Teachers do need to establish ground rules about discussion: students should learn to listen politely to each other, and to agree to differ on occasion. Teachers can model calm and polite behavior, without giving in to irrationality. It is important to make clear to children the nature of evidence, what counts as evidence, and how evidence helps us to understand nature. It is equally important not to be contemptuous or dismissive of deeply held beliefs. It is important that students understand what scientific method is and how it differs from taking authority as one’s source of knowledge.
In Science lessons, it is important to be clear and confident about what is “controversial” among scientists and what is not. For example, the fact that life on Earth evolved is not controversial amongst biologists, though they may differ about time scales, the origins of life and the processes driving change.
In Science lessons it is reasonable to ask for reasons and evidence for any hypothesis put forward, and to differentiate between strong and weak evidence.
This is interesting, but it does not meet the requirements of the assignment you posted earlier.
You can do better. Think about what YOU will do in YOUR classroom.
do u have a site for example? i can look at
No. And I'm not going to look. Presumably you spent 12 years in school classrooms. You want to be a teacher. Put your experience and ideals to work and create your own lessons that meet the requirements of this assignment.
crtical thinking, interpersonal skills, preparing students for their roles as citizens in a pluralistic democracy,
This is your original assignment. Just do it!
Identify the subjects and provide a specific example of each type of instruction.
The teaching of controversial issues is also proposed as a means to develop students' critical thinking. Through discussion of controversial issues, students develop cognitive skills, such as constructing hypotheses and collecting and evaluating evidence. They also gain insights from sharing information with their peers.
Interpersonal Skills
As students participate in discussions, they also develop important attitudes and communication skills, such as listening carefully, responding empathetically, speaking persuasively, and cooperating readily, with others in a group. Well-managed discussions also promote tolerance of diverse viewpoints on any single issue.
Controversial Issues in the Classroom. ERIC Digest.
Through discussion of controversial issues, students develop cognitive skills, such as constructing hypotheses and collecting and evaluating evidence. ...
http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-9218/issues.htm
Do. Not. Plagiarize.
If you are not clear on what plagiarism is and how NOT to plagiarize from a source, read through this entire webpage from Capital Community College in Connecticut:
(Broken Link Removed)
All of it. Including the examples.