Disciplinary Text Set: Designer Babies

I plan to gear this toward a junior to senior level (12-11 grade).  

I believe that it is not only important for students to learn about content but how that content affects society.  I know for a fact that my students will be citizens for some time in the United States.  Therefore it is important for them to learn the scope at which science is interwoven into their daily lives.  At the end of the year I will make time for a final section/project.  I have chosen to focus on the ethical debate of using genetics to create “perfectly crafted” human beings.  This topic has coined the name “designer babies”. 

1)    Print

a)    Designer Babies: an ethical horror waiting to happen?

i)     This is a very long article that brings some cultural relevance to the topic of designer babies.  It makes many connections to modern books like Never Let Me Go, as well as classic books like Frankenstein.  It also goes into detail about PGD (preimplantation genetic diagnosis): how it is used today and how it could be used in the future. 

ii)   The quantitative grade level estimated by Storytool differs depending on the section of the article put into the program.  In average it would be around an 11^th grade level.  

      There are many complex ideas going on in this paper as well as unfamiliar vocabulary if pervious units had not adequately prepared them for this topic.  As a result I would focus this paper based on qualitative outlook to a 12^th grade level.  Below are some vocabulary words that should be explained before reading the text:

(1)  PGD – preimplantation genetic diagnosis

(2)  Artificial conception and gestation

(3)  Three-parent IVF

(4)  CRISPR

(5)  Sperm bank (fertilization clinics)

(6)  Mutations and diseases

iii) Due to the length of the text and the range of material covered, I would aim for a less complex task associated with the text.   For starters I would go over new vocabulary words that will appear and review some concepts as well.  Depending on how the students did with the review I would break the text down by either having specific groups of students work on certain parts of the text, or I would just take the parts of the text I would like to focus on.  Which option I go with would be determined by the climate of my classroom.  If I have more of an advanced classroom I might assign specific part of the text and have them work through it in groups and teach their section to one another.  If the class is not as proficient on the topic and reading difficult text I would just take excerpts and have them do a close read on only a small portion of the article.  Just because students might be unfamiliar with the words does not mean that they cannot use context clues to derive meaning. 

b)    Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s

i)     A summary of this book provided by Amazon is as follows:
Ever since he was young, John Robison longed to connect with other people, but by the time he was a teenager, his odd habits—an inclination to blurt out non sequiturs, avoid eye contact, dismantle radios, and dig five-foot holes (and stick his younger brother, Augusten Burroughs, in them)—had earned him the label “social deviant.” It was not until he was forty that he was diagnosed with a form of autism called Asperger’s syndrome. That understanding transformed the way he saw himself—and the world. A born storyteller, Robison has written a moving, darkly funny memoir about a life that has taken him from developing exploding guitars for KISS to building a family of his own. It’s a strange, sly, indelible account—sometimes alien yet always deeply human.

ii)   I would want my student to read the last chapter/epilogue of this book to see all the accomplishments of the main character John Robison.  Even though he was quirky and was diagnosed with Asperger’s later in life, he was a valuable citizen to society.  I would have my students discuss what would happen if people with disabilities were eliminated from our life.  Pros and Cons of what we would gain or loose as a society.  I would tie this into eugenics, the mother of designer babies. 

1)    Multimedia

a)    Ted Talk: The ethical dilemma of designer babies | Paul Knoepfler

i)      

18:19

ii)   Creating genetically modified children is no longer a science fiction fantasy; it's a likely future scenario. Biologist Paul Knoepfler estimates that within fifteen years, scientists could use the gene editing technology CRISPR to make certain "upgrades" to human embryos -- from altering physical appearances to eliminating the risk of autoimmune diseases. In this thought-provoking talk, Knoepfler readies us for the coming designer baby revolution and its very personal, and unforeseeable, consequences.

      The quantitative grade level estimated by Storytool for this text is between a 10^th and 11^th grade level.  There are not many difficult words to understand, nor is the sentence structure or syntax very complex.  This allows students to follow the video more easily.  However, the topic of discussion is more complex.  As a result the qualitative outlook on the video would bring the score up to a junior to senior level.  Discussions of ethical topics require maturity in the classroom, as well as the ability to look at the situation from a objective point of view.  Below I have included six vocabulary words that could be explained before watching the video. 

(1)  Genetic modifications

(2)  CRISPR

(3)  GM/GMO

(4)  Narcissism

(5)  Pandora’s Box

(6)  Eugenics

iv)   The task complexity of this video would steer away from all of the scientific background to understand how we can change ones genetics at a molecular level.  Instead, this video will aide the students in setting the stage and putting their prior knowledge of the topic into a mini lecture.   I think assigning a KWL chart with this video would be beneficial.  It would allow the student to write down what they have learned so far on the topic, what they want to learn about the topic, and then after the video they can write what they learned.  After a classroom discussion can be facilitated on the video, and by hearing other peoples perspectives on the topic they might find more answers for the W portion of their chart.  Also, it leaves the student curious if there is still something that they want to know but did not learn from the video.  This video could lead into another lesson based on teaching the students how to investigate the topic online. 

b)    War on the Weak: Eugenics in America

i)     This is a short ten-minute video depicting the history of eugenics in America, and also gives a bit of a broader scope view into the impact it had on Nazi Germany.   The video would be a great introduction to the topic.  It would create a sense of wonder and inquiry for the students.  I would have them compare and contrast what they learned about the topic of eugenics and what they think they know of designer babies.  I would then have them return to this at the end of the unit and see how their viewpoints have changed. 

1)    Culturally Relevant

a)    Jurassic World

i)     I would just show the introduction to the movie, where it goes into detail about how dinosaurs were genetically engineered. 

ii)   I was not able to obtain the full transcript of the movie, nor the portion that I would show.  The Lexile score that I found for the beginning of the transcript was around a 6^th to 7^th grade level.  For the enjoyment and engagement aspect of this movie I believe that it reaches to a very broad audience.  There are plenty of visuals to explain what is being spoken about and animations to show what they are doing in real time.  However, I believe this will fit in great with drawing in my 11^th to 12^th grade students.  This is a movie series that most of them have heard of and most likely seen.

iii) Due to the fact that the target audience for this movie is to broad and has greatly simplified the science aspect of genetic engineering I would increase the task complexity I assign with the video clip.  I would break them into pairs and have them write a letter to their state governor about how we do not know what the possible long term affects of genetically engineering babies could have.

b)    My Sisters Keeper

i)     This movie is filmed from the viewpoint of Anna Fitzgerald, a 13 year old, who is trying to receive medical emancipation rom her parents.  She was conceived and has been used to help prolong her sister, Kate’s life, who has leukemia.  I believe that this would be a great mid-text that allows students to relate to the middle and high school age main characters and their relationship as sisters.  Once there is a foundation of the topic, I could introduce this movie to start the ball rolling for an ethical debate.  By using this movie I would be able to make this debate more relevant to my class by having them see a “real-life” example of how “designer babies” are used today.  It could also lead into a discussion on future policies that should be made for this topic.