General Description
of the Major Project
Students will participate in a simulation of a Senate hearing before
the committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. http://help.senate.gov/
This major project is designed to bring together concepts students
have explored in science, language arts, and government classes
over the past weeks.
The subject of the hearing is to determine whether the Senate will
approve a bill proposing federal regulations on the use of tanning
booths by minors and a mandated education program on sun awareness.
Students will take on the roles of Senate members and various special
interest groups. One of the special interest groups will be scientists
who are proposing a clinical study to evaluate the effects of UV
exposure on the skin when received through artificial (mechanical)
means. Other students will take the parts of business owners, young
survivors of skin cancer, or representatives of the EPA (Environmental
Protection Agency). This study would provide in-depth information
about UV exposure’s impact on human skin. Language arts will
support this simulated hearing by guiding the students through
the writing of an informed consent document that would be used
to safeguard the rights of the human subjects in the proposed clinical
studies.
Introducing the project to your students
We suggest introducing the Senate Hearing project at the end of
the first week. Discuss the project as described above at the end
of the science lesson Clinical Trials: An Introduction, at the
end of the government lesson Government Intervention and at the
end of the lesson The Doctor will see You. Review with the students
what you will be doing as a class over the next few weeks to help
them prepare to give their testimony. Explain to the students that
they will be divided into senate members and members of special
interest groups after the government lesson, Who has the
Greatest Voice.
Which lessons are central to the Major Project?
The major project is designed to provide a forum for students to
demonstrate what they have learned throughout the unit in the context
of an environmental health or biomedical issue. In other units
there are some lessons that are more pertinent to the major project
than others. In this unit all lessons contribute strongly to the
major project. You may decide to choose either a biology or physics
tact or focus more on the government lessons if you wish.
