Dystopia: The intersection of Science, Climate, and Genetic and Social Engineering

1. Anchor Text: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, chapters 1-3, novel

Lexile: 1000

Summary: This classic novel describes a future world with a central totalitarian government that controls the entire human birth process from conception in a laboratory, through the embryo stage, and the birth, all in a sterile environment. Since humans are engineered, there is no disease, disabilities, or any of the other “undesirable” genetic traits or mutations present in modern society. Humans are grown in a “Conditioning Center” to occupy different social classes, from the leaders to the lowest workers: Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons. Humans are kept happy and passive with their existence via easy access to a drug called “soma.” Written in 1931, this is a dystopian, futuristic view of a world where freedom of choice and individual rights do not exist, and people are kept under control from birth. Although the language is a little archaic, reading the first three chapters of the book will set the stage for both the theme of human actions having profound consequences on both human populations and ecosystems, and the book will define the Dystopian genre.

2. Bridge Text: Rising Seas: Flooding, Climate Change and Our New World by by Keltie Thomas (Author), Belle Wuthrich (Illustrator), Kath Boake (Illustrator), graphic Non-Fiction text

Summary: This graphic Non-Fiction text is written for pre-teens, but the illustrations, descriptions, and helpful diagrams would be useful for older adolescents and adults. The book explains climate change in easily understandable terms, making a scientific topic easily digestible. The predictions for different areas of the world, including Kirbati, which students will read about later in this text set, are a good way for readers of all levels to begin to grasp how human actions affect ecological systems in the world. The book includes the 2015 Paris Protocol, or the commitment to keeping global temperature increase to 2.0 degrees celsius or less. It is a strong, persuasive message to hold each person accountable for current actions that will have long-range, negative consequences for future generations.

3. Mentor Text release to small groups: Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful by Arwen Elys Dayton, a collection of short stories

Lexile: 870

Summary: Next, students will each read one story in their group from a collection of Science Fiction short stories about futuristic genetic modification, designer babies, cross-species variation in humans and animals, and many other variation possibilities in a world rife with scientific experimentation. Since each story is separate, the small groups could read one of the different stories, and through a jigsaw method, share what they have learned about genetic modification. This short story collection raises awareness of the positive possibilities available through genetic modification. However, the stories also beg the question of how it will affect people in the future in terms of reinforcing inequitable class systems throughout the world and the potential unethical dilemmas inherent in gene splicing.

4. Bridge Text: Divergent by Veronica Roth, excerpt from the book; movie clip from “Divergent," directed by Neil Burger

Lexile: 700 lexile

Summary: This popular novel and movie series is a fan favorite, so including it in the text set gives students familiar characters and a well-known plot. After the world has been destroyed by nuclear war, the remaining survivors have organized a class system based on personality traits: the Dauntless are the brave soldiers who enforce the law; the Amity are the cheerful workers who manage the farms and food supply; the Erudite are the smartest people with the highest I.Q.s who manage all of the systems in the new world; the Candor enforce honesty and truth; and the Abnegation, or selfless people, assist everyone and are the most dependable. At sixteen years of age during a Choosing Ceremony, teens can choose to remain into the faction they were born into, or they can leave their family for good and choose a new faction. A final class is the Divergent, who encompass all of the groups, yet belong to none of them. Because they are different and free thinkers, they get hunted down and killed. Since the novel and movie are familiar, and the lexile is fairly low, students can build capacity for understanding what a futuristic world might be like after a nuclear war.

5. Mentor Text release to strategic pairs: American War: A Novel by Omar El Akkad, a Climate Fiction or Cli-Fi novel

Lexile: 890

Summary: This text is a good follow-up to Divergent because it contains a similar theme, yet it introduces a new genre, Climate Fiction, or Cli-Fi. Climate Fiction is in response to climate change and the greenhouse effect. This novel is similar in format to the television series, “Man in the High Castle,” which portrays a world in which Germany and Japan won World War II, and took over the United States. In American War, however, the U.S. has a second Civil War, and the country is divided with sections for refugee camps and others that are strictly war zones. The year is 2074, and there is rampant disease outbreak, all coastal land is under water, and there are limited resources for people. Students will continue to build their understanding of how human actions impact populations and ecological systems.

