Ethics

***The Elements of Depth & Complexity are, to put it simply, a framing tool for creating critical writing prompts. Each Element is paired with an Icon. Drawing and/or memorizing the Icon is secondary to the actual USE of the Element to create better questions. When students learn what each Element means, they can start creating prompts for themselves, saving the teacher a lot of time.

This Element has students draw on and grow their ability to make an ethical/moral judgement on an action or topic. Students use evidence to justify why someone’s actions were right or wrong, or to explain how someone was treated unfairly.

Prompts may include:

  • Write a math word problem using what you learned that has a moral implication for the people involved.

  • Using evidence to pass judgement on who is right or wrong in the topic.

  • Describing difficult moral choices that were made in this story, whether the decisions are right or wrong, what the student would have done differently (if anything), etc.

  • Explain who, how, and why someone in the story was treated unfairly (some imagination may be required)

  • Draw parallels to and reflect on moral dilemmas that we may have in real life

  • Use evidence to judge whether a leader made a biased, immoral, amoral, or selfish decision

  • Design a better compromise than the characters in the story or article came up with. Support your idea with evidence.

  • Was the moral of the story truly moral - fair and equitable - why or why not…?

Social Studies

  1. What are the ethical implications of this law on ____________ (minority) population?

  2. Did _________ make the right moral choice to rebel? Why or why not?

  3. Research to find out if there were any people who had a moral compass in this situation. What role did they play? Was it enough? Why or why not?

  4. What were the moral implications of __________(treaty)?

  5. Which side of the argument had more moral political views, and why?

  6. What ethics were compromised in this decision?

  7. If there were no rules or laws in your way, how would you solve the major problem of ______________ ? How could you do this without causing a moral dilemma?

  8. Discuss the assumption that all women wore pearls and how that idea was skewed in favor of a certain type of woman.

  9. How could a politician or someone in power use this knowledge to help people? How could they use it to cause harm?

English

  1. Would the language in this text be considered socially appropriate? Why or why not?

  2. What are the moral or ethical implications of ______________’s (character) decision?

  3. If you replaced _____________ (character) with a historical figure like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., how would the moral outcome of the story change?

  4. Write a poem about a current event with moral implications.

  5. What dilemmas in the text could have been resolved if characters had communicated their issues? What would have been said?

Math

  1. How is the math you are learning and/or the terminology around it used to manipulate people? Find at least one specific example in research, history, or modern social media.

  2. How is the math you are learning used to make decisions for large groups of people? What are the ethical implications of basing decisions that affect large populations on emotionless logic?

  3. Find a current event article that gives an opinion based on numbers. Use any math you have learned up to this point to manipulate their information to give a different perspective. What are the ethical implications of this?

  4. Find a real-world situation in your textbook or online where a company is using an equation to sell something. Can you come up with a better model? Describe the ethics around math-based competition in business.

  5. Is it fair to make all students take four years of math in high school? Why or why not?

  6. In what ways does this AP/PreAP class meet the needs of Gifted and Talented learners? What needs does it fail to meet? Is this fair? What would you change?

  7. Research how police use math to track a specific crime of your choice. What does the math you are learning right now have to do with their tracking? What are the moral implications of using math and computer algorithms to track criminals?

  8. Email interview a public official who works with data. Ask them to describe the math involved in their analysis, what they had to learn in school to prepare for the job, and what ethical dilemmas they face when analyzing their data.

  9. Email interview a business owner. Ask them to describe the math involved in their competition with other businesses, what they had to learn in school to prepare for management, and what ethical dilemmas they face as they watch the numbers to keep their business alive.

  10. How could a politician or someone in power use this knowledge to help people? How could they use it to cause harm?

Science

  1. If there were no rules or laws in your way, how would you solve the major problem of ______________ ? How could you do this without causing a moral dilemma?

  2. If you could clone any extinct species, what would it be, and why? What are the ethical implications of reintroducing the species to its old environment?

  3. Someone just polluted our community by doing __________, and you are the judge appointing guilt and defining restitution. What is your ruling on the matter? Why?

  4. If you were the CEO of BP after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, would you have handled the aftermath in a more moral way? Could you have?

  5. What were the positive moral implications of the Space Race? The negative ones? Weigh the pros and cons and decide on whether or not the Space Race was worth it.

  6. How could a politician or someone in power use this knowledge to help people? How could they use it to cause harm?