the main argument first because the listener pays most attention in the beginning. Make sure to use both logos (logical arguments) and pathos (emotional arguments). Be careful not to exaggerate because it will display you as not trustworthy. 4. If your suggestion have a few drawbacks, it is smart to present the counterarguments yourself, and if possible diminish them. This adds credibility and makes it harder for your opponents to argue against you. 5. Have your opponents arguments some obvious flaws, you should always point out these. However, it is very important to remember that you should never speak ill of your opponents. It’s also always better to talk more about your arguments advantages rather than the other arguments disadvantages. 6. When you presented your case make a summary of your arguments. 7. If possible, try to end it with a "twist" that makes the others smile or laugh.

Issue

Conclution

Based on these facts

Since Warrant

Because Backing

Unless Rebuttal

Consequences

Example

Issue

How much PE should the students have at school?

Conclution

The studends should have one PE lesson each day

Based on these facts

Research that show that students who are physical active during the school day preform better. People need daily excercise. Overweight and obesity are now dramatically on the rise not only in high income countries, but also in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in urban settings.

Since

students will do better at school and will be healthier they

should have PE everyday! Warrant

Because

research have proven this and that every person needs to

be physical active at least 25 minutes per day to be healthy. Backing

Unless Rebuttal

Consequences

the students have the possibility do be physical active also

in some other classes, for example outdoor science, then the students doesn't need PE this school day.

The school may need to hire more PE-teachers. There might not be more room in the gym for all lessons. Time need to be taken from other subjects or the students will have to have longer schooldays.

Issue

Option 1 Pros

Cons

Pros

Cons

Pros

Cons

Pros

Cons

Option 2

Option 3

Option 4

Issue

How much PE should the students have at school?

Option 1

No PE Pros

Cons

The school save money because it doesn't need any PE-teacher and no gym. The students will have more time for theoretical subjects.

Option 2

The students need exercise to be healthy. Physical activity improves the results in theoratical subjects so without PE they will go down.

Once or twice a week Pros

Cons

It's doesen't require any changes in the schools current organization. If the students are active outside school this is enough.

Option 3

The students need exercise everyday to be healthy and not all exercise outside school. Physical activity improves the results in theoretical subjects.

PE everyday Pros The students will be healthier. The results in theoretical subjects will improve.

Cons More PE-teachers needed, the gym will be overbooked. Less time to other subjects

Option 4 Pros

Cons

Quick guide to the Negotiations The negotiations between pupils from the different partner schools are the pinnacle of the work with the Prometheus units. Each unit will be negotiated separately and probably also parallel. The negotiations will be led by a teacher from the organizing schools and two pupils from each partner will take part in the discussion. If one partner would like to replace their negotiators after a half session, that's fine, just informing about it before it starts. The rest of the group will be sitting around the negotiation table as audience. They must accept their role as observers and not interfere with the negotiation process. It’s of course vital that the negotiating pupils not only prepare their own arguments, but also prepare counterarguments to the others’ positions. All partners’ final solutions will be published on Fronter in form of Creaza cartoons and ahead of the exchange. They will also be presented orally before the negotiations in the beginning of the exchange. One can say that a negotiation has two extremes, pure deliberation and pure bargaining. In the pure deliberation end of it is a process where the use of logic and reason is emphasized and consensus is met in the end, sometimes by voting. The discussions are about trying to find the common interest and to reach greater understanding. In pure bargaining it is more important to present one’s arguments strategically to maximize the opportunities to get through one’s own proposals. The result will be a power-based compromise where the participants get to decide on some of their issues while not on others. In between these extremes there are the deliberative negotiations and here the participants put forward partial mutual suggestions in the negotiations with the goal to reach a partially integrative agreement in which the partners have traded lower for higher values. Deliberative negotiations are characterized by mutual justification and respect and the search for fair terms of interaction and outcomes. The ultimate goal is that all negotiations will be in form of pure deliberation and it’s a perspective that is mentioned in the ESD policy documents. But most actual political negotiations include interactions of all of these types and hopefully the PromethEUs negotiations will also include all types. The issues include conflicts that don’t have easy solutions and a fundamental component of democracy is contrasting opinions. The ancient Greeks recognized agonism that is a political struggle between opponents without an overarching goal of “winning”, as a positive force in democracy. The term agonism should be separated from antagonism that is a struggle between enemies with the goal to “win the debate” and therefore not a real negotiation. Much political debate today is unfortunately antagonistic and it’s a threat for both democracy and sustainability. The negotiations part of the PromethEUs units should be seen as a training activity for the students where they get the chance to improve their skills in making arguments, listening, compromising and also being aware that there are different forms of argumentation.