6. Stretch Text: Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Caroline Fraser, excerpts, Non-Fiction text; Sugar: The World Corrupted: From Slavery to Obesity by James Walvin, excerpts, a Non-Fiction historical analysis

Lexile:

930; 1200 respectively

Summary: In Prairie Fires, students familiar with the Laura Ingalls Wilder series will recognize the backstory of the text. The new learning will be about the historical context of the novels, including the Homestead Act of 1862, which invited people from America and Europe to come and “settle” the land in the West. If settlers could clear the land, plant crops, and build a dwelling, remaining on it for five years, they could keep 160 acres of land. However, little did the settlers and the government realize, until years later, how much ecological damage would result from destroying grassland habitat and microbiomes. The resulting disasters changed the landscape, ecosystems, and climate for years to come. Destruction of the prairie ecosystems resulted in drought, starvation, and ultimately, The Dust Bowl. Students will understand how changes to environment can have far-reaching, unforeseen, negative consequences.

In Sugar: The World Corrupted, students will trace the discovery of sugar as a precious commodity, originally reserved for only the very wealthy. Moving through history, students will begin to understand how the drive for wealth, in the form of refined sugar, contributed to the Transatlantic slave trade and the forced migrations of millions of Africans to regions in North, Central, and South America. Finally, students will learn how entire rainforest ecosystems were destroyed in the pursuit of wealth, via sugar production. Both of these Non-Fiction texts provide a basis for the necessity of Climate change protocols and protection of the world’s Biome diversity.

7. Mentor Text release to individuals: “Kiribati: The Face of Climate Change” by Maddie Rhoden, article from newsela; “Biodiversity” by The Vancouver Film School, animated short film

Lexile: 1050

Summary: Since the article about “Kiribati” is from Newsela, the teacher can change the lexile to match the needs of the learners in class. The range is from a low of 400L to a high of 1100L. In the earlier text, Rising Seas, there is a page about what could possibly happen in Kiribati due to climate change. Now, students can read the informational text to see that the predictions about Kiribati are coming to pass. Located between Australia and Hawaii, and made famous by the reality television series, Survivor, Kiribati consists of 33 diverse atolls made of coral. In the past five years, gigantic waves have been washing over Kiribati, flooding people’s homes and making fresh water undrinkable in the wells. With climate change in motion, Kiribati could be underwater in the very near future since it is only 6 feet above sea level. The article explains the greenhouse effect and the causes of climate change. The lack of fresh water and the sea water poisoning crops are very real problems for the people of Kiribati. Reading such a current, devastating account of how human actions via pollution results in climate change, which affects real people, will be eye-opening for many students.

By combining the article with the Vimeo about Biodiversity, students can start to think about how their actions today will affect future generations of people.

8. Stretch Text: Hulu original series, “The Handmaid’s Tale,” episodes 1-3, with an excerpt from the book, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Lexile: 1120

Summary: The story narrates the true events of the African-American women called human computers during the early years of NASA (then called NACA) and their contributions to the development of NASA. Although the women had the same qualifications and advanced mathematical degrees that the white women and men of NASA had, they were kept in a separate wing of NASA, with their own lunch area, bathrooms, and work areas. The women could not be promoted despite the fact that one in particular, Katherine Johnson, was a child math prodigy and knew more math than anyone at NASA. The novel renders the Jim Crow laws and the Supreme Court’s case, Plessy v. Ferguson or “separate but equal,” in the real-life stories of these women, and how they had to fight for equality under the law.

9. Disruptive text: “53 Songs About Nature and the Environment,” a collection of songs, lyrics, and some accompanying videos about the environment by Spinditty

Summary: To give students an opportunity to think about the theme, I am going to include song lyrics about the environment. In the lyrics on the website, students can start thinking beyond the myriad problems that climate change and genetic engineering have caused and start to think about solutions to answer the essential question:

What impact does human activity have on the world’s populations and ecosystems?

The song collection covers diverse musical genres from various time periods, and students can pick one or two songs they are familiar with, and listen to the song, reading the lyrics, to discover new meaning within the context of the essential question. Then I will have students listen to and read the lyrics of a song they are unfamiliar with to see what all three have in common. I want to disrupt students’ thinking and attitudes about the topic of climate change and human population challenges from one of resignation to an attitude of problem-solving. The problems encountered in this text set are not inevitable; making changes now can positively impact future generations.

10. Final Text: Thirst by Scott Harrison, a biographical memoir

Lexile: 900 to 1000

Summary: In the last text, we are going to divert from the curriculum model and not return to the anchor text. Instead, students will read about Scott Harrison and his conversion from a top nightclub promoter in New York to the founder of a non-profit organization called charity:water.

https://my.charitywater.org/about/scott-harrison-story

I am doing this because I want the text set to end with possible solutions to the many potential problems students have encountered throughout the text set. To keep students empowered and to help them realize that each person can contribute a solution to climate change, population problems with resource scarcity, and environmental issues, I want students to think about ways that they can change their thinking and their actions, a practice fully in alignment with Critical Literacy. We will return to the essential question, What impact does human activity have on the world’s populations and ecosystems